Allucius

ON ST. ALLUCIUS, CONFESSOR, IN THE DIOCESE OF PESCIA IN ETRURIA,

IN THE YEAR 1134.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Allucius, confessor, at Pescia in Tuscany. (S.)

BY J. V. H.

§ Sole. The ancient cult of the Saint; description of the territory of Pescia; canons which treat of the hospital of St. Allucius; the knights of St. John of Jerusalem occupy the hospital house.

Although no Martyrology, so far as I know, whether universal or local, The antiquity of the cult shown to St. Allucius is demonstrated makes mention of St. Allucius, there is yet no reason for us to doubt of his cult or sanctity; since his most ancient cult, as we shall show below, is placed beyond all controversy. Cesare Franciotti, who wrote copiously of the Saints of Lucca, also keeps a deep silence about Blessed Allucius. But although the veneration of our Saint is circumscribed between narrow limits, yet nobody who holds discourse of him hesitates in attributing to him the title of Saint, which moreover clung to him immediately after his death, as the monuments to be edited below clearly show. These our Daniel Papebroch had once received from Francesco Maria Fiorentini, a physician of Lucca, who occupies among hagiographers a seat not of the lowest on account of the Martyrology commonly called Hieronymian, but better, in his judgement, called Gregorian, which he not only accurately edited but also illustrated most copiously with notes. The Acts of St. Allucius to be presented by us are contained in a public instrument drawn up by order of William, bishop of Lucca, in the year 1344; but among the same there is found a document from which it is established that the body of St. Allucius was elevated thirty-eight years after his death and put back in a more honourable place. And since besides the said instrument scarcely anything occurs by which the Acts can be illustrated, we could forgo a longer commentary, content, as the text will bear, to add certain notes as opportune; were it not that the very place which was both the birthplace and the deathplace of our Saint needed some commentary, and the cult of the Saint, growing through the course of years, had to be explained.

[2] in the territory of Pescia, The hospital house in which St. Allucius was buried and whose name it bears lies in the territory of Pescia, unknown to most readers. The said territory, midway between the cities of Pistoia and Lucca, belonged to this latter diocese, as the documents below will show. Francesco Orlendi, in his Orbis sacer et profanus, from Ughelli Italia Sacra, vol. III, col. 763 and following and others, describes the region excellently in these words Orbis sacer et profanus, vol. III, p. 1322 and following: Pescia among the principal towns of Etruria

Annonaria (that is, which was once destined for feeding the emperor and the army Compare Gothofredus, Codex Theodosianus, vol. IV, p. 13) holds a place. It is situated on the Via Claudia, at the roots of the Apennine mountain on the western side, surrounded by most pleasant hills and mountains, presenting the pleasing appearance of a theatre. It sits midway between Lucca and Pistoia, 12, and from Florence the metropolis 30 thousand paces distant. The river Pescia washes it and cuts it, running through the middle, from which it is said to have recently received its name. But although that name was recently imposed, yet the inhabitants think, from a tradition of their forefathers received as it were from hand to hand, that the town itself emerged from the remains of the ancient Fanum Martis, whose traces are shown not far from there. Which tradition Orlendi then strives to confirm by various arguments, who, going on further, says: The land of Pescia is circumscribed by thirty miles, cut into two valleys, of which one to the West (rather more to the north) is called Ariana or Riana, from the very frequent streams of water by which it is washed: and the other to the south is called Nebulae, from the river which glides through it.

[3] which together with the house The church of Pescia, at first adorned with the title of plebania, and dedicated to St. Mary Major, belonged, as we have said, to the diocese of Lucca until the year 1519, in which, on the 15th day of April, in order to render thanks to his datary Baldassare Turini of Pescia, Leo X erected the plebania of St. Mary Major into a signal collegiate church, and subjected its provost and chapter immediately to the apostolic see. For which reason, by another bull, given on the 23rd of September of the same year, he commanded the bishop of Pistoia to put the plebanus Lorenzo Cecchi in possession of the recently created provostship, erected the plebania of Pescia into a signal collegiate church, or perhaps restored one that had collapsed. By virtue of the former bull, which Ughelli made public Italia Sacra, vol. III, col. 765, there are granted to the provost of the church of Pescia: 1° the use of the mitre, even adorned with gems and plates of gold, of the dalmatic, of gloves, even adorned with gems, of sandals, and of the ring and staff and other pontifical insignia: 2° the faculty of bestowing an indulgence of a hundred days and ten quarantines on the faithful of both sexes, as often as, truly penitent, they attend the celebration of Masses and divine offices: 3° the faculty of blessing sacred vestments and of consecrating virgins: 4° the conferring of the tonsure and minor orders on scholars of the territory: 5° the absolution, by himself or by vicars, of all sins, even those reserved to the apostolic see, and the reconciliation of polluted churches and cemeteries, water blessed however by some prelate being used: 6° the power of framing statutes, which all the faithful had to observe; yet for this the consent of the chapter was required; and if, being twice asked, it dissented, the provost alone could frame and promulgate them. From these things we see that the territory of Pescia enjoyed its own proper jurisdiction under the immediate protection of the apostolic see, and that the provost of Pescia had all things necessary for ecclesiastical rule, excepting only the conferring of major orders, which, on the testimony of Ughelli Ibid., col. 289, had to be sought from the bishop of Pistoia, or from his chapter if the see were vacant. Finally Benedict XIII, on the 17th day of March 1727, erected the church of Pescia into a cathedral and assigned its territory as a diocese: which church persists episcopal to this day. For Pius VII at various times adorned the canons of the same church with violet vestments, the privilege of the lighted candle and a golden cross [Novaes, Sommi Pontefici, vol. XIII, p. 118. Moroni, Dizionario di Erudizione, under Piscia].

[4] the hospital of St. Allucius Further, the territory of Pescia is sufficiently ample, inasmuch as it comprises seventy-three churches, and has various monasteries of both sexes, hospitals and hospices Lami, Ecclesiae Florentinae monumenta, vol. I, p. 519: among which an illustrious one is the hospital house of St. Allucius, which is placed in the Val di Nievole, within the district of Uzzano, as is established from a document preserved in the archive of Florence, in which an instrument is read whose closing clause is: Done in the church of St. Allucius, placed in the territory of Uzzano, of the province of the Val di Nievole… In the year of the Lord's nativity 1329, on the 17th day of June Ibid., p. 367. It is said moreover in the Life to be edited below, at num. 6, that the Saint, to the honour of Christ and of all the Saints and the refreshment of the poor, rebuilt the hospital of Campo Loano, which in his time was destroyed. Campus Loanus, which Vincenzo Fregianelli in the History of St. Allucius calls in Italian Campo or Campugliano, where he rebuilt his hospital house, is called today gli Alberghi, or S. Pietro in Campo on account of the nearby church of this Holy Apostle, distant from Pescia towards the south about three kilometres, as is established from the map of Attilio Zuccagni-Orlandini in the Chorography of Italy Repetti, Dizionario geografico della Toscana, under S. Allucio. But not so many years after the death of St. Allucius the name of St. Allucius, from this Saint, clung to the house. And in this hospital house the Saint seems to have collected persons of both sexes, who showed voluntary service to the poor and travellers, and to have bound them into one body, whence, as we shall presently show, they were called the brothers of St. Allucius.

[5] from various instruments, especially What reasons moved the brothers of St. Allucius, hitherto subject to nobody, to submit themselves to the soldiers of the Holy Sepulchre, we do not know. Vincenzo Fregianelli in the Italian Life of St. Allucius Istoria di Sant'Allucio, p. 61 suspects that love of total liberty was the cause. They had namely controversies with the plebanus of Pescia, which, to cut off rather than to solve them, they went under the yoke of the soldiers of the Holy Sepulchre. Yet a little after, weary of this militia too, they asked that their donation should be voided. But Pope Innocent III rejected their petition, since, alleging against themselves their own foulness of perjury, excommunication and deceit, they were not to be admitted. Yet the Pontiff wills that through such a donation no prejudice should be generated to the diocesan bishop or to the plebanus of Pescia. In the course of time the knights of the Holy Sepulchre coalesced into one body with the knights of St. John the Baptist, or of Malta. Behold what we find in the body of canon law pertaining to the brothers of St. Allucius: for in chap. 8, De Donationibus (III, 24), we read these replies by Innocent III, in the year 1213: A question having arisen between our beloved sons the hospitallers of the Holy Sepulchre and the brothers of the hospital of St. Allucius concerning the same hospital, since the same hospitallers had brought back a contrary sentence on the possessory, which they had brought once and again, though for dissimilar causes, then, having recourse to the petitory, they took care to propose. That when G., the former Rector, and the brothers and patrons of the same hospital, common counsel being held, had deliberated to put the hospital itself under the abovementioned hospitallers, they committed in this their place to three procurators, resolving in common to accept what should be done by them: who determined with the same that some should be sent to the hospital itself, who should receive its assignment in their name. And when they had transmitted two of their brothers there, these received the donation and assignment of the hospital both from the master and from the abovementioned procurators and other brothers of the same house. And the procurator of the other party replied on the contrary that the aforesaid donation ought not undeservedly to be retracted; since, many of the brothers not being consulted, it had been celebrated by the aforesaid rector and fewer brothers, excommunicated and perjured, concerning a thing in litigation, in fraud of the plebanus of Pescia, who had raised a question concerning the same hospital.

[6] from two chapters And he proposed all these things sufficiently through the depositions of the witnesses produced. To this, the other party replying in manifold ways, there was disputation for some time on this side and that. Attending therefore that the brothers and patrons of St. Allucius alleged for themselves, or rather against themselves, foulness, namely perjury, excommunication and fraud, not indeed committed against them, but by them, and understanding that the donation made by them to the hospitallers stood pure and simple; because the laws come to the aid not of deceivers but of the deceived; whence through the things which were proposed above they could not lawfully defend themselves against their own deed, we have taken care to adjudge the aforesaid hospital with its appurtenances to the hospitallers of the Holy Sepulchre. In such a way that through this sentence no prejudice is generated to the diocesan bishop and to the plebanus of Pescia: since a thing done between others ought not to generate prejudice to others. Since in the very decretal of Innocent III his right was reserved both to the bishop of Lucca and to the plebanus of Pescia, the controversy broke out again between the hospitallers of the Holy Sepulchre and the abovementioned plebanus, as the decretal of the same Pontiff of the year 1214 teaches us, which is had in chap. 9, De arbitris (I, 43). And this is to be noticed, that the hospitallers to whom the house of St. Allucius was assigned are in the present decretal called hospitallers of St. John, while in the other they were named of the Holy Sepulchre. Certainly in the thirteenth century the militias of St. John and of the Holy Sepulchre were distinct, which were brought into one body by Innocent VIII in the year 1489 [Lünig, Codex Italiae diplomaticus, vol. IV, col. 1485. Compare Paoli, Dell'origine del sacro Ordine di S. Giovanni, p. 42, and Dictionnaire des Ordres Religieux, under Sépulcre, vol. III, col. 525]; accordingly it is not to be supposed that any error has crept into the later decretal; inasmuch as, being more recent than Innocent VIII, it would not be found in all the codices. For which reason, since nothing else occurs to me, I judge that the patrons of the hospital of St. Allucius, leaving the brothers of the Holy Sepulchre, transacted the matter with the knights of St. John or of Jerusalem. Behold the words of the Decretal.

[7] from the body of Canon law By your letters (namely of the archbishop of Pisa, Lotario Rosario, who sat from 1209 to 1216 Ughelli, Italia Sacra, vol. III, col. 421) you have intimated that, when you had received letters from us concerning the execution of the arbitration which had been passed between the hospitallers of St. John and the plebanus of Pescia concerning the hospital of St. Allucius, the parties being set in your presence, the hospitallers asked from you the execution of the arbitration, asserting that it ought to be observed, for the reason that the procurator of the plebanus freely compromised upon arbiters, an oath being interposed: since they said that he had received (authority) to compromise and transact concerning the same business. The plebanus proposed that to treat the cause he gave the procurator a general mandate, but did not however mandate him that without a special mandate he could compromise or transact concerning it. And moreover the already mentioned procurator had not been instituted with the assent of his canons; and therefore he said that the arbitration was not valid: especially since the procurator exceeded the bounds of his mandate; and the arbitration was promulgated by one cleric and two laymen, although they brought the arbitration with the assent of the archbishop of Genoa, to whom the cause had been committed. Whence, since doubt had arisen on these matters, you have asked to be taught by the oracle of the apostolic see how you should proceed in this business. On which we reply to your fraternity that if on the part of the plebanus the arbitration has been received, it ought indistinctly to be held valid, and through this, according to the tenor of the mandate

apostolic it should be committed to execution. But if it has not been received, it matters whether or not a penalty was established for observing it.

[8] taken, is illustrated. And indeed if a penalty was attached, action can be taken for the penalty; but if none was established, but it was simply compromised that the sentence should be stood by, the procurator can be sued for the interest, because by his oath he could bind himself personally, not the church. And that it is said to have been brought forth by two laymen and one cleric seems in no way to be an obstacle, since it was done by the authority of the said archbishop, to whom the cause on which the compromise is said to have been made had been delegated. It is foreign to our undertaking to investigate laboriously all the windings of law which make the cited canon rough. Let it suffice to have said one thing, that from that time the knights of St. John of Jerusalem occupied the Hospital of St. Allucius, and took up its administration. And indeed the knight Francesco dell'Antella in the year 1616, as the notes of our Daniel Papebroch have it, placed the body of St. Allucius on the high altar of the church with this inscription. THE BONES OF BLESSED ALLUCIUS TRANSLATED FROM THE ANCIENT MONUMENT INTO THE NEW IN THE YEAR OF SALVATION MDCXVI. FRANCESCO DELL'ANTELLA, KNIGHT OF JERUSALEM AND COMMENDATOR OF ST. JAMES IN CAMPO CORBOLINI, THE BONES OF BLESSED ALLUTIUS HAVING BEEN TRANSLATED FROM THE ANCIENT MONUMENT INTO THE NEW, RESTORED THE ALTAR IN THE YEAR OF SALVATION MDCXVI.

[9] Forty-eight years after the death of the Saint his body, We had written these things, when through the intermediacy of our most friendly and most active supporter Doctor Pietro Cernazai of Udine, the most illustrious and most reverend bishop of Pescia, Lord Giovanni Benini, was pleased to communicate to us documents pertaining to St. Allucius; in which one could find things both more correct and more abundant than the slips of Papebroch: to both therefore, as also to others contributing their work, and especially to the Rev. Professor Felice Gialdini, we have the greatest thanks that we owe. Further, since it is established that St. Allucius, having died, as we shall show a little below, in the year 1134, was not translated to a more seemly place before the year 1182, Vincenzo Fregianelli concludes Storia di S. Allucio, p. 65 that he was buried in the common cemetery indistinctly with others. Which I think is true to this extent, that, laid in the common cemetery, he yet obtained a signal place, from which he could be dug out forty years after: for that after about fifty years a corpse could be found, it is altogether necessary that the place of burial should have been most accurately noted. This the inscription found in the Saint's very tomb has: ✠ ANNO DOMINI MCXXXIV, DECIMO CALENDAS NOVEMBRIS BEATUS ALLUCIUS MIGRAVIT AD CHRISTUM; ET MILLESIMO CENTESIMO OCTUAGESIMO SECUNDO, IN DIE B. QUIRICI REVELATUM EST CORPUS EJUS, SEPTIMOQUE CALENDAS AUGUSTI HOC LOCO RECONDITUM. [✠ In the year of the Lord 1134, on the tenth before the Kalends of November, Blessed Allucius departed to Christ; and in the one thousand one hundred and eighty-second, on the day of Blessed Quiricus, his body was revealed, and on the seventh before the Kalends of August it was laid up in this place.] The praised Fregianelli says Muratori, Writers, vol. XI, col. 1293. Compare Annali d'Italia, vol. VII, p. 436 that the word revelatum is ambiguous, because among ecclesiastical writers it generally signifies the manifestation of a hidden thing by the aid of some miracle: while among profane writers it is nothing other than the uncovering of a hidden thing by the removal of the veil with which it was covered. Now the word revelatum does not seem to be taken in the former sense, since within a space of forty-eight years it is not likely that the memory of St. Allucius should have been altogether struck out: and if any prodigy had intervened, writers would not have kept silent about the wonderful matter. We must therefore interpret the revelation in the other sense, namely that the body of St. Allucius, drawn out of the tomb, was elevated and shown to the eyes of all.

[10] laid in a more seemly place, For in the space of eleven days, namely to the day of St. Quiricus, or according to the Etruscan Calendars from the 16th day of July to the seventh before the Kalends of August, or the 26th of July, the bones of St. Allucius, freed as it were from the prison of an obscure tomb, appeared to all, thereafter to be held in due honour. Nevertheless, although the cult then begun was thereafter continued, yet when Etruria was shattered by wars and devastations, the memory of our Saint too was again obscured: especially when in the year 1281 Pescia was destroyed, as the Annals of Lucca of Tolomeo, bishop of Torcello, testify in these words Repetti, Dizionario geografico della Toscana, under Borgo a Buggiano: At that time (namely in the year 1281) the people of Lucca gathered an army against Pescia and stormed it, and by force of battle entered the place, and burned it at the impulse of the people of Lucca, who could not be restrained. They say that the cause of the burning was that they had subjected themselves to the chancellor of the emperor Rudolf, to whom they ought not to be subject, unless his confirmation by the supreme pontiff should appear. In the same year they shore Buggiano at the walls, because they seemed to favour the people of Pescia in the rebellion. Now Buggiano is a little town beside the river Pescia; today it is called Borgo a Buggiano in the Val di Nievole Muratori, Writers, col. 685. Everyone understands that, since the fires were stirred up by a popular impulse, neither houses nor churches, as the monuments of Pescia have it, were spared; and that the body of St. Allucius lay hidden under the ruins for some time; whence his memory gradually vanished.

[11] lay hidden for some time, though his memory flourished: But although the sepulchre of St. Allucius lay hidden for some space of years, yet the memory of the Saint himself did not perish. For we see legates of Pescia and of other towns in the year 1329 meeting at the church of St. Allucius, to treat of peace with the Florentine republic, whether the fire of the people of Lucca of the year 1281 did not reach this church, or the pious liberality of the people restored it anew. Of this peace concluded Giovanni Villani treats in his Florentine History, book X, chap. 135 P. 69. The people of Pescia, he says, in order at last to obtain quiet after long wars and many losses, agreed with the Florentines that the offences committed on both sides should be wiped out by oblivion; that the people of Pescia should hold as friends or enemies of their own the friends or enemies of the Florentines; that a war leader should be sought from the Florentines to rule the militia of Pescia. On these terms peace was sanctioned, and indeed, as we have said, in the church of St. Allucius, to which the legates had come, as Vincenzo Fregianelli teaches us in the Life of the Saint P. 81. Although, then, the sepulchre of the Saint was unknown, yet they held his church as the common home of the whole people, in which public acts having a certain solemnity had to be celebrated.

[12] until in the year 1344, found anew, But not so long after the peace concluded with the Florentines, or in the year 1344, the body of St. Allucius was found anew; and of this finding indeed we have an instrument, which, since it contains the Life of the Saint, we shall edit below, and shall attempt to illustrate with notes where needed. In this instrument we have a formula of the process to be set up concerning Relics of the Saints recently found. Indeed someone could perhaps accuse William, bishop of Lucca, as if he had usurped a right reserved to the apostolic see. For Pope Alexander III, chap. I, De reliquiis et veneratione Sanctorum (III, 45), reproaches some for venerating as a Saint (in the manner of unbelievers) a certain man slain in drinking and drunkenness: since the Church scarcely permits prayer for such persons killed in drunkenness: for the Apostle says: “Drunkards shall not possess the kingdom of God.” Do not then presume henceforth to venerate him; since, even if miracles were done through him, it would not be lawful for you to venerate him as a Saint without the authority of the Roman Church. Innocent III in the fourth Lateran Council, which canon follows in the body of law the just cited canon of Alexander III, says expressly: Let nobody presume publicly to venerate Relics newly found, unless they have first been approved by the authority of the Roman Pontiff. To the difficulty Vincenzo Fregianelli replies that the acts of the bishop of Lucca did not exceed the limits of the right which bishops of that age had, because he indeed recognised the Relics, but did not prescribe the celebration of Office and Mass, which were indications of equipollent canonisation.

[13] and recognised by the bishop of Lucca, He then adds as witness our Papebroch, cited by Prospero Lambertini, De servorum Dei canonizatione et beatificatione, book I, chap. 10, num. 8, teaching that bishops did not so rigidly keep the decree of Alexander, nor did they think the faculty regarding a cult of a lower order had been taken from them. But I do not judge that the process set up by the bishop of Lucca should be estimated according to a rule of that kind. The fame of sanctity which St. Allucius publicly enjoyed was placed beyond controversy, which Innocent III had also sanctioned to some extent by his decretal letters cited at numbers 5 and following. Whence the bishop of Lucca seems to have done nothing other than to inquire into the truth of the Relics of St. Allucius found in the hospital house: which right indeed belongs even today to the ordinary power of bishops. Bishop William accurately did what the Council of Trent prescribed to be done, session XXV, on the invocation of Saints. Namely the holy Synod has determined … that no new miracles are to be admitted, nor new Relics received, unless the bishop himself recognises and approves them, who as soon as he has found out anything about them, theologians and other pious men being applied in counsel, should do those things which he shall judge consistent with truth and piety. In such a way proceeded, in the cause of the finding of the body of St. Eutropius, first bishop of Saintes (Saintes), the Most Reverend bishop of La Rochelle (La Rochelle), Lord Clément Villecourt, now Most Eminent Cardinal of the H. R. C., who by his decree of the 6th day of September 1845 declared true the Relics of St. Eutropius found in the crypt of the formerly cathedral church of Saintes, after he had carried out everything which is prescribed by the Council of Trent Compare Recueil des procédures, part II, p. 73. These same things by the same right William, bishop of Lucca, did: in either case it was a question of a Saint whose memory had been in veneration for centuries: and so no doubt arose about the cult of either which should require the authority of the Roman Pontiff, as, so far as concerns St. Allucius, the instruments to be edited below will show.

[14] was thereafter held in great honour. We do not linger, then, on these instruments, from which it is established that the body of St. Allucius, elevated in the year 1344, was thereafter held in great honour. In the year 1616 the knight of Malta, Francesco dell'Antella, erected a new monument to St. Allucius, and restored his altar, as the inscription brought forward at num. 8 teaches. But although such veneration was shown to the Saint, yet he lacked that liturgical cult with which we are especially accustomed to honour Saints, namely Office and Mass. Both at length Pope Clement XIII granted in the year 1764, on the 24th day of September, at the earnest, as is said, prayers of the most reverend bishop and his chapter, and also of the magistrates of the city of Pescia, that each year on the 23rd day of October the feast of Blessed Allucius could be celebrated by both the clergies of the same city and diocese with Office and Mass from the common of Confessors not Pontiffs, with proper prayer and lessons approved by his holiness, under the minor double. Then in the year 1818, on the 28th day of February, the Sacred Congregation of Rites approved and permitted to be recited in the canonical Office a proper Hymn in honour of St. Allucius, which is recited at Vespers: Hither from the starry: by Doctor Grossi of Pescia,

as the Rev. Felice Gialdini writes to us, composed. Finally in the year 1851, on the 6th day of June, Pius IX, happily reigning, granted that the whole proper Office and Mass should be celebrated under the rite of major double, as is established from the decree which we recite.

[15] the cult of St. Allucius, already approved by Clement XIII, Of Pescia. Since the most reverend bishop of Pescia, in order to satisfy his own and the common wishes of the clergy committed to him, has resolved to attend with ever ampler cult St. Dorothea, V. M., Principal Patroness, Blessed Allucius, C., of Pescia, and St. Polychronius, Bp. M., lesser principal Patron, he has presented to our most holy Lord Pius IX, supreme Pontiff, some proper things to be added to the Offices and Masses of the said heavenly ones, that he should deign of his apostolic benignity to approve each, and to grant them to his said clergy. His Holiness, attending to the things set forth and to other considerations of reasons moving his mind, on the report of me the undersigned secretary of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, benignly assented according to the prayers of the petitioning bishop, so that on the natal days of the same Saints the Offices with Masses may be valid, as they are noted corrected and emended in the above exemplar; the Rubrics being however observed in all things. Anything contrary notwithstanding. On the 6th day of June 1851. A. Card. Lambruschini, P. of the S. C. R., J. G. Fatati, Secretary of the S. C. R.

[16] Pius IX, by a proper Mass, The proper Mass consists chiefly in this, that it praises the charity of St. Allucius towards his neighbour: and hence the Epistle has been taken from St. Paul to the Hebrews, chap. XIII, in which hospitality, and the care of those bound and labouring are praised; and the Gospel from John, chap. XV, in which Christ commends love. The prayers, further, are the following: Collect: Almighty God, who made Blessed Allucius glorious by outstanding charity towards the sick, grant, we beseech you, that by his merits and intercession, freed from every infirmity of mind and body, we may merit to become sharers of heavenly glory. Through the Lord. Secret: Receive benignly, Lord, the victims which we dedicate to your exalted majesty, that following on earth the charity of Blessed Allucius your Confessor, we may merit to come to you, who are charity, in heaven. Through the Lord. Postcommunion: We beseech you, Lord our God, that the heavenly table with which we have been fed, which also nourished the temporal life of Blessed Allucius your Confessor, may confer on us eternal rewards. Through the Lord.

[17] and by hymns at Vespers Behold further the Hymn which is recited at Vespers in honour of St. Allucius, and which was composed by Doctor Grossi of Pescia:

Hither from your starry seats, renowned Allucius, O come now, bend your placid Head, while the pious people rightly sing To you a sacred song. Present, receive the vows of those who pray, Of citizens with knee set down before the altar, Whom a common homeland joins to you By a stable bond, we ask. You are the prop of the fallen, you the father of orphans, You are borne for Christ, and the sure hope Of the poor, and the protection of those you refresh with feast And those you courteously draw. Meanwhile you spend your nights in watching, Intent on prayers, and defraud your bowels Of their due banquets, living more blessedly, Filled with angelic bread. Through you we have known strangers to enjoy Even a threefold hospitality, and many temples, long Fallen by the fault of rolling time, Everywhere to rise again. Through you, sparing neither zeal nor labours, As arbiter of solid peace, we have felt Whatever quarrels rushed upon the Italian cities To be removed. But who in a very brief song could recall Your manifold virtues? Or who could record What rewards from heaven have now been added For each of your merits? You alone are able, who enjoy the gifts, And flash forth, hedged with ruddy fires; Hence always, good one, help your suppliant Citizens with mighty protection. Glory be to the Father and the Son, to the Holy Breath be equal praise, honour and beauty, Who reigns equally with the Father and the only Son, God perpetual. Amen.

[19] and at Lauds he increased. At Lauds: this hymn was found among the poems of Fr. Reghensani, Barnabite:

Let whoever would exult to celebrate in song The father of the poor and the prop of affairs, The great glory of his homeland, of orphans The sweet relief. Under your lead, Allucius, a spacious house for the needy Sick with disease lay open through the fields, Under your lead piety shone forth, and the treaties Of kindly peace. The Pescia, thinned to small waves, often yielded Its place to you in time of summer heat, Often the shaken Arno dreaded you Working wonders. Shining temples came under an august form On account of you, crimes went into exile, And no anger and fury disturbed The Etruscan cities. Hard chains fell from the captives, The weary obtained rest, the wretched salvation, And through you the guilty of crime The desired pardon. Ever serving the weak and sick Gladly, and refusing no labours, Rising by night you gave your work Fitted to all. Often on your account charity shone forth Celebrated; anguish, fear and want Have withdrawn from us, and there has returned The sweet abundance of things. Perennial praise be to the eternal Trinity, Which has placed the Man, laden with great merits, Among the exalted cohorts of those above In the citadel. Amen.

[20] In the year 1793 Finally when Leopold I of Austria, imitating his brother the emperor Joseph II, had brought many innovations into Etruria, and among other things had also suppressed churches which, as he thought, were not necessary, an evil lot reached the hospital house of St. Allucius also, although it belonged to the Order of Malta. It was necessary therefore that the venerable remains of our Saint should be transferred elsewhere, as the following instrument teaches us, which, turned from Italian into Latin, we present before the reader. In the name of the Lord. Amen. In the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1793, indiction XI, on this 24th day of August, Pius VI being Roman Pontiff and Ferdinand III, royal prince of Hungary and Bohemia, archduke of Austria, grand duke of Etruria, happily reigning, the present instrument was made and published in the city of Pescia and in its episcopal palace: there being present in the same place the noble men Vincenzo, son of the late knight Carlo Serponti, Lodovico Andrea, son of the late knight Stefano Cecchi, Niccolò, son of the late lord Angelo Simoni, and Michelangelo, son of the late lord Giovanni Domenico Cheti, of Pescia and invited witnesses. Since in the most ancient church of the title of SS. Luke the Evangelist and Herculanus the Martyr, beside which was erected the hospital house named of St. Allucius, placed in the plebania, now the cathedral of Pescia, as is established from chap. 9, Per tuas, De Arbitris, etc., Inter dilectos filios, 8, De Donationibus, situated in the commune of Uzzano, and today belonging to the commandery of Campo Corbolini of the sacred Religion of Jerusalem, above the altar of the same hospital house there exists an urn in which are laid up the notable Relics of Blessed Allucius the Confessor, who, renowned for virtues and miracles, departed to the Lord on the 23rd day of October 1134.

[21] the church of St. Allucius being abolished, These Relics, further, displayed to the veneration of the people immediately after his death, then for some time unknown through the injury of the times, by mandate of Lord William Dulcini, then bishop of Lucca, under whose diocese the said church then was, were sought out and found in the same church, and by the said prelate recognised, solemnly approved and displayed to the former veneration of the faithful, a special feast being instituted on the day of his death and on the translation of the said Relics, with an episcopal indulgence of forty days granted to those visiting the said church, as well on the day of death as of the translation, as is established from the lawful instrument of the finding of the body of the said Blessed man of the 14th day of June 1344, which is preserved in the Chancery of the archiepiscopal Curia of Lucca in the book or bundle of acts marked num. XV. This most ancient cult the supreme Pontiff Clement XIII made more celebrated, who by an apostolic decree, dispatched by the Congregation of Sacred Rites on the 24th day of September 1764, approved proper lessons to be recited by both the clergies of this diocese of Pescia. And when on the 11th of September 1710 the most illustrious Lord Carlo Ricci, commendator of the said Commandery of Campo Corbolini, pressed that the sacred remains should be placed back in a more seemly urn, and should be entered in the acts, according to the inventory shown by the aforesaid lord commendator Ricci, the following: two shoulder-blades, two humeri or upper bones of the arm, two ulnae or radii and lower bones of the arm, various small bones composing the hand, two ilia or bones of the side, two femurs or bones of the hip, two kneecaps, various small bones composing the foot, the head of the Saint, as is described in the inventory: that the said remains should be recognised, approved and duly secured by the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Paolo Antonio Pesenti, then provost of Pescia, and that the said urn, bound around with a white ribbon, should be closed with three seals: as was in truth done, as is established from the Bundle of recognitions of the Holy Relics, which is preserved in the episcopal archive of Pescia.

[22] the remains of the Saint, to the cathedral church of Pescia And when on the occasion of the suppression of the said church of St. Allucius, the lord knight commendatary and receiver of the said commandery pressed, according to the supreme mandate contained in the encyclical letter of the royal Secretariat given on the 8th of November 1785, that, the said church belonging to the commandery of Corbolini, by his consent as receiver, and that of the procurators of the most illustrious knight de Requesens, possessor of the said commandery, the said urn with the sacred bones of St. Allucius contained in it should be committed to the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Francesco Vincenti, bishop of Pescia; it was admitted by the said prelate as a deposit. Then the most reverend chapter of the cathedral church of Pescia and the urban magistracy of the same city pressed that the said sacred remains should be placed in the said cathedral church; which petition being brought to the Royal highness, he by letters of the royal secretariat given on the 12th of February 1786 consented that these notable Relics, according to the desire of the said chapter and magistracy, should be placed in the said cathedral church. And since the same Relics were to be set above the altar of the Most Holy Rosary of the said cathedral, it was decreed that a new urn, as seemly as possible, should be made, in which all the sacred bones, indicated as above, and extracted from the ancient urn, and arranged and recognised, according to the manner which the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord bishop had prescribed, namely that the new urn, bound around with a band of red silk, should be secured in sixteen places with the Seal of the Most Reverend bishop, and that in it the lawful instrument of the sacred Relics and of all things hitherto done should be placed. And since now one must come to the actual handing over of the aforesaid Relics, to be made to the Most Reverend chapter; hence it is that, set before me and the abovementioned lord witnesses (there being present also the Most Reverend canons and clerics of the often-mentioned cathedral church, in the episcopal hall, where the said urn was seemly displayed), the Most Reverend Lord archdeacon Ferruccio Ferucci, Vicar general of Pescia, as delegate of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord bishop of the same city, the same Most Reverend Lord Vicar general, in the name abovementioned, has handed over and hands over to the Most Reverend Cathedral chapter of Pescia, and for it to the Most Reverend Lords the archpriest Gioacchino Parigini and the Dean Giovanni Bianucci, deputies of the said Most Reverend chapter by capitular deliberation of the 9th day of April of the current year, accepting the said urn, sealed,

as above, in which the sacred Relics of St. Allucius have been placed, so that, a solemn procession being first made from the episcopal palace to the cathedral church, and display for a whole day on the high altar of the said cathedral, together with the festive Office of this translation according to the rites of Holy mother Church, it may be placed back on the altar of the Most Holy Rosary, under the image of the said altar, in a place prepared for this, so that the said sacred Relics may be venerated by the faithful people to the glory of God and the honour of the said Saint. In faith of which, etc. Francesco Antonio Sorini, Notary.

[23] were translated with solemn pomp. The translation of the body of St. Allucius here reported, like that made in the year 1344 which we shall edit below, were celebrated in the month of August: nevertheless the annual memory is recalled on the Monday after Quinquagesima Sunday: on which day the same Mass is said as on the feast itself of the 23rd of October, except for the Collect, which is the following: God, whose providence guards the bones of your Saints, that not one of them may be broken; propitiously grant that we who keep the translation of Blessed Allucius your Confessor may merit by his prayers and examples to be translated to the heavenly homeland. Through the Lord. But before Pius IX amplified the cult of St. Allucius in the year 1851, there was another Collect of the same translation, which is shown to us by the Proper Offices of the Saints of the Grand Duchy of Etruria, printed at Florence in the year 1837, namely: Be present, Lord, to our supplications, which you gladden in the annual translation of Blessed Allucius your Confessor; and propitiously grant that we may also imitate the actions of him whose translation we venerate. Through the Lord. Ancient images of St. Allucius do not exist; those which existed in the year 1344, as is plain from num. 5 of the Preliminary Commentary, perished when the hospital house was reduced to profane uses. Nevertheless, for cherishing the piety of the faithful, who are helped in a wonderful way by such aids, an effigy of the Saint of some kind was engraved on copper, in which he is shown as a man of middle age, bearded, in lay dress, nearly as the Ven. Benedict Labre is generally painted, yet less tattered. As regards, finally, the Acts to be edited, there is no reason for us to demonstrate their authority or genuineness, since they themselves, as is plain to the reader, establish credit for themselves by their own nature.

LIFE AND TRANSLATION OF ST. ALLUCIUS, CONFESSOR,

From the manuscript of Francesco Maria Fiorentini, physician of Lucca, collated with the copy of Pescia.

Allucius, confessor, at Pescia in Tuscany. (S.)

BHL Number: 0303, 0304

FROM A PUBLIC INSTRUMENT.

CHAPTER ONE.

The finding of the body; the delegation of the bishop of Lucca for inquiring into the truth.

Concerning the Relics of St. Allucius that were found, In the name of the Lord. Amen. It is contained in a certain ancient book, in several places consumed by age, in which there is no superscription, but only a sign in this manner, namely T 1344, covered with written goat parchment, existing in the archive of the episcopal curia of Lucca, among other things at folio 4. In the year of the Lord's nativity 1344, indiction XII, on the 4th day of June. Before the venerable father in Christ and lord, Brother William ^a, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic see bishop of Lucca, the provident man Br. Peter, rector of the hospital of St. Allucius ^b of the pieve of Pescia of this diocese ^c, being placed in the fort of Monte Topai , set forth that while he was recently, together with certain honest men, in the church of the aforesaid hospital, they deliberated among themselves to search for the Relics of the aforesaid St. Allucius: since they had heard on other occasions from persons worthy of credit that they were there and had long been venerated by the faithful in those parts. Whence wishing themselves to the altar of the said church, there beside it they saw a coffin, in which they firmly thought the Relics of St. Allucius to be. Which coffin uncovering, which was a stone chest, they saw the said sacred Relics, which they did not dare to touch without the counsel of the aforesaid Lord bishop; and therefore they ran as suppliants to the same Reverend Father and Lord bishop abovementioned, that he should deign to counsel them and mandate what they should observe in the foregoing. Which Reverend father in Christ and lord, by the grace of God and of the apostolic see bishop of this Church of Lucca, gladly wishing, as is fitting, to exalt the praises of the holy court ; but on this account not departing from the path of law ^d, committed to the venerable man Br. Paul Lapus *, of the Order of Preachers, lector in philosophy, that he should go to the said place and search out the truth of the foregoing from experts, by letters of the undersigned content ^e and tenor, namely:

[2] report is made to the bishop of Lucca, Br. William, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic see bishop of Lucca, to our beloved in Christ Br. Paul Lapus, of the Order of Preachers, lector in Philosophy, greeting in the Lord Jesus Christ. In these days joyful news, rousing the ears of our mind, has come to us, how God, who is ever wonderful in his Saints, and does not allow a light long hidden to remain under a bushel, but orders the light to shine out of darkness, in the plebanate of Pescia, in the place called the hospital of St. Allucius, has brought hidden things to light. For he has now wonderfully revealed the body of the Saint, with whose title the same hospital is known to be distinguished, so that for those venerating the merits of the same Saint spiritual joy may increase in the minds of the faithful, temporal things may come to be cheap, and the rewards of eternal merit may be obtained. But since the sacred sanctions of the Fathers furnish us a form concerning the Relics and veneration of the Saints, and how, where a doubt is aired, pastors and prelates are compelled to follow the form given: hence it is that, trusting in your prudence and experience, we commit and mandate to you that, going to the said hospital, discreet faithful being called together with you, such as shall seem good to you, you should to the said place diligently, concerning the truth of the holy Relics (as is piously believed) found, and whatever can be found whether through the memory of the ancients, or through writing and any other signs, represent it to us, so that according to the due form, assigned to us by the holy fathers, exalting the merits of so great a patron, we may merit to claim this patron and intercessor for ourselves and for all that country, which we desire with all our bowels to bring to perfection for the praise of the said Saint, our patronage and the praise of God. Given in our Fort of Topari ^f, in the year of the nativity of the Lord 1344, indiction XII, on the 25th day of June.

[3] who commits the inquiry to Br. Paul, of the Order of Preachers After the commission, Br. Paul, the aforesaid commissary , having returned from executing the contents of the aforesaid commission, reported to the abovementioned Reverend Father and Lord Bishop of Lucca that by virtue of the abovementioned commission made to him he had gone to the land of Pescia and the abovementioned hospital of St. Allucius, and there had inquired about the aforesaid things, and that he had found them as and according to the public and authentic instrument which he asserted he had caused to be drawn up thereupon by the hand of Ser Niccolò di Ser Bondo: which instrument he gave and consigned to the Lord bishop himself, of which indeed the tenor is such, namely: In the name of the Lord. Amen. The religious man Br. Paul Lapi, of the Order of Friars Preachers, lector in philosophy, by the commission made to him by the Reverend Lord Br. William, by the grace of God bishop of Lucca, concerning the inquiry into the Relics, as was said, of St. Allucius, by whose name the hospital of Campo is known to be entitled, of the diocese of Lucca, of the plebate * of Pescia, as I the undersigned notary have seen it contained concerning his commission and mandate in the letters transmitted by the said Lord bishop, and secured by the impression of his seal: of which the tenor is such, namely: Br. William, etc., as above.

[4] is found whole Which Br. Paul, coming to Pescia by virtue of the said commission, wishing to be more fully informed about the aforesaid things and the contents of the letters of his commission, a solemn information having been held with several persons worthy of credit and especially with the old men of the said land, concerning the truth of the holy Relics, as was said, found, of the said St. Allucius, went to the place and church of the said hospital, some number of discreet faithful being called together, and there, the grace of the Holy Spirit being invoked, by whom the hearts of the faithful are directed, he found the undersigned writings , testifying that the Relics of the man of venerable life St. Allucius are wholly contained in the aforesaid church of the said hospital: first he saw a stone chest on the left side of the said church, which being opened, he found two wooden caskets, as if new, of the same size, and each with its key placed on top, fastened with plugs ^g, which keys and plugs were rusty and of ancient and unusual form. Likewise he found two glass ampoules of unusual form, full more than half with clear and limpid water; and he found a marble stone or tablet, containing clearly, plainly and most openly, word for word, the following writing:

[5] the body of the Saint. ✠ ANNO DOMINI MILLESIMO CENTESIMO TRIGESIMO QUARTO ^h, DECIMO KALENDAS NOVEMBRIS B. ALLUCIUS MIGRAVIT AD CHRISTUM; ET MILLESIMO CENTESIMO OCTUAGESIMO SECUNDO, IN DIE S. QUIRICI ⁱ REVELATUM EST CORPUS EJUS, SEPTIMOQUE KALENDAS AUGUSTI HOC IN LOCO RECONDITUM. [✠ In the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and thirty-four, on the tenth before the Kalends of November, Blessed Allucius departed to Christ; and in the one thousand one hundred and eighty-second, on the day of St. Quiricus, his body was revealed, and on the seventh before the Kalends of August it was laid up in this place.] And the said caskets being opened, each with its key, he found in the first, in a certain linen cloth or white towel ^k, the bones utterly uncorrupted: namely the head with the lower jaw, one bone of the legs, two other bones of the shoulder-blade and breast, and two thicker ones of the arms and one more slender of one of the said arms. And in the other casket he found the remaining bones, besides the aforesaid, which are perfectly and wholly required for the formation of the body of one man, wrapped in a certain towel, much corrupted by age, and in a certain small silk cloth with a certain little cross of white cloth sewn on top ^l. Likewise he found above the aforesaid chest, directly on the wall of the said church, a painting from most ancient figures, an image of the said St. Allucius, with some history of his life. Likewise he found the said hospital, from time out of memory, named by the appellation of St. Allucius. Likewise he found in the annal ^m of the said church of Pescia, that on the tenth before the Kalends of November St. Alluccius, rector of the hospital of Campo , in whose time God exalted that place. And all these things were found by the said Br. Paul in the church of the said hospital and also in the pieve of Pescia, before me the notary and the undersigned witnesses, namely Lord Francesco, plebanus of the pieve of St. Mary of Pescia, Br. Peter, rector of the said hospital, Nuccio Bui , Cantuccio Bonti, Giuntino Vanni, Facino Vanni, Nardino Nacchi, Vannino Nicolucci, Bindo Marchi, Guido Cei, Beato Cantucci , Giovanni Purrinelli *, Dei ⁿ Catucci, and Cecco Mei of Pescia, witnesses called and asked for this, in the year of the nativity of the Lord 1344, indiction XII, on the 27th day of June.

ANNOTATIONS.

held the see of Lucca from the year 1330 to 1349, and is numbered among its best prelates Ughelli. Ital. Sacr. tom. I, col. 823..

"Since it has quite often been to the detriment of the Christian religion that certain persons put the relics of the saints up for sale and display them indiscriminately: in order that it may not be so detracted from in future, we decree by the present ordinance that ancient relics shall henceforth in no way be displayed outside a reliquary, nor be put up for sale. And let no one presume to venerate publicly those newly found, unless they have first been approved by the authority of the Roman Pontiff. Prelates, moreover, are not to permit those who come to their churches for the sake of veneration to be deceived by various fictions or false documents, as has been accustomed to happen in very many places for the sake of gain." In our case there was no question of newly found relics, since it was known that the body of St. Allucius rested in the church of the hospital house; and therefore recourse to the Roman Pontiff was not necessary. But since the reliquary was to be opened and the holy body uncovered, it was the duty of the prelate of Lucca to inquire lest the faithful be deceived by some fiction or false document: wherefore he delegates his place to Br. Paolo Lapi, of the Order of Preachers. Compare what we said at num. 12 of the Preliminary Commentary.

* P. Topori Tauparii

* P. adds clericis

* perhaps voltantes, that is, vertentes?

* P. locum

* P. supplicaverunt

* P. viri sancti

* P. Lapi

* P. adds die XXX Junii

* P. suprascriptæ

* P. perquisivisse

* P. eo

* P. plebanatus

* P. signia

* P. firmanter

* P. tabellicia

* P. ossibus

* P. omits corrupta

* perhaps picturatam?

* P. adds sæpius

* Add obierit

* P. Turi

* P. Catucci

* P. Puccinelli

CHAPTER II.

The Life of St. Allucius; the approval of his relics.

Ancient Life Likewise he reported that he had found a Legend of the Life and of certain miracles of the said St. Alluccius, which, written on a parchment leaf ^a, he presented to the same lord bishop, the tenor of which is as follows, namely: Here begins the Life of Blessed Alluccius, Confessor.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Alluccius, servant of God, solicitous steward of the poor of Christ, to the honour of Christ and of all the saints, and for the refreshment of the poor, rebuilt the hospital of Campo Loano , which had been destroyed in his time; and there he established a church in honour of St. Luke the Evangelist ^b and of the holy martyr Herculanus ^c, and he received into the same hospice ^d many brothers who for the love of God were leaving behind estates or wives and children and all their other goods and everything. On Mount Albano ^e, situated in a great wilderness, he took care with the highest desire and great labour to set in order another church in honour of St. Bartholomew and St. Clement and St. Columban and other saints, for the honour of the hospital and the sustenance of the poor, which he had completed on the aforesaid mountain. Beside the Arno also, on the public road, he established another hospital, in which many poor persons are refreshed daily; beside which hospital there was a great river, where many pilgrims were in danger: and he, bearing letters to the bishop of Florence so that he might build a bridge there, found a noble with … ^f living in those parts, who were making much profit from the ferrying and passage of men, and they would not permit a bridge to be built there. But Alluccius himself, softening those men with his sweet and gentle words, calmed them; and they permitted a bridge to be built there. Whence he himself was the founder and beginning of the bridge of the Arno ^g: and truly was he called Alluccius, because by his life and conduct he drew to himself or allured many men. And his life and conduct were marvellously made known through all Tuscany and through the greatest part of Lombardy, and also through the March, and even as far as Ravenna and Venice, and as far as Ancona.

[7] by very many miracles For from the very dawn of his boyhood he had gone, for the pasturing of cows and oxen, to the place called Turetto ^h: and as he was seeking green grass where he might pasture the cows and oxen, a very great flood of waters followed, with whirlwinds and thunder. Whence all the streams were so full that he was quite unable to return to his own house or to any other: wherefore, seeking a hiding-place , and fleeing to a certain tree, all the cows and oxen followed him as a father; and there, Alluccius lying beside the tree, they all made a circle next to him, and through the whole night until day they lay beside him. His father, Homo-Dei by name, and other members of the household, seeking him and the beasts in the morning, found him and the beasts beside a certain tree, the beasts remaining behind him in the manner of a circle, and having no hurt from the water, and the ground dry, as if no rain had come; and they returned with great joy to the hospital, for the son had been lost and was found; and from that day forward they handed over to him the whole administration of the hospital ⁱ. There God deigned to show many miracles through him. For he was a father of the poor, a consoler of orphans and widows; for whatever he could find he distributed to the poor most diligently and with great reverence.

[8] and by manifold benefit At one time peace between Ravenna

and Faenza he settled ^k; at Venice he freed more than forty men held bound in prisons. At one time, when famine was threatening, a woman came with her two sons to Blessed Alluccius, and said to him: Lord father, consoler of orphans, I and my sons are tormented by hunger, and I can in no way have or find what I may eat with my sons. Wherefore I humbly beseech your goodness that you would look kindly upon so great a need, and show the hand of your mercy toward us. Having heard this, and having compassion on her misery and that of her sons, calling the administrator with a dove-like voice, he told him to come to their aid. But he, replying most harshly, said that he had no bread, only a Starium ^l of millet. Alluccius said to him: My brother, God is the repayer of all good things: give according to what you have, and God will have mercy on us: for God is able to multiply food for us, who fed the children of Israel in the desert, and who with five loaves and two fishes satisfied five thousand men . But he, ministering most violently , going to the chest in order to give them bread, found the chest full to the top, where there had been no bread except a sextarium. Wherefore returning to Allucius with great rejoicing, he announced these things to him; who gave immense thanks to God, and increased his faith also, and commanded him that according as God had exceedingly * multiplied it, he should spend it more generously upon the poor.

[9] renowned among all: For a certain man, newly ^m deprived of his eyes for his crimes, mercy was sought of Blessed Allucius, who took back the eyes that had been torn out, and replaced them whence they had been pulled away, and he recovered his sight as before. Also he freed in the name of Christ a certain woman of Fregnano ⁿ, at the place called Fœnaria , who was tormented by demons; who afterwards, as long as she lived, served God and the hospital of Blessed Alluccius. One day, as he was arranging to go to Faenza, when he was crossing the Alps he found robbers there, who had already plundered and wounded many; who, seeing Blessed Alluccius with two of his men, made an assault upon him : and the robbers, at once pricked to the heart, laid down their arms and threw themselves on the ground and asked of him mercy for their evil deeds. He bestowed on them words of consolation , and converted them to the Lord: and they handed over to him their little gifts, and promised to do no harm to anyone. On the second and fourth and sixth days of the week he always fasted; he did not eat flesh or blood, cheese or egg. He fasted seven Lents, during which he never ate; and every day he received the body and blood of Christ ^o; and the bishop of Lucca, Benedict by name [p], and furthermore certain priors of Lucca had him with them through one whole Lent, and testified that he had not eaten. A certain woman named Fraxilla, of Monte Calvioli [q], who was crippled, he healed; and Finintende of Castro Monte Murlo [r], likewise crippled, he healed: and another man of Lucca, Ugolino, son of Paul, from the gate of San Gervasio, he healed: to Costa he restored the sight of one eye, which he had lost; and so he was ever afterwards in the hospital. Ciuzus also saw him in his sleep after the passing of Blessed Allucius, and was so inflamed with desire to see him that he went himself to his sepulchre, and in order to see him made a pit there; but he was quite unable to attain to the sight of him. But he chose to do this from malice and not with a good intention: all his limbs being crippled, he lost the use of his tongue, and so he died. Rusticus also, after his death, was crippled on one side, and so came to the hospital, where he promised to serve; and thus, through the mercy of God and the merits of Blessed Alluccius, he was freed. Two men of Siena were led to his sepulchre unseeing, and thus by the merits of Blessed Alluccius they were freed *.

[10] the bishop, having heard men of skill, All and each of these things the above-written father in Christ and Lord William, by the grace of God and of the Apostolic See bishop of Lucca, saw, read and diligently understood; and because at the time of the aforesaid report, made to him by the said Br. Paul, he was making his stay and residence in his own castle of Montopoli [s], where he could not without difficulty have an abundance of skilled men with whom he might deliberate what was to be done concerning the foregoing, he saw that the matter should be held over until he should come to Lucca. And when he had come to Lucca, as soon as he could, having convoked an abundance of those skilled in canon law, namely divine and human, whose names and also dignities are these, namely: Lord Nicholas, presbyter of Lucca, skilled in canon law; Lord Ciatus de Antelmonellis , archdeacon of Lucca and pievano of San Macario; Lord Geus de Podio, canon, rector of the church of Matracia ; Lord John de Serbano , canon of Lucca and pievano of Sesto; Lord John Motronus, canon of Lucca and rector of the church of Aquilea; Lord Bonajuncta Baldinelli, canon of Lucca and rector of the church of St. Peter Samaldi; Lord Andrew of Todi, doctor of decrees, prior of the church of St. John and Reparata, and vicar of the same lord bishop [t]; Lord Guido Corbi, doctor, canon of the said church; Lord Bonamore de Corelia; Lord Donatus, prior of the church of San Paolino; Lord John of Pisa, prior of the church of St. Mary Ferio portam ; Lord John de Fridiano , canon of the said church, skilled in law ; Br. Gratian, of the convent of the Friars Preachers of Lucca; Br. Opiso, guardian of the Friars Minor of Lucca; Lord Andrew, abbot of Cantignano; Br. Robert, prior of the Hermit Friars; Lord Lapus, prior of the church of St. Peter the Greater; the prior and companion of the convent of the Carmelite Friars, rectors of the church of San Sensio ; Lord Gerald, prior of the church of Tosignano *; the presbyter Benedict, rector of the church of St. Mary in Via; the presbyter Magidlus of the church of St. Bartholomew de Gallo; and several other rectors of the churches of the city and diocese of Lucca: in the hall of the episcopal palace at Lucca he publicly and openly set forth before them the things narrated and requested by the aforesaid Br. Peter, Rector of the hospital of St. Alluccius above-mentioned: asking of them that, deliberation having first been held among themselves, they should counsel him what was to be done by him concerning the foregoing.

[11] he pronounces the relics genuine, Among whom there first rose the venerable man, the lord archpresbyter above-mentioned [u] , and asked that the reports made by the said Br. Paul be recited publicly, so that all, being instructed, might reply more deliberately . And then I, the undersigned notary, at the mandate of the said Reverend Father my Lord, read the aforesaid reports, made by the said Br. Paul to the same lord bishop, publicly, clearly and openly, in the hearing of all: whence all understood most fully. For which reason the lord archpresbyter, skilled in canon law, rose again, and proving by the canon laws, namely human and divine, which he openly alleged, openly counselled the same lord bishop that the aforesaid holy relics of St. Alluccius ought to be venerated by the faithful and honour paid to them: and thereupon the reverend man Lord Andrew rose, the aforesaid doctor of decrees, vicar of the same lord bishop, and confirming the things said by the said lord archpresbyter, he also adduced other points of his own to prove the foregoing, by which it was manifestly evident that the aforesaid lord bishop ought, indeed was bound, to venerate the said holy relics. And so, all the aforesaid being questioned in order, all unanimously agreed with what had been said by the foregoing; except for the venerable man Lord John, canon of the church of San Frediano of Lucca, who counselled that the aforesaid matters should be deferred until the morrow, so that full deliberation might be taken. On account of this statement of his the same Reverend Father the Lord Bishop deferred the holding of the aforesaid council to the following day, and requesting them, he mandated that they be present very early in the morning in the same place, to give him counsel on the aforesaid, if perhaps God, who enlightens hearts … it should happen that something else seem good to him *.

[12] and to be set forth for public cult: On the following day, which was … of August, all the aforesaid were in the same place, and also the venerable man Lord … prior of the church of San Michele of Lucca, skilled in canon law; Lord Br. … pievano … of Pescia and the most prudent man Lord Hopici de Camaioze, skilled in law, before the aforesaid Father the Lord bishop of Lucca. Before whom I, the aforesaid notary, at the mandate of my Lord likewise read all the foregoing publicly and openly, all understanding. And the aforesaid men skilled in law all with unanimous concord counselled the lord bishop that, since the aforesaid relics of St. Alluccius were ancient, and anciently venerated as holy, although they have been found only at present, because they lay hidden through the malice of the times, honour should be caused to be paid to these holy relics, that they be ordered to be venerated by the Christian faithful, and that the day of the passing of Blessed Alluccius, which was the tenth before the kalends of November, be solemnized and solemnly celebrated: and that the same lord bishop should grant his indulgences, such as the law concedes to him, to those venerating such relics. In which opinion all the aforesaid were, with no one dissenting. And therefore the aforesaid lord bishop, with the consent and counsel of his above-mentioned chapter and of the above-mentioned prelates and rectors of the churches of the city and diocese of Lucca, sitting in tribunal, having first faithfully invoked the name of God almighty, and having made the venerable sign of the cross, counselled Lord Br. Peter, rector of the aforesaid hospital of St. Alluccius, standing in his presence, that the said relics of the aforesaid St. Alluccius can and ought to be venerated as holy by him and other Christian faithful.

[13] he grants indulgences of 40 days. Which relics are placed in the church of the aforesaid hospital of St. Alluccius, even as and in what manner is more fully contained in the above-mentioned report by the said Br. Paul, concerning which the said Br. Paul caused the above-mentioned public instrument to be made: and granting licence to the said Lord Br. Peter, rector of the aforesaid hospital, being present and hearing these things, that he may and shall be allowed to transfer the said holy relics from the said place where they were found, if he should prefer and it should seem good to him, to another more honourable place for the honour of the aforesaid saint , provided however not outside his diocese. And he granted indulgence, now as from then, to all and each who should come to that church, each one henceforth in perpetuity, on the day of the translation to be made of the said relics, and on the day of his departure to Christ, which was the tenth before the kalends of November, and through the octaves of the said days only, being truly penitent and confessed and from a motive of devotion, who out of reverence for God and for the said saint should bestow something of their goods on the said hospital, relying on God almighty and the glorious and Blessed Virgin Mary

his Mother, for their help, and confiding in the merits of the Blessed Peter and Paul, his Apostles, and of Blessed Martin, his patron [v], he relaxed in the Lord forty days of enjoined penances. All these things were done, namely the counsel requested by the said lord bishop, and given by the above-mentioned clergy to the said lord bishop, and by the lord bishop himself to the said Br. Paul, and the above-mentioned indulgence granted by the same lord bishop, at Lucca, in the episcopal palace of Lucca, in the presence of Raymund Bunii of Monte Albano and Ser John Michaelis of Pamplona and Br. Peter Boterti and Ser Rossecius, canon of Pescia, witnesses called for this, in the year of the Nativity of the Lord 1344, indiction XII, on the 26th day of August, in the third year of the pontificate of the Lord Pope Clement III.

ANNOTATIONS.

or of time or of diet, or of other considerations, for which the same medicine is given either more rarely or more often, or in greater or lesser quantity, so too must it be understood of the spiritual medicine, which is the body of Christ. For those occupied with worldly cares can get themselves ready to receive it more rarely than those who are intent only on spiritual pursuits: and some are more, some less circumspect in the guarding of their life and morals, and in the purity of their conscience. Some too are drawn by a more ardent desire to the receiving of that saving food: but others are in a certain way terrified when they ought to approach; and unless conscience urged them, and the custom of religion led them on, or the fear of a greater estrangement from God impelled them, they would very rarely approach that wondrous sacrament. Yet scarcely anyone seems to be so religious and holy, priests excepted, that it would not suffice him by custom to communicate once in the week, unless at times some special cause or reason should urge more, a supervening infirmity, or a singularly solemn festival, or an unaccustomed fervour of devotion and an unrestrained thirst of desire for the receiving of him who alone suffices to cool the ardour of the loving soul. Whoever desires to know more, and that deduced from theological reasoning, concerning the daily communion of the laity, may consult the Treatise on the Eucharist of Cardinal Juan de Lugo, Disputation XVII.

p. Benedict, bishop of Lucca, held the see from the year 1118 to 1127 Ughelli. Ital. sac. tom. I, col. 818..

q. Mons Calvioli I interpret as Mons Calvuli, in the lower Arno Valley on its right bank [Lami. Eccl. Florent. monum. tom. III, Index geograph. Compare Ripetti. v°. Monte Calvoli.]: by the Italians it is called Monte Calvoli, Monte Calvi, today in the diocese of San Miniato.

r. Mons Murlus, Montemurlo, has a baptismal church in the diocese of Pistoia Lami. Ibid. l. c. Ripetti v°. Monte Murlo..

s. Montopere I judge to be the same place which above, chapter I, Annotation f, was called Mons Taupiarius.

t. We see that several canons of the church of Lucca were at the same time rectors of parishes, even of those situated outside the city: that this custom was in force up to the time of the Council of Trent is evident from the fact that the Roman Congregation of the Interpreters of the said Council, being quite often asked in which of the two places one should reside who held at once a canonical prebend and a parochial benefice, replied that the obligation of residing pressed more upon the parish priest than upon the canon. I shall bring forward one reply from the letters of Giulio Poggiani, secretary of letters to the Congregation. The letters of Poggiani, once collected by Antonio Maria Graziani, were edited with fresh care by Girolamo Lagomarsini, of the Society of Jesus. Among the various uses of these letters, this one is not to be despised, that Poggiani was the first secretary of the Congregation of the Council, in whom therefore the solution of various difficulties is to be sought. The letter of the Congregation, moreover, is directed to the Cardinal of Lorraine, archbishop of Rheims, and dated the fifth before the kalends of November 1564, and thus at a time when not yet a whole year had elapsed since the conclusion of the synod of Trent. It reads as follows Tom. I, pag. 339.: The canons of Verdun, having set forth by a petition the difficulties and dangers in which they are continually engaged on account of the unbridled greed of the heretics threatening their goods and fortunes, affirm that if they must obey the decree of the Council of Trent concerning parish churches, especially since the fruits of the prebends have been diminished on account of the wars of former times, they cannot meet the necessary expenses. Wherefore they have sought help from our most holy Lord at such a time of theirs. And this is the petition, that the canons of Verdun who have a parish church in that diocese or in its territories, residing in their canonry, and having set over their parish a priest suitable and acceptable to that people, provided they themselves visit the parish they hold every third month, should not be compelled to reside in the parish: nor on that account be capable of being deprived of it or of its fruits. And so, these things being known, His Holiness ordered me to send a letter to your most illustrious Amplitude, by which, in view of that most ample duty of office over which you preside, I should seek your opinion and wish on the whole matter. Concerning which I have also written to the bishop of Verdun, and at the same time have asked him to inform me on all these matters, whether they stand as the canons have set forth; and whether the parish churches are so far distant from the cathedrals that the duties of both offices cannot be discharged, and whether those who preside over parish churches are so many that, if they should rather reside in them, as reason seems to require, divine worship in the cathedral would suffer great detriment; and how much in all the annual fruits of the prebends and of the parish churches are. For which reason I ask your most illustrious Amplitude that you be willing to advise me on this whole subject. Thereafter Poggiani constantly replied to like questions that canons, even of a cathedral church, ought to reside in the parishes, leaving the cathedral. But at last these miseries ceased, when the decrees of the Council of Trent, prohibiting the plurality of incompatible benefices, were put into execution.

u. No mention is made in the foregoing of any archpresbyter: wherefore I believe that this aforesaid archpresbyter is the same as Ciatus de Antelmonellis, who in the number above is called archdeacon of Lucca and pievano of San Macario. And so a slip of the pen occurred in the writing of one or the other title.

v. The cathedral church of Lucca was formerly sacred to St. Martin the Confessor; and hence he is called patron; although already Alexander II, formerly Anselmo Badagio, in the year 1060, when he was administering the bishopric of Lucca, had dedicated the same church, rebuilt from the foundations, to the most holy Crucifix, which they call the Holy Face; yet it seems to have retained at the same time the title of St. Martin. This pontiff distinguished with many privileges the church of Lucca, which he also retained as Pope: he conceded to the bishop the sacred pallium and an archiepiscopal cross, to the canons mitres Ughelli. Ital. sac. tom. I, col. 791, 808 and 820.. At last Benedict XIII in the year 1726 made the cathedral church archiepiscopal, yet with no suffragan assigned to it Orlendin. Orb. sac. et prof. tom. III, pag. 1031..

* P. Campoliano

* P. suo

* P. pergens

* adduxit

* P. adds et

* P. pro

* P. suprascriptam

* P. hominum

* P. quam molestus

* P. quam

* P. Perhaps milium?

* P. noviter?

* P. Fenarium

* P. eos

* P. consolatoria

* P. Semintende

* P. Cirolus

* P. illuminati

* P. adds episcopi

* P. unde

* P. providit

* P. adds peritorum

* P. archipresbyter

* P. Antelminellis

* P. Matraia

* P. Sorbano

* P. Foris portam

* P. de S. Frediano

* P. adds prior et

* P. Guardianus et fr. Opito

* P. prior et fr. Robertus.

* P. adds fr. Vita praceptor hospitalis de Malonotte; Rectores ecclesiæ S. Petri Cigoli

* P. Fassignano

* P. supradictus

* P. deliberate

* P. adds dicti

* P. jura

* P. sit

* P. Hospito

* P. sibi

* P. suprascripti

* P. adds sanctæ

* P. omits sicut

* P. adds transferre

* P. fr.

* P. Roberti