Marinus

ON ST. MARINUS, DEACON AND CONFESSOR,

PATRON OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE SAME NAME IN ITALY

About the end of the fourth century.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Marinus, deacon and confessor, patron of the republic of the same name in Italy. (S.)

BY J. V.

§ I. An account of the place in which the Saint lived as a solitary; his memory in the sacred Fasti: whether his body is at Pavia: his cult in several other cities: how much credit the Acts and the Italian Commentary deserve.

[ ] The mountain in whose cave this Saint led a solitary life was anciently called Titas or Titanus or Acer; The republic called by the Saint's name; afterwards it was called San Marino by the inhabitants, from the Saint's name. It is situated in Italy between the Romagna and the duchy of Urbino, and is distant from Rimini ten Italian miles, and from Leopolis six. On the summit of this mountain was built the town which even today is called Fanum S. Marini or Marinum, the capital of a small free and independent republic, which title it has enjoyed since the year 600 according to Baudrand, volume 2, page 320, where he lists the villages subject to it, the number of its inhabitants, and its manner of government. Nicolaus Coletus, in Ughelli's Italia sacra reprinted at Venice, volume 2, column 844, says that the town is fairly large and surrounded by a double wall, teeming with citizens and shining with buildings both public and private. More to our purpose is what he adds: The chief church is dedicated to St. Marinus and stands on the summit of the mountain facing the East, built of hewn and squared stones, divided into three naves in the Tuscan order… In the high altar rests the body of St. Marinus, as will be shown below from the account of its discovery.

[2] his announcement in the Martyrologies on the 3rd and 4th of September: In the additions to the Martyrology of Bede, volume 2 of March, page XXXI, our Saint is commemorated with his companion Leo on the III day of September from the Vatican Manuscript and that of St. Cyriacus; but without the place. Both are also found at the IV of September in the Manuscript Calendar of the Milanese Missal of the year 1560, in this manner: Of SS. Leo and Marinus, confessors. Of that Leo, who is also called Leus, we have treated in volume 1 of August, from page 46. Belinus, Molanus, Galesinius, and the German Martyrology, which is commonly called that of Canisius, announce Marinus at Pavia on the III of September; of whom Galesinius alone expresses the title of deacon, writing thus: At Pavia, of St. Marinus, deacon and confessor. The Roman Martyrology on this day: At Rimini, of St. Marinus, deacon; upon which Baronius noted that in some places Maurus is written for Marinus. Franciscus Maria de Aste, archbishop of Otranto, in his Disceptationes on the Roman Martyrology published at Benevento in the year 1716, thus corrects the place of death from Ferrarius at the end of the Nova topographia: Not at Rimini, but near Mount Titanus he died, as is in his Life. The Saint is likewise recorded on the IV of September by Maurolycus, Grevenus, Withford in the English Martyrology, and Canisius in the German one already praised; and this last seems to distinguish this Marinus from the one whom he had announced the day before at Pavia: but that the one who is venerated there is the same as the Saint of today is established from Jacobus Gualla, book 5 of the Sanctuarium of Pavia, chapters 1 and 4, which is an abridgment of the Acts. The same will presently appear from another quarter, when I shall have reported the elogium framed by Grevenus in these words: On Mount Titanus, of St. Marinus, levite and confessor, who, being skilled in hewing stones and hired by Diocletian, generously relieved the poor out of his earnings; he also assisted the Christians who were overburdened at the work on account of the faith of Christ. But afterwards, being ordained deacon by command of the Roman Pontiff, he rested in peace. Whether all these things are true will be seen below.

[3] Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy at the III of September sets forth from Petrus de Natalibus an abridgment of the Acts; his feast at Pavia, but not his body; but he rightly adds in an Annotation that they need much correction. Then concerning his cult he observes the following: In the Roman Martyrology the birthday of St. Marinus is noted on the day before the Nones of September, whereas on Mount Titanus, on Mount Feretranus, at Rimini, at Pavia, and in other places it is celebrated on the III of the Nones. In the general Catalogue at the same day he speaks doubtfully of the place in which the Saint rests, noting this: The body is reported to be preserved on Mount Titanus, a town of the diocese of Rimini (according to Ughelli, of the diocese of Leopolis), although it is affirmed to rest at Pavia in the sacred building of the same St. Marinus, namely by the said Gualla, chapter 1. With this agree the informations sent hither in the year 1686 by the Reverend Father Joannes Antonius Gallus, rector of our College at Pavia, which note, however, that the Saint is venerated in that city not on the III of the Nones, as Ferrarius said above, but on the day before the Nones, with the Roman Martyrology. Take his words: On the IV day of September the office of St. Marinus, deacon, is celebrated under a double rite in his own proper church, because his body is there, and the church bears his title. Bernardus Saccus, in the History of Pavia, book 10, chapter 8, writes that the church of St. Marinus, together with a monastery, was elegantly built in the middle of the city, for the greater honoring of certain relics, by Aistulf king of the Lombards, and therefore about the middle of the eighth century. The said Gualla acknowledges the same man as founder of that church under the name of All Saints, but now of St. Marinus; but by an enormous anachronism he places the death of Aistulf in the two hundred and fifty-eighth year of salvation.

[4] For the rest, by "body" here only some relics can be understood, his cult at Rimini and in other places. and the aforesaid Saccus rightly does not attribute it to Pavia: for it is established from the instruments to be published hereafter that the body of St. Marinus, found in the year 1586 in the town of his name, was still there in the year 1661, if you except a rib; nor does there anywhere occur any mention of a translation of the body made to Pavia, or from Pavia to San Marino. A church is likewise dedicated to the Saint at Rimini, as Raphaël Adimari testifies in book 1 on the Site of Rimini, published in Italian, page 83, adding that there is a well there which is said to have been made by the Saint, and is now in the corner of the cloister by which one enters the convent, that is, the monastery of the Lateran Canons, which adjoins the church. Its position near the walls toward the East is shown in the topographical map of the city of Rimini after volume 1 of the Historical Collection concerning the foundation of Rimini, etc., written in Italian by Cæsar Clementini. The Saint is venerated besides at Arbe in Liburnia, at Bologna, at Cesena, at Viguentia (Voghenza) in the diocese of Ferrara

and in other places of the diocese of Rimini and of Montefeltro, as an authentic instrument of the year 1661 asserts: at Nevers also in France, and indeed with a double rite, as witnesses the Manuscript Calendar of Nevers at the IV of September, Of Marinus conf., double. Of the public and solemn veneration with which the people of San Marino honor their Patron and Protector, it will be more opportune to treat below.

[5] The Acts rejected by Tillemont We have two Manuscript copies of the Acts; one sent from Rome by Father du Lorey, whose title is this: Here begins the Life of St. Marinus the confessor, taken from a most ancient handwritten book which is in the keeping of the illustrious Lords of the Society of St. Jerome of Rimini, from folio 167 to folio 174: the other, which differs from the former in its opening and in many other things and is more correct, we received in the year 1641 from Father Joannes Gamans of the Society of Jesus, transcribed from the parchment Passional of the monastery of Böddeken of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in the diocese of Paderborn. To these two may be added the IX Lessons of the Manuscript proper Office, and also the Triumph of St. Marinus celebrated in heroic verse, but this is mutilated and not free of faults. There exists besides a Life printed in book 8, chapter 36, in Petrus de Natalibus, agreeing in almost everything with the Lessons cited; likewise another much more prolix in volume 2 of Mombritius, folio 52, embracing whatever is contained in the Lives already mentioned, but falsely bearing this title: The Passion of SS. Leo and Marinus, martyrs, though both died in peace. By whom the Acts were first composed I do not find: as to the time, Tillemont, note 70 on the Arians, volume 6, page 785, says that the style seems to him to be of the ninth and tenth centuries. But the aforesaid Clementini indicates that they are not older than the eleventh century, when in part 1, published in the year 1617, book 1, page 123, he asserts that the Life of the Saint was written about 600 years ago. Slight, therefore, is the authority of the Acts from the age of the writer, inasmuch as he was distant a full six centuries from the Saint. Indeed the said Tillemont denies them all authority on another ground as well, and repudiates the Acts not without indignation.

[6] and not undeservedly: Certainly there are related in them some things by no means coherent, and which do not deserve historical credit: for, first, the unskilled writer brings in the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, raging cruelly against the Christians and ordering the city of Rimini to be rebuilt about the year 257; that is, long before they reigned, and before Rimini had been laid waste by Demosthenes, king of the Liburnians, whoever he was — which the praised Clementini, page 122, and Vincentius Maria Cimarelli, another Italian author, book 2 of the History of the people of Urbino, page 83, hold to have happened only in the year 266 from the Virgin's childbearing. Nay, the Lessons of the proper Office and Petrus de Natalibus say that the city began to be repaired about the years of the Lord CCXX, and they fix the Saint's death in the year 257. Secondly, it asserts that the holy man, already then a Christian, came to Rimini by command of the aforesaid emperors, to lend his labor to the rebuilding of the city: yet Clementini, a nobleman of Rimini, does not find this attested in the antiquities of his own country, since in book 2, page 126, he writes that it is on no very solid foundation that SS. Leo and Marinus are numbered among the architects, stonecutters, masons, and other workmen who then flocked thither. Much less does Gaudentius Brunacci, author of the Italian Life of St. Gaudentius bishop and martyr of Rimini, find it in the manuscripts which he cites in various places; since in book 2, page 58, he relates that Leo and Marinus came to Rimini as young men and still heathen, under this holy bishop, whom Julius I had ordained, as he has on page 41; and that there they were converted by him to the faith of Christ and baptized. Finally, to pass over other matters, who would not reckon a fable, says Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, page 569, that story about the bear which carried Marinus in place of the little ass it had devoured?

[7] We received in the year 1665 a fairly long Italian Commentary on the Life and deeds of the Saint, The Italian Commentary put together by the Lords Alexander Belluzzi and Joannes Franciscus Manenti, noblemen of San Marino, who juridically acknowledged and approved the same before a notary and witnesses on the IX of December of the year 1661. After that instrument and the appended testimony to the notary's trustworthiness, confirmed by public authority and the seal of the republic, there follows the approbation of the diocesan bishop in this manner: Bernardinus Scala, by the grace of God and of the Holy Apostolic See bishop of Montefeltro. We give full credit and attest with the word of truth that the narrative of the deeds of St. Marinus written on the back, collected and set down by the most illustrious and excellent Lords Alexander Belluzzi and Joannes Franciscus Manenti of San Marino, and acknowledged before Lord Franciscus Honosrius, public and authentic notary of the republic of San Marino and at present our chancellor therein, having been well examined by us with the legalization of the said republic, read, and now weighed with due gravity and maturity, is consonant with the truth; and that it contains nothing which is not supported by the authority of writers of public records and of immemorial traditions commonly received and piously believed throughout our diocese. Wherefore, to the praise of almighty God and the honor of the aforesaid St. Marinus, we do not hesitate to add to these presents the strength of our approbation, so far as in us lies. In witness whereof, etc. Given at Pennabilli, from our episcopal palace, the XXIII day of December MDCLXI. Bernardinus Scala, bishop of Montefeltro, and beside his seal affixed below, Joannes Baptista Franchinus, episcopal chancellor of Montefeltro.

[8] That Commentary, not sufficiently critical, adopts as true everything that is related in the Acts, both printed and Manuscript, put together from the same without sufficient discrimination. except for a few anachronisms which its authors judged should be corrected thus: with Adimari, book 1, page 2, they draw back the edict of Diocletian for the restoring of the city of Rimini to about the year 300, and they say that about that same time Marinus came thither with Leo, already a Christian but flourishing in youthful age; so that in the year 359 he could have been present at the council of Rimini with St. Gaudentius the bishop, whose ordination they attribute not to Damasus, as Petrus de Natalibus wrongly does, but to Julius I. Here indeed the times of Diocletian and of St. Gaudentius the bishop are rightly distinguished; but it is not likely, as Ferrarius observes on page 481, that Marinus with his companion hired out his labor at Rimini under Diocletian, and then under the emperor Constantius was ordained deacon by St. Gaudentius. See Clementini above, number 6. I should therefore prefer to believe Brunacci, cited in the same place, that the Saints came to Rimini only in the time of St. Gaudentius the bishop: thus the rest will hang together better, and the death of Marinus can be placed toward the end of the fourth century. For the rest, it is not necessary to turn that whole Commentary from Italian into Latin; for the Acts themselves, out of which it chiefly grew, will be given hereafter: and in those things which it records as done by the Saint while living, from Petrus de Natalibus, who is repeatedly cited in the margin, it is by no means of such authority as the most illustrious Bernardinus supposed in the approbation reported. Other things which it has added to the Acts will be brought forward in the following paragraph, or in the Annotations after the Life.

§ II. The solemn veneration among the people of San Marino, chiefly after the discovery of the body, which is given from an authentic instrument; other matters pertaining to the cult.

[9] His particular cult His happy passing, says the aforesaid Commentary in Italian, is festively celebrated on the III of September by the republic of San Marino with magnificence of musical harmonies and of ornaments, with an extraordinary concourse of pilgrims to the Saint's festival. Then, after a few remarks about his cult in various other places, some of which I reported at number 4, it continues thus: There has therefore remained to that same republic the whole inheritance of his precious remains, which, as a pledge of protection, it preserves with dutiful diligence in the greater church dedicated to the same Saint, under keys committed to the custody of the most illustrious captains, who are its supreme magistracy. The treasure of his venerable head is exposed every year no less to admiration than to veneration: since it is seen, after thirteen centuries, preserved from corruption together with several teeth, which, with the lively redness of the gum joined to them, yield in no way to the teeth of the living. The remainder of his venerable bones lies enclosed in a marble urn, upon which is seen graven with an unlearned but pious chisel the following distich:

Shut up * by the ancients, opened to us, the holy limbs of Marinus remain, to be venerated by us all.

[10] among the people of San Marino The authors of the Commentary do not seem to have remembered, when they wrote this, that a rib of the Saint had been translated to the city of Arbe in Liburnia: I wonder too that they said no word about the discovery of the body. The document of this discovery was published by Coletus in volume 2 of the reprinted Italia Sacra, column 854, but faulty in certain places: I shall give it more correctly from the authentic instrument of the year 1628, which also contains many other things concerning the Saint's cult, and letters witnessing the translation, and therefore deserves to be inserted here. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the year from his most sacred nativity MDCXXVIII, Roman Indiction XI, in the reign of the most holy Lord Urban VIII by divine providence Supreme Pontiff, on the last day of the month of October of the aforesaid year. Be it known to all and singular and evidently manifest that there appeared in the Land of San Marino, of the diocese of Montefeltro, before the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Jo. Baptista Cioninus, Doctor of Both Laws, abbot, Apostolic protonotary, and vicar general of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord bishop of Montefeltro, the most illustrious and very reverend Lord Michaël Thomas of the city of San Leo, Doctor of Both Laws, archpriest of the mother church or parish of St. Martin of the aforesaid Land of the perpetual liberty of the same San Marino, and that on behalf of the said church, and to the glory and honor of that holy Titular and Protector and to his perpetual memory, he produced and exhibited within the proper term, in its own original, a written attestation subscribed with his own hand by the late illustrious and very reverend and excellent Lord Marinus Bonettus, archpriest of the said church, drawn up under the date of the IV of October MDXCV (here are inserted the beginning and the end) concerning the discovery and translation of the sacred body of the aforesaid St. Marinus, patron in that his own church; asking that it be received and admitted and ordered to be verified by witnesses acquainted with the handwriting, in the form for perpetual memory, as above, and for every other good end and effect, etc., in every, etc.*

[11] And moreover, for the business undertaken in the Roman curia for the further promoting of the honor and cult toward the same Saint, from time immemorial; the said appearing Lord asked and insisted that one or more notaries be deputed to receive testifications and testimonies in probative form, upon the matters written below, namely: upon the solemnity of the feast of that Saint, wont to be kept on the III day of September from time immemorial hitherto, of his glorious birthday. Item, upon the general procession, wont to be most solemnly celebrated every year on the same festival, with the carrying of the sacred head of the same Saint through the Land itself. Item, that in the most ancient books of plainchant of the aforesaid church there exist Antiphons and Responsories of the Office from the proper of the same St. Marinus,

and that it was wont to be chanted in the said church; and concerning other necessary and opportune matters of this kind. And in like manner that he insisted, to the said effect, that the same church be visited by the aforesaid Lord in order to make an inspection and report of the sacred deposit of the same Saint, and also of the votive offerings hung up, and of his sacred beds, books, memorials, etc., thus, etc., in every, etc. And the said most illustrious and most reverend Lord vicar general of Montefeltro, sitting, etc., admitted the aforesaid so far as and in so far as, and thereupon ordered the above-said attestation to be verified in form, and for all the above-said matters deputed as notary and notaries jointly and severally the Lords Lactantius Vallus and Livius Pelliccerius of San Marino, offering himself ready for the said visitation according to the petitions, thus, etc., in every, etc. So did I, Jo. Baptista Cioninus, vicar general of Montefeltro, pronounce. Now the tenor of the above-said attestation is what follows, namely:

[12] "Whereas in the Land of the perpetual liberty of San Marino, of the diocese of Montefeltro, there was doubt concerning the body of the Saint of the same name, the body found there in the year 1586 and on account of such uncertainty devotion toward the said Saint was daily diminishing, although it was surmised that the body of the aforesaid Saint rested at the foot of the high altar of the same parish church: hence I, Marinus Bonettus, archpriest of the said parish, resolved to search out the aforesaid body: and first, having had mature conference with the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Jo. Franciscus Sormanus of Milan, prelate of the said diocese of Montefeltro, and prayers having been offered to God for this matter for some days together with many Capuchin brethren, at length on the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross of the year MDLXXXVI, at the third hour of the night, with two of the said Capuchins present, I broke open with the utmost trembling and fear the foot of the aforesaid altar, and there found a marble urn on which these two verses are carved, namely:

Shut up by the ancients, opened to us, the holy limbs of Marinus remain, to be venerated by us all.

[13] and solemnly elevated: And when afterwards this urn was opened before the said prelate and the people of the aforesaid Land, we all clearly saw that all the bones of the body of the aforesaid Saint were there, together with a certain small bronze cross and a few coins whose image could not be made out at all. Afterwards, on the III day of the next month of September, on which the Saint's solemnities are wont to be kept with a great concourse of the neighboring people — although immense showers held off from the morning — the aforesaid prelate and the worthier members of the clergy devoutly carried the aforesaid bones throughout the whole Land with hymns, canticles, and musical instruments, and they were laid, as even now they remain, upon the aforesaid high altar, and are there venerated with greater reverence than before, to the praise and glory of God almighty and of the aforesaid Saint. And because I, the aforesaid Marinus Bonettus, was present at all these things as above, I give attestation of everything by these lines written and subscribed with my own hand, under this IV day of the month of October MDXCV. The same Marinus, with his own hand." In the cited volume of the Italia Sacra, column 855, this is noted one year later, namely 1596; but the credit of our Manuscript is the better.

[14] Verification of the preceding testimony. There follows the verification of the same in this manner: On the said last day of October MDCXXVIII. Before the said most reverend Lord vicar general, in the visitation made to the aforesaid mother church of San Marino, there personally appeared the most illustrious and very excellent and reverend Lord Camillus Bonellus, Doctor of Both Laws and Apostolic protonotary, of San Marino, aged LXX years, and also the illustrious and very reverend Lord Aurelius Bellutius, rector of the parish of St. Michael of Domagnano in the county of the said Land of San Marino, of the diocese of Montefeltro, aged LX years; each of them separately and carefully interrogated, and, the due formalities being observed, by oath upon the Scriptures touched, etc., one after the other, holding in his own hands the above-said attestation in its original, existing at the end of the little book in which the Life of St. Marinus is written, they verified, and each of them verified, that it was in due form written and subscribed with the very hand of that Lord archpriest Bonettus of good memory, for conclusive reasons; namely, because they knew and know his hand, inasmuch as he was cousin of the said Lord Camillus, and taught the aforesaid Lord Aurelius to write, and they had many times seen him write, etc., in every, etc. There being present at the aforesaid, in the sacristy of the said parish church, the reverend Lord Franciscus Georgius of Sant'Agata, and Lord Gregorius Plombonus of San Leo, as witnesses summoned, etc.*

[15] [The sacred relics more honorably laid up at the beginning of the seventeenth century;] Thereafter various proofs of a particular veneration are related thus: On the said day and in the same visitation, the above-said most reverend Lord vicar, having first made due prayer before the most divine Sacrament of the Eucharist in the chapel of St. Peter of the said parish church — where that sacred little shrine dedicated to the same Prince of the Apostles is said to have been built by St. Marinus himself, and where beside the said altar there are behind it two little beds hollowed out in the rock — afterwards entering the parish church itself, dedicated to the same St. Marinus, of most ancient and beautiful structure, adorned with many chapels and altars and hung with very fine gilded leathers, and served regularly by ten priests besides other clerics, together with the said archpriest and master of the chapel, went up to the sacred high altar, becomingly adorned and dedicated to the same St. Marinus, as he himself saw, and read what is carved on the top of the white stone reredos , skillfully wrought, within which stands a beautiful statue of the same stone of the same St. Marinus in a deacon's habit, upholding the Land itself with his hands. And beneath the base and level of the aforesaid statue he saw and venerated the sacred head of the same St. Marinus, there reverently kept in a silver casket, guarded under several keys and locks; on which casket is read the inscription written below, namely: "To the Author of its perpetual liberty, St. Marinus its protector, the Republic of San Marino caused this to be made in the year MDCII and on the 2nd day of the month of September." And there within, opposite the same sacred head, he saw walled up the sacred deposit of the body of the same, as appears by the inscription which is there, of the following tenor, namely: "In this gilded silver is enclosed the head of St. Marinus, the rest of the body being preserved within. And the work was made of bronze packed on either side, by the labor of Fabritius Bellutius and Flaminius Cioninus, guardians, on the Kalends of September MDCII."

[16] He saw a manuscript prayer on a tablet addressed to the Saint himself, other proofs of an ancient and singular of the following tenor, namely: "Hail, holy Father, flame of charity, mirror of penance, bulwark of chastity, glory of Mount Titanus, preacher of the Gospel, founder of liberty: look upon thy family, take hold of arms and shield, and rise up to our help; that, the enemies of soul and body being laid low, we may be able to triumph with thee in heaven. Let us pray. O God, who by the merits of blessed Marinus hast granted us temporal liberty, mercifully grant that by his intercession we, being free from all sins, may attain to eternal liberty. Through, etc." He saw a lamp hanging lighted before the aforesaid sacred body, which, as was affirmed and is notorious, burns perpetually at the public expense and by the special care of the Republic, which indeed every year, from most ancient times hitherto, appoints in the general council two citizens, whom they call Massari of the Saint, having charge of the said lamp and of the alms offered, and also of the five keys of the above-said sanctuary; who likewise accompany the sacred head itself with lighted torches when it is carried in the general procession on the birthday of the same Saint, the III of September. He saw very many silver and other votive offerings, hung here and there about the said sacred deposit for a vow made and a grace obtained. He saw that by a perpetual bequest there are deputed to the aforesaid altar, called "of the Saint," two particular chaplains likewise called "of the Saint," serving it besides the lord archpriest and his chaplain, with the others appointed as above.*

[17] Afterwards he went to the bed of the same Saint, proofs of veneration: cut in the stone and rock at the Gospel side of the above-said high altar, and there found a lamp hung and lighted, placed there by bequest. He also saw there a great quantity of votive offerings, and learned from many that the same sacred little bed is much frequented and venerated by the people. He saw a statue of the aforesaid holy Anchorite made ready to be exposed on that same bed, representing the same Saint doing penance. He saw a tablet hung up, containing the following prayer: "Most merciful Lord Jesus Christ, who didst vouchsafe to confer upon blessed Marinus our father so great a spirit that, wearied with fastings, labors, and watchings, he yet lay upon this hard stone: grant, we beseech thee, that we, filled with the same spirit and subduing our rebellious flesh, may flourish in chastity and grow continually in thy holy love. Who livest and reignest, etc." He saw also on another tablet a poem in these words, namely:

"To the pious visitor of the bed of St. Marinus.

Thou who devoutly dost frequent the Saint's stone couch, lay down thy stony heart. And while thou honorest it, ponder in mind with how great sweetness such things subdue hearts of iron. Then consider in thy mind who and to what height these very things draw hearts of gold. Marvel too what wings this stony softness gave to Marinus. So shall thy visit not have been in vain, but great shall be thy fruit; and he shall be able to praise thee among his own, when thou standest before the dread God.

Franciscus Paradisus of Paris set this up."

[18] The proper Office, which was prudently discontinued, Then the same most reverend Lord went to the sacristy on the right-hand side of the aforesaid high altar, and ordered the plainchant books of the same church to be brought to him from the choir; and when two very large and most ancient books in parchment folio had been brought, in one of them … he found, saw, and read at folio LXX and following … the proper Office of St. Marinus, of the tenor as below, namely … At Matins, the Invitatory:

Let us praise the eternal and triune and one God, who bore his holy Marinus across to the heavens.

The remaining antiphons, drawn from the Life, and other things I do not transcribe. And after these had been reported there without any mention of a proper Collect or Lessons, there follows: All these things pertaining to the said Office having been seen and read through, as above, by the same most reverend Lord vicar general, there being present in the same place, among others, the very illustrious and reverend and excellent Lord Jo. Ant. Bellutius, Doctor of Both Laws, formerly archpriest of the said church and predecessor of the present one, and the illustrious and reverend Lord Aurelius Bellutius, rector of St. Michael's and most senior chorister of the said parish church, and also the very reverend Lord Matthæus Mazzochettus, likewise an old chaplain of the same church, they with unanimous consent affirmed, and each of them affirmed, that the aforesaid Office had been in use from time out of number, being wont to be sung in part in the said church and choir, except within the last twenty years; when the Lord archpriest Marinus, now deceased, began to discontinue it of his own accord without any prohibition (so far as is known), taking on the feast of St. Marinus and through the octave everything from the common of Confessors. Prudently indeed, in my

judgment, for the proper Office is not free of fables.

[19] and the collect. And the same very reverend Lord Aurelius, chorister and musician, showed and actually produced on the spot a hymn … wont to be sung in figured chant, as he himself testified, at the solemnities of his sacred body, in the presence of the most reverend Lord prelate Sormanus and with his assistance as bishop of Montefeltro; and that the aforesaid things had been and are notorious, etc. Done and transacted in the places above-said, there being present the above-named reverend Lord Franciscus Georgius of Sant'Agata, and Lord Gregorius Plombonus of San Leo, as witnesses summoned, etc. I, Livius Pellicerius, notary, summoned, etc., in every, etc. Take the proper collect from the other Manuscript Office, of which I made mention at number 5: Be favorable to us thy servants, we beseech thee, O Lord, through the glorious merits of that same St. Marinus thy confessor, who rests in this present church; that by his intercession we may be protected from all adversities. Through our Lord, etc. The foregoing sufficiently shows with how much affection and veneration the people of San Marino honor their Patron: I do not wish, however, to suppress the public declaration of the magistracy of the place, and the remaining contents of the praised document, which will perhaps be a spur to others to venture the like for the Saints whom they venerate.

elsewhere clausa* concernentem* existente* * i.e. chapels read iconis* i.e. guardians, from the Italian word massaio*

§ III. The declaration of the magistracy of San Marino confirming the foregoing; the testimony of others concerning the translation of a rib to the city of Arbe in Liburnia: the Saint's patronage, his cave and garden.

[ ] The public declaration of the magistracy of the place On the VII day of the month of November MDCXXVIII. There personally appeared before me, notary episcopal in this behalf, with the witnesses written below, the most illustrious men written below, namely: Lord Julianus Bellutius, aged LVIII; Lord Michaël Ang. Bussignanus, aged LXII, captains of the republic; the very excellent Lord Camillus Bonellus, LXX; the very excellent Lord Horatius Bellutius, LXVI; the very excellent Lord Petrus Tonsinus, L; the very excellent Lord Marcus Ant. Bonettus, XXX; Lord Franciscus Gianinus, aged LXXXIX; Lord Bellutius de Bellutiis, aged LXVIII; Lord Federicus Gotius, aged LI; Lord Vincentius Zampinus, aged XLVI, of San Marino, citizens and councillors of the same republic; all and each, one after another, being required for the truth, together and alike with unanimous consent testified and gave undoubted assurance to all and singular as follows below, namely, etc. The Italian declaration I render into Latin thus.

[21] We, being examined for the truth, testify and give sure assurance, testimony concerning the yearly festival, first, that it has been and is true that the feast of our holy founder and glorious protector Marinus has always been celebrated every year from so long a time that there is no memory to the contrary; and it is constantly celebrated with all possible solemnity and a great concourse of strangers and of nobles and of prelates on the III of September in the parish church (that is, the parochial church) of this country, dedicated to the same Saint. Secondly, that there has always been instituted, and every year on the said feast is instituted, a general and solemn procession of a numerous clergy with choice music from the neighboring cities, now from Cesena, now from Rimini, and sometimes from Pesaro, Fano, Fossombrone, and Urbino. In which procession there has always hitherto, from the translation of the sacred body of the same Saint, been solemnly carried about, and is constantly carried about, his sacred head enclosed in silver, which four deacons bear in a tabernacle with great veneration and devotion of the people.*

[22] Thirdly, that the same sacred head has been and is preserved in the said parochial church upon the high altar, concerning the veneration of the head which is commonly called the altar of the Saint; and that it has always been unhesitatingly esteemed and held to be such: and as such it has always been venerated and is venerated by the people and by the bishops of Montefeltro who have been for the time, and especially by the present one, and by many most eminent Lords Cardinals, such as Sforza, Orsini, and Rivarola, while they were legates of the Romagna, and by other prelates, such as Lord Lapius bishop of Fano, Lord Pavonus bishop of Rimini, Lord Mantica vice-legate of the Romagna, Lord Scottus governor of Rimini, Lord Pavonus formerly prefect of the chamber of Paul V and Gregory XV, and others. Fourthly, that the said sacred head was set apart outside, to be exposed for the honor of the Saint himself and the consolation of his people, when the solemn translation of all his most sacred bones was made in the time of Lord Sormanus, late bishop of Montefeltro, and of Lord Bonettus, archpriest of the said parish church.

[23] and of the bones, chiefly after the discovery; Which bones, all of the same sacred body of St. Marinus, were, by the labor of the Capuchin Fathers and of certain of our citizens, the due formalities being observed, uncovered and found exactly in that very place where ancient tradition reported that they rested, that is, under the high altar of the said parochial church, at the foot of it, within an urn of stone of our mountain covered with white marble, with the two verses which declared that this was in very truth the body of the same Saint — with boundless jubilation and applause of this country. And a most solemn procession having afterwards been instituted with the same sacred body on his very birthday, the III of September, the aforesaid Lord bishop Sormanus, ordinary of the place, assisting and granting the faculty, that same body was translated and laid within the same urn in the same altar, yet higher up, opposite the table of that altar, within the wall, and under the statue which at this time is seen erected above; and there at its side is guarded the sacred head of the same, as above-said.

[24] concerning the pilgrims resorting thither, the pious bequests Finally, the said sacred body does in fact rest there, and by the mercy of God and of the Saint himself we enjoy so precious a treasure, and there it has always been and today is held in veneration by all the people. There before it a lamp is provided at public expense to burn perpetually, and every year two guardians, called Massari, are appointed by our Republic to have the charge of that sacred deposit. Thither recourse is had daily for favors by all, even by pilgrims. Beside it are hung up votive offerings of silver and others, as may be seen. There votive Masses are daily provided to be celebrated, even by devout persons of distant regions, and there from pious bequests are maintained perpetual chaplains, a silver lamp of a hundred crowns and more, ornaments, and moneys, with which the whole church has been adorned with leathers overlaid with a golden color, and also a neat and beautiful silver crown for crowning that sacred head.

[25] and the votive offerings. Lastly, we testify also that the three beds of the above-said Saint, hollowed out in the rock where he gave himself to penance — that is, two in his chapel of St. Peter, and the other in the parochial church at the Gospel side of the high altar — have always been and today are objects of veneration to the people; but chiefly that one which is in the parochial church near his most sacred bones: beside which little bed a lamp burns continually, and there are many votive tablets and devotions. So we say and attest for the truth, each of us, because thus we have seen and understood, and it is public and notorious and the sure report and repute in the place and elsewhere (the following was written in Latin:) each matter being referred to each, etc., summoned, etc., swearing upon the Scriptures touched, at my requisition, etc. Done in the palace of the same Republic of San Marino, there being present the Lords Jacobus Seraffinus and Euangelista Bellutius as witnesses, etc.

[26] Letters concerning the rib translated To the preceding is subjoined another instrument, containing, besides letters testifying the translation of the rib, a copy of a petition offered to the supreme Pontiff, in which, however, no special mention is made of our Saint's relics. In the name of God, amen, etc., this XIV of November MDCXXVIII. This is a transcript of the letters and writings in the keeping of the very illustrious, reverend, and excellent Lord Michaël Thomas, archpriest of San Marino of the diocese of Montefeltro, of the tenor, namely, etc. Each letter, full of pious wishes and of protestations of a grateful mind, is addressed to the very reverend Lord Marinus Bonettus, archpriest of San Marino, mentioned above. The first is from the judges and syndics of the magnificent community of Arbe, which I render summarily into Latin thus: Whereas it has pleased your Reverend Lordship to adorn this city with the sacred relics of a rib of the glorious body of St. Marinus our fellow-countryman, we give the greatest thanks we can for so dear and precious a gift… Yesterday those most holy relics were approved and laid up with the others in the sanctuary of this cathedral church… Arbe, XXIX of January MDXCVI, etc.

[27] The tenor of the other letter, of the most reverend Lord bishop of the city of Arbe, is this … to the city of Arbe on the outside … The place ✠ of the seal, excellently impressed, in which is read: Pascalis Padavinus, bishop of Arbe. And within, these things are found in Italian: The reverend Lord Bizzi, archpriest of this my cathedral, has made known to me your Lordship's great desire to have an authentic copy of the petition formerly sent by him to Rome for the translation of the relics of St. Marinus, granted by your Lordship's kindness and piety to this country, which so greatly desired them. I send therefore a copy of it, which has firm and certain authority… Arbe, XXIV of August MDC. It is not necessary to render more of these letters into Latin. There follows the said copy; which, although it names no relics expressly, I have nevertheless not thought fit to omit, especially since the most illustrious bishop of Arbe testifies in his letters that that petition was offered for the translation of our Saint's relics.

[28] Now the concession of the supreme Pontiff is of the tenor written below, with the faculty namely: License to take away relics — Montefeltro. Most blessed Father, whereas the devout orator of your Holiness, Marinus Bitius, canon of the church of Arbe, led by pious devotion, and that the devotion of Christ's faithful toward his church may be greatly increased, for the augmenting of the salvation and devotion of the same faithful of Christ, and that the same church may be more often visited, desires, by taking certain relics of Saints, men and women, from the church of St. Marinus in the town of San Marino of the diocese of Montefeltro, and conveying them to those parts, to cause the same to be honorably placed, as is fitting, in sacred places, not without great consolation of the people dwelling there; the said orator therefore humbly beseeches your Holiness that, assenting to his pious desire and following him with special favors and graces, you may vouchsafe of special grace to grant license and likewise to indulge to the same orator that he may freely and lawfully, without incurring any censures or penalties, cause certain relics of Saints, men and women, to be taken from the said church and town, and carry them or have them carried to the said parts, and cause them to be placed in sacred places approved by him, yet honorable and suited to this purpose; notwithstanding any prohibitions whatsoever made in any manner concerning this, and all other things to the contrary whatsoever, with the opportune clauses. Let it be done as is asked. Hippolitus. And with absolution from censures for the effect, etc.

[29] of the supreme Pontiff. And concerning the license, concession, and indult, as above, and that the signature alone of the present petition should suffice and everywhere command belief, in the Roman

curia and outside it, without any other expedition of letters thereupon or by a brief of your Holiness, and with the consent … and provided they be not among the principal or more notable relics existing there, let it be done … Given at Rome at St. Peter's, the sixteenth of the Kalends of April. Presbyter Bernardinus Marelli, also vice-chancellor of the episcopal chancery of Arbe, caused this to be extracted from the acts of the same by one trusted by him, and subscribed himself in attestation. We, Pascalis Padavinus, bishop of Arbe, give assurance to all that the above-written reverend presbyter Bernardinus Marelli is our notary and vice-chancellor, and therefore credit may everywhere be given to his acts and writings. In witness whereof, etc. Given at Arbe on the XXVIII day of the month of August 16… Pascalis, bishop of Arbe. And the rest, by command, the place ✠ of the seal. I, Livius Pellicerius, co-notary as above, confirm as above, etc. I subjoin some things about the Saint's protection, in which the people of San Marino chiefly glory, and also about the inspection of his cave and garden.

[30] The liberty of the Republic Bernardus Saccus, book 10 of the History of Pavia, chapter 9, after warning that in Blondus the reading is everywhere corrupt, especially where the castle of Saint Martin is written, and that one must read Marinus and not Martinus, adds the following: Which castle even today preserves its liberty, being set on a steep height; its neighbors call the summit of the mountain where it is built "the pinnacles of St. Marinus," from its loftiness. Nor were there wanting Italian soldiers who, under Paul III, tried to lay ambushes for the inhabitants and gaped after the goods of the townsmen — always in vain, their swiftness giving way. For on the north it looks toward the plain bordering Rimini; on the other sides it has deep valleys round about, and it is joined to the Apennine, a ridge of the mountain coupling the two. From whatever side, therefore, it be attacked or approached, a traveler must needs be seen from afar. And when he has drawn near, he has no place in which to lie hid or to rest himself; only a narrow road receives him. Thus he. But the authors of the Italian Commentary mentioned at number 7 attribute the preservation of their country's ancient liberty not to the nature of the place or to its fortifications, but to the patronage of St. Marinus: as appears from their own narrative, part of which I here render into Latin.

[31] preserved by the Saint's patronage: When on the III of June in the year 1543, as darkness was falling, Fabianus del Monte had come out of Rimini leading five hundred soldiers, to whom other troops coming from Bologna were to join themselves on the borders of the republic, so that afterwards they might together, through the silences of the night, suddenly attack the town both with climbing-ropes and with wooden ladders — a sudden fog overspread the clear sky, so that, straying from the road, they wandered the whole night and did not come to the appointed place, at which they assembled only in broad daylight, confounded in mind that in so great a space of time they had not accomplished a short journey of ten miles, that is, Italian ones. And so, being still far off, and hearing the watch-signal given from the citadel by the bell, they did not dare to pursue their design, which, unknown to the citizens sleeping in security, would have had a deadly issue, had not the protection of Marinus, watching for them, prepared that misty labyrinth for the enemies' feet. Hence most justly and deservedly, in all the ancient and more recent pictures, the Saint is represented embracing his mountainous republic with his arm, to express the help of his patronage. Thus far the authors of the aforesaid Commentary.

[32] Of the Saint's cave and garden the same men write the following in Italian: the inspection of the cave and garden, There is seen even today in the rock of the mountain the cavern and the garden where among the thorns of abstinence bloomed the lilies of Marinus's purity, and the wildness of a place so steep and woody strikes a devout awe into men's minds. Before the cave, in which they say the Saint prolonged his fast for six days, there stretches the narrow level of a little garden, hedged round with rugged precipices: and it was always reported that there, without human cultivation, garlic sprang up and multiplied of itself prodigiously, propagated from that which the Saint planted there with his own hand. But such a rumor, believed by few, was neglected by all, on account of the danger of climbing over the crags to ascertain the truth by the testimony of the eyes. Yet in our own time the piety of certain of the leading citizens of the republic leaves no further room for the incredulous to doubt: since on the XX of October MDCLXI, the ascent having been made easier by the help of ladders, they, with many other persons (among whom was he who collected the present Life, as is noted in the margin), became spectators of that wonderful truth, which was afterwards shared with almost everyone by a distribution of garlic, fresh and dried, which they had gathered from that little storehouse of a blessed spring…

[33] On the right of the cave there rises from the genga a beautiful plant of yellow violets, where certain wonders were found. and near by are seen many plants of gillyflowers, wild perhaps for want of cultivation; and round about there is green a fragrant circuit of laurel, which with the pomp of its triumphal boughs honors the glorious trophies of Marinus's chastity, by which that place was made illustrious. That about the laurel seen there is the more wonderful because they assert that in no other part of the mountain do laurels grow. Whence, they say, one must acknowledge and venerate the providence of God, who by such signs willed to make manifest the dignity of his Servant.* Now at last I bring forward the Acts, such as they are, which for the reasons given at number 6 the learned Italians will not, I think, take it ill to have called fabulous. But I shall omit the wordy preface about the Diocletianic persecution found in the Rimini transcript and in Mombritius's edition, and shall chiefly follow the Böddeken Manuscript, noting only a few of the very many discrepancies of wording. Whatever seems to need adding from the Rimini Manuscript and from Mombritius I shall mark off with brackets.

in Italian Pieve* * I have not been able to find the meaning of this Italian word.

A FABULOUS LIFE

by an anonymous author

From the Böddeken transcript, collated with the Rimini Manuscript and the edition of Mombritius, volume 2, from folio 52.

Marinus, deacon and confessor, patron of the republic of the same name in Italy. (S.)

BHL Number: 4830

A. By an anonymous author.

Compelled, as is reported, by an edict of Diocletian, There went forth an edict from the emperors Diocletian and Maximian that the walls of the city of Rimini should be rebuilt [and] that the citadels, long since thrown down, should be restored to their former state; which, as ancient report has related, had once been destroyed by ^a Demosthenes, king of the Liburnians, with a Pontic fleet. Therefore, when from the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ the courses of more or less two hundred and fifty-seven ^b years had run out, at that time when the most wicked Diocletian, of unspeakable memory, a suicide ^c, commanded the divine books to be burned in a raging conflagration of flames, and the priests of the Lord were butchered about the altars in the very time of sacrifice, while others hid themselves in the hollows of caves — an order was given throughout all the provinces of Europe that all the peoples from the different regions, masters of the various crafts, architects, potters, and cutters of hewn stone, universally obeying the imperial commands, should assemble in one place, namely to build the city of Rimini ^d in honor of the name and in memory of the valor of the triumphs of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian. And so, flowing together from this side and that out of all the parts of Europe, the peoples of Gaul and Germany, the inhabitants of Italy and of the Dalmatias *, Romans and barbarians, and those who dwelt in Macedonia, compelled by the royal favor, with unanimous concourse and clamor, leaving their cities and their sweet children, borne along by land and sea alike, came together from every quarter and pitched their camps at Rimini.

[2] he came with his companion to Rimini Among whom, by divine providence, there appeared Men of God brought by ship from the borders of Dalmatia over the waters of the Illyrian waves to the shore of Hesperia *; of whom one was called Leo, the other Marinus ^e. These two, having left their parents and the sweet fields of their country, set out abroad, that, trampling upon the world's resources, they might serve the heavenly King rather than earthly tyrants. Both therefore persevered alike in the fear and love of God, moved by the purpose of a single will, given day and night unceasingly to prayers [and] fastings, seeking nothing in the present age save how they might walk in the law of the Lord and his precepts without stumbling at anything. Their mind was fixed upon spiritual desires, so that, fleeing the joys of the present life, they reckoned the riches of the world to be but wasting and fleeting mockeries. So great a grace of humility and gentleness flourished in them that of their own free will they subjected themselves to the service of all, as little slaves and the least of all men.

[3] Now St. Marinus, excelling in skill in every craft, just as the most prudent bee gathers from all flowers her nectared banquet and distils fragrant honey into the treasury of the comb, furnished with excellent virtues, so, by the inspiration of divine grace, laid up with eager desire the fragrance of holy virtues in the archive of his most sacred breast. There was in him such readiness of eloquence that his words, adorned with the flowers of eloquence, were driven like nails into the inward hearts of his hearers. There flourished in him wisdom, the mother of all virtues, so that he stirred the minds of all to marvel at the flashing splendor of divine grace that shone from his mouth. He was submissive to his superiors, kindly to his fellows, to all shared in fraternal charity, benevolent to all. Elders he loved as fathers, the younger as sons; serving the poor and orphans in all things, he obeyed them untiringly. [Preferring himself to none, he esteemed himself the least of all. He gladly received old men and prudent young men, and likewise boldly restrained the wicked with rebuke. Day by day he stood at his prayers, persevering without intermission. His body being set upon earth, his soul was fed upon heavenly riches .] He was a pattern of chastity and humility, a master of patience and lowliness, a teacher of doctrine and charity worthy of imitation. In the meadows of the divine Scriptures he pastured the lights of his body, but he held the gaze of his mind fixed upon the ethereal seats, and imparted fittingly * to all the shining utterances of the heavenly life.

[4] So zealous a solicitude for religion possessed him that not the space of a single moment passed without the duty of doing good. and there he labors For he was occupied either in reading or in the actual works of his hands, so that he too deserved to say: I have lost no [day] on which I have done nothing good. And while with mouth and spirit he sang the divine songs, with his hands he wrought unceasingly at useful things, whence he might often furnish relief to the needy. So then, after St. Marinus had come to the city of Rimini, under the prefects and overseers of the various works each man received his portion of labor. But the Man of God, full of piety and grace, seeing his fellow-provincials and the companions of his journey weighed down with unjust burdens of toil, had compassion on them, and, grievously distressed ^f at their wrongs, burned with the love of fraternal charity, after the likeness of the holy men Joseph and Moses, who for the safety of their brethren spent their lives even to the peril of death. And what was more, in the inmost recesses of his mind he called to remembrance how the immeasurable begetter of all creatures, Christ God the Son of God, who weighs as it were in the hollow of his hand the mass of the earth and the circuit of heaven, coming from the ethereal citadels of the paternal kingdom of shining Olympus, the Creator putting on a frail creature, deigned for the salvation of the human race to descend to the earthly dwellings of mortals,

and how great and what manner of things he endured for the redemption of the earth-born in fighting against the snares of the ancient enemy. Tossing unceasingly on the waves of these cares, blessed Marinus bought himself a beast of burden, that with its help he might in some way relieve his brethren under the pressure of their various labors.

[5] But after some interval of time, while these and other things were going on, and on Mount Titanus. it was commanded by the aforesaid emperors Diocletian and Maximian that all the masters of stonecutting should set out for the rocky ledges of the mountains, to hew out there the various kinds of marble; which also was done. The holy men Marinus and Leo went therefore with a multitude of stonecutters to the summits of a steep mountain which in the country speech is called Titanus. Which mountain, I say, as the neighbors report, with most rugged ridges and rough crags and cliffs reaching to the sky, stretches from the west toward the north ^g. They came then to the place they sought, and worked there for three years: which being completed, St. Leo set out, with a few accompanying him, to the ridge of Mount Silicianus ^h, which in common speech is called Montefeltro, and there established a cell for himself and dedicated a tabernacle to God. But St. Marinus, seeing the affliction of his brethren, did not desert them, but when the three years in the hard labors of stonecutting were fulfilled, he returned with them to the city, and there, held by fraternal love, in the space of two months and thrice five days he built and fortified the channel of an aqueduct. For he was of such strength that, while others rested weary and in the night hours yielded their failing limbs to repose, he through the silences of the dim-lit nights did not cease to labor: nor did he give rest to his body, save when on the solemnities of the Lord's days he was free for the office of Mass. Moreover, the measured task which the rest scarcely accomplished with two yoke of oxen, he, helped by the aid of a single little ass, with the cooperation of the divine power, completed without complaint.

[6] preaching at Rimini he converts many: When therefore all the labors had been assigned and set in order, the prefects of the works and the overseers of the masters were moved with such admiration for St. Marinus that, falling at his feet and giving thanks and magnifying God through him, they professed that all their works had been happily completed by his help. Then, all the works being finished for which the craftsmen had been gathered, when each was returning to his own region, blessed Marinus, despising the sweetness of his native soil, remained in the aforesaid city of Rimini, in which, preaching for twelve years and three months the gospel virtues ⁱ and showing to the ignorant the path of everlasting salvation, he began to build for the heavenly King an ethereal city constructed of living stones. For so did the word of God from his mouth inflame the hearts of his hearers that not only did he instruct in the Catholic faith the whole people who dwelt at Rimini, but he also stirred up the very priests of the idols to despise the religion of a vain superstition. For not otherwise did he prepare the way of life and the paths of justice in the hearts of an ignorant people; since, as the trumpet of truth, St. John, like a lion roaring in the desert, sounded forth the call of penance with lofty cries, so that a land once barren and untilled, with ridges of thorns, was found in a short time to have grown into an abundant harvest with the grain-bearing fruit of the ears.

[7] by an unchaste woman, who falsely gave herself out to be his wife While then the divine power was administering these things through St. Marinus, the ancient enemy, the plotter against the human stock, taking it grievously that such things were being done by the man of God for the salvation of souls, turning new arts in his venomous breast and gnashing with bloody teeth, strove with his three-forked tongues to scatter upon this Athlete of the heavenly warfare the poisoned breath of a fierce venom, like a serpent. At length, having found his arts of harming — since, consumed by his own malice, he was most vehemently tormented by the zeal of envy, and strove to hurl a thousand snares out of the thousandfold kinds of his darts against the Man of God — he found at last a fit contrivance for his plotting: a certain most foul vessel defiled with the contagion of poison, through which he had once obtained entrance to the first-formed man, and he seized again the death-bearing dart with which he had plunged the mass of the human race into the gulf of death, to hurl it once more. Entering therefore the silly and empty little breast of a certain wretched woman, he filled it with the influx * of the ancient suggestion, and by false imaginations of things led the wretch, estranged and outside the path of her own mind, to such dullness of madness that she declared herself to be the lawful wife of St. Marinus; which woman indeed, made ready for such mockeries, came from the borders of Dalmatia over the waters of the Illyrian waves, borne to the unknown shore of Hesperia and to the harbor of the city of Rimini.

[8] Where, when she inquired curiously after St. Marinus, the citizens, supposing that the man of God was sought by a woman for the sake of healing or out of devotion, and soliciting him to sin, showed her the place where he dwelt and disclosed his manner and his dress. And when the woman had come to the dwelling of blessed Marinus, at the sight of him she was struck as with a drowsiness of mind; nay, drawing long sighs from her breast, with shameless mouth and feigned words she at last spoke thus: "Alas, alas, Marinus, more longed for than life, sole hope and light of my life, how many perils of sea and land have I suffered for love of thee, counting all the adversities of life as little for the ardor of my love for thee. Now therefore, since I see thee, long awaited, dearest husband, I beseech thee grant pardon, grant me to behold thy kind face, receive me, unhappy, driven hither by the vast waves." So she spoke, and stretched out both her eager palms, bathing her face with tears and her lips at once with falsehoods. Looking straightway behind him, Marinus the man of the Lord recognized the ghastly face and the hostile speeches of the slippery serpent, and with calm mouth taking up a prophetic verse he began, saying: Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered.*

[9] Having said this, he manfully thrust her away from him. But she, not enduring the venerable gravity of so great a Man, nobly repulsed, withdrew from him howling and with frequent sobs uttering a pitiable groan, and, filling the whole city with her complaints, came to the governor. Standing at his tribunal with loud wailing, she spoke with wicked mouth: "I adjure thee, most gracious governor, by the immortal destinies of the gods and by the unconquered valor of the emperors, that thou grant me leave to speak for the space of one hour, and that with the ears of thy compassion thou calmly receive the various miseries of my sorrows. For I, by the dispensation of my destinies, wretchedly wearied by the inextricable perils of all the sea and land, have at last come exhausted from the far borders of Dalmatia to these your rising walls, on account, that is, of my husband Marinus, who by the rite of our nation and the laws of our country ought to be joined to me in lawful wedlock. And be it known to thy excellency that not only is he a despiser of the gods and an approved teacher and worshipper of the Christian sect, but he also seduces very many noble men of the commonwealth to worship the God who is called Christ." While this most abominable woman was speaking with profane mouth, it happened by chance that a certain man named Tycius, of the Christian religion, came up: who, when he had heard so great a wickedness put forward before the governor, withdrawing himself from their midst and hastening with swift course, came to the place where Marinus the man of the Lord was persisting in prayer, and falling at his feet reported to him everything he had heard from the mouth of the unspeakable woman before the governor's tribunal. When therefore blessed Marinus heard from Tycius's report that this was so, he understood that the crafty subtleties of the envious enemy were being devised against him.

[10] he flees secretly to Mount Titanus, where he establishes a harsh manner of life And while the Athlete of the heavenly warfare debated within himself how he might escape the diabolical snares, he found counsel from a divine oracle, remembering the gospel command which says: When they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another; and rising, through the silence of the shadowy night he went out of the city, leaving the companions of his like-minded fellowship, and taking an unknown road, with God for his companion, he came to the roots of a most rugged mountain which is called Titanus, where he himself had formerly worked with the stonecutters. Seeing then the aspect of the untilled land and the vast shadowy groves of the remoter desert, and the woodland lairs of wild beasts, he beholds among other things, beneath a cold crag of the overhanging mountain, a huge and most ancient rock, closed in on every side with trees and overgrown with bristling shadows. Seeing which, while he examined each thing curiously, he perceives there a cave most deeply hidden beneath overhanging cliffs, and a vein of sweet water flowing within; and being exceedingly taken with love of the place, when he had recognized that that place had been prepared for him by divine providence, he hid himself in it from the face of the wicked woman, after the likeness of Elias the prophet fleeing from the face of Jezebel: and dwelling alone for twelve months with every kind of wild beast and with the monsters of the desert, he saw not the face of man, eating after the ninth hour the wild herbs to refresh the breath of life, and taking a little water from the rock of the crag to quench the burning of thirst. Indeed, when he yielded his poor body to rest, lying upon the pebbles of the cold earth he rolled a stone to his head, clothing his stiff limbs with a scanty covering of a garment; he was without ointment and bath, and persisting through the long nights of winter in prayers, he scarcely at last bent his chilled limbs against the marble columns .

[11] The spectacle of beasts of every kind, and the monstrous portents of various outrages, and the boars, bears, elephants, and wolves which the bounty of the vast solitude is wont to bring forth, the thousand-^k-crafted devil urged to howl through the shadows to terrify the Soldier of Christ. making light of the devil's terrors. But Marinus the man of the Lord, persisting unmoved within himself, made light of the mocking contests of the crafty enemy, uttering with calm mouth that word of the psalmist: He that trusteth in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion; he shall not be moved for ever. Passing the night also in hymns and spiritual songs, he wove prophetic chants into the morning songs of the birds, and this he did untiringly always, when the day came and when it departed. But when the circuits of twelve ^l months had run out since St. Marinus had begun the solitary life, the ancient enemy, envying his blessedness, was tormented with the zeal of his malice, and anxiously sought how by some snares of his craft he might overthrow the angelic converse of the man of God. [But the higher he raises himself against God's elect, the more * he falls, condemned, to the infernal precipice.]

[12] Found by swineherds and by the aforesaid woman Meanwhile there came from the city of Rimini in the winter season swineherds to fatten their herds of swine: who, while for the sake of fattening them they ranged through the waste of the solitude, over every place and the pathless lairs of beasts, came at last even to the most hidden place of the desert where St. Marinus was. When the Man of God saw them, struck at once with amazement of mind, fleeing from their eyes he hid himself in the inner cave which lay beneath the rock. But the swineherds, wondering at the strangeness of the thing, that they saw a man among the lairs of wild beasts, terrified with fear of mind, bowed down and seeking the footsteps of the holy Man, prostrated themselves before him. But St. Marinus, taking this ill, having granted pardon,

signified with his hand that they should go out: who, returning after some days to the city, spread abroad that they had seen St. Marinus leading a solitary life in the secret places of the desert, saying: "We have found Marinus our master and teacher living an angelic life among wild beasts on the earth." Hearing this from the shepherds, that woman of abominable memory, driven again by the goads of diabolical malice, ran panting to those same swineherds and diligently inquired of them where and in what manner they had seen Marinus. The shepherds answered her: "In the hidden and secret places of the further desert we saw him living a solitary life." The woman said again: "Lead me to the place where you saw him, and I will give you for the weariness * of the journey twelve silver coins." So the shepherds, making an agreement with the woman, on the next day at the dawning of the light went with her along the road that leads to the wilderness, and having crossed the waste of the desert, they came to the place where St. Marinus lay hid.

[13] Now by chance at that hour when they arrived, the Man of memorable holiness was sowing wild herbs in his little garden; again, but in vain, he is tempted by the same woman; and when that profane woman saw him, crying out with sudden impudence she said: "Farewell, master; what art thou doing, what art thou at work upon? Art thou perhaps sowing herbs to prepare a dish for us?" Blessed Marinus, astonished at a woman's voice, would not look at her; but impressing the standard of the cross upon his forehead, he at once withdrew into his cave, which he himself had hewn out beneath the cold crag in the mountain's side. And entering he closed the door, and persisting for six days and as many nights in fastings and prayers, he poured out prayers unceasingly with tears and groans to the God of heaven against the diabolical assaults. Then the woman, abandoned by the shepherds, when she recognized that she had been deluded by the devil, bewailing it with weepings and frequent sobs, terrified with exceeding dread, at length withdrew confounded from the face of the Man of God, and returning to the city of Rimini she professed openly before all that she had acted impiously against Marinus the servant of Christ, driven by diabolical goads; and being straightway seized by the devil, she died.

[14] From that day great fear fell upon very many of those who were in that city, then he withdraws to the ridge of the mountain and builds a chapel: and they magnified the name of the living God, who shows forth wonders in his Saints and does not forget the wrongs of all who hope in him. For the Scripture says: Vengeance is mine , I will repay.* O how many snares, how many arts hast thou stirred up, most foul enemy the devil, against the servants of God and those who live piously in Christ? Why dost thou rage, why art thou mad, why dost thou gnash fiercely with rabid teeth? Where are thy darts, where now the sting of thy deceit, where are thy arms? They are fallen, and broken they have fallen upon thine own head. Thy sword and the arrows of thy snares are fixed in thine own breast, and thou who not long since thoughtest thyself like to God, now liest vanquished and prostrate by a single Servant of God. After an interval of some days, blessed Marinus, seeing that he was too much frequented by all in that place, departed thence, and coming to the ridge of Mount Titanus dwelt there at first under a small covering. Then he set a boundary between himself and the inhabitants of that place, that there might no longer be a concourse of people to him, nor the approach of a woman or of anyone of the female sex. He also began to give himself to the labors of his hands: for he first built himself a little cell to dwell in, and afterwards built a church ^m in honor of blessed Peter the prince of the Apostles.

[15] the son of a widow, punished by a sudden contraction of his limbs Now a certain Virissimus ⁿ by name, one of the dwellers of the solitude, the son of a notable widow who was called Felicissima ^o, when he saw that St. Marinus had marked out boundaries and built dwellings on the mountain, began to be stirred against him with the swelling of pride and the furies of arrogance. Filled therefore with anger, on a certain day he came to the place where the Man of God was laboring in the field, wishing to raise some quarrel with him: and seeing him from afar, blessed Marinus, lifting his eyes to heaven, said: "Lord Jesus Christ, permit not this man to come nearer, nor to do anything wicked against me." Scarcely had he finished the word, and in that same hour the arms of that man withered, his legs and all the joints of his limbs contracted and suddenly wasted away, his voice stuck in his throat and his tongue was struck dumb. Feeling therefore such things in himself, he sank and fell to the ground, and being lifted up by others was brought to his mother. And when she saw him tormented, his joints wrenched and his limbs collapsed and drawn together, she said: "Alas for me, my son, what has happened to thee, or by what chance has this come upon thee? Perhaps thou hast offended that Hermit in some matter." And he, nodding with his head, for he could not speak, indicated that it was so. And so the mother, knowing the cause of what had been done, rose and came to the place where St. Marinus was laboring in prayer, and at once falling at his feet, with tears springing up she besought him, saying: "My father, have mercy on a suppliant widow, and show thy mercy upon my son. Loose him by the power of thy God, and whatsoever thou shalt command, or ask of us, we will give thee."

[16] he restores to health and converts to Christ with his whole household. To this blessed Marinus answering said: "I seek nothing else from you, save that you believe in the living and true God for the salvation of your souls, and that you cast out the mute and dead images of the demons which you worship under a vain religion, and be converted to the true religion of my Lord Jesus Christ, being baptized in his name. But a part of this mountain for my burial, if you grant it to me, I accept." To whom the woman answering said: "Not only will we give thee the mountain, but we also grant to thee and to thy successors, by perpetual succession, all the confines and promontories * which are beneath the mountains." Straightway rising, blessed Marinus came to the place where the young man lay, and drawing near he touched him, saying: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, arise and walk, speak and be well." At these words heard, the young man was at once restored to his former health, and rising he cried out with a clear voice, saying: "I give thee thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, who hast deigned to visit me in thy Salvation through thy servant Marinus. Now I know that there is no other beside thee in heaven above and on earth beneath; thou dost bruise and heal, thou killest and makest alive." After he had said these things, falling to the earth he lay prostrate with his mother at the holy Man's feet, and renouncing the images and idols which until then they had served, they were converted with all their house and household, and there believed in the Lord that day, more or less, fifty men [p].

[17] He is ordained deacon by St. Gaudentius; At the same time in which these things were done by the power of God through St. Marinus, Gaudentius the bishop was sent from Rome, the mistress of cities, to preach to the gentiles and to those who were in the city of Rimini and in all its suburbs and territories. When therefore he had entered the city, he heard from the Christians who were there of the fame and the virtues of the holy men Leo and Marinus. For almost that whole city was filled with the miracles and mighty works which the divine power wrought through them. Hearing these things, St. Gaudentius sent letters to them, that these holy Men should come to him, so that, having received Orders from him, they might go to preach to the gentiles, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And so, the pontifical letters having been read, the holy men Leo and Marinus, of one mind in the spiritual warfare *, came to Rimini to Gaudentius the bishop, at the sight of whom they were filled with great joy; and they remained with him some days, receiving from him the consecrations of sacred Orders: for blessed Leo obtained the grade of the presbyterate, while St. Marinus received the blessing of the Levitical order [q]. These things being accomplished with great honor, the Men of God, bidding farewell to the blessed prelate Gaudentius, returned to their own places.

[18] Now it happened, as blessed Marinus was returning to his cell, he bids a bear perform the service of the ass it had devoured. that he beheld in his little garden a huge bear, dreadful and horrible to look upon, eating his ass, which he had as his only comfort in every labor. Then the man of the Lord, being grieved, said to the beast: "I command thee, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, that thou depart not from this place until thou fulfil the service of that one which thou hast unlawfully devoured": and seizing the halter with which he used to lead the ass, he bound the bear with it in the tightest knots, and led him to his mill, and there left him bound in his fastenings. A wonderful thing, and worthy to be committed to memory, that an untamed bear, all its ferocity laid aside, should come to such gentleness that it humbly bent its smooth neck, bowing it beneath the hands of little children; and that which before, thirsting for blood through the waste of the desert, had fed on the flesh of wild beasts, now content with the scanty fodder of the meadow, bore humbly and obediently all the burdens of the ass it had devoured, and, bound in the mill, labored at the millstone. Nor is it a marvel if he who once cast down the king of Babylon [r], lifted up by a sudden puffing of pride, and made him eat grass among the beasts like an ox through seven courses of years, could now, by the merits of his servant Marinus, tame the savagery of an untamed and truculent beast. And if St. Marinus, by the virtue of humility and endurance, overcame the savagery of the devil, from whom all malice took its rise, what wonder is it that, by God's working, he made the savagery of a wild beast grow gentle? For John says: It is certain that whosoever shall subject himself to the divine commands, all things shall be gently made subject to him by the Lord.* At those same times in which Marinus the man of the Lord was waging such wars against the snares of the crafty enemy, blessed Leo, freed from the miseries of the present age, passed as a conqueror, the prince of the world being vanquished, to the longed-for joys of the heavenly kingdom, the choirs of the heaven of heavens bearing him up.

[19] After whose departure there arose, as he himself had foretold, the schism of Marcian, the blessed death and burial of the Saint. a schism of heresy, at the instigation of the devil, from a certain Marcian, a presbyter of Rimini, who, like a serpent vomiting foul poisons from a squalid den, strove to violate the inviolable glory of the Christian religion. Against whom St. Gaudentius the bishop gathered the universal church of the Christians [s], and, when he had been overcome by the divine judgment, anathematized him before all the people, many Catholic men being present; and thus he was cast out of the bosom of the holy and undefiled Church, like a broken vessel, with great confusion. Now the governor who in those days was set over the city of Rimini was a kinsman of the same heretic Marcian. He, when he heard that Marcian had been condemned and shamefully cast out of the Church, commanded all the Christians to be put to death. In

which storm some of the Christians strove to hide themselves in the mountains, others in caves, for St. Gaudentius the bishop also, reserving himself for greater contests, was hidden for three days and as many nights in the cave of the venerable man Mercualis, bishop of Livia [t]. But the blessed Levite of the Lord, Marinus, of memorable virtue, persevering steadfastly in his little cell, and nowhere turning aside from the dreadful storm of the impending persecution, after he had by countless chastisements of the carnal life shown himself worthy of the starry mansions, on the third day before the Nones of September [u] passed from this light and was received by the angels into the eternal joys of the heavenly life, and was buried on Mount Titanus * in the church which he himself had built for himself, to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Mombritius: there believed in Christ, in number, more or less fifty-three. The proper Office and the Italian Commentary also reckon just so many converted and baptized by the Saint; and the latter adds that those ridges, after the free gift of the mountain, began to be inhabited by the Saint and his companions no longer as a hiding-place but as a patrimony; and that from that hour the name of Titanus was changed, and afterwards it was always called the mountain of St. Marinus.

q. That they were initiated into sacred Orders by St. Gaudentius, Brunacci also relates, cited at number 6 of the Preliminary Commentary; but he tells that this was done at another time, and more probably. For the rest, St. Gaudentius, bishop of Rimini and martyr, is venerated on the 14th of October.

r. Nabuchodonosor, Daniel 4. By this example the biographer strives to make plausible the fabricated tale about the bear, which he perhaps transferred hither, with some circumstances changed, from the Life of St. Maximinus bishop of Trier, where something similar is told of a little ass and a bear. See volume VII of May, page 21. The Italian Commentary enlarged the fable by asserting that our Saint was carried by the bear as though by a tame beast of burden.

s. This is plainly fictitious. But of Marcian, a presbyter infected with the Arian taint, whom St. Gaudentius excommunicated after the condemned conventicle of Rimini, Baronius makes mention at the year 359, number 46. The authors of the often-mentioned Italian Commentary, and Brunacci at page 63, say that our Saint was present at the ecumenical and lawful synod of Rimini, and that with Gaudentius and others, on account of the madness of the Arians, he withdrew thence to a village called Catholica, 15 miles distant from Rimini.

t. Mombritius, of St. Mercualis, bishop of Livia. The IX Lesson of the proper Office, in the court of St. Mercurialis, bishop of Forlì. Concerning St. Mercurialis, bishop of Forlì, Papebroch disputed at the 30th of April. What precedes in this number is omitted in our Rimini copy.

u. In the year of the Lord two hundred and fifty-seven, says the proper Office in Lesson IX; Castellanus in the Universal Martyrology, about CCLV: but he must have lived in the fourth century, if he was ordained deacon by St. Gaudentius. The Italian Commentary, citing most ancient records in the archive of the republic, places the Saint's death not long after the tragedies of the conventicle of Rimini, which was held in the year 359. Since from this or any other source no certain year can be drawn out, I have marked the time of his death as toward the end of the fourth century, with some latitude.

Mombritius, Dalmatiæ* * i.e. of Italy elsewhere consequentibus* Mombritius, deliciis* Mombritius, inhianter* Mombritius, Ethrusca* elsewhere Boream* Mombritius, perfectis* the same, fourteen* Rimini Manuscript, furore* elsewhere stupore* Rimini Manuscript, vilis* Mombritius, tapetibus marmoreis* Rimini Manuscript, proclivius* elsewhere fatigium*, i.e. labor read vindicta* * i.e. hills Rimini Manuscript, dogmate* * i.e. of a wild beast elsewhere Titano*