ON ST. ELPIDIUS THE ABBOT, PATRON OF THE TOWN OF SANT'ELPIDIO IN PICENUM,
IN PICENUM.
Fifth century, before CDXX.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Elpidius, abbot, patron of the town of Sant'Elpidio in Picenum. (S.)
BY J. S.
§ I. The town of Sant'Elpidio, where the Saint's body is preserved: his cult and memory in the sacred Calendars.
[ ] Picenum, now commonly called
the March of Ancona, is a province
of Italy extending to the Adriatic
sea, The town of Sant'Elpidio in Picenum, where the body which
among its cities has the city of Fermo,
adorned with archiepiscopal
dignity. In the diocese of Fermo, between Fermo
and the House of B. Mary of Loreto, there is a place
which from St. Elpidius is named the Town of St. Elpidius,
or St. Elpidius, commonly Sant'Elpidio. In
the collegiate church of this town the body of St. Elpidius
is preserved with great veneration, and it was visited
in the sixteenth century, and afterwards translated, as we shall
narrate below. That body was seen there by Fr.
Joachim Papebroch of our Society, while
he was penitentiary at Loreto, and of it he wrote to his brother,
our Papebroch, on the XXII of August
of the year 1683, in this manner: Since in these
days Fr. Germanus had to make an excursion to Fermo,
I joined myself to him as companion. On that occasion,
passing through the town of Sant'Elpidio, we were most kindly
received by the most illustrious lord count
Asclepi, who, having taken the priesthood, withdrew to that town,
abstaining from secular society.
He, while awaiting our return,
dealt with the canons and the magistrate that on our return
the body of St. Elpidius the abbot should be shown to us.
[2] It is honorably preserved beneath the high altar,
and is locked with four different keys; of the Saint is honorably preserved in the collegiate church, of which
two are kept by two of the magistrate, and two others
by two canons. These, as soon as they understood that we
had returned to the said most illustrious lord,
betook themselves to the church, and there awaited us with
the said lord. And when we arrived,
the accustomed signal was given by the bell, which is wont
to be given whenever those sacred relics are publicly
shown. Then, eight torches of white wax being lighted,
they unlocked the altar, and gave us opportunity
of viewing all the bones at leisure. Then they showed
us the particular lessons which they have
in the Office of that Saint, and offered
to have them transcribed. But the most illustrious lord answered
that there was no need of haste, and that everything must first be
diligently examined; and above all, how
that Saint's body was translated into Picenum,
of which there is no mention in the lessons,
but rather that he closed his last day in Cappadocia.
The said most illustrious lord took that care
upon himself, and, if he shall find anything for certain, will send it
to me at Loreto. Hence we can understand
that it is unknown to the canons of Sant'Elpidio how
or when they received the sacred body of their Patron.
[3] within the high altar, and with it two other bodies are said to be preserved, The men of Sant'Elpidio stood by their promises, certainly as far as
they judged expedient: for not long afterwards
Fr. Dominic Pierantonius of our Society
sent a fairly ample collection concerning the Life,
cult, and miracles of St. Elpidius, which
Signor Natale Medaglia wrote in Italian, and
named the Life of St. Elpidius, as it may indeed be called.
Moreover that writer gathered the Saint's deeds not without errors,
though otherwise he seems to have used no small
diligence. But as regards the cult and miracles
he was less liable to error, since he was nearer to them
both in place and in time; and therefore all those things
I shall render from Italian into Latin. Of the body he has it
that it is preserved in a very large marble chest,
that is, within the high altar of the collegiate church, which
is of marble. In the same place he says there are also the bodies
of Ænesius and Eustatius, of whom we shall treat when
we examine the deeds of St. Elpidius. Moreover the said
Medaglia does not explain how or when these bodies were
translated into Picenum, but tries
to prove that St. Elpidius with his companions died there.
But if the Elpidius whose body they possess
really died in Picenum, he is other than the Elpidius the abbot
whose deeds Palladius touched upon,
as I shall afterwards clearly show.
[4] Meanwhile let us hear what Medaglia narrates about the visitation
of the body: [which was visited in the year 1512; a certain particle then given to the castle of Morico:] The aforesaid Mss. (which
in his account of the deeds he calls ancient, but which are not
very ancient, as is clear from what follows)
thereafter testify in conformity that in the year MDXII
the said chest was opened for the first time, and that the said three bodies
were seen entire; but that with great
piety of those who ran together they were separated and all
placed in another very elegant casket,
well secured with a key, which was set in the said
marble chest: and that nothing was taken from the said
body except one particle from a bone
of the hand with a tiny fragment of the cloth left when
the said Saint was buried: which, when the men of Sant'Elpidio
had given it to Morico, a castle of the diocese of Fermo,
they enclosed it in an arm of gilded brass
with a silver hand, and it is held in great veneration
by that people. The castle of Morico
is likewise in the diocese of Fermo, and is commonly called
Sant'Elpidio a Morico, as I find in a certain Ms.
account formerly sent hither concerning the Saints of the diocese
of Fermo. This account likewise makes mention of the relics
of St. Elpidius preserved in the castle of Morico.
[5] The said compiler records the translation of the bodies
in this manner: the same translated in the year 1676: Finally the translation of the body
was made by the most illustrious and most reverend (Giannotto)
Gualterio, archbishop and prince of Fermo,
on the VIII day of May, in the year MDCLXXVI, this sacred body
being arranged and fitted with
the two others above mentioned in one wholly gilded casket,
which is adorned with the clearest crystal
on the upper and front part, and then inserted
into that same marble chest, and afterwards
carried in a long procession of suppliants through the whole
town with the greatest piety. Before the chest
a window has been set, and gilded gratings within.
Outside, in the middle, is an iron door, closed with four
locks in such a way that on the Saint's feast
the said doors are opened in the sight of the people, who
every year venerate the relics with great devotion.
[6] The feast of this holy Abbot is celebrated
on the 2nd day of September, the Saint's feast on the 2nd of September: two others formerly celebrated, on which he died. By the supreme Pontiff
Urban VIII, down to this day, two other feasts
have been suspended which were celebrated in honor of the holy
Protector. One of them was kept on the XXIV of November
in memory of his coming to Cluellum;
the other on the VIII of May on account of
the prodigious apparition of the Saint in the form
of a horseman, who, holding a banner in his hand, freed his own country
from the invasion of the Lombards and Saracens,
who in the province of the March of Ancona
passed by no place without inflicting damage,
as Ancona proved by its own destruction. All
these things are found in the archive of the Land of Sant'Elpidio in
ancient manuscripts. The priests, both secular
and regular, and the nuns of the Land of Sant'Elpidio recite
the proper Office of the Saint with an octave,
which Pope Gregory XIII approved on the XXVIII of
September, in the year MDLXXX, the VIII of his pontificate.
Thus far Medaglia concerning the cult of St. Elpidius, adding
that many other things were probably written which
have perished through hostile devastations and the injury of the times.
[7] in the months of May and November, in which were made But what he said of two feasts of the Saint
formerly wont to be celebrated in the months of May and November,
besides the chief one which is kept on the 2nd of September,
is confirmed from elsewhere. Fr. Antonio
Maria Manfredi of our Society, penitentiary
at Loreto, sent hither in the year 1699 certain extracts
from the Statutes of Sant'Elpidio, printed at Macerata
in the year 1571, in which, in bk. 1, p. 2, under the title, On
the veneration of the feast of St. Elpidius, he testifies that it is read thus: We judge it
worthy and just (especially for all
the men of Sant'Elpidio) to show honor and every kind of reverence
to the glorious and blessed Elpidius, our advocate,
protector, and defender; who before
all others has been wont by his piety and mercy and intercession
with God the Father almighty to preserve
our land of Sant'Elpidio, and its citizens, dwellers,
and inhabitants from all dangers. Therefore, approving
the customary and most ancient usage, we ordain and decree
that the Magnificent Lords Priors, together with all
the salaried * officials, councilors, and the whole
people, on the feasts of saint Elpidius in the month
of May and of November, be held and bound to gather
in the great hall of the palace of the commune of the said
Land, and thence to carry and cause to be carried, at the expense
of the commune *, wax candles great and
small, lighted, as is the custom, to the church of saint
Elpidius, and to offer them at the altar into the hands of the priests.
[8] various offerings. Which offering ought to be made at Vespers before
the aforesaid feast, and in the morning at the celebration
of the Masses, the Magnificent Lords Podestà and Priors going
before, however, under the silken canopy of the said commune,
in memory of a most ancient observance. And
the lord Podestà shall be bound at his own expense to buy
and to carry, or cause to be carried, one taper
of the weight of two pounds to the said church,
and likewise the physician; but the chancellor and the other salaried
officials one of a single pound, and to offer it as above,
under a penalty for those acting contrariwise of five
pounds of pence, to be withheld from their salary.
And for the greater veneration of the said feast
we ordain that, in all future times,
in the month of May our commune shall be held
and bound yearly to create one Constable,
and captains of the quarters and of the herdsmen and
of the other crafts and societies, and to hold a muster
and review after the usual and accustomed manner, having however
first obtained leave from the reverend Lord Rector
for the time being in the province, and according
to the quality of the times, as shall seem good and pleasing
to the general council of the said Land; and his
feast shall be and ought to be kept from the Vespers
of the preceding day by each and all of the natives,
dwellers, and inhabitants of the said Land and its
district, under a penalty of forty shillings for
each and on every occasion. Not only do we hence understand
that the said feasts existed among the men of Sant'Elpidio,
but also with how great zeal they strove to make them
famous. The barbarous words by which the offices
of the magistrates are designated will easily be understood, especially by
Italians, such as Podestà, Priors,
salaried Officials, Constable. The word Captains
here designates lesser prefects, and Contratæ,
in Italian contrada, the various
quarters of the town and territory, over each of which someone
from the people was to be set; just as others were to be elected
as prefects of the several crafts. To hold a muster and review
is to gather some men equipped with arms, to inspect and
review them.
[9] I do not yet adduce the martyrologists, because they indeed
announce St. Elpidius the abbot; The linen cloth in which the body had been wrapped, preserved separately. but some of them
seem to doubt whether the Elpidius whose
body is had in Picenum is the same as that
holy Abbot whose deeds we shall afterwards report from
Palladius. Before I examine this doubt,
it is well to recount the very many miracles which
are narrated to have been done among the men of Sant'Elpidio in Picenum, that all things
may be joined together which certainly pertain to St. Elpidius
venerated in Picenum. Medaglia, praised before, before
he sets about reporting the miracles, observes beforehand
that the sacred bones, when they were surveyed by the most illustrious
Giannotto Gualterio, were found wrapped in a most ancient
napkin or linen cloth, and that that linen
was afterwards preserved separately outside the casket in which the bones
are contained, that it might be applied to the sick.
And that this linen was healthful to many
is taught by the very many benefits which I shall set forth
from the Italian in Latin, as Medaglia, contemporary with them
and neighboring, recounted them.
Annotata*. i.e. to whom a stipend is given
*. i.e. of the community
§ II. Benefits and miracles obtained by the Saint's intercession and relics.
[ ] The Saint's relics being touched, a girl crippled in the arm is healed, In the very year and day of the translation, the VIII of May, glorious
with the triumphs of the Saint of the devout, when the most illustrious
prelate was taking from the said casket
the larger bone * of one arm before the altar, there came
to him a girl named Martha, daughter of Antonio
Sianella of the Land of Sant'Elpidio, for many years
crippled in her right arm, which she had borne heavy
like a log without motion; and she besought the most illustrious
lord that she might be allowed to kiss the relics
which he held in his right hand, and that he would then
apply them to her useless arm. After a brief prayer
had been poured forth, he applied that sacred bone to the affected
place of the girl; and immediately she felt
her native vigor return to that part, and suddenly,
all seeing it, she began to move that arm
which for so many years she had carried dead; and
at this time she is the mother of many children.
[11] On the same day on which the prodigious relics in
the silver casket, a dead boy is raised by his intercession: with a procession of suppliants accompanying
and the lord archbishop above mentioned himself,
were being carried through the whole Land, God willed
still to show forth openly their effect in Francesco,
the only son of Nicola Sciavone and Margherita
his mother, who was in his third year.
He, brought by fevers and worms to the border of life and death,
was with great faith commended to the Saint
by his mother. The infant passed from this life to
another, and the tomb was already prepared with the customary white
garment; when Margherita, having conceived a greater
confidence of receiving him alive, prostrated
herself on the ground before the relics with sobs
and tears. Scarcely had the woman finished her prayers
full of feeling and tears, when the corpse-like limbs
begin to be quickened, then Francesco is seen to
move, and the bystanders are astounded at the prodigy.
They see his eyes opened, and him saying with a stammer:
I live, and I live by the Saint's grace.
The sure report of this singular grace, obtained on a day
of such great joy, is spread through the whole Land,
and of many other singular benefits
which the Saint daily bestowed on those devoted to him,
which I pass over because they were not
committed to writing.
[12] by the linen in which the bones had been wrapped, a boy is freed from a fever, On the VII day of August, Giovanni Maria, only son of Eleonora
Sinibaldi, ten or eleven years old,
in the said place, seemed about to die of a malignant fever.
His mother, having applied all remedies to him,
commended him to the Saint, and took care that the holy linen
be brought to her; which, scarcely applied to her feverish
son, restored him to entire health.
[13] a girl, In the year MDCLXXXI, Flora, daughter of Francesco Rossi
of Sant'Elpidio, lay oppressed by a malignant fever. And when
through the violence of the malady she was raving, her mother
caused the linen to be given to her ruined daughter to kiss.
And scarcely had it been held out to the feverish and raving girl,
and then twice applied to her lips in token of true
homage, when suddenly she recovered her former
and entire health.
[14] a man, a woman, Signor Andrea Carlucci, likewise of Sant'Elpidio,
on the same day and in the same year, when he was suffering from a continual and malignant
fever and had been brought to the last extremity,
his senses being already lost, they laid the holy linen
upon his head, and all the bystanders
offered their prayers. The prayer being finished, the dying man,
to the astonishment of all, recovered
his senses, and within a few days perfect health.
A similar grace befell Francesca Sinibaldi or
Roberti on the IX of December of the same year. And
here it is to be observed that so many times in this territory
have malignant fevers been driven off by the mere touch
of the holy linen that it now seems an ordinary matter and
a continual grace which God for his sake grants to this
people.
[15] as also two others. No less wonderful was what happened on the X day of July
of the following year to Maddalena, wife of Giuseppe
Ciminella of the same place. She was languishing with a like
malady, and had been given up by the physician. At length,
when Signor Francesco Fani had offered her
the aforesaid linen to kiss, in a single moment
she was restored to health. And since divine mercy never ceases
to exalt its Saints,
the aforesaid priest presently carried the same to Ippolita,
his sick kinswoman, and obtained
her health at once.
[16] A priest, having secretly cut off a particle of the linen, heals his two nieces; Moreover, when the aforesaid priest was greatly
astounded at the marvels of this holy linen,
the thought came to him of cutting off from it a piece
the size of a palm; nor did the pious priest remember
the prohibition made by the most illustrious prelate
under penalty of excommunication. Not
long after, Maria Rosa Elpidia, the younger
niece of the aforesaid man, suffered from a malignant and deadly fever;
and into the same malady fell Caterina
Antonia, another niece of his, the elder.
Both commended themselves to the Saint with a kiss
of that particle of the linen, supplied to them by their aforesaid
uncle; and both in turn recovered
their health.
[17] [but he himself, seized by a deadly malady, restores the particle, and presently recovers.] But when in those days the said Signor Francesco
himself had been seized with the same malady,
and, the malignant disease growing worse and his strength diminishing,
and with these the hope of life, he had received the last Sacraments
of the Church, he diligently searched
his conscience, and considering his theft, which
perhaps had displeased the Saint, he resolved at once
to restore it, and, wrapped in a thousand kisses, tears, and sighs,
to give it back to his collegiate church
through Signor Filippo Pelagalli the archpriest,
with a full confession of his offense. And immediately,
while that sacred pledge was being carried out of his house,
the disease also departed from him. The miracle being made known,
all ran together to marvel at a deed
so singular. That sacred particle appears even now,
joined again to the linen, for an eternal memory of the deed.
[18] Francesco Mallei of Sant'Elpidio in the aforesaid year,
on the XX day of August, Another, the same linen being applied, is freed from a fever, fell into a malignant fever,
and, given up by the physician, was brought to the last extremity.
Hence on the 2nd day of September, on the Saint's feast,
the holy linen was brought to him; and having kissed it,
on the same day he was freed from that stubborn malady.
[19] In the same month and year, Adriano Flaminei, a smith
of the same place, experienced the most effectual protection of the glorious
saint Elpidius. another from retention of urine, He, tormented with most bitter pains
from a retention of urine,
was at once freed at the touch of the holy linen.
[20] Maria Elpidia Sinibaldi or Roberti was eight months
pregnant in the town of Sant'Elpidio, a pregnant woman from a fever and other ills,
when she was seized by a most burning fever, which in a few
days turned malignant, and hastened the pains of childbirth.
There came on a sudden flux of the bowels, and so increased
the malady that, destitute of strength and given up
by the physician and near to death, she received
the last helps of the Church, to set out on the journey from earth
to heaven. Nevertheless, the aid of her holy
Patron being implored, the relics of the holy linen are brought to her,
which she had scarcely kissed with the tenderest affection, when
the fever abated, and without any other remedy she recovered.
A few days after she bore a little daughter: and both today
live as witnesses of the singular grace that was proved.
[21] In the year MDCLXXXIV, on the XII of June, sister Maria
Caterina Palombi, a nun from a fever and a swelling of the body. a religious in the monastery of St.
John of the aforesaid Land, suffered from a fever and with her whole
body swollen, so that she had prepared herself for death.
Meanwhile, however, the devout Sister, not despairing
of recovering health through the favor of her patron
St. Elpidius, commended herself to him with most effectual affection
and asked for the said relics of the linen.
Scarcely had she brought her lips to them, when from her mouth
she gave out a vast quantity of pus, and was suddenly healed.
[22] The report of the Saint's feast, but still more
of the notable miracles A pilgrim crippled in his limbs is healed in the Saint's church, which he daily worked in favor
of those devoted to him, had drawn pilgrims and sick people
from various parts. Among these was
Francesco di Biagio of the territory of Ripatransone
(it is a town in the March of Ancona), who
appeared on the very feast day of the Saint with a sure confidence
of obtaining the health he desired, of which
year by year the lower half of his body was the more deprived,
being of necessity supported by two crutches under his arms.
He received the most sacred Sacraments,
and prayed all the morning in
the said church. But when the appointed procession,
with the most illustrious prelate accompanying it, was returning into the church,
and the aforesaid Biagio lay in supplication
at its door, as soon as the most sacred urn
appeared, he lifted up his voice from his prayer and
cried out: A miracle! a miracle! The glorious
saint Elpidius has given me back my health. And
he who scarcely could drag his afflicted limbs by creeping, at once
threw away one of the crutches, and
walked freely: and on the following day, in testimony
of the confirmed grace, he left the other. These
two, as witnesses of the truth, hang fixed
to the walls in the chapel of this Saint.
[23] I cannot pass over how, by the use
of those crutches, another is healed, having received the crutches hung up in the church, other prodigies were wrought.
Giovanni Straccino of Sant'Elpidio had suffered all his
life from malignant and phlegmatic humors.
In the year MDCLXXXI, when he had only his tongue
free, he ordered the aforesaid crutches to be brought to him.
At once, when he had touched them, he rises from the bed in which
he had lain for more than eight months, and goes suddenly
to the church, to give due thanks for the benefit
obtained, all the people of Sant'Elpidio exulting.
From that time until now he enjoys entire
health, and performs his laborious exercises.
[24] in the same way another recovers health: Not otherwise did Carlo Roggieri of Fermo
experience divine help, a tailor in the territory of
Sant'Elpidio, who, deprived of the use of his whole body toward
the end of the month of April of the year MDCLXXXII, could not
leave his bed nor take even one step
throughout the whole course of the year. And so, both patient in his disease
and persevering in devotion toward the Saint,
he asked with tears that the prodigious crutches be brought to him.
Scarcely had he received them upon his bed
when he feels healthful humors running through his body,
and all vigor and strength returning to his limbs.
Hence he rose from his bed, and
after eight days went to lay down the instruments of his health
in the church of the holy abbot Elpidius, renowned
for prodigies.
[25] a canon healed of a spasm by the Saint's relics; Giuseppe Massi, canon of Sant'Elpidio, testifies with full
faith that, being afflicted in his right arm
for many days with the most intense pains of spasm,
by which he could not rest even for a moment,
and being persuaded that by no human help could he prolong
his life or resist so great a pain,
he had recourse to the aid of his holy patron Elpidius,
and holding in his hand a fragment of that Saint's sacred body,
which he kept by him with the highest veneration,
said to God with voice and heart: Increase the pain,
but increase also my patience; and to the Saint,
having kissed his relics, while he applied them to the afflicted part:
Pray for me, holy abbot Elpidius;
and that he was suddenly freed on the XVI day of July
of the year MDCLXXVII. He is still living today.
[26] a married couple freed from a fever, their daughters praying at his tomb, To these are added Ludovico Asclepy and Beatrice
Salimbeni his wife, of Sant'Elpidio. One of them
began to sicken on the XI of August, and the other on the XIX of the same
month and year; both of a malignant fever. Then,
the disease increasing, when they had been brought to the gates of death
and had received the last Sacraments of the Church,
they sent their daughters to the Saint's tomb
to make supplication. Presently they were freed, and of a grace
so prodigious gave testimony on silver
tablets.
[27] a woman restored from various diseases by a vow and the relics, A like benefit Maria, wife of Marc'Antonio
Laurenzi, always proclaims. She, grievously suffering
from catarrhs, fluxions, and touched at repeated intervals
by apoplexy, which had deprived her almost entirely of sight,
made a vow to the Saint, promising that she would take care
that some sacrifices of the Mass be offered
in his chapel in his honor. Presently she also
asked that something of the relics
of her holy patron Elpidius be brought to her, as was done by
a certain priest. When he had applied certain small
fragments of the Saint to the eyes of the devout woman, she recovers
free motion of her whole body, and perfect
sight, on the XI day of May of the year MDCLXXVIII;
and she is living even at this time.
[28] a canon by the mere invocation of the Saint. Pietro Medaglia, a canon in the Land of
Sant'Elpidio, lay afflicted with the most burning heats of fever
in the hottest season of that year, on the
XVII day of July; and being besides suddenly oppressed with quinsy
and difficulty of breathing, he already seemed
to be drawing his last breaths; nor had he been able to swallow even the least
liquid for several days. Hence,
amid such gasps of death and a thousand melancholy
thoughts, he had recourse to his holy
Protector, and implored his aid for the health of soul
and body: and by so much the greater a prodigy
did he obtain help, by how much the more evident
and near was the shipwreck of his life. Wherefore
he betook himself to the Saint's church, and there
in thanksgiving for so signal a favor
celebrated Mass.
[29] In the same month, but not of that year, Domenico,
brother of the said canon Medaglia, felt the effectual aid of the Saint.
this man's brother, raving with a malignant fever, is healed by the relics: Brought by a malignant fever, he seemed to have been carried
to the last periods of life, and he feared
lest he pass to the article of death. So great
had been from the beginning the violence of the malady that the sick man,
from excessive raving, was not fit to receive the Sacraments
of the Church; and hence his brother
was tormented with a doubled grief. He, understanding
that in such events human helps are vain,
and mindful of what he himself had experienced in his own case,
withdrew to his chamber, where, on bended knees before
the image of his holy patron Elpidius, he commended
to him his beloved brother. Then he took a particle
of the Saint's body, and applied it to the sick man's forehead.
The raving ceased, and the following night he slept
sweetly; and when the morning came he found himself
well. For which cause, rising from his bed,
he went with his brother to the tomb, where with great
piety without delay they gave due thanks to the Saint.
[30] Not without astonishment was heard the miracle
which befell Natale Bernardino Lilla of Sant'Elpidio
on the XIX of April of the year MDCLXXXIII. another is freed from difficulty of urine, He, for
eight continuous days tormented with the gravest pains of retained urine,
and brought to such a pass that his life was despaired of,
was endeavoring to set his affairs in order with
God and with the world. The urine had already spread
through his veins, nor had the poor man passed even a single drop
in all the aforesaid time. Meanwhile,
when the powerful intercession of the holy abbot Elpidius
came into his mind, he had recourse to him with great faith, and begs
for aid. And at the same time in which something of the Saint's relics
is brought to him by a priest
Bonfigli, who was present there, a tooth of the same Saint
is held out to him to kiss. Scarcely had the sick man
kissed it when he felt its prodigious
effect: for in that same moment he began
to pass urine, and thereafter passed so great a quantity
that within three days he was wholly restored,
and gave due thanks at the Saint's tomb.
[31] It was also an illustrious miracle which befell
Tecla Medaglia, wife of Ludovico Andreanelli
of the said place. a woman from many diseases at once. For a long time she had been troubled
with fevers and other ills throughout her whole body:
her limbs were so weakened that she could no longer
walk for the trembling by which she was cast down.
There came on, on the IX of January of the year MDCLXXXIII,
pains of the head so violent, and such signs
of disease, that, being given up by the physician, she was thought to be about to die.
Wherefore, finding none who could bring
help, she had recourse to the one remedy that remained,
namely to the mercy of the holy
abbot Elpidius. She asked that the aforesaid
sacred tooth be brought to her; and having kissed it, she suddenly recovered
from her pains; and thereafter had her body
so free and sound as though she had never been seized
by any malady. She proclaims openly and to this day
the grace obtained, and narrates the miracle to all,
rendering a thousand thanksgivings to the holy
physician Elpidius.
[32] Girolama Cifola of Sant'Elpidio for three
continuous months had borne crutches under her arms for
the support of her languishing body, A woman, having made a vow, is restored from a wasting sickness, because about
the end of November of the year MDCLXXXIII she had been grievously
afflicted with phlegmatic humors. The pious woman made a vow
to the glorious Abbot, and resolved to take care
that the sacrifice of the Mass should be offered at his altar.
Thus commended to the Saint and bound to him, on the XV
of February of the year MDCLXXXIV she obtained from him the grace:
and being entirely healed, she went on the same day to the collegiate
church, and, a Mass having been celebrated at her request,
left the said crutches at the tomb of her
Deliverer.
[33] a young man from a fever by the touch of the linen, A young man from the town of San Giusto (it is a place in
the March), named Teodoro, a workman of the abbey
of the Holy Cross in the territory of Sant'Elpidio,
was drawing near to death from a long and stubborn fever,
having received the most holy Sacraments of the Church
on the XII of April of the aforesaid year. But by the mere touch of the linen
he was freed from the danger; and therefore gave due
thanks to the holy abbot Elpidius.
[34] this man's brother from colic gripes, by drinking the dust of the tomb: A few days after, Domenico, own brother
of the aforesaid Teodoro, being suddenly seized with colic
gripes, which for two days and as many
nights left him no rest, and having obtained no relief
by medicines, fled to the effectual aid
of the Saint, admonished by his brother, who had
a little before experienced it. He ordered that the sacred linen be asked for
from the reverend priests; in place of which
there was given to the sick man some dust from the Saint's tomb,
that he might take it in drink. Scarcely had he taken it
when he at once experienced its miraculous effect,
being wholly freed from those bitter pains.
[35] many other miracles passed over. Countless are the graces and stupendous favors
which day by day with a bounteous hand the glorious
abbot Elpidius bestows on his servants, both
through the application of the said linen, of his sacred
bones, of the dust of his tomb, and also
through the oil of his lamp, and by the mere invocation of his name.
His prodigious intercession is clearly
attested by the votive offerings fixed to the wall of his tomb,
and by a part of the church covered with material both cheap
and precious, namely garments, chains,
trusses, and crutches. But
because these benefits have not been entered in registers,
they are only impressed on the memory of those
who were worthy of such favors. For this cause
I cannot set them forth in detail with a more prolix discussion,
although otherwise thousands would have to be recorded
who were freed from a malignant fever. And so
let the pious reader be content with what has just been reported;
and let these be to the greater glory of the Saint.
Annotata*. i.e. the bone of the forearm
§ III. The memory of St. Elpidius in the Martyrologies:
it is inquired whether the St. Elpidius the abbot praised by Palladius is he who
is venerated among the men of Sant'Elpidio: this man certainly did not come alive into Picenum, but his body,
when dead, was probably carried thither.
[ ] The Roman Martyrology announces St. Elpidius in Picenum; The Roman Martyrology at the 2nd of September
clearly announces the Elpidius of whose veneration
and miracles we have thus far treated; but recording
none of his deeds, it leaves it doubtful
whether this Elpidius is that Cappadocian abbot in whose
name he is now celebrated among the men of Sant'Elpidio. Take the words:
In Picenum likewise, of saint Elpidius the abbot,
by whose name a town is called, which rejoices that it possesses
his sacred body. And Baronius in
his notes observes the following: Of whom also Peter
in the Catalogue, bk. VIII, ch. XXVIII, and since he writes that he was a Cappadocian
by race, we think he is the man
of whom Palladius narrates excellent things in ch.
XXXVII. His memory is famous in Picenum:
for he is chiefly venerated in the town which from his
name is called Sant'Elpidio. There was besides another
Elpidius, noble in learning and in excellent works,
who in the times of the emperor Constantius discharged
a legation in the East against the Arians, sent
by Julius the Roman Pontiff, as is clear from his
letters which are extant in Athanasius. Baronius here clearly suggests
some doubt, yet in such a way that he is inclined to the opinion
of the men of Sant'Elpidio.
[37] Nevertheless Peter de Natalibus, whom
Baronius adduces, Peter de Natalibus [records Elpidius the abbot, a Cappadocian by race,] records in the clearest words the Abbot praised
by Palladius, writing thus of him
in bk. 8, ch. 28: Elpidius the abbot was by race a Cappadocian.
Of whom Heraclides writes that he dwelt
in a cave, surpassing all in the zeal of abstinence.
For through the XXV years which he lived there, he took food only
on the Lord's day and on Thursdays: on other
days he tasted nothing at all: and through the whole night
he sang psalms standing and praying: whom a countless
multitude of Brethren followed. And when
a scorpion had struck him on a certain night, he,
having trodden on it, did not so much as change the space in which
he had been standing: so far did he despise the pain.
A dry shoot of a vine, planted by him out of the due
season, so grew that, having become a great
vine, within a year it covered the whole church.
He for twenty-five years never
turned himself toward the West, nor beheld the declining sun.
By whose example his disciple
Sisinnius, when he had been with him seven years,
shut himself in a tomb, in which, standing for three years,
he always prayed, never by day or night walking about,
or sitting, or lying down. Elpidius, therefore,
after the aforesaid years having returned to Cappadocia,
and having been made a priest, gathered Brethren and Sisters into one,
and, a monastery having been built, rested in peace.
Whose feast is kept on the IV of the Nones of September.
This writer errs in this, that he says Elpidius
returned into Cappadocia, and the same error
others to be presently cited have imitated. For it was not
Elpidius, but Sisinnius his disciple, who returned into Cappadocia,
as we shall see from Palladius,
whom Peter cited under the name of Heraclides,
because the Lausiac History of Palladius and the Paradise
of Heraclides, as it is sometimes called, are the same
Work of Palladius.
[38] Let the studious reader note that it is not asserted by
Peter de Natalibus [neither certainly affirms whether the Cappadocian and the Elpidius of the men of Picenum are the same: yet others assert it,] that this St. Elpidius is venerated in
Picenum, or that his body is preserved there. With him
Maurolico agreed, who on the same day has thus briefly:
Likewise in Cappadocia, of Elpidius the abbot, conspicuous for abstinence.
But Ferrari in the Catalogue
of the Saints of Italy at the same day hands down the opinion of the men of Sant'Elpidio.
For he composed an elogium for the Saint
such as I have just given from Peter, not even correcting
the error about the return into Cappadocia;
and at the end he subjoined this: Whose body is laid in Picenum,
in the illustrious town named after him.
But in his annotation he raises this doubt:
Whether St. Elpidius died in Picenum in the town
which is named Sant'Elpidio; or whether his body
was translated thither from Cappadocia,
is unascertained by me, since I have not yet seen the records
of the church of Sant'Elpidio. I suspect that that
doubt cannot be resolved from the records of Sant'Elpidio,
since nothing about a translation of the body into Picenum
has been communicated to us. Nay rather
Medaglia, the collector of the records, strives to prove
that Saint Elpidius came into Picenum and
died there. But that clearly conflicts with Palladius,
so that that writer by this attempt increases the doubt
before mentioned, namely whether the Elpidius venerated in Picenum
is the same as the Palladian Elpidius.
[39] Natale Medaglia strives to prove from ancient paintings, Let us hear, however, what the said Medaglia
brings forward. First he cites Gregorio Lazzari,
bk. 4 of a Work unknown to me, On holy Men, and from
it adduces these words: Elpidius, a holy abbot
and illustrious for holiness of life, was an Asiatic by nation,
born of noble parents in the city of Cordyla in Cappadocia:
who, coming to Rome,
after visiting the holy places, sought Picenum,
and being inspired by a divine light resolved to remain in the place
where out of the ruins of the city of Cluana
a town was made. This Medaglia calls Cluellum,
who then strives to confirm Lazzari's statements from ancient
paintings. Take his words in summary. The first painting
exhibits an angel who, showing a skiff near the bank
to Elpidius, carried him aboard the skiff to Rome. The second painting
shows Elpidius departing from Rome into Picenum,
while the people there were building the town of Cluellum.
Praying before his entrance, he is taught by God that he will there
find two fellow-workers, Ennesius and Eustatius,
own brothers.
[40] that St. Elpidius came to the people of Picenum, and preached the faith there, The third has it that the three said Saints met,
when on the following day the sun was scarcely appearing in the East;
and that they began to preach against the idols, and
were therefore summoned before the prefect of the town. The fourth teaches
that St. Elpidius, after various disputations about
religion, was shut in prison by the prefect's order. The fifth
exhibits the Saint in prison. The sixth shows
him freed from prison by the aid of three angels,
the prefect marveling at that prodigy. From the seventh,
the prefect, having seen that miracle, begs for
baptism; but is first ordered to overthrow the idols, and
does so. The eighth painting, finally, signifies baptism
conferred on the prefect by St. Elpidius, with Ennesius
and Eustatius assisting: All these eight paintings,
says Medaglia, are of a most ancient hand,
with descriptions in Gothic characters
added beneath. He then observes that it is clear from these painted
tablets that a singular veneration of St. Elpidius flourished
among the ancients. In this indeed I readily agree with him;
for the same is also gathered from the fact that
the Saint's name was given to the town, and endures to this day.
[41] [alleging also Mss. and an epitaph: that opinion cannot suit the Cappadocian Elpidius.] From painted tablets Medaglia passes to ancient Mss. (as he certainly
calls them, for how great their antiquity is he does not
explain), and from them narrates that seven
thousand men were baptized by St. Elpidius
on the same day on which the prefect received baptism;
and besides, on another day, six thousand: that various
churches too were erected by the same Saint, and the people instructed
in piety: and that Elpidius at last died on the 2nd
of September, in the year 393, in the reign of Theodosius the elder,
and that on that occasion the name of St. Elpidius was given
to the town of Cluellum; and that not long after Elpidius
Ennesius and Eustatius died. Most of these things
he confirms by an epitaph which he asserts was carved
on a stone in the church of St. Elpidius, which utterly collapsed
in the year 1629. He testifies that the words of the epitaph were these:
To the Apostle of Picenum and our most vigilant Father of the country,
Whom, dying on earth on the IV of the Nones of September,
The blessed hosts received in heaven;
And whose precepts they embraced unto salvation,
And whose holiness they venerated unto obedience,
They raised this stone unto eternity.
Mu. Clu. In the year from the birth of Christ CCCXCIII.
Thus Natale Medaglia concerning the deeds and death of St. Elpidius
among the people of Picenum; for his deeds in the East he had
before reported from Palladius. And from all these things,
which I have thought should be faithfully reported, I form this
conclusion. Since it is established that St. Elpidius died in his own cave
in Asia, it must be either that all those things are fabulous,
or that another Elpidius flourished in Picenum.
Which of the two is the more likely
I shall now examine.
[42] First I observe that the proofs sought from the paintings are of very small moment, [But since the Office is repugnant to it, either the paintings are not rightly explained,] since we do not know
at what time those tablets were painted, and painters
commonly claim too great a license
in painting popular traditions, nay even fables.
Secondly, the men of Sant'Elpidio themselves do not seem to believe,
or at any rate to have long believed, that St. Elpidius died
in Picenum. This is clear from the letter recited above at n. 2,
where the most illustrious count Asclepi said that it must first be examined
how that Saint's body
was translated into Picenum, of which in the lessons
no mention is made, but rather that in Cappadocia
he closed his last day. The men of Sant'Elpidio, therefore,
when that Office was composed, did not yet
think that the Saint had died among them, but
believed the body had been brought from elsewhere, and they seem
still to have believed the same when in the year 1683 the said letter
was written. Hence I cannot believe that
those things are rightly gathered from the paintings which Medaglia gathered,
or that what he brought forward about seven thousand men baptized in one day
and six thousand on another
by Elpidius was found in any ancient writings of any authority.
Certainly all those things are wholly devoid
of likelihood, as I shall show: and since they are contrary to the Office
of the men of Sant'Elpidio, and in the Offices
of particular churches their tradition is commonly expressed,
I strongly suspect that they cannot rightly be gathered even from the said
paintings.
[43] But whether such things are expressed in the painted tablets
as Medaglia has given us, or they contain fables, or they represent the deeds of another Saint. or whether he thought
he saw in those paintings what is by no means
signified there, they are to be held for fables if
they must be understood of St. Elpidius the abbot. For,
since he ties the Saint's death to the year 393, Elpidius
would not have come into Picenum except in the reign of Valentinian,
Gratian, or Theodosius himself, under whom
he places his death. With what show of truth, then, is he said to have been shut in prison
for preaching the faith? Nay, it is not likely
that at that time there were many idolaters in Picenum,
since the men of Fermo, Ascoli, and
Ancona already had their own prelates in Picenum.
For this cause some suspicion arises in me
whether perhaps those tablets exhibit the deeds of some other Saint,
as also the epitaph recited above,
which certainly is not very ancient,
since it counts the years from the birth of Christ: for the things suggested in them,
if they are true, suit not an abbot but a bishop.
If the ancient monuments which they have
had been sent to us together with
the Office and a delineation of the tablets, it would be permitted to pronounce
a more certain judgment on all these things.
[44] Now, these being set aside, I shall allege certain reasons
for which I judge [Reasons which suggest that the body of St. Elpidius the Cappadocian was carried from Palestine into Picenum.] that the body of St. Elpidius, the Cappadocian abbot,
was translated into Picenum, and that thence
arose his famous veneration and the town's
name. Besides the tradition of the men of Sant'Elpidio,
who think that they possess the body of St. Elpidius
the Cappadocian, of whom Palladius treats, the chief
reason is one of the three feasts, which was formerly instituted
and celebrated on account of St. Elpidius's coming. For indeed
I can scarcely doubt that we ought to understand the coming of his body,
that is, the day of translation,
not the coming of the living Elpidius, as Medaglia would have it.
For the first is most usual, the other
wholly unheard of. Since, therefore, the Saint's body
was translated into Picenum from elsewhere, as is gathered from the feast
of translation, nothing hinders
our being able to judge that it is the body of St. Elpidius
the Cappadocian, who died in Palestine, since many
relics of the Saints were translated thence into other provinces,
and this is the tradition of the men of Sant'Elpidio.
And this tradition is confirmed by the bodies of Ennesius
and Eustatius, which they affirm to be joined with the body of St. Elpidius:
for these two Saints Palladius joins
with St. Elpidius in these words: With
this holy athlete of God (Elpidius) there was also consummated
together the renowned servant of God Ænesius *,
a man of great esteem, … and his brother Eustathius,
his equal in honor, etc. With these agree
the words which Medaglia brings forward from ancient writings,
as he says: And there was with this Athlete
of Christ Ennesius, a great and honorable man, and his brother
Eustasius, whose life of continence was one,
and the same their consummation in Christ. And so,
provided it be certain that the bodies of Ænesius or Ennesius and Eustathius
are also preserved in Picenum, it can scarcely be doubted
that they are the bodies of the same men of whom
Palladius writes. But it is to be lamented that the Acts of the translation
have perished, or at any rate are not to our hand:
for from these all things could be more clearly set forth,
so that no doubt would remain.
Annotata*. otherwise, Ennesius
§ IV. The deeds of Elpidius described by Palladius
are discussed; and it is inquired whether he is the same as the Elpidius praised in the Life
of St. Chariton, and as the deacon of St. Basil.
[ ] [The Saint's deeds faithfully written by Palladius, but the editions of him less consonant with one another;] Although the Lausiac History of Palladius, in which
the deeds of St. Elpidius the abbot are reported, was written
with the greatest fidelity, and its author narrates those things
which he himself saw or received from eyewitnesses, yet the deeds
of St. Elpidius suffer some difficulty
on account of the different editions of the said History,
which do not agree with one another. Three are to my hand,
or, if I would enumerate them all, four
editions of the Lausiac History, one Greek,
the rest Latin. The Greek one John Meursius gave in the year 1616
from a very ancient parchment codex of the Palatine library,
as he warns in the preface,
presently adding this: I am the first to publish it in Greek;
though a learned man, Gentian Hervet, gave a Latin
version sixty years ago.
But certainly either he indulged himself too much, or
the codex he used was much different from the Palatine one.
For how much his version differs from the Greek
text of Palladius anyone may easily observe, if he will
but compare them.
[46] [and the Latin translations not sufficiently exact: hence the Greek Acts to be given below:] Truly Hervet's Latin Translation has its chapters
arranged in a different order from the Greek text
published by Meursius. Not a few faults also occur
in that same translation, which Rosweyde
reprinted in the Lives of the Fathers, some faults being corrected
here and there. The said Rosweyde published
also the ancient translation of Palladius, which
is commonly called the Paradise of Heraclides, even though
it is nothing else than the Lausiac History rendered into Latin.
But this ancient translation agrees more rightly
with the Greek text, certainly as to the order of the chapters.
But not even that translation seems altogether
exact, though it appears better than Hervet's.
For this cause I shall give the Greek Acts of St. Elpidius
from Meursius's edition and shall add a new translation
with more prolix annotations.
[47] Moreover from these Acts we have that the native land of St.
Elpidius was Cappadocia, the Saint's country, monastic life, and the place of his death; which is an ample and
well enough known province of Asia Minor. Palladius names
no city, nor the noble or ignoble birth of his parents.
They divine, therefore, without foundation
who have said that he was born of noble parents at Cordula or Cordyla:
for I do not even find Cordyla
in Cappadocia; but Cellarius, vol. 2 of the ancient Geography,
p. 197, attributes the port of Cordyla to
Pontus, not to Cappadocia. Besides, from the Acts
it is clear that St. Elpidius was a monk,
and then leader or abbot of anchorites,
and a priest in Palestine, where also he ended his life.
Again, therefore, all those have wandered from the truth
who have written that St. Elpidius returned into Cappadocia
and died there: for Palladius asserts that of
his disciple Sisinnius; but of Elpidius
he says below at n. 2: This great Athlete
of patience, from the time when he entered the cave (near
Jericho), did not come down from the mountain until
he was buried. And these words leave no
doubt that he died in Palestine,
so that whatever things are more obscure must necessarily be reconciled
with these words of Palladius.
[48] Hervet's edition has made it seem more obscure
where St. Elpidius first embraced the monastic Life,
it is inquired where he was first a monk, and of what monastery he was priest.
Tillemont discussed these matters in vol. XI of the Monuments,
note 1 on Palladius of Helenopolis,
and sufficiently shows that Elpidius was first a monk
in a monastery of Cappadocia, which
Timothy, chorepiscopus of St. Basil, had built. He confesses,
however, that this is not consonant with Hervet's Latin
translation, since that seems to have it
that he was first an anchorite in Palestine, then
abbot in Cappadocia, and he tries to correct the text
in various ways. Hear the words which bring in
the difficulty. Hervet's edition, ch. 106, thus begins
to speak of Elpidius: In the caves of the Amorites, which
are at Jericho, which those fleeing Joshua the son of Nun * had once built,
who was then laying waste the foreigners,
on mount Luca, there was a certain Elpidius,
with the priesthood of a monastery, being made so by Timothy,
chorepiscopus of Cappadocia, a most competent man.
He dwelt in a certain cave. Here first is described
the place in which Elpidius led the anchoretic life,
and presently it is said, but afterwards honored
with the priesthood of a monastery, and that monastery
is set in Cappadocia. It seems, therefore,
that from these words it must be concluded that the Saint was at first an anchorite
in Palestine, then a priest of a monastery in Cappadocia, as Tillemont
rightly noted, who, however, did not sufficiently remove the difficulty.
[49] And so it must be observed that the whole description
of the place and where he was afterwards priest and abbot; which Hervet gave among the deeds of St. Elpidius
does not belong to his Life, but to the preceding
chapter, as is clear from Meursius's Greek edition,
which we shall reprint. But the Life of Elpidius
was begun by Palladius in these words: A certain Elpidius,
or, as Hervet has it, There was a certain Elpidius,
etc. What precedes for the description of the place is in
the Greek text referred to the preceding chapter, and to that
it seems must necessarily be referred, not indeed
to the chapter which precedes in Hervet, but
to that which precedes in the Greek edition, and
in the ancient Latin translation in Rosweyde,
p. 975. The description of the place being cut off, Palladius's words
will be able to be rightly understood, and the earlier ones
will not conflict with the later. For first he is said to be
with the dignity of the priesthood; and that afterwards can be referred
to his coming into Palestine, so that he was made a priest
after he had lived there for some time.
Tillemont refers that afterwards to Palladius's
coming, and thinks that he was made a priest
after Palladius had been there. Thirdly he is called
of the monastery, that is, from the monastery, of Timothy the Cappadocian,
not abbot of that monastery, as I think more likely,
but a monk before his coming into Palestine.
Fourthly it is said: He, having come
(or coming), dwelt in one of the caves,
namely of the place described before in the preceding chapter or
narrative. Hence the ancient translation
has thus: This Elpidius made himself a dwelling in one of the aforesaid
caves. The rest will be able to be elucidated in the annotations. But before
I subjoin the Acts, two things still occur to be discussed.
[50] whether he is the same as the Elpidius praised in the Life of St. Chariton, First, in the Life of St. Chariton in Surius
at the XXVIII of September, mention is made of a certain Elpidius,
whom the place, the time, and other circumstances
seem altogether to indicate to be the same as this our man.
For the writer of that Life, when he had narrated
that a sacred laura (so the Greeks called a dwelling
of anchorites distinguished by many cells)
was built by Chariton, reports the construction of another laura
thus: And when (Chariton)
had accomplished a day's journey, he comes to another cave,
which was indeed situated toward the parts of Jericho;
and it was deserted, and was most fit for affording
silence and quiet… When therefore many
had obtained healing from him, and
had resolved to imitate his life, here too he builds
another dwelling of the virtues, which Elpidius
indeed afterwards enlarged, a man renowned
for right deeds in ascetic exercise. Now that there were anchorites
near Jericho when Elpidius came thither
Palladius suggests in these words below at n.
1, He, having come, dwelt in one of the caves.
And that their number was wonderfully increased
by that Saint's example he teaches in the same place, when
he says: He made that mountain populous like a city.
Since therefore these things rightly agree, and it is certain
that Chariton flourished before Elpidius, and finally
the place is set in both Lives near the city
of Jericho, it does not seem to be doubted
that the same Elpidius is recorded in both Acts.
[51] whether he is the same as Elpidius, deacon of St. Basil. St. Basil in letter 138 of the new edition praises
a certain Elpidius, a deacon, writing thus of him:
For I was passing this fiftieth day
in infirmity, when there came to us our beloved and
excellent brother, our fellow-deacon Elpidius. Of
the same again, in letter 265 to Eulogius of Alexandria,
he writes this: Wherefore we have also sent
our most longed-for son, Elpidius our fellow-deacon,
who will both carry the letter and can
himself announce to you whatever proofs
have escaped the writing. Meursius in his Annotations,
p. 200, thinks him the same as our abbot
Elpidius. Truly, since the latter letter of Basil
is marked as written in the year 377, the time does not
hinder Elpidius, St. Basil's deacon, from having
afterwards been able to embrace the monastic and anchoretic life,
and from being the same as St. Elpidius the abbot,
who ended his life in Palestine. Nevertheless
the mere agreement of time and country does not afford
a sufficiently certain foundation for us to affirm as certain
that it is the same Elpidius, as
Meursius did. The name Elpidius was not so rare
in the East that from the name of each a solid
reason could be had, without which nothing should be asserted as
certain. These things being dispatched, I subjoin the Greek Acts
from Meursius with a Latin translation and
our annotations, in which I shall discuss the doubts
which still occur in the Acts.
Annotata*. i.e. Joshua
THE GREEK ACTS
From the edition of Meursius, J. S. translating.
Elpidius, abbot, patron of the town of Sant'Elpidio in Picenum. (S.)
Ελπίδιός
τις,
Καππαδόκης
τῷ
γένει,
εἰς
ὕστερον
πρεσβυτερίου
ἠξιωμένος,
τοῦ
μοναστηρίου
γενομένου
τοῦ
χωρεπισκόπου
Τιμοθέου
τῆς
Καππαδοκίας,
ἀνδρὸς
ἱκανωτάτου·
οὗτος
ἐλθὼν
παρῴκησεν
ἐν
ἑνὶ
τῶν
σπηλαίων,
ὃς
τοσαύτην
ἐγκράτειαν
ἀσκήσεως
ἐνεδείξατο,
ὡς
καλύψαι
τοῦς
πάντας.
Ζήσας
γὰρ
εἴκοσι
καὶ
πέντε
ἔτη
τὰ
σάββατα
καὶ
τὰς
κυριακὰς
μετελάμβανεν
μόνον·
τὰς
δὲ
νύκτας
πάσας
ἑστὼς
ἔψαλλεν
καθάπερ
βασιλίσκῳ
τῶν
μελισσῶν
ἐσομένῳ,
ἐν
μέσῳ
τῆς
ἀδελφότητος
συνοικήσας
τὸ
ὄρος
ἐκεῖνο
ἐπόλισεν.
Καὶ
ἧν
ἰδεῖν
ἐκεῖ
παρ᾽
ἐκάστῳ
διαφόρους
τῆς
ἀσκήσεως
πολιτείας.
Τοῦτον
ποτὲ
τὸν
Ἐλπίδιον,
τὸν
ὄντως
τῇ
ἐλπίδι
χαίροντα,
καὶ
διὰ
τὸν
Χριστὸν
τῇ
θλίψει
ὑπομένοντα,
ψάλλοντα
ἐν
νυκτὶ,
συμψαλλόντων
ἡμῶν
αὐτῷ,
σκορπίος
ἔπληξεν·
ὃς
πατήσας
αὔτον
οὐδὲ
μετέστη
τῆς
τοῦ
σχήματος
στάσεως,
τοσοῦτον
τῇ
ὑπομονῇ
ἀλογήσας
τῆς
κατὰ
τὸν
σκορπίον
ὀδύνης.
Μιᾶς
τοίνυν
τῶν
ἡμερῶν
ἀδελφοῦ,
τινὸς
κόμμα
κατέχοντος
κλήματος,
τοῦτο
λαβὼν
ὁ
Μακάριος
ἐν
τῷ
καθῆσθαι
παρὰ
τὴν
ὄχθαν
τοῦ
ὄρους
ἔχωσεν
ὡς
φυτεύων,
καίπερ
ἐν
οὐ
καιρῷ
θείς,
τοσοῦτον
ηὐξήθη
καὶ
γέγονεν
ἄμπελος,
ὤστε
σκεπάζειν
πᾶσαν
τὴν
ἐκκλησίαν.
[2] Τούτῳ
τῷ
ἁγίῳ
ἀθλητῇ
τοῦ
Χριστοῦ
συνετελειώθη
καὶ
ὁ
ἀοίδιμος
δοῦλος
τοῦ
θεοῦ
Αἰνέσιος,
ἀνήρ
τις
ἀξιόλογος,
καὶ
τῇ
ασκήσει
διαπρέψας,
καὶ
Εὐστάθιος
ἀδελφὸς
τούτου
ὁμότιμος,
καὶ
τοῦς
ἄθλους
τῆς
κατὰ
Χριστὸν
πολιτείας
ἐξανύσας
προθύμως.
Ἐπὶ
τοσοῦτον
δὲ
ὁ
μακάριος
Ἐλπίδιος
ἤλασεν
ἀπαθείας,
ταριχεύσας
τὸ
σῶμα,
ὡς
ἥλιον
διαφαίνειν
αὐτοῦ
τῶν
ὀστέων
τὸ
πῆγμα.
Φέρεται,
δὲ
καὶ
τοῦτο
ἐν
τοῖς
τῆς
ἀρετῆς
αὐτοῦ
διηγήμασιν
παρὰ
τῶν
σπουδαίων
αὐτοῦ
μαθητῶν,
ὅτι
ἐν
ὅλοις
εἴκοσι
πέντε
ἔτεσιν
οὐδεποτε
ἐπὶ
δύσιν
ἔστράφη.
Καὶ
τοιγε
τοῦ
σπηλαίου
τῆς
θύρας
εἰς
τὸ
ὕψος
τοῦ
ὄρους
ἐπικειμένης·
οὐδὲ
μετὰ
ἑξαωρίαν
τὸν
ἥλιον
ὑπὲρ
κεφαλῆς
τούτου
γενόμενον
ἴδεν
ποτὲ
κατὰ
δύσιν
κλίναντα,
οὐδὲ
τοῦς
κατὰ
δυσμὰς
ἀνατέλλοντας
ἀστέρας
ποτὲ
ἐθεάσατο
ἐν
τοῖς
εἰκοσιπέντε
ἔτεσιν.
Οὗτος
ὁ
μέγας
ἀθλητὴς
τῆς
ὑπομονῆς
ἀφ᾽
οὗ
εἰσῆλθεν
εἰς
τὸ
σπήλαιον,
οὐ
κατῆλθεν
ἐκ
τοῦ
ὄρους
μέχρις
ὅτου
ἐτάφη.
Ταῦτα
τὰ
οὐράνια
ἐγχειρήματα
τοῦ
στεφανίτου
καὶ
ἀηττήτου
παλαιστοῦ
Ἐλπιδίου,
τοῦ
νῦν
ἐν
παραδείσῳ
διαιτωμένου
μετὰ
τῶν
αὐτοῦ
ὁμοίων.
[3] Τούτου
τοῦ
ἀθανάτου
Ἐλπιδίου
μαθητής
γέγονεν
Σισίννιος
ὀνόματι,
ἐξ
οἰκετικῆς
μὲν
ὁρμώμενος
τυχης,
ἐλεύθερος
δὲ
κατὰ
τὴν
πίστιν,
τῷ
γένει
Καππαδοκης.
Δεῖ
γὰρ
καὶ
τὰ
γένη
σημάινειν
πρὸς
δόξαν
τοῦ
ἐξευγενίζοντος
ἡμὰς
Χριστοῦ,
καὶ
εἰς
τὴν
μακαρίαν
καὶ
ἀληθινὴν
ἀπάγοντος
ἡμᾶς
εὐγένειαν
εἰς
τὴν
τῶν
οὐράνων
βασιλείαν·
χρονίσας
τοίνυν
παρὰ
τῷ
μακαρίῳ
Ἐλπιδίῳ
ὁ
διάπυρος
ἐραστὴς
τῶν
τῆς
ἀσκήσεως
ἀρετῶν
Σισίννιος
ἕκτον,
ἢ
καὶ
ἕβδομον
ἔτος,
καὶ
ἐκμέμαθηκὼς
τοῦ
ἀνδρὸς
τὰς
ἀρετὰς,
καὶ
τὸ
καρτερὸν
τῶν
τῆς
ἀσκήσεως
πόνων,
εἰς
ὕστερον
οὗτος
μνήματι
ἑαυτὸν
ἐγκαθεῖρξεν,
ἐπὶ
τρία
ἔτη
σταθεὶς
ἐν
τῷ
μνεήματι
ἐν
προσευχαῖς
διετέλει.
Μὴ
νύκτωρ,
μὴ
μεθ᾽
ἡμέραν,
μὴ
καθίσας,
μὴ
ἀναπεσὼν,
μὴ
βαδίσας,
ἔξω.
Οὗτος
κατηξιώθη
χαρίσματος
κατὰ
δαιμόνων.
Νυνὶ
δὲ
ἐπανελθὼν
ἐπὶ
τὴν
πατρίδα
ἠξιώθη
πρεσβυτερίου,
συναγαγὼν
ἀδελφότητα
ἀνδρῶν
τε
καὶ
γυναικῶν,
τῇ
μαρτυρίᾳ
τῆς
ἀπαθείας
διὰ
τῆς
σεμνῆς
πολιτείας,
καὶ
τὸ
ἑαυτοῦ
ἄῤῥεν
τῆς
ἐπιθυμίας
ἐλάσας,
καὶ
τὸ
τῶν
γυναικῶν
θῆλυ
τῇ
ἐγκρατείᾳ
φιμώσας,
ὡς
πληροῦσθαι
τὸ
γεγραμμένον·
Ἐν
Χριστῷ
Ἰησοῦ
οὐκ
ἔστιν
ἄρσεν
καί
θῆλυ.
Ἐστὶν
δὲ
καὶ
φιλόξενος
καθ᾽
ὑπερβολὴν,
καίπερ
ὣν
ἀκτήμων,
εἰς
ἔλεγχον
τῶν
ἀμεταδότων
πλουσίων.
The Saint's country, his anchoretic life, A certain Elpidius a was a Cappadocian by race, afterwards
adorned with the dignity of the priesthood, from the monastery
of Timothy [c] the chorepiscopus [b] of Cappadocia, a most
worthy man d. He, having come, dwelt in one
of the caves [e]: who displayed in the ascetic life so great
an abstinence that he outshone them all. For he lived
twenty-five years eating only on Saturdays and
Sundays. And whole nights he sang psalms standing. And having become like
he made that mountain populous like a city:
and one might there see in each man
various institutes of the ascetic life. This Elpidius, truly rejoicing
in hope [g], and enduring tribulation for Christ's sake,
while he was singing psalms by night,
we singing together with him, a scorpion once stung.
He, having trodden on it, did not so much as change the posture
in which he was standing. So greatly by his endurance
did he despise the pain inflicted by the scorpion.
And on a certain day, when a Brother was holding a piece
of a vine-shoot h, the Blessed man, taking it, while
he was sitting on the * mound of the mountain, dug it in as though planting.
And indeed, though set there at an unseasonable time,
it grew so much and turned into so great a vine that it overshadowed
the whole church.
[2] With this holy Athlete of Christ there was at the same time
consecrated i also the famous servant of God Ænesius, and that life exceedingly austere, his blessed death: a man
memorable and excelling in the ascetic life; and Eustathius
k, his brother, equal in honor, who also eagerly performed the contests
of the life undertaken for Christ.
And so great [l] a mastery over his affections did blessed Elpidius attain
by macerating his body, until
the sun showed through the frame of his bones.
Moreover in the accounts of his virtue this too
is said by his zealous disciples, that for twenty-five whole
years he never turned himself toward the West
(and indeed the door of his cave was set
on the summit of the mountain m), nor after the sixth hour n
did he ever see the sun, which had been overhead of him,
declining to the West, nor did he ever
behold the stars rising in the West
in those twenty-five years. This
great Athlete of patience, from the time when he entered
the cave, did not come down from the mountain until he was
buried. These are the heavenly deeds of the crowned and
unconquered wrestler Elpidius, who now dwells in heaven o
with those like himself.
[3] Of this immortal Elpidius there became a disciple
a certain man Sisinnius, an imitator of his virtues.
named Sisinnius [p], sprung indeed from a servile
condition, but free by faith, a Cappadocian by race.
For it behooves us to signify races too, to the glory of Christ,
who makes us free-born, and leads us to the blessed and true
nobility, namely to the kingdom
of heaven. When therefore that fervent lover of the virtues
of the ascetic life, Sisinnius, had remained with blessed
Elpidius six or seven years, and had learned the Man's virtues
and the endurance of the labors of the ascetic life,
he afterwards shut himself in a tomb, and for three years,
standing in the tomb, persevered in prayers,
neither by night nor by day sitting or lying down or going outside.
He obtained the grace of command over demons.
And now, having returned to his own country, he was adorned
with the priesthood, and gathered a congregation of men
and women, giving testimony of freedom from passions
by the honorableness of his life, and having driven from himself
manly lust, and having bridled the women's desire by continence,
so that what is written is fulfilled: In
Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female [q]. And he is
also exceedingly hospitable, although he lacks possessions,
to the condemnation of the rich who bestow nothing.
ANNOTATA.
a. That the Description
of the place is prefixed in Hervet I have already observed in the Commentary, n. 48; but at
to the preceding chapter in Meursius, but also in the Augsburg Greek codex,
of which we have a transcript. In the ancient translation the description of the place is
passed over.
b. Concerning
the office and dignity of the chorepiscopi, who were more frequent in
the Eastern than in the Western church, writers are not agreed.
Du Cange collected many things about them in his Glossary, where he rightly says: It is an almost
constant opinion that the chorepiscopi were at first instituted by the bishops so that
they might be their vicars in villages and country districts, and might discharge in them episcopal duties
of lesser moment. Then, to show that priests were sometimes
ordained by chorepiscopi, he brings forward this very place from
Hervet's translation, and writes thus: Besides, in the Lausiac History in Palladius, ch. 106, we read that Elpidius the monk was ordained priest by Timothy the chorepiscopus. But Elpidius is not said in the ancient translation to have been consecrated by Timothy, but only to have been from the monastery of Timothy, and afterwards to have been made a priest
in Palestine; and to that Hervet's phrase too ought to be drawn, lest his
translation involve a contradiction. Moreover, that the chorepiscopi, who by that name alone
were not bishops, had not the power of ordaining priests,
Thomassin excellently proves in the Work on the Discipline of the Church,
part 1, bk. 2, chs. 1 and 2, and in ch. 1, n. 15, he thus describes the duties
of the chorepiscopi: They took care of the priests and the churches
of the countryside, which they also visited in the region entrusted to them. They provided
for the poor. In their own churches, having received the testimony of the priests and deacons
and the bishop's consent, they ordained minor clerics. Without
the bishop they did nothing of greater moment. In short they filled the part of vicars,
who might relieve the bishop of the care and anxiety of the rural
parishes, at least in great part… In what he wrote of his own life
in his Poem, Gregory Nazianzen testifies that Basil, archbishop of Cæsarea,
had fifty chorepiscopi subject to him. For the rest,
Thomassin does not deny that there were some among the chorepiscopi who were endowed with
episcopal dignity. But this happened either because they had been removed from their rank
by canonical judgment, or because they had returned to the Church from a schism, or because,
having been ordained to some church, they were forbidden to enter into possession of it. For thus
they could serve in the inferior rank of chorepiscopi. See the said
writer.
c. This
Timothy was St. Basil's chorepiscopus. Basil mentions him in
letter now 24 (formerly 54), where he excuses him. He wrote to the same
letter 291 (formerly 340), in which he rebukes him for being too
anxious about his reputation among men, and says of him: How is it that
that Timothy, whom we have known from boyhood so to have
bent himself to a right and ascetic life that he was accused of immoderation in these matters, now departs
from the sole consideration of that thing, etc. These words plainly suggest that it is the same Timothy in whose monastery Elpidius lived, since
the name, office, time, place, and manner of life of this Basilian Timothy
wholly agree with him whom Palladius briefly records.
e. Concerning
this beginning of the Acts consult the Commentary, n. 49. Hervet's translation, given
at n. 48, can scarcely be understood. The ancient one exhibits the same sense as ours
in this manner: There was a certain Elpidius deriving his race from Cappadocia, who
afterwards also deserved to attain to the honor of the priesthood. And he was of
the monastery of Timothy, a certain Cappadocian chorepiscopus, a very
great man. Which Elpidius made himself a dwelling in one of the aforesaid
caves.
those words can fittingly express the sense I truly do not perceive, nor
will the reader, I think. A fault too has crept into the Greek text,
and that fault seems to be in the word ἐσομένῳ, for which may be substituted εἰκασμένος, likened, or similis, of the same meaning. Certainly the ancient translator has thus:
Whom, as bees follow their king, so a countless multitude of brethren followed,
and made a kind of city to be seen in those very caves and solitudes. I have given the same sense, but wished to cleave more closely to the Greek text.
g. In Greek τῇ
ἐλπίδι, with an allusion to the name. Hence Hervet added: And truly Elpidius.
this place is confirmed what we said in the Commentary, n. 49, that the Saint was
consecrated priest after he had lived for some time in Palestine.
l. So great
a mastery over his affections as he indicated before, when he narrated the scorpion's
sting. For now he narrates how great a maceration of the body he used, that
he might have his affections so perfectly subject to him. But both translators
confused these things: for the ancient one has thus: And to such a degree was the said
Elpidius subject to no passions of mind or body, his own limbs being consumed
by the varied labor of abstinence, that the joining of his bones shone like the sun.
But Hervet gave this: And blessed Elpidius went so far in impassibility, macerating the body, that the sun clearly showed the fabric of his bones. Each corrupted the phrase, because the particle ὡς, which is here to be expressed as until, up to the time when, or in a similar way, he expressed by ut.
The former moreover erred further, when he said the Saint's bones shone: for
bones do not shine through leanness, but through extreme leanness it comes about that the structure
of the bones appears when a light is applied.
n. The sixth
hour in Palestine was midday. The sun then hung over his head, not indeed
perpendicularly, since Palestine is not in the torrid Zone, but yet in such a way
that it did not decline much to the South.
be exactly determined. Natale Medaglia in the Commentary, n. 41, would have him die
in the year 393, speaking of him whose body is in Picenum, and whom
we have said is probably the same as this man. But that authority of the epitaph there
cited is of no value. But these things are certain enough. He was a monk
in the time of St. Basil, or at any rate not long after, in the monastery of Timothy
the chorepiscopus, and afterwards lived twenty-five years in Palestine.
And he was dead when Palladius was writing this History, about the year
419 or 420, if we believe Tillemont. And from these things it is concluded that he
probably died at the beginning of the fifth century, or at least before the year 420.
p. In the passed-over entries at the 12th of March our Predecessors noted that this Sisinnius is recorded by Peter de Natalibus with the title of Saint, as also by Whitford in the English Martyrology. But sufficient arguments of a cult neither did they find, nor do I hitherto find.
q. These things
can be understood in a sound sense of an exceptional purity and of affections notably
subdued. For a perfect and complete apathy, or emptiness of affections,
is a fiction of the Stoics, who falsely gloried in it, not a virtue
of Christians, who indeed used that word, but in a less proper sense.
*. or beside