Severinus of Cologne

ON ST. SEVERINUS OF COLOGNE, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR,

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FIFTH CENTURY.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Severinus, bishop of Cologne. (S.)

BY J. V. H.

§ Sole. The distinction between St. Severinus of Bordeaux and of Cologne; the latter never occupied the see of Bordeaux: he succeeds Eufrates; he founds the church of SS. Cornelius and Cyprian; his death and Acts.

The Roman Martyrology has on the present day: At Bordeaux, The distinction between the namesakes who died at Bordeaux: of Saint Severinus, bishop of Cologne and Confessor: but Usuard, as we shall see below, more correctly: In the city of Cologne, of Saint Severinus, bishop and Confessor; the Rosweyde Addition after Severinus adds: archbishop and confessor, who at the hour of the passing of St. Martin, when after matins he was going round the holy places with his clerics, heard a choir singing psalms above. Wandelbert celebrates Severinus alone in these verses Du Sollier, Martyrology of Usuard, 23rd of October.:

Severinus, on the tenth, holy, you then look upon Your people of Cologne, shining from the summit of the first temple.

Moreover, if we consult the Breviaries and ecclesiastical Calendars, innumerable Churches both of France and of Germany, which we forbear to enumerate, show sacred veneration to St. Severinus. An ancient tradition holds that St. Severinus, sprung from Aquitaine, after occupying the see first of Sens and then of Cologne, returned to Bordeaux when already an old man, and again, Bishop St. Amandus yielding, took up the rule of the Church of Bordeaux, and met his end in it. The Roman Martyrology suggests similar things, when it assigns the place of death, Bordeaux, to the bishop of Cologne; this moreover is brought forward in the clearest words in the Life which Surius published at this day. But more recent critics have thought that there was not one Severinus who sat both at Cologne and at Bordeaux, but two, of whom one lived in Aquitaine, the other in Germany. Before all else, therefore, we must recall to the balance the reasons that the more recent writers bring forward to establish a twofold Severinus, and which seem to us probable. Wherefore let us set forth in separate Commentaries the deeds of St. Severinus of Cologne and of his namesake of Bordeaux: and we shall begin with the one of Cologne, as the elder.

[2] St. Severinus of Cologne, from the see of Bordeaux, And indeed, that St. Severinus of Cologne is to be distinguished from him who occupied the see of Bordeaux under St. Amandus, chronological reason urges first of all. For it is agreed among the learned that St. Severinus succeeded Euphrates, and that indeed about the middle of the fourth century, that is, between the years 350 and 360 Acta Sanctorum, volume III of May, page 212, no. 9.; on the other hand it is certain that St. Amandus was not bishop of Bordeaux before the beginning of the fifth century; since his predecessor, St. Delphinus, was then living, as is established from letter XX, or by others XVI, of St. Paulinus of Nola, addressed to him Migne, Patrologia, volume LXI, column 246., in which he extols the charity toward himself both of St. Anastasius, Roman Pontiff from the year 392 to 401 or 402, and of St. Venerius, bishop of Milan, who in the month of August of the year 400 succeeded St. Simplician Sassi, Archiepiscopi Mediolanenses, volume I, page 105.. There is usually cited carmen XXVII, now XXX, of the same St. Paulinus, in which the death and cult of St. Delphinus is reported in these words Works of Paulinus, column 673.:

Nor did lesser grace shine forth on the western lands, Ambrose stands forth for Latium, Vincent for the Iberians, Gaul took Martin, Aquitaine Delphinus.

From these words some strive to deduce Histoire littéraire de la France, volume II, page 45. that St. Delphinus died in the year 403 or, if he ended his life in the month of December, in the year 402. But in the first place it is uncertain in what year this carmen XXX, the Natalicium XVIII of St. Felix, was written, although it can conveniently be brought back to the year 411 or the following; seeing that carmen Natalicium IX is tied to the year 402 Works of Paulinus, column 647, note *.: yet it indicates nothing by which the accurate time of the death of St. Delphinus can be defined, as is sufficiently clear from the cult of SS. Ambrose, Vincent and Martin alleged at the same time, all of whom ended their life in the fourth century, but at an interval of many years.

[3] Prevented by his great age, This alone then is certain, that St. Delphinus lived at least until the year 400, and thus that his successor Amandus occupied the see of Bordeaux in the fifth century. These things being so, who will persuade himself that St. Severinus of Cologne, having already forty or fifty years in the episcopate, and thus a decrepit old man, took up the rule of an unknown people? Nor does it help to say that St. Severinus, a refugee as far as Bordeaux, was taken up by St. Amandus into a share of pastoral solicitude, so that by experience of affairs and the splendour of his holiness he might lighten the burden of his friend the bishop, without being called bishop of Bordeaux in the true sense of the name. For an interpretation of this kind is openly contrary to the testimony of Gregory of Tours, who in the book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter XLV, reports Migne, Patrologia, volume LXXI, column 863.: Whom (Severinus) thereafter Bishop Amandus so loved and venerated that he substituted him in his own place, and he himself was held as the junior. Finally after a few years the most blessed Severinus died; on whose burial Bishop Amandus received back his place, which undoubtedly was returned to him through the obedience which he had shown toward the Saint of God. From these words it is manifest that this Severinus was bishop of Bordeaux in the true sense of the name, since we have the substitution of one bishop for another, and the return of the see to him who had previously left it. Rightly therefore, whether by Gregory of Tours himself or by anyone else, the head of the cited chapter is inscribed: On Severinus, bishop of Bordeaux. The reason brought forward, then, concerning the great age of St. Severinus of Cologne stands, which ought to have prevented him from taking up so great a burden among an unknown people.

[4] By the sacred canons, Besides the reason sought from chronology, there is also another, canonical, on account of which we think that St. Severinus of Cologne was different from the one of Bordeaux: namely canon I of the council of Sardica, surely known in Gaul, since several bishops of that region were present at it, forbids the translations of bishops from one see to another Labbe, Concilia, volume II, column 644.: Bishop Hosius said: No less must a bad custom than a pernicious corruption be rooted out from the foundations; so that it may be permitted to no bishop

to pass from his own city to another city. For the cause is manifest for which they attempt to do this; since no bishop has been found in this matter who has passed from a greater city to a lesser. Whence it appears that they are inflamed with the ardour of avarice and serve ambition and that they may exercise domination. If it pleases all, let a ruin of this kind be punished more savagely and severely, so that he who is such may not have even lay communion. All answered: It pleases. By the second canon Ibid., place cited. the excuse is then shut off, that a bishop of this kind was compelled to translation by letters of the people: that, says the canon, could have happened through the corruption of a few. And that even lay communion is denied to translated bishops is a most heavy penalty, which indicates a most heavy crime. It is therefore with difficulty that we can persuade ourselves that two most holy bishops, such as surely Severinus and Amandus were, so openly violated or neglected canons so recently passed and known to all: especially since the bishop of Cologne must be said, from what was said in the preceding number, to have exercised not a vicarious power, but his own. Nor ought this to escape us, that when the bishop of Tours treats in book I of the Miracles of St. Martin, chapter IV Migne, Patrologia, volume LXXI, column 918., of our St. Severinus, he knew him very well as bishop of Cologne: but speaking of St. Severinus of Bordeaux, he says in the book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapter XLV Ibid., column 862., that he was sent from the parts of the East to the city of Bordeaux. But if Severinus, who sat both at Cologne and at Bordeaux, had been one and the same, he would have designated him by the title of his bishopric of Cologne rather than by the vague indication of the East; indeed, if he were speaking of the bishop of Cologne, he would better have said that he came from the parts of the North, since Cologne lies to the north of the city of Bordeaux, inclining to the Eurus.

[5] And by the danger of his own people Finally the bishopric of Bordeaux seems to fit neither with the great age nor with the fame for sanctity of St. Severinus of Cologne. Not with the great age: at the beginning of the fifth century he was surely more than eighty years old, nor at that age could he prudently take up the burden of ruling a people so far unknown, since he had spent the greatest part of his life on the Rhine, especially when barbarian nations, who were infesting the Roman empire, were threatening the Gauls on every side. But much less does this episcopate fit with the sanctity of St. Severinus; for with the barbarians threatening, it was not lawful for a good shepherd to desert his flock; if ever there was a time for keeping vigil over the sheep entrusted to him, surely the present one pressed, when the barbarians, partly Arians partly idolaters, were threatening ruin to the inheritance of the Lord. Wherefore I judge that neither the divine revelation, of which the old Cologne Breviaries speak, is to be admitted as cause of the Aquitanian journey, since it belongs to the hireling, when the wolf comes, to leave the sheep and flee, but to the good shepherd, to give his life for his sheep. (John X, 11 and 12.) Nor is the other reason for the Aquitanian journey of greater moment to me, namely that St. Severinus fled for fear of the barbarians, to whose incursions the bishopric of Cologne lay directly exposed [Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique, volume X, page 556; Histoire littéraire de la France, volume II, page 178; Butler, 23rd of October.]. In the first place, at the time when the Aquitanian journey is placed, namely in the first four years of the fifth century, the barbarians were indeed threatening the Gauls, but so far they had not crossed the boundary of the Rhine: that first happened, on the testimony of Prosper In Dom Bouquet, volume I, page 627., under the consuls Arcadius VI and Anicius, in the common year 406. The Vandals, he says, and the Alans entered the Gauls, having crossed the Rhine, on the day before the Kalends of January. Orosius adds Ibid., page 598. that the nations of the Alans, Suevi and Vandals crush the Franks, cross the Rhine, invade the Gauls, and in direct attack reach as far as the Pyrenees, by whose barrier they are for a time repulsed and flow back through the surrounding provinces. St. Jerome, in letter CXXII, by others XI, to Ageruchia or Geruntia, graphically describes the devastation of the Gauls in these words Migne, Patrologia, volume XXII, column 1037.: Whatever lies between the Alps and the Pyrenees, what is enclosed by the Ocean and the Rhine, the Quadus, the Vandal, the Sarmatian, the Alans, Gepids, Heruli, Saxons, Burgundians, Alemanni, and, O lamentable commonwealth! the Pannonian enemies have laid waste. "For Assur also comes with them." Psalm LXXXII, 9. Mainz, once a noble city, has been captured and overthrown, and many thousands of men slaughtered in the church; the Vangiones destroyed by a long siege. The mighty city of Reims, Amiens, Arras, the Morini, farthest of men, Tournai, the Nemetae , Strasbourg, transferred into Germany! Aquitaine, and the Nine Peoples, the provinces of Lyon and Narbonne, except for a few cities, have all been ravaged; and these same the sword lays waste outside, hunger within. I cannot make mention of Toulouse without tears, which has not fallen up to now through the merits of the holy bishop Exuperius. The Spains themselves, on the very point of perishing, tremble daily, recalling the Cimbric irruption, and whatever others have suffered once, they suffer continually in fear.

[6] Which he could not, as was the height of the matter, occupy: That the letter of Jerome was written not later than the common year 409 is clear from the fact that the holy Doctor calls Spain so far free from the barbarian yoke, and not earlier than the year 407, because on the day before the first of this year the barbarians crossed the Rhine, and because Jerome indicates that the Spaniards were awaiting the invasion from day to day, which at last happened in the year 409, as Idacius announces in his chronicle in these words De Aguirre, Concilia Hispaniae, volume III, page 61, Rome edition of 1752.: The Alans, Vandals and Suevi entered the Spains in era 447 (common year 409), some mention the 4th before the kalends, others the 3rd before the ides of October, on a Tuesday, under the consuls Honorius VIII and Theodosius son of Arcadius III. Under the same consuls Idacius indicates the same event in his Fasti Ibid., 72.. The commonwealth being shaken by these whirlwinds, no suitable reason can be brought forward why St. Severinus should have moved from his place, since he could in no way provide for his safety by flight, and much less why, deserting his own flock, he could have taken up the rule of the people of Bordeaux, since their city too was forced to undergo the yoke of the barbarians De Vienne, Histoire de Bordeaux, volume I, page 12.. Nor do we see that the other bishops of the Gauls, placed in the same danger, deserted their flock, wherefore we judge that the same praise is to be ascribed to our Saint. Moreover, we by no means deny the Aquitanian journey itself, for which very many causes, although unknown to us, could have existed. For it is scarcely possible to doubt that St. Severinus died at Bordeaux, as is especially affirmed by the translation of his body from Bordeaux to Cologne. But on account of the reasons alleged above we judge that both his reception under St. Amandus, already bishop, and the pontificate of Bordeaux are to be rejected: indeed the Acts to be published below, although they are not without their errors, yet clearly signify, as we shall annotate, that our Saint retained his see of Cologne until death, and that his return to his Church was forestalled only by unforeseen death. From what has so far been said it seems very likely to us that there were two Saints Severinus, of whom one sat at Cologne, the other at Bordeaux. Of the one of Bordeaux, as we said, we shall treat below.

[7] To Eufrates, wrongly as a heretic As regards St. Severinus of Cologne, it must first be inquired in what order he is to be recorded among the bishops of Cologne. It is beyond controversy that in the fourth century of the Church and a part of the fifth the see of Cologne was occupied by Maternus, Eufrates, Severinus and Euergislus. Those who hold that there was no one in between Maternus and our Severinus have expunged Eufrates from the Catalogue of bishops, because, as the Acta Sanctorum Belgii have it Volume I, page 34., he was believed to be a heretic. Further, that Maternus was bishop of Cologne at the beginning of the fourth century is openly testified by St. Optatus, book I on the Schism, no. 23 [Migne, Patrologia, volume XI, column 930 and following. Compare Labbe, Concilia, volume I, column 1401.]: but whether one Maternus alone ruled that Church, or rather two, of whom the former sat in the first century, the latter in the fourth, is a great question among the learned; which we have tried to solve after a fashion in the historical Commentary on St. Florentinus, bishop of Trier, at the 16th of October Acta Sanctorum, volume VIII of October, page 16 and following.. Nor do we judge that Eufrates is to be expunged from the Catalogue of bishops, inasmuch as he was condemned of heresy in the Synod of Cologne. We have already shown in another place, namely in the Auctarium to the fifth volume of October, at the Acts of St. Sanctinus, Note 69 Acta Sanctorum, volume V of October, Auctarium, page 47., that the monuments of this synod have not come down to us genuine.

[8] Passed off, from the Acts of the pseudo-synod of Cologne, This opinion indeed Baronius states in clear words at the year 346, § VII: Reading through, he says, the Acts of that synod, and what is said to have preceded and followed it, we have recognized that all these labour under the suspicion of imposture… For we cannot easily be brought to believe that a man who had been branded with so infamous a mark (namely of Photinianism), however much he had recanted, was both restored in so short a space to his former see and chosen among the men outstanding in holiness and doctrine, the bishops of the Gauls who took part in the synod of Sardica, especially one whom a heresy graver than that of Arius had defamed. Wherefore our Joseph Hartzheim struck this synod of Cologne from the councils of Germany, because, he says Concilia Germaniae, volume I, Preface, page 22 and following., in my judgment, considering all that the most ingenious critics have devised for defending and retaining this synod, there remain incurable contradictions both from the reckoning of the time, and from the reckoning of the persons, and from the very error of Photinus, who is related to have been condemned there, so that I see that it can no longer be sustained by any reasoning. I say nothing yet of the silence of all contemporary and nearly contemporary writers from the fourth to the eleventh century, in which Heriger was writing; but why do I say silence? Contemporary writers write such things about these years and persons as can by no colour of truth be reconciled with the acts and persons of the council of Cologne. Thus far Joseph Hartzheim, who then ranges over various arguments confirming his assertion, indicated also in the cited Auctarium on St. Sanctinus.

[9] He succeeded: Although Eufrates does not seem to have been deposed, there is nevertheless no doubt that our St. Severinus succeeded him; for all the Catalogues of the bishops of Cologne agree in this succession. And the beginning of the pontificate of Severinus too is conveniently placed about the middle of the fourth century: for from St. Athanasius, in the letter to the Solitaries Works of St. Athanasius, page 226, Paris edition of 1608., we have that Eufrates of Cologne, sent to Antioch after the council of Sardica, at Easter of the year 348 was already an old man, and thus did not long survive this year. Which agrees otherwise with the calculation of all who establish that St. Severinus succeeded Eufrates about this time: indeed from this concurrence of times perhaps the fable arose of a deposed bishop of Cologne, whose memory, because he died in the East, was obliterated among the people of Cologne

. Something more certain would be taught us by the Chronicle of Regino of Prüm, if his chronology were more accurate: for he says between the years 350 and 364 Pertz, Monumenta historica Germaniae, volume I, page 525.: Severinus bishop of Cologne is held famous. But, I say, his chronology is altogether disturbed, since within the same years he places St. Martin in these words Ibid., place cited.: Bishop Martin passed over to the heavenly realms, who nevertheless closed his days at the extreme limit of the fourth century. So too he places the Council of Nicaea, held in the year 325, between the years 263 and 295. Nor is the error curable by the supposition that, a defect of calculation being once posited, the rest flows consistently; for then the said chronology would have historical weight: but everything is disturbed, so that for instance the beginning of the rule of Julian the Apostate, fixed at the year 310, differs from the true year by 51 years, while those of Valens by 47 years, Gratian by 43, Theodosius the Great by 40, precede the right chronology. So much so that the chronology of Regino can contribute scarcely anything to ordering the chronology. Just as, as we said above, it is established by no certain testimony in what accurate year St. Severinus began his episcopate, so too it is uncertain in what year he died. But received by St. Amandus, who entered on the see of Bordeaux at the beginning of the fifth century, he must have closed his days about the same time, that is, at the beginning of the fifth century: especially since he came to that city scarcely short of eighty years old: wherefore I have prefixed this time, such as it is, to the Commentary.

[10] It is further uncertain whether at the Council of Paris Very sparse are the monuments we have of the deeds of St. Severinus. Joseph Hartzheim, relying, as he says, on the authority of Henschen, says Concilia Germaniae, volume I, page 8. that St. Severinus, together with St. Servatius of Tongeren, took part in the council of Paris of the year 362, in which the Gallican bishops wrote to their colleagues, the Oriental bishops; and detesting the fraud of Rimini, they confess the ὁμοουσιον or consubstantiality of the Son, without however altogether condemning ὁμοιουσιον or similarity of substance of the Son with the Father [Sirmond, Concilia Galliae, volume I, page 16. Compare Longueval, Histoire de l'Église gallicane, volume I, page 275, Paris edition of 1825; Migne, Patrologia, volume X, column 710.], because, as St. Hilary had shown in the book On the Synods Migne, ibid., column 530., this word ὁμοιουσιον could be taken with a faithful and pious understanding, which afterward became the watchword of the Semi-Arians. And surely no one has ever called into doubt the integrity of faith of either St. Hilary or the fathers of Paris. Further Henschen, cited by Hartzheim, nowhere asserts that SS. Servatius and Severinus are to be counted among the fathers of Paris; but in the Preliminary Commentary to the Acts of St. Servatius under the 13th of May, no. 9 Acta Sanctorum, volume III of May, page 212., he is in doubt about St. Servatius, and altogether silent about St. Severinus: To this (council), he says, the subscriptions of the bishops are lacking, among whom PERHAPS Servatius, unless prevented by illness or some other matter, held his place. It is therefore a bare conjecture that Servatius was present at the synod of Paris, which Henschen himself in part weakens by adding Ibid., place cited.: Or unless, once deceived by the Arians, he shrank from all assemblies of bishops, and was unwilling thereafter to attend any synod, but took care to attend only to himself and his diocese.

[11] Of the year 362 he was present. To come closer to our St. Severinus, the said Henschen indicates by no word that the Saint was present at the said council. But after the words just cited he says: I should believe that it happened at this time that St. Severinus, bishop of Cologne, substituted for Eufrates, not at the council of Cologne of the year 347, but ten or sixteen years later, came to Tongeren, in order to confer on ecclesiastical matters with St. Servatius, by then an old man. From which words it is understood that it was not Henschen's mind to count our Saint among the fathers of Paris. Yet since the pontificate of St. Severinus embraces the whole time in which Constantius, his brothers Constantine and Constans being dead, governed the whole Roman empire, from the year 353 to 361 (for to defer the beginning of the pontificate of our Saint by ten or sixteen years after the year 347, that is, to the year 357 or even 363, seems to us to rest on no suitable testimony) we do not doubt that our St. Severinus strenuously defended the Catholic faith against the Arians; as his Life to be given below shows, and, if one may indulge in conjectures, that he attended some of the frequent councils within the Gauls, which Sulpicius Severus says, in book II of the Sacred History, chapter 45 Migne, Patrologia, volume XX, column 155., were held through the action of St. Hilary. Wherefore we entirely admit what is said of our Saint in the Life of St. Evergislus, as it is recited in Henschen's Commentary on the Acts of St. Servatius Acta Sanctorum, volume III of May, page 212.: The Arian heresy was at that time also raging in the Gauls, which the most blessed Severinus was everywhere striving to overthrow. That he went to Tongeren for the same reason the said Life teaches us, whether in order, according to Henschen Ibid., place cited., to confer counsels with St. Servatius, or, as Boucher would have it [In Chapeauville, Gesta pontificum Leodiensium, volume I, Historical Disputation, page 32.], to provide for the widowed Church after the death of St. Servatius.

[12] The Saint receives a revelation of the death of St. Martin: Of St. Severinus Gregory of Tours reports, in book I of the Miracles of St. Martin, chapter 4 Migne, Patrologia, volume LXXI, column 918., that he learned by a heavenly vision of the death of St. Martin: Blessed Severinus, he says, bishop of the city of Cologne, a man of honest life and praiseworthy in all things, while on Sunday, according to custom, he was going round the holy places with his clerics after the morning hymns, at the hour at which the Blessed one died, heard a choir singing on high: and calling his archdeacon he asked him if the voices which he was attentively hearing struck his ears. He answered: By no means. Then he said: Listen more diligently. The archdeacon then began to stretch his neck upward, to prick up his ears and to stand on tiptoe, supported by his staff. But I believe that he was not of equal merit, by whom these things did not deserve to be heard. Then prostrate on the ground, he and the blessed bishop alike beseech the Lord that divine piety might permit him to hear this. And when they had risen, the old man asks again: What do you hear? He says, I hear the voices of those singing psalms as if in heaven, but what it is I do not at all know. To him he says: I will tell you what it is. My lord Bishop Martin has departed from this world, and now Angels singing are carrying him on high. And that there might be a little delay, while these things were being heard, the devil with wicked angels tried to hold him back, and, finding nothing of his own in him, withdrew confounded. What then will happen to us sinners, if the enemy's side wished to harm so great a priest! As the priest said these things, the archdeacon noted the time, and sent quickly to Tours one who should diligently inquire into these things. He, coming, learned most manifestly that Blessed Martin had passed over on the same day and hour at which St. Severinus heard the psalm-singing choir. What occurs to be noted about this vision we shall give in the Life to be published below.

[13] He builds the church of SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, Ancient tradition attributes to St. Severinus the foundation of the church of SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, situated at Cologne, which afterward took the name of our Saint. From the most ancient times it had a college of either clerics or monks, as is established from a diploma of Wigfrid, archbishop of Cologne, who sat from the year 925 to 953 Gallia Christiana, volume III, column 644.. In this diploma, namely, as Gelenius has it Admiranda Coloniae, page 271 and following., of the year 948, Wigfrid in a synodal assembly, which he held gathered on Holy Thursday, ordered seven wise clerics and as many suitable laymen dwelling round about to swear on the reliquary of St. Peter, that they would publicly recite as they truly knew concerning the boundaries of the possessions of the church of St. Severinus, which the archbishop then describes. The same boundary of the territory of Severinus had already been established by his predecessor Herimann or Hermann I, surnamed the Pious, who had occupied the see of Cologne from the year 890 to 925. The said Wigfrid consecrated an oratory of St. Severinus, and transferred his body into a new shrine, as he himself testifies in these words [Ibid., page 272. Compare Binterim, Die alte und neue Erzdiöcese Köln, volume I, page 59.]: I, Wigfrid, namely unworthy archbishop of the holy Church of Cologne, impelled by pastoral care, and very often forewarned divinely in visions, in the monastery which my lord, namely the holy Confessor of Christ Severinus himself raised from the foundations and dedicated in honour of the holy Martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian, built an oratory, and as far as I could adorned it especially in his honour, for the remedy of my soul and of all to be cared for by me and by him according to God, because through the negligence of my predecessors no part of that temple had been dedicated to him (Severinus?); at the dedication of which oratory, since there happened to be present, under the true pledge of charity, Berenger, bishop of the city of Verdun, and the religious John, bishop of the city of Cambrai, and also, as was said above, terrified by a divine warning, we moved the Relics of the most blessed Confessor from the shrine, already consumed by decay, into a shrine as well formed as could then be done by human skill. But I and my fellow bishops, touched with compunction of heart, because I found in that place such a treasure of the body of so most holy a soldier of Christ, and brothers of such great religion as I have not had in another place, forewarned at the instigation of the aforesaid brethren and of many other religious men, endowed the so most holy Relics, before I impressed the seal on the shrine, and handed over certain properties of mine situated in that district … That is, Wigfrid enumerates various estates, which he assigns to St. Severinus and to the brothers so incessantly serving him.

[14] Which, increased by various donations, From what has so far been recited it is clear both that the tradition is very ancient which attributes to St. Severinus the foundation of the sacred building in honour of SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, and that in the tenth century there was in that church a college of presbyters, who gave themselves to the sacred ministries there. And the cited charter indeed proceeds rightly as regards Berenger or Berengar, who held the see of Verdun from the year 940 to 959 Gallia Christiana, volume XIII, column 1178.. But the charter is mistaken about the bishop of Cambrai: for none of this name occurs under the pontificate of Wigfrid; from the year 909 to 956 Stephen and Fulbert sat at Cambrai Ibid., volume III, column 14.: while John I held the see of Cambrai from the year 867 to 889 Ibid., column 13., and the second of the same name from the year 1192 to 1196 Ibid., column 32.. Neither of them therefore could have been contemporary with Wigfrid in the episcopate. But that John perhaps for Stephen or Fulbert

exercised the pontifical functions at Cambrai, and according to the custom of those times was called bishop of Cambrai. So Heynianus or Hilduin (for names, says Anton Binterim Suffraganei Colonienses, page 13., in these times, as we all know, were often very diversely expressed and written) is called bishop in the chronicle of St. Martin of Cologne Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae historica, volume II, page 214. in these words: Afterward Abbot Heynianus presided, an illustrious man, who was made archbishop of Cologne. He died in 848 and established two altars etc. The very brief but contemporary Annals of Cologne have Ibid., volume I, page 97.: Hilduin received the bishopric of Cologne. Yet in no catalogue of the bishops of Cologne does the name of Hilduin or Heynianus occur: he must then have been simply a bishop acting in the sacred stead for the archbishop or functioning in the interregnum, which can also be said of John of Cambrai Compare Binterim, Suffraganei Colonienses, page 12 and following.. Moreover, if there is an error in the name, it is not so great as to overthrow the authority of Wigfrid's diploma: for it could have flowed from the custom by which proper names were written with the initial letter alone, as the Benedictines show by many examples in their treatise on the Art of Diplomatics Nouveau Traité de Diplomatique, volume III, page 506 and following.: and from this it not rarely happens that copyists, on meeting the initial letter of a proper name, unskilfully supplied what was lacking in the original charter; indeed that they did not rightly read the initial letter itself, which they thought to be J, when S or F was to be read; for these letters do not differ so among the writers of the tenth century that an error could not have crept in, and thus an unskilled copyist could have written John for Stephen or Fulbert.

[15] Of St. Severinus Already before Wigfrid, Anno I, archbishop of Cologne, who held the see about the beginning of the eighth century, had deserved well of the church of Severinus Gallia Christiana, volume III, column 628.. He founded seven prebends in the same church, and chose his burial in it, where in the vestibule of the great choir a marble sarcophagus rises Gelenius, Admiranda Coloniae, page 277.. This Anno is severely censured by Gelenius Ibid., place cited., but Charles Le Cointe at the year 724, no. 23, repels the accusations thrust upon him [Annales ecclesiastici Francorum, volume IV, page 714. Compare Gallia Christiana, volume III, column 628.]. A whole century after Wigfrid the college of Severinus was increased with new buildings by Hermann II, archbishop of Cologne, son of BB. Ezo and Mathilda, whose Acts our men have given under the 21st of May Acta Sanctorum, volume V of May, page 48 and following.. I, Herimann, the records have Gelenius, Admiranda Coloniae, page 273., son of the daughter of the emperor Otto II, namely the lady Mathilda of blessed memory, though unworthy, by the grace of God archbishop of the holy Church of Cologne, admonished by pastoral care, completed the monastery of the most holy confessor of Christ Severinus, begun to be renewed by Provost Sigebold with the help of my predecessor Piligrim, that is, I adorned the oratory with the crypt as far as I could. At the dedication of which monastery in the year 1043, the 11th indiction, and the 3rd of the reign of the younger King Henry (the III of this name), and the 8th of my episcopate, these things were done publicly before the horn of that altar. I find the same church consecrated anew in the year 1237, on the 4th of November, by Baldric, bishop of Semigallia Binterim, Suffraganei Colonienses, page 37.. Before this dedication the archbishop of Cologne Frederick I had increased the church of St. Severinus with new gifts, as is established from a diploma given, he says Hartzheim, Concilia Germaniae, volume III, page 255., in our general synod, in the year of the Lord's incarnation 1109. Whence it becomes manifest with what great affection of veneration the bishops of Cologne attended their patron. But princes too contributed their part to propagating the glory of St. Severinus: so William I, duke of Berg, in the year 1394 began to build the great tower of this Saint, which his son Adolf finished in the year 1411 [Gelenius, Admiranda Coloniae, page 273, and Knapp, Geschichte Cleve, … Berg, volume II, page 484.]. Veneration toward St. Severinus is shown also by the cult paid to his Relics and to his yearly festival.

[16] Received the name. For about the end of the same twelfth century Hermann III, called the Rich, archbishop of Cologne, whom the Gallia Christiana calls a Saint Volume III, column 670., translated the bones of St. Severinus into a new and more precious reliquary, as is shown by the verses inscribed on the shrine Gelenius, Admiranda Coloniae, page 273.:

Herimann the third, bishop of the present city, Desiring to increase the possessions of his patrons, Adorned with gems and gold, in a more splendid house, The bones of Severinus, formerly placed in a cheap reliquary; May the grace of this father aid him for his sins, Requiting at once his vow and this praiseworthy gift.

We have seen above that Wigfrid two centuries earlier had already translated the same sacred bones from the shrine, already consumed by decay, into a shrine as well formed as could then be done by human skill. And thus since the same bones are now said to have been placed in a cheap reliquary, it must be said either that Wigfrid's reliquary perished, or that it was less elegant and could be called cheap when compared with that of Hermann. This one was afterward restored to its former brightness, with many gems added, by Theobald Craschel, bishop of Cyrene and auxiliary bishop of Cologne Binterim, Suffraganei Colonienses, page 73., Conrad Wipperman the dean, and Herbach the keeper of the seal Gelenius, Admiranda Coloniae, page 274.. Further, when about thirty years ago the reliquary was opened, in order that certain parts might be drawn out, to be sent to a certain church in Bavaria, only smaller bones and much dust were found in it, as Father Franz Rothenflue, living at Cologne, very recently wrote back to us.

[17] The Saint's cult is celebrated among the people of Cologne. As a principal patron the Church of Cologne formerly venerated St. Severinus with special cult, and kept his festival with a proper office. There exists in our library a Cologne liturgical book, commonly called a Diurnal, without year or place of printing. The antiphon at the Magnificat of second Vespers makes our Saint equal to SS. Ambrose and Martin in the following words: O piety of God, to be proclaimed to the whole world, who at one time disclosed the mystery of the Trinity to lofty witnesses, Ambrose, Martin, Severinus, who, not inferior to the two, but a true worshipper of God of wonderful humility and unconquered faith, condemned the perfidy of the Arian heresy sprouting in the Gauls. It will be worth the labour to notice that the same praise is attributed to St. Martin (for of St. Ambrose it is well enough known) in his proper office: for the Gothic Missal, published by Blessed Giuseppe Tomasi Codices sacramentorum, page 385, Rome edition of 1680., sings of him in the Preface: Worthily he did not submit to the savagery of the Arians: or as the Monuments of the old Alemannic liturgy have it Gerbert, page 193.: Worthily the savagery of the Arians submitted to him. Similarly in the Cologne Diurnal just praised above we read the following hymn at Vespers:

Let us jubilate in worthy praise, Let us give praise always to God, Who has given us as patron the holy Man Severinus. A true doctor, he rooted out The vain Arian sect, Illuminating the holy Church by the word of truth. This man while living deserved To hear the choir of angels, While Martin passed over to the heavenly palace. Happy bishop, by whose life The Hermit is strengthened, Who with him assiduously prayed for that one worthy of reward. Rain is given to the dry lands, While the man of God is brought back, Which had been denied for three years, and no fruit had been given either. Holy father Severinus, Bishop of the city of Agrippina, Pray God, that we may rejoice with you without end. Praise, honour and power be, Beauty, strength, majesty, To God the Father, to Christ the Son, to the Spirit the paraclete.

[18] His Acts, As regards the Acts, they are of two kinds. The former indeed relate in detail those things that touch his birth, education and episcopate, and for that reason we judge them to have been written by a more recent hand: Acts of this kind are exhibited to us from the royal library by a manuscript codex under no. 428 and by various legends printed in the fifteenth century: we shall give some fragments of these Acts in the Annotations to the Life to be published below. There are also other Acts, which we publish in print: they seem to us more genuine; although they too are infected by the fable of Euphrates the heresiarch and of the episcopate of Bordeaux with St. Amandus as bishop. Nor is that surprising, since the writer himself admits, at no. 5, that what he reports of St. Severinus rests on tradition alone: A description of whose life, he says, we by no means commit to our inertness, because how much he himself did and bore for the Lord, or how much the Lord worked through him, we have learned perfectly neither from the narrative of history nor from the assertion of truthful witnesses: although we believe those things most worthy of the commendation of letters and of a fitting report of the faithful. Nevertheless we judge that these Acts, insofar as they are older, in default of others, should be published. We have various exemplars of them, which we shall use to emend and complete the edition of Surius. To these we append the History of the translation of St. Severinus, written, as is established from the Prologue, by the same author, who lived after the Norman devastation, and thus readily reaches the tenth or eleventh century, though I cannot define his age more closely. We give the History of the Translation as chapter II, which according to our custom we distinguish with numbers.

[19] And the writings attributed to him. It remains that we say a very little about the writings attributed to St. Severinus: namely about the Doctrina de Sapientia, published many times, namely by Fabricius in his Bibliotheca mediae et infimae latinitatis at the end of book VI and by Jacques Sirmond Works, volume II, page 910. and others. It is a sort of mixed mass of moral axioms, joined by no link, nor does anything show that it is to be ascribed to the holy bishop of Cologne, except that it circulates in some codices under the title: D. Severini Doctrina de Sapientia. The said Fabricius in book XVIII, under Severinus, says that some of the learned hold our Saint to be the author of Homily L among the Works of St. Peter Chrysologus. Certainly the more recent editors of the Works of St. Peter doubt whether it is a genuine offspring of the holy Doctor, some pronouncing for St. John Chrysostom, others for St. Jerome: but they make not even mention of the opinion brought forward by Fabricius, nor does anything occur by which the opinion may be supported [Migne, Patrologia, volume LII, column 181; Preface, page VI and page 79, Augsburg edition of 1758.].

* Worms

* Speyer

THE LIFE AND TRANSLATION OF ST. SEVERINUS, BISHOP OF COLOGNE AND CONFESSOR,

By an anonymous author, from Surius, collated with various manuscript codices of the Royal Library of Brussels.

Severinus, bishop of Cologne. (S.)

BHL Number: 7647, 7648 ^a

BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.

CHAPTER ONE.

St. Severinus succeeds Eufrates in the see of Cologne; his virtues; the death of St. Martin is revealed to him; having set out for Bordeaux he dies piously.

PROLOGUE.

Our Lord and Redeemer, the head of the whole universal Church, as he founded by divine power his body, scattered through the whole world, so he guards it by most pious government. Whence also firmer

members, consulted for the weaker, foreknowing human infirmity, he has deigned to provide in the whole world. To whom, sojourning as pilgrims and sighing for their head, he also promised that he would never be lacking, saying to his disciples: "Behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world. Matthew XXVIII, 20." He consoles the weak, then, as we have said, by the help of the greater, so that, exercised by their admonitions, they may learn to recognize their pilgrimage, and to desire the heavenly homeland. That these our holy fathers, each in his place, have served with praiseworthy zeal we do not doubt; that we should solemnly celebrate their memory we hold in custom, partly from the commendation of letters, partly from the tradition of our elders. And since the Lord has exalted them in heavenly glory, he has also commended them to our memory, to be honoured for ever. Such, finally, has he established to be ministers in the building of his holy body, by whose solicitude the elect may be guarded, and the perverse restrained from open ravaging. These, namely, protecting the Lord's flock from the snares of wolves by preaching, by working rightly and by praying, bringing back to their Lord the talents entrusted to them with gain, deserve to enter the joy of their Lord not only for their own merits, but also for the advancement of those entrusted to them. These also obtain the more lofty places in holy Church, so that they may be seen by all for the sake either of example or of doctrine. For no one, as the Lord says in the Gospel, lights a lamp and puts it in a hidden place, nor under a bushel, but on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. Matthew V, 15 and Luke XI, 33.

[2] St. Severinus, having been made bishop, From this most approved society he mercifully willed that Blessed Severinus, a man of honest life and praiseworthy in all things ^b, whose feast we keep on the present day, predestined for the Church of Cologne, should preside by the election and consent of the whole clergy and people. In the time of the Arian heresy, clothed with the breastplate of the Lord's faith, he was conspicuous in the work of God, so that when Catholic and orthodox doctors of the Christian faith came together to a synodal council from nearly the whole of Gaul and parts of other provinces, Euphrates, not a shepherd but a hireling of the said Cologne, having been deprived on account of the perfidy of the aforesaid plague, this same most holy servant of God Severinus, as one who should cast out the malice that had been poured in, was acclaimed by all as most suitable ^c. And this, because it was necessary for the endangered people, by God's favour was confirmed by the authority of the holy council. And it was brought about by the wonderful dispensation of almighty God, that Severinus, herald of the eternal judge, should not succeed Euphrates, the teacher of most wicked perversity, but, the author of the pestilent seed having been expelled * and banished, he should stand forth as successor of Maternus, the most strong champion of the Christian faith and most vigilant propagator ^d, unlike him neither in perfection of faith nor of doctrine: so that, with the keen gaze of discernment, cutting away what had sprouted badly, he might restore the memorials of his predecessor, and repel the falsehoods of the impostor, with the most true faith remembering.

[3] The people of Cologne With what vigilance he attended to himself and to his doctrine after taking up the episcopate, or how he laboured in the custody of the fold entrusted to him, the crown of justice, which it is clearer than daylight that he has already received in the fellowship of the Angels, most manifestly discloses. But if anyone demands of us the powers of his miracles, let him know that at that time the interpretation of discourses was more necessary than the working of miracles ; because the battle was against those who did not deny the power of God in miracles, but the equality of the holy and inseparable Trinity in the persons. For the Arian contention was then raging, which, the crueller the more interior it was, so crept into the bowels of nearly the whole Church with serpentine snares, that it was scarcely credible that the world could ever be free from the allurements of so great a plague, and unless, at the Lord's prompting, the most robust warriors of the Christian army, of whom Severinus was not the last, had come to the aid of holy Church as she was slipping in such great whirlwinds of scandals, times worse than the former would undoubtedly have come more quickly. For there were then tearing her with dog-like bites such as the truth itself forewarned were to be avoided, saying: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly are ravening wolves: by their fruits you shall know them." Matthew VII, 15 And it would perhaps be easier either to conquer by reason those openly raving against the truth, or to hand over the body to death for the same truth, than to assail with the sword of rectitude those who feign justice, and to dissolve within by the medicinal cups of the holy scriptures, and to dry up entirely, the poison poured in, which has already crept through the members. In which pursuit of virtue we know that the most sagacious athlete of Christ Severinus contended. To whose solemnity the more devoutly we apply ourselves, the more we prove that we love both more ardently and more sincerely him whom he loved and by whose gift he came to such great glory.

[4] From heresy Signs, moreover, are to be demanded not by the faithful, but by unbelievers. Although he may most truly be proclaimed to be the raiser of as many dead as he is known to be the recoverer, by the doctrine of the Catholic faith and of right working, of souls corrupted by heretical depravity. For it is a greater thing to kindle a soul, destined to live for ever, from the filth of vices to the desire of immortality through the sweetness of pious exhortation, than to raise from the tomb a body destined to die again. As often, then, as he called someone back from the darkness of error to the knowledge of truth, so often did he give back the brilliance of light to blind eyes. Whom when by assiduous admonitions he caused to bring to the effect of work the things he had set himself to do, he also loosed the injuries of hands: for whom if by doctrine and at the same time by prayers he obtained the will and faculty of going from virtue to virtue and of ascending with the affections of the heart to higher things, he gave steps of feet free from the bonds of weakness. But the almighty Spirit, who works all things in all, dividing to each as he wills I Corinthians XII, 6 and II, has so united his saints and elect by so strong a bond of charity, that nothing of what one obtains by the merit of holiness is lacking to another. For when one loves whatever good things in another as in himself, certainly it comes about through charity that in these same things * there is sharing with him. Hence it comes about that we deservedly believe the most blessed bishop Severinus to be lacking in no virtue at all, whom we do not doubt to be joined by perfect charity to the advancement of all good people.

[5] And he defends from calamities. A description of whose life we by no means commit to our inertness, because how much he himself did and bore for the Lord, or how much the Lord worked through him, we have learned perfectly neither from the narrative of history nor from the assertion of truthful witnesses: although we believe those things most worthy of the commendation of letters and of a fitting report of the faithful ^e. For how could it happen that so suitable a preacher and teacher of the Catholic faith did not shine with memorable works? For whom, however, it was more praiseworthy to correct in its place the shaken state of holy Church and to lead it back with the greatest sweat to its former safety, than to preserve it standing in right order and not tottering. But after the death of the most religious teacher, when the most heavy inundation of an unbelieving nation was devastating nearly the whole of Gaul and its neighbouring lands with slaughter and fires, adversities succeeding and growing heavier, the glorious deeds or miracles of the holy man, partly written down, partly snatched from eager writers by the accident of unexpected disturbance, have been taken away from the gladness of our knowledge. For so great a force of domination did divine vengeance grant at that time to tyrannical cruelty, on account of the sin of disobedience, that in all the provinces of the Gauls not even one city remained unburned, except that of Metz; although in it the Acts of St. Servatius record that only an oratory, dedicated in the name of St. Stephen, was preserved , because of the blood of the same Protomartyr sprouting there ^f: so that, namely, the peoples who with hardened heart did not obey the gentle admonitions of their preachers, might feel fulfilled in themselves what holy scripture says of certain perverse people, that "only vexation will give understanding to the hearing." Id. XXVIII, 19

[6] The death of St. Martin The patience of almighty God did not permit this ferocity of raving heathendom to invade the people of Cologne before he deigned to receive the soul of its defender into the fellowship of his elect: so that it might be openly given to understand of how great a patron's protection they were deprived, who saw that the very blow, which they inevitably deserved, had been deferred while the patronage of St. Severinus was bodily present ^g. But the fame of the wonderful works of the holy man, not brought down to us for certain causes, does not lessen the praise of his sanctity, because it does not detract from the perfection of true beatitude; in which let us ask him, already happy in eternal security, to be the most merciful helper of our frailty.

[7] In praise, then, of this bishop Severinus, worthy of God, we think that by no means should we pass over * a not least indication of sanctity, which we find placed in the miracles of his contemporary, the most approved Confessor of Christ, Martin ^h: in which it is most lucidly demonstrated that one, his contest being already well completed, received the crown of justice owed to him, while the other, still placed in the struggle, deserved the same constancy of faith and of good works: and, to speak openly, it shows the reward of the one, describes the miracle of the other. At a certain time, then, while the most skilful shepherd of the Church, Severinus, keeping watch over the guarding of the flock entrusted to him, on a Sunday, the morning offices being completed, according to custom was going round the holy places for the sake of prayer ⁱ, he deserved to hear the sweet-sounding melody of the heavenly host, which taught him by the breath of the Holy Spirit that Bishop Martin had departed from the world. While he, attentive, was perceiving this with a diligent ear, desiring to have with him a witness of the heavenly secret, he called his archdeacon ^k and asked whether the song sent down from heaven struck his ears. And when he denied hearing anything of the kind, the bishop again admonished him to listen diligently. And when he, with the whole effort of body and mind, was seeking to become a sharer in the heavenly harmony and did not obtain it, the man of God understood that it would have to be implored from God that the deacon might hear such praises.

[8] He learns by heavenly vision. Then, prostrate together on the ground, the bishop and the deacon prayed, that the harmony which the master had attentively heard might not be hidden from the disciple either. When they had risen, as the blessed bishop again asked the deacon whether he still in some manner perceived with his ears the desired voice: "I hear, he said, the voices of those singing psalms as if in heaven; but what it is I do not at all know." To him * the one aware of the heavenly secrets disclosed what the jubilation heard signified, saying: "My lord Martin has departed from the world, and now the hymn-singing choirs of the citizens of heaven are rejoicing to receive him into their fellowship. Whose most holy soul, released from the flesh, the devil with his angels sought to hold back, but finding nothing of his own in him, he went away confounded. On account of which there was also a little delay, that the worthy celebration of his funeral could not be heard by us." It was therefore most diligently inquired and found that St. Martin entered the eternal joy of his Lord on the same day and hour at which it befell Blessed Severinus, touched by the spirit of prophecy, to perceive this ^l. For it is believed to belong to prophecy that a mystery of divine power is revealed to someone through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. What then are we to say of the merits of this most holy bishop Severinus, except that almighty God, when he raised Martin to heavenly glory, gave to the latter the security of sitting with him and of fellowship with him: so that he who

were of no dissimilar zeal in contempt of the world, might shine with equal glory in the eternal gladness of the contemplation of God?

[9] The sanctity of St. Severinus by another vision It is reported also that in the times of the same glorious bishop a certain hermit flourished in special works of virtue; who is said to have been the son of a certain great prince and to have been brought up in most abundant delights. In these he was led so far that his parents prepared magnificent nuptials for him, and brought along a most delicate bride with much display. While he was entering the bedchamber to enjoy her marriage after a most opulent supper, seized by I know not what sudden fear, he saw as it were a most beautiful young man, who holily promised also to bestow greater glory, if he should prefer to obey him by following. And when the young man had said with his whole ambition that he wished this, he arose, and of all the furnishings which he had possessed, taking with him alone a little wooden vessel, by which wine was accustomed to be poured from buckets into gold and silver vessels, mixed, for the drinkers, he went away following the man who appeared. Led by him into the more remote places of the desert, he led a life praiseworthy and imitable by few. And when he had given himself there many days to continual prayers in order to win God's favour, he began greatly to beseech that the most just judge might disclose with whom he would have equality of reward. And when Severinus, the most famous bishop of the Church of Cologne, was set before him for such fellowship, he prayed that he might be shown who he was.

[10] It is declared. Without delay, the same one who had led him there was present, and showed him the place in which the holy bishop was staying in those days. It happened that then, some solemnity being at hand *, a multitude of people was flowing together, for whom, after the divine office, the honour placed on so great a bishop required that a banquet be furnished. And while the aforesaid solitary, seeing there the abundance of delights, was very much afraid that he was to be associated in reward with one who had such things as he himself had once given up, he learned by the severity of a rebuke laid on him by his master that the bishop had loved all that worldly glory less than he himself had loved the little wooden vessel which he had reserved for himself from all his wealth. Whence, giving thanks to God, he returned rejoicing to the place from which he had come, and as long as he lived he most urgently implored that he might deserve the promised reward with Severinus, the servant of God ^m. These two signal tokens, then, of the virtues of Blessed Severinus, which we have set forth for expressing the merit of his goodness, would, I think, suffice, even if there were no more. For in the one we understand the love of God, in the other that of neighbour. For his hearing, transcending human possibility, the praises of the heavenly spirits at the passing of Blessed Martin, shows how he had advanced in the love of God: for it is granted only to the most sincere charity to be mingled in the secrets of God, who is charity. But his leaving the sweetness of the contemplative life and condescending to the infirmity of his neighbours even in the display of banquets suggests by how strong a bond of fraternal charity he was bound. For it is a great thing, having these things, to dispense them and not to love them; and it is manifest that he who does not love them would even wish not to have them. But Severinus, the most discerning provider of Holy Church, both did not long for these things, desiring heavenly things more for himself, and solicitously ministered to the need of those entrusted to him, when it was the time, as if saying to his subjects with the Apostle: "Whether we are beside ourselves, it is for God: or whether we are sober, it is for you. II Corinthians V, 13" In which matter, being certain of the merit of his sanctity, we believe that the people of Cologne will, with God's help, be happy, if with the carrying out of good works they assiduously ask the intercession of him by whose zeal they were restored to the faith.

[11] Having set out for Bordeaux, The Church of Cologne, then, having been strengthened and well established by the grace of God, the holy man Severinus, indefatigable in the work of God *, is admonished through a vision, that he should not hesitate to visit, for the sake of heavenly gain, the town of Bordeaux and the parts of Aquitaine, from which he is said also to have drawn his illustrious origin. Which at once, knowing the will of God, although he was now weighed down by old age, he set about accomplishing ⁿ. Meanwhile, while he was on his journey, it was revealed by the Lord to Blessed Amandus, bishop of the same city, that Severinus, a bishop of magnificent sanctity, was coming to visit the citizens of Aquitaine, and that he ought to meet him with the companies of clergy and people. Whence the man of God, filled with joy, called together the congregation of brothers and the subject people and hastened to meet the blessed bishop with due veneration. As soon as he approached him, he took care to be the first to greet him by his proper name, as he had been taught through revelation, with the clergy following and saying: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Then, surrounded by a joyful throng of both sexes, he is honourably led to the church with canticles and hymns, and the accustomed vows of the assembling brothers are paid.

[12] He falls into illness, and dies piously: There indeed the most constant confessor of Christ, as if growing young again, set forth examples and teachings of faith and virtue, by which he restored unbelievers to saving belief, led back those straying to the way of truth, strengthened those doing well in the advancement of good works. Not a few miracles too the Lord worked in the same province through his servant. And because divine knowledge had predestined that the bonds of his body were to be loosed there, the man of God, weighed down by sudden infirmity, calling together the brothers foretold that he would pay the debt of death in that same place, and would no longer see bodily the place of his own see. And so the most holy bishop, after giving exhortation and blessing, laden with all the virtues by which God is won over, the course of the present life being happily completed, returned his spirit, intent on heavenly desires, to the Creator, to be crowned with the holy Confessors with the unfading prize of perpetual reward.

[13] Dead Then the venerable bishop Amandus, an innumerable multitude of both sexes assembling, received the most sacred body with the clerics and had it honourably buried in the crypt of his church ^o. Where from that time the Lord deigned to work so many miracles through the merits of Blessed Severinus, that he seemed to the inhabitants to guard, dead, the faith which, living, he is said to have recovered. Of which I shall explain one signal miracle, which is the more famously proclaimed by all, because it was a common cause of safety. For while at a certain time the people of the whole province were flowing together for love of religion to the yearly joy of his festival, there came upon them the unexpected rage of the Goths with a numerous army. And when the multitude that had assembled saw themselves unarmed and powerless to resist, they took refuge in the counsel of him whose glorious solemnity had invited them. Without delay, the same enemy who had come intending to plunder whatever should survive the slaughter, terrified by the merits of St. Severinus with an immense fear from the power of God, sought to save himself only by flight or by hiding places, wherever each could, and to those whom he had come to plunder he became a prey, with all that he had brought. Whence it came about that all Aquitaine returned praises to almighty God and to his soldier Severinus, and every year thereafter frequented this solemnity more abundantly with gifts and offerings.

[14] He protects the Aquitanians. The other things, which however we learn are neither slight nor few, we omit for the sake of brevity; because we think that those among whom they were done are by no means silent about them. For as "it is good to hide the secret of a king," so "it is honourable to reveal and confess the works of God." Tobit XII, 7 For he himself works whatever miracles in the Saints and through the Saints, who says to his chosen disciples: "Without me you can do nothing;" John XV, 5 of whom Paul says, "Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." I Corinthians 1, 24 To whom let us too, most dear brothers, according to our measure, offer praises and thanksgivings in these solemnities of his most glorious Confessor Severinus; so that we who proclaim him wonderful in his Saints may feel, with their aid, that he will be propitious to us, who lives and is glorified as God with the Father and the Holy Spirit through ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

BY J. V. H.

of Cologne, are raised, so that they are not to be repeated here: let it suffice to have observed that the sees of the cited bishops, if you except SS. Maximinus of Trier and Servatius of Tongeren, are known from this synod alone; the same names of bishops indeed are in the subscriptions of the council of Sardica, but with no mention made of the sees to be attributed to each Compare Labbe, Concilia, volume II, columns 658, 662 and 679.: whence the gravest argument is lacking, by which we are accustomed to confirm the authenticity of synods. But besides, the Acts are mistaken about two bishops, namely Discolus of Reims and Simplicius of Autun. For, on the testimony of Flodoard, History of Reims, book 1, chapter 5 Migne, Patrologia, volume CXXXV, column 36., Betausius, who sat in the time of Constantine, was followed by the bishops Aper, Maternianus, Donatianus, Viventius, Severus, Nicasius, who ruled the Church at the beginning of the fifth century, when the Vandal persecution was pressing the Gauls Gallia Christiana, volume IX, column 4.. Similar things are to be said of Simplicius, bishop of the Aedui or of Autun, who began to sit at the beginning of the same fifth century: Gregory of Tours establishes the succession of the bishops of Autun in the book On the Glory of the Confessors, chapters 75 and 76 Migne, Patrologia, volume LXXI, column 882., that Reticius took part in the Council of Arles of the year 314, to whom Cassian succeeded, after whom Egemonius took up the pontificate, whom Simplicius follows, who, as our predecessors show [Acta Sanctorum, volume IV of June, page 812, no. 2, and volume II of August, page 63, no. 20. Compare Gallia Christiana, volume IV, column 329 and following.], reached the fifth century. And since we have been forced to expunge from the Catalogue of the fathers of Cologne these two, of whom we have special knowledge, it is greatly to be feared that the writer of the Acts of the Council has stumbled in the case of other bishops too.

* temporibus A

* salvatum B, C, D

* impleri A, B

* quoddam added by A, B, C, D

* statim added by A, B, C, D

* solemni die A, B, C, D

* Dei operis A; permanens added by B

* duxit A, B, C

* ut dicitur added by A, B, C

* consulturus?

* providere?

* repulso A, B, C

* esse A, C

* operationem is lacking in A

* eadem A, C, D

* credamus D

CHAPTER II.

The people of Cologne, oppressed by manifold calamity, resolve to bring the body of St. Severinus to their city: the people of Bordeaux reluctantly consenting, they at length carry it to Cologne with the highest honour.

The memory of St. Severinus, obliterated among the people of Cologne, Since we have touched in part on the life or deeds of the most blessed bishop and Confessor of Christ, Severinus, as far as it has been able to shine out to us who look through as it were the densest cloud of antiquity, and although, on account of the negligence of our elders, or, as can more freely be said, on account of the hostile power of the barbarians, of whom we made mention above *, we have taken care to clear up certain things less usual, yet, on account of the undoubted constancy of faith and the simple affection of true religion, readily credible: it remains that we explain, as far as we can, how divine piety gladdened the people, whom it had chastised according to their deserts by the withdrawal of their shepherd, by bringing back his most sacred body ^a. Nor let it seem strange to anyone that after so great a space of time we labour to commit to the memory of posterity through the certainty of description some things which the care of the pen did not touch before; because we are strengthened by the assertions of those most holy guardians of the ashes, who most diligently preserved for their solace what they heard from religious parents about the memorable deeds or miracles of the blessed man, and who, though they did not undertake the confidence of writing them, did not lose the sweet memory of repeating them often in their gatherings, awaiting the fulfilment of that evangelical oracle which truth itself promises, that "what you hear in the chambers will be preached on the housetops" ^b.

[16] After the man of the Lord, the holy and glorious bishop Severinus, having run through the laborious contest of this world, Under the pressure of calamity, it revives; received the crown of justice which, living, he had merited, thereafter to live for ever, and to those on either side * bereft of so great a patron

in bodily presence, the peoples of Cologne and of Bordeaux, the mourning, continued for very many days, began according to the custom of human levity to cool a little, the unspeakable nation of the Huns ^c invaded the whole of Gaul, as we have said before, to be laid waste by the hostile sword; and recalled to the memory of the forgetful how great a firmness of protection they lacked. When these things had been done, and the tranquillity of peace was again being restored to the Churches of God ^d, the people of Cologne, as if secure after the scourges, again unmindful of their shepherd ^e, did not seek out with the zeal that was fitting the most precious treasure of his holy body. Whence it came about that through the whole breadth of that bishopric the grace of rain was denied for nearly three years, by a fitting example of chastisement to be sure, that those who lacked the overshadowing of the cloud should have no rain. For this holy man was without doubt of the number of those whom the prophet, gazing through the Spirit, said: "Who are these, who fly as clouds? Isaiah LX, 8." For he had not only rained in words, but also flashed with miracles . And when the Church of that place was weighed down by great penury, all of sounder counsel came together, to deliberate what they should do for the sake of relieving so great an evil. When this had been done, all with one accord sought the remedy of a three-day fast. And when this was being celebrated with great solicitude by clergy and people together, they deserved to learn, by the certainty of an angelic visitation, why they were suffering such things.

[17] Whence it is also resolved that his body For when the third day of the solemn abstinence had passed, an Angel through a vision reproached a certain cleric of that Church, saying: You do not have your shepherd and bishop, and do you seek the causes of such great wrath? Terrified by this address, the cleric awoke, and greatly wondering what these things might portend, solicitously inquired about the safety of the bishop who at that time presided there. But when he learned that he was flourishing in full health, at first fearing to narrate what he had seen he thought it should be kept silent, then he disclosed the vision, as if for a fantasy of a dream, to certain persons who were more familiarly attached to him. And so gradually that altogether praiseworthy report, through the service of individuals, passed through the mouths of nearly all. An assembly of the whole clergy and people takes place, the cleric, as the seer of this oracle, is brought forward into the midst, and is asked * to expound in order to all what he had seen. And when he had satisfied the commands and wishes of the bishop and of the people in suspense, the unanimous clamour of all at once is raised, and it was cried out together that Severinus, the most holy bishop, imitable scarcely by the more perfect alone, was by this presage to be restored to his own see: there no one was there who did not assent, no one who did not proclaim this desirable for himself, scarcely anyone who did not weep for joy.

[18] Was to be brought from Bordeaux to Cologne, Soon, in a wonderful manner, the rain long denied, being given back to the parching lands, joined itself to those rejoicing as if a sharer in the same counsel: and because almighty God proved what he had forewarned, it became known to all without the darkness of any doubt. Then the blessed company of the people of Cologne and of their neighbours too * ^f, hastening by a prosperous course through the Gauls, was drawing near to the parts of Aquitaine, where the town of Bordeaux, already called, from the name of its precious guest, the castle of St. Severinus ^g, was preserving the venerable ashes of the Relics. But the leading men of the province, on hearing the reasons for the journey, at first tried to resist with great animosity. Whence, calling together a multitude, they threatened not only that they would not give the longed-for gifts sought from far to those coming, but that they would bring war on them, if they did not quickly withdraw. But afterward when, at the suggestion of certain persons, they recognized that the reason of their coming was just and rational, and disposed not without the providence of God, and that they were asking for a deposit, not for plunder, very many, by the nod of God, though unwilling, consented by keeping silent.

[19] But the people of Bordeaux resist, But the people of Bordeaux, struck with excessive grief at the unhappy news, and with no sign of the providence of God or of an angelic visitation brought to them, urged to give up their solace, came all together, and cried out with one voice that life was of no use to them without the bodily presence of their defender, adding that they greatly desired that death which they might deserve to undergo for protecting and retaining with them the Relics of the blessed man. Similarly those who had come persisted in their undertaken constancy in seeking or demanding the gift owed to them. And when they contended for a long time with equal zeal, hearing and answering on both sides , and the people of Cologne had now resolved to expend their whole strength for the sake of fulfilling their desire, at last the Aquitanians, touched with the spirit of counsel, lest on account of the minister of their salvation these or those should feel the loss of death ^h, asserting that the vows of those coming were pious and not to be despised, brought forward the signs of peace: yet on this condition, that if it pleased the most pious defender of both to revisit his own see, they, for the sake of his memory and his accustomed protection, should deserve to have a part of the most holy body. When this saying had pleased all, they received with joy the guests previously hated, and those guests, having obtained what they had sought, they sent back with the greatest honour. How great indeed was the sorrow and groaning there at that time, how great the mourning of those weeping for joy, when the holy members were taken from the place of their former rest, there is no need, we believe, to explain in words, since each one can weigh this for himself. For the former wept that they were losing what they held dearer than life; the latter wept, rejoicing that they were acquiring that from which they hoped for salvation.

[20] At last, on an equal condition, the body is divided, The bearers of the most sacred treasure, then, going before, all followed with hymns and praises whom neither age nor infirmity held back: and now indeed some, wearied, departing, others coming up to the pious funeral rites, sang a hymn and praised the Lord in the heights, until by a straight journey , the Angel of peace leading, they reached Cologne. There an innumerable army of citizens and strangers, whom the glory of such a happy fame had invited, flowed together. Receiving therefore the long-desired body of their bishop, they solemnly laid it in the church of the Blessed Martyrs Cornelius and Cyprian ⁱ; praying that, as the most skilful of teachers had once governed them by examples and preaching, so as intercessor and patron he might guard them for ever. And in that same year such great fertility is related to have occurred there, that it testified, from the mouth of all, that its patron had truly returned and been restored to his own see. Whence it came about that this word, used by the inhabitants, did not escape even those far away and strangers, and it became as it were a proverb, "St. Severinus the bishop is at home * ^k."

[21] And half at Cologne Which, as they say, the venerable Pope Leo too, of blessed memory, impressed by his example on those as it were forgetful * of the same custom. For when he set out from Rome on account of the punishments unjustly inflicted on him, to go to the emperor Charles in France ^l, he came to the place in which the venerable body of the man of God Severinus rests, and there, contrary to the custom he had kept on the way, he entered the church to pray. His companions, wondering, asked the reason for this. To whom he said: The defender of this place is at home; therefore I have not dared to pass him by ungreeted. From this, then, the custom became rooted among the citizens, that on one day in every week they come to the tomb of St. Severinus ^m and with suppliant devotion pray that through the whole week they may be supported by his patronage.

[22] Is venerated with the highest honour. By the merits, then, of this holy bishop, beloved of God, at the venerable place of his tomb very many benefits are granted to those who worthily ask; for there is no sign of salvation of which faith does not find the profit there. Since after the treasure of the blessed body had been laid there, the Normans, their reins broken, cruelly raging, and laying waste the greatest part of that kingdom with fires and slaughter ⁿ, could by no effort whatever set his oratory on fire, although no church in the surrounding area was able to survive the flames. There, bringing forth the whole spirit of their malevolence and gaining nothing, indeed feeling no small detriment to themselves in the heavy punishments of some and the deaths of others, they cried out rustically ^o that the guardian and lord of that building was angry, and they took themselves off from its neighbourhood as quickly as possible. Which, so far as we dare to search the secrets of the divine judgment, we believe was done for the sake of our salvation, so that, admonished by these frequent miracles, we may seek the aid of his intercession with the mercy of the Redeemer, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God through ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

the opinion of the Louvain editor of Butler, who says that the body of St. Severinus was carried back to Cologne three years after his death.

* Certain things hitherto unknown are added by A, C, D

* utrisque A, D; lacking in B

* the passage is lacking in A

* levigandi A, B, C, leviandi D

* rogabatur A, B, C

* quorumque A, B, C, D

* B adds responsa

* speratam C

* itinere prospero B

* piissimus added by B, C, D

* episcopum is lacking in B, C

* non oblitus B, C, D