ON ST. ELEUTHERIUS, ABBOT,
AT ROME
About the year DLXXX or DXC.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The memory of the Saint in the more recent calendars: his ancient cult: some things about his deeds, date, and the eulogy to be published.
Eleutherius, abbot at Rome (S.)
BY J. S.
Greven and Molanus in their additions to Usuard today mentioned St. Eleutherius, abbot of Spoleto, The memory of the Saint in the more recent calendars; but who died at Rome. These Galesinius and Baronius followed in the Roman Martyrology, which has thus: At Rome, of saint Eleutherius, abbot, servant of God, whom saint Gregory the Pope writes to have raised a dead man by prayer and tears. Maurolyco announces the same man in these words: At Rome, of Eleutherius, abbot at Spoleto, in the time of blessed Gregory the Pope. Ménard too, Wion, Bucelin, and other Benedictine martyrologists celebrated Eleutherius the abbot on the same day. In the Parisian Martyrology he is commemorated on the same day and adorned with this eulogy: At Rome, of saint Eleutherius, abbot, who ended his life in the monastery of saint Gregory after many miracles wrought by prayers and tears, and after health had been restored to Gregory himself. Castellan too followed in the Universal Martyrology, but adding a marginal annotation, in which it is said that St. Eleutherius the abbot was placed in the Roman Martyrology on this day on the occasion of St. Eleutherius the Pope, who in the manuscripts was not recognized by the title of bishop.
[2] Certainly in the Hieronymian transcripts on the VI day of September some Eleutherius is announced, nor does it at once strike the eye who that Eleutherius is. in which he does not seem to have been inserted by error: In Florentinius, in the text of the Hieronymian, it is thus read: At Rome, on the Salarian way, the birthday of saint Eleutherius the bishop. On these words Florentinius disputes at length whether St. Eleutherius the Pope is designated, or another saint Eleutherius, and believes that Eleutherius the abbot was for that cause commemorated on this day by Galesinius, Maurolyco and Baronius, because they thought that he was designated in the Hieronymian; and that Castellan believed this too of Baronius, his words just given suggest. But I readily assent to Castellan that it is Eleutherius the Pope who in most of the Hieronymian codices on the VI day of September, sometimes with the title of bishop, sometimes without that title, is read as commemorated: and this our Predecessors also thought, when at the day XXVI of May they disputed about Eleutherius the Pope: yet on that account I do not believe that Eleutherius the abbot was referred to this day by error alone; but I think he was commemorated on this day by Baronius after Greven and Molanus, because he believed that the holy Abbot died on the VI day of September. Certainly Peter de Natalibus in his Catalogue of the Saints, book 8, chapter 45, weaving a long eulogy from St. Gregory, at the end expresses the day of death thus: And that holy Man in the same monastery happily gave up his spirit in the arms of Gregory on the VIII Ides of September. This opinion, so far as I conjecture, Greven, Molanus, Baronius, and the other writers praised followed: for in his Annotations Baronius does not assert that Eleutherius the abbot is read in the Hieronymian, but wrongly cites Bede and Ado, since these have no Eleutherius today in the genuine Martyrologies.
[3] In a certain Benedictine manuscript Kalendar Eleutherius is placed on the vigil of St. Gregory, [but because on that day, though he is announced on other days also, he is believed to have died.] or the XI day of March, as is there read among us in the Prætermissi. Philip Ferrarius mentions St. Eleutherius in both Catalogues at the XVIII of April, but has various things about the day of his death. For in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, written earlier, he has thus about the death of St. Eleutherius: At length the Abbot, worn out with age, in the monastery of St. Andrew rendered his spirit to God in the hands of St. Gregory on the XIV Kalends of May, in the year of Salvation DC. But in the general Catalogue, in the Annotations at the same day, he observes these things: From the tablets of the church of Spoleto on this day… He seems to be the same as he of whom in the Roman Martyrology at the day VI of September. The body is at Spoleto in the Cathedral church. And this day (XVIII of April) seems to be that of the translation. I suspect that Ferrarius first wrote about the day of death from conjecture, and noted the XVIII of April, because on that day the Saint was formerly venerated at Spoleto: but then that he believed it to be the day of the translation. Ludovico Jacobilli in the Lives of the Saints of Umbria, which he published in Italian in three volumes, volume 2, page 209, not only asserts that St. Eleutherius died on the VI of September, but also affirms that there was a twofold translation of the body. This author, who wrote at Foligno, and therefore could have had the opinion of the people of Spoleto better ascertained, with Peter de Natalibus acceding, persuades me that Baronius and others did not rashly, nor from error alone, refer St. Eleutherius to the day VI of September, but did it because he is believed to have died on that day.
[4] The public veneration of St. Eleutherius is also far more ancient [The public veneration of the Saint seems far more ancient than certain moderns would have it,] than Baillet suspected in Eleutherius at the VI of September, where he says that probably Eleutherius was not publicly venerated before the XVI century, because Baronius substituted Eleutherius the abbot for Eleutherius the bishop, as he indeed believed. For the things which Jacobilli writes about the sacred veneration of Eleutherius altogether suggest that it is more ancient. I render his words into Latin: His sacred body was translated on the XVIII day of April to his church of St. Mark at Spoleto: and after many years it was carried over to the church of St. Peter, once the cathedral of that city: and for this cause the clergy of Spoleto and of its diocese celebrate his festival with a double rite on this sixth day of September, and the translation was once celebrated on the XVIII of April. Then, having cited some Martyrologies, in one of which it is said on the XVIII of April is at Spoleto the feast of his translation, he again adds in Italian what I render into Latin: Several churches have been erected in his honor, one namely in the diocese of Spoleto. He adds another church with a monastery in the diocese of Rieti: but since another St. Eleutherius, of whom we treated at the XVIII of April, is venerated by the people of Rieti,
I should not dare to affirm anything certain about that church: let the people of Rieti themselves know whose Eleutherius it is. From what has been said, however, I conclude that the cult of St. Eleutherius is sufficiently ancient, and probably began many centuries before the XVI century.
[5] Nay, from the translation of St. Eleutherius to the church of the monastery of St. Mark, it does not seem to be doubted that the cult of St. Eleutherius flourished already in the XIII century, and probably began much earlier. For Mabillon in volume 1 of the Annals, page 170, writes thus about the monastery of St. Mark: and perhaps began in the VIII century or earlier. Toward the middle of the thirteenth century the abbot and monks there failed. Therefore it is probable that the translation of the body to the monastery of St. Mark happened before the middle of the thirteenth century; and accordingly that the cult of the Saint began before that time. Finally, if we consider the words of Pope Adrian I in his epistle to Charlemagne, in volume 7 of Labbe's Councils, column 955, we shall scarcely doubt that already in the VIII century St. Eleutherius was in the veneration of the faithful. I subjoin the Pontiff's own words: But saint Gregory the Pope also made a beautiful oratory in his monastery, and caused it to be painted with various histories, and erected sacred images there: where also, having entered with BLESSED Eleutherius on account of the sickness of his stomach, they were alike heard in prayer. And that HOLY man Eleutherius, who they say also raised a dead man, prostrating himself before those same sacred images, did not hesitate to entreat the divine clemency together with saint Gregory: but bearing a perfect faith, they were alike heard, and even to this day they are venerated among us. Since Eleutherius is called blessed and holy by Adrian, he seems already then to have been honored with ecclesiastical veneration; as also Adrian's last words would indicate, were he not treating of the sacred images, and did not both what precedes and what follows suggest that these words are said of them: And even to this day they are venerated among us. But let these things suffice about the antiquity of the cult. For the rest, Piazza in the Sacred Hemerology of the City at the VI of September writes that at Rome in the church of St. Gregory the Great a festal commemoration is made of St. Eleutherius.
[6] Some deeds mentioned by St. Gregory, Some deeds of this Saint have become known from the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, who narrated various things about him in book 3, chapter 33. These afterward Lipomanus, Surius, Gonon, and Mabillon published, and from them Vincent of Beauvais, Trithemius, Peter de Natalibus, and several others formed eulogies, whom it is not necessary to enumerate. I too shall reprint the aforesaid account of St. Gregory, and shall illustrate it with annotations. But since in other places too St. Gregory mentioned St. Eleutherius, or narrated certain things pertaining to him in some way, which have been generally neglected by others, I shall first gather these, and transfer them hither.
[7] [who now and then cites Eleutherius as a witness: he seems to have been an Italian by nation, not a Syrian:] Gregory in book 3, chapter 14, treating of St. Isaac the abbot, whose Acts were given by us on the XI of April, mentions St. Eleutherius thus: And I have learned many things about that same man from the narrative of the venerable father Eleutherius, who both knew him familiarly, and by his life lent credit to his words. From these words we have, first, that St. Gregory learned various things related in the Dialogues from Eleutherius, whom he likewise cites as a witness in book 3, chapter 21, and book 4, chapter 35: secondly, that Eleutherius was familiar with Isaac, abbot of another monastery of Spoleto. Thirdly, Gregory presently adds that Isaac was not sprung from Italy, but had come from the parts of Syria to the city of Spoleto. Jacobilli affirms the same of St. Eleutherius, but without any authority of the ancients, and therefore improbably, especially since St. Gregory carefully observes this of Isaac, but of Eleutherius and his brother John has nowhere said anything similar. It is therefore more probable that Eleutherius was an Italian by nation, and born in Italy.
[8] a possessed man freed Gregory again in book 3, chapter 21, has thus: For of the matter which I relate, the most holy man Eleutherius, the aged father whose memory I made above, was a witness, and took care to intimate this to me; that in the city of Spoleto a certain girl already marriageable, the daughter of a certain leading man, burned with desire of the heavenly life, and her father tried to resist her on the way of life: but, despising her father, she took the habit of holy conversation. From which it came to pass that her father made her disinherited of his substance, and bestowed on her nothing else but six ounces of one little possession. And provoked by her example, many girls of nobler family began to be converted with her, and to serve the almighty Lord with virginity dedicated to him. And on a certain day that same Eleutherius the abbot, a man of venerable life, had come to her for the sake of exhortation and edification, and was sitting speaking with her about the word of God; when suddenly from that same estate, which she had received in six ounces from her father, a countryman came with a gift. Who, while he stood before them, seized by a malignant spirit fell down, and began to be tormented with excessive gnashings and bleatings.
[9] Then the holy woman arose, and with angry countenance and great shouts commanded, saying: by a pious virgin, at Eleutherius' bidding probably. Go out from him, wretch, go out from him, wretch. At whose voice presently the devil answered through the mouth of the tormented man, saying: And if I go out of this man, into whom shall I enter? Now by chance a little pig was feeding nearby. Then the holy woman commanded, saying: Go out from him, and enter into this pig. Which straightway went out of the man, invaded the pig which it had been bidden, killed it, and departed. Thus far Gregory, presently subjoining a moral doctrine, and not disapproving the command about entering into the pig, because Christ granted the same to a demon. And this whole event I have transferred hither, because it does not seem to be doubted that St. Eleutherius had a part in it, but modestly kept silence about it. For first, the girl seems to have used the holy Abbot's counsel when she turned away from marriage, and professed virginity even against her father's will. Then I am fully persuaded that the demon was put to flight by that holy girl at the bidding, or at any rate the exhortation, of St. Eleutherius: for the holy virgin could not prudently or decently have attempted this in the presence of St. Eleutherius, unless he himself bade or exhorted it.
[10] In book 4, chapter 35, Gregory narrates another marvelous event, John, the Saint's brother, dying, calls another to himself, which I transfer hither, because it pertains to the brother and disciple of Eleutherius: Now it is wont, he says, often to happen that a soul about to depart recognizes also those with whom, for equality of faults, or even of rewards, it is to be assigned in one dwelling. For the man of venerable life, the aged Eleutherius, about whom I have narrated many things in the preceding book, declared that he had in his monastery a brother german named John, who fourteen days beforehand foretold his own departure to the brethren. And when he reckoned the days as they diminished daily, three days before he was called out of the body he was seized with a fever. And coming to the hour of death, he received the mystery of the Lord's Body and Blood. And having called the brethren, he ordered them to chant in his presence, to whom, however, he himself in person gave out the antiphon, saying: "Open ye to me the gates of justice, and I will go in to them and give praise to the Lord: this is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it." And while the brethren standing before him were chanting, suddenly with a raised and prolonged voice he cried out, saying: Ursus, come. Which as soon as he had said, being led out of the body he ended his mortal life. The brethren wondered: because they did not know this which the dying brother had cried out. When he was dead, there was great sadness in the monastery.
[11] [and that man dies at the same time: this John distinguished from another of the same name:] But on the fourth day something was necessary for the brethren, so that they should send to another monastery placed far off. Going thither therefore, the brethren found all the monks of that monastery exceedingly sad. And when they said to them: What have you, that you weigh yourselves down with so great grief? They answered, saying: We lament the desolation of this place, because a certain brother, whose life kept us in this monastery, was today four days since withdrawn from this light. And when the brethren who had come inquired zealously how he had been called, they answered: Ursus. Who, subtly inquiring the hour of his calling, learned that he had gone out of the body at that very moment in which he had been called by John, who died among us. From which it is gathered that the merit of both was equal, and it was given them that they should live companionably in one dwelling, to whom it befell to go out of the body companionably. These things St. Gregory says about the brother of St. Eleutherius, whom I find confused with another John in Jacobilli. Certainly this writer asserts that this John, the brother of St. Eleutherius, died at Rome, and is mentioned in the Roman Martyrology on the XVII day of January with SS. Antonius and Merulus, and therefore honors John, the brother of Eleutherius, with the title of Saint. But this is a manifest confusion of two men, which can easily be removed from St. Gregory alone. The first John, of whom I have already given St. Gregory's words, was the brother of St. Eleutherius, and died before him in the monastery of Spoleto. The other John, of whom Gregory treats in book 4 of the Dialogues, chapter 47, was a youth of great disposition, and died at Rome in the monastery of St. Gregory, so that he is more clearly than daylight distinguished from the brother of St. Eleutherius. And that one is announced with Antonius and Merulus in the Roman Martyrology at the XVII of January, where those Saints were treated of by us also. Whether John the brother of Eleutherius is honored with a like cult, is not hitherto clear to me.
[12] the year of his death uncertain. Now, before I subjoin the eulogy of the Saint from Gregory, a few things remain to be said about the year of his death. Ferrarius from the monuments of the church of Spoleto notes the year 600, but he himself then observes that the error is manifest. Jacobilli sets Eleutherius' death about the year 585; Mabillon in the Acta, volume 1, page 305, places it about DLXXXVI. This is certain from the eulogy to be given, that Eleutherius died before Gregory had written his Dialogues, which was done in the year 593 or 594. Baillet at the VI of September under Eleutherius asserts that he did not die before St. Gregory returned in the year 585 from his legation at Constantinople: but I do not see that this can be certainly proved. Some indeed believe that this follows from the disposition of the monastery, of which Gregory speaks after relating his own healing, obtained by the prayers of St. Eleutherius. But they will have difficulty showing that no disposition of the monastery pertained to Gregory before the aforesaid legation. Wherefore it is uncertain to me whether Eleutherius died before that legation, or in the time of the legation, or after Gregory's return, or even after the pontificate undertaken by him in the year 590: and therefore I have noted Eleutherius' death in a broader manner as about the year 580 or 590.
ACTS
by St. Gregory the Great
From book 3 of the Dialogues, chapter 33.
Eleutherius, abbot at Rome (S.)
BHL Number: 2454
By St. Gregory the Great.
The Saint lived with St. Gregory: he is said to have raised a dead man: Eleutherius, father of the monastery of the blessed evangelist Mark, which is situated in the outskirts of the city of Spoleto, lived long with me in this city in my monastery, and there a he died. Whom his disciples related to have raised a dead man by praying [*]. And he was a man of such simplicity and compunction that there was no doubt that those tears, poured forth from so humble and simple a mind, could obtain many things with almighty God. Of him therefore I relate a certain miracle, which, when questioned, he himself simply confessed to me.
[2] For on a certain day, while he was taking a journey, when evening had come and there was no place to turn aside to, he frees a boy from the vexation of a demon: he came to a monastery of virgins: in which there was a certain little boy, whom a malignant spirit was accustomed to vex every night. But the holy women, when they had received the man of God, asked him, saying: Let this boy stay with thee, father, this night. Whom he kindly received, and permitted him to lie with him that same night. But when morning came, the holy women began watchfully to inquire of that same father whether the boy whom they had given him had done anything to him that same night. Who, wondering why they inquired so, answered: Nothing. Then they made known the case of that boy, and indicated that the malignant spirit departed from him on no night, asking most earnestly that he would take him with him to the monastery, because they themselves could no longer bear to see his vexation. The old man consented: he led the boy to the monastery. Who, when he had been for a long time in the monastery, and the ancient enemy had by no means presumed to approach him, the mind of that old man was more immoderately touched by gladness at the boy's deliverance. For, with the brethren placed before him, he said: Brethren, the devil was there [*] making sport with those sisters: but truly, when it came to the servants of God, he did not presume to approach this boy. After which speech, at that same hour and moment, the same boy, in the presence of all the brethren, was vexed, the devil invading him. Which being seen, the Old man straightway gave himself to lamentation. And when the brethren wished to console him as he mourned long, he answered, saying: Believe me, that bread shall enter into the mouth of none of you today, unless this boy shall have been snatched from the demon. Then he set himself to prayer with all the brethren, and prayer was made until the boy was healed of his vexation. Who was so perfectly healed that the malignant spirit had no further daring to approach him.
Peter. I believe that a little elation had crept upon him: but almighty God willed that his disciples should be helpers of that deed.
Gregory. So it is. For because he could not bear the weight of the miracle alone, he divided it with the brethren, and bore it.
[3] St. Gregory healed by the prayers of Eleutherius. Of how great power this Man's prayer was, I have experienced in my own self. For when at a certain time, being placed in the monastery, I was suffering a cutting of my vitals, and by frequent distresses at every hour was drawing near to my end — which affliction the physicians in the Greek tongue call syncope: and unless the brethren frequently refreshed me with food, the vital spirit seemed to be utterly cut off from me — the day of Easter came on. And when on the most sacred Sabbath, on which all, even little boys, fast, I was not able to fast, I began to fail more from grief than from infirmity. But my sad mind quickly found a counsel, that I should lead that same Man of God secretly into the oratory, and ask him that he would obtain for me by his prayers with the almighty Lord that strength to fast might be given me on that day: which also was done. For as soon as we entered the oratory, being humbly asked by me b, he gave himself with tears to prayer, and after a little while, the prayer being finished, he went out. But [*] at the voice of his blessing my stomach received so great strength that food and sickness c were utterly taken from my memory. I began to wonder who I was, who I had been: because even when my infirmity returned to my mind, I recognized in myself nothing of those things which I remembered. And when my mind was occupied in the disposition of the monastery, I utterly forgot my sickness. But if (as I said before) my sickness returned to my memory, since I felt myself so strong, I marveled if I had not eaten. And coming to evening, I found myself of such strength that, if I had wished, I could have carried over the fast to the next day. And so it came to pass that I proved in myself those things also to be true about him at which I myself had not been present.
ANNOTATIONS.
elsewhere, by weeping*
elsewhere, to himself*
elsewhere, and*