Amantius

ON ST. AMANTIUS, PRESBYTER AND CONFESSOR, AT TIFERNUM IN UMBRIA,

ABOUT THE YEAR DC.

COLLECTION.

Concerning his cult, deeds and age.

Amantius, presbyter and confessor, at Tifernum in Umbria. (S.)

BHL Number: 0000

BY J. S.

The Roman Martyrology today has it thus in the last place: At Tifernum of saint Amantius the presbyter, St. Amantius inserted in the Fasti on this day, and venerated illustrious for the grace of miracles. The same man Molanus announced before, citing the Dialogues of St. Gregory to be praised below, and Canisius agrees with him in the German Martyrology. A fuller eulogy is given by Ferrari in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, asserting that St. Amantius is venerated today at Todi, but at Tifernum together with St. Floridus the bishop on the thirteenth day of November. I do not yet inquire what was done while Ferrari was writing. But that Amantius is now venerated on this day at Tifernum also we shall see below. Castellanus observes in the margin that St. Amantius was recently affixed to this day. But Castellanus is certainly mistaken, and perhaps Ferrari too was deceived. For Angelo Conti, a Capuchin of Tifernum, in his Italian little work on the Saints and Blessed of Tifernum, in the Life of St. Amantius, page 40, testifies that on the twenty-sixth day of September the festival of St. Amantius is solemnly celebrated throughout the whole diocese of Tifernum. But since that little work was printed in the year 1627, and the author does not say that the festival was formerly celebrated on another day, it is probable that already before the times of Ferrari and before the seventeenth century the Festival was celebrated on the same day: for Baronius too, since he announces the Saint at Tifernum, would not have inserted him in the Roman Martyrology on any other day than that on which the festival was celebrated there.

[2] There is added another most certain argument from the approbation of the Congregation of Sacred Rites, at Tifernum from time immemorial; which first approved the new lessons of three Offices, namely of SS. Floridus the bishop, Amantius the presbyter and Crescentianus the martyr, in the year 1650 under a semidouble rite, and then in the year 1652 under the rite customary before for each, about which these words are read in the printed decree: But because by immemorial custom the Office of St. Floridus, as principal patron, is recited under the rite of a double of the first class with an Octave, and that of St. Amantius, the less principal patron, and of St. Crescentianus, the teacher and protector, under the rite of a greater double, the same clergy (of Tifernum) have supplicated that licence be granted of reciting the aforesaid lessons, already approved in the Offices, under the said rites, etc. The Sacred Congregation assented to the petitions in the year 1652, on the twentieth day of April, Cardinal Capponi subscribing, and the Office of St. Amantius is held fixed on the twenty-sixth day of September, and that of St. Floridus on the thirteenth of November, doubtless because from time immemorial they had been performed on those days: for in neither approbation is there read even the least word about days changed. Now if in the year 1652 the Offices of SS. Floridus and Amantius were performed under different rites from time immemorial, it is necessary that they were likewise celebrated on different days from time immemorial. And so Ferrari will have erred when he said that the festival of both is celebrated together on the thirteenth of November among the people of Tifernum: nor is there any reason why we should say that the festival of St. Amantius was either recently instituted there, or formerly performed on another day.

[3] and the cathedral church dedicated under his title and that of St. Floridus. But that the cult of St. Amantius is ancient is clear also from the cathedral church dedicated to SS. Floridus and Amantius together, which the aforesaid Angelo Conti says was built about the year 1500. Jacobilli however, in the Saints of Umbria, volume 2, page 282, in St. Amantius, writes that it was built in the year 1492, or rather restored. Both agree that in the year 1540 it was dedicated to SS. Floridus and Amantius; and that at that time the bodies of both were deposited within the high altar of the subterranean church, or, as it is otherwise called, of the Confession. The verses carved on an ancient stone behind the said altar the first author recites thus:

Here rest the bones of the blessed prelate Floridus, And here also are the bodies of other Saints: With whom rests also the body of saint Amantius. May they here save all who seek worthy aid.

These things abundantly intimate that the cult of St. Amantius is ancient: for it is not credible that it was then begun, when the cathedral church was consecrated to him together with St. Floridus. Wherefore what Castellanus insinuates about a more recent cult of St. Amantius, and what Baillet asserts at this day in St. Amantius, as if his name alone had been entered in the Martyrology on account of the things written about him by St. Gregory the Great, which will be recited below, altogether fall to the ground.

[4] Further, St. Amantius is venerated on the same twenty-sixth day of September also at Todi, St. Amantius venerated also at Todi, though he was neither of Todi, and is numbered among the Saints of Todi by Giovanni Battista Possevino in the Lives of the Saints of Todi published in Italian, page 65. But Baronius in his Annotations to the Martyrology refutes the men of Todi, observing that in St. Gregory, concerning St. Floridus the bishop of Amantius, there was formerly read by an error Tuderti for Tiferni, and adding: For Floridus, of whom St. Gregory there makes mention, was bishop of Tifernum, famed for holiness, whom the people of Tifernum venerate most honourably as their patron; and the ancient records of that church testify this with sure faith. In Ughelli however, volume 1, in the catalogue of the bishops of Todi, a Floridus is commemorated at the same time in which St. Amantius lived, and in which St. Floridus is in the same volume in the catalogue of the bishops of Tifernum: but in the Annotations to the latest edition it is rightly observed that he seems superfluous in the catalogue of Todi.

[5] Another dispute about the city of SS. Floridus and Amantius can be raised by the latest edition of the Works of St. Gregory the Great, nor was he a presbyter of Tibur, but of Tifernum. where the narrative of St. Gregory to be recited begins thus: Floridus, bishop of the church of Tibur: for Tibur again is another episcopal city in Latium, called by the Italians Tivoli. But the editors observe the following: So it is to be read from all the manuscripts, either Tibertinæ or Tuburtinæ, but not Tudertinæ. I shall readily admit that Tudertinæ is not to be read; but I shall not so easily be persuaded that any of the readings alleged is legitimate, since the Greek agrees with none of them. For in Greek it is Τιβερίνης, literally Tiberinæ, not Tiburtinæ, nor Tibertinæ. Nevertheless our two manuscript codices also, in which the Dialogues are read in Latin, have Tibertinæ, so that I readily believe that the word was first corrupted by the transcribers by the addition of a single letter t, and then from Tibertinæ others formed Tiburtinæ. But whencesoever the corruption came, it is certain that the word is corrupt, and that Floridus was not bishop, nor Amantius presbyter, of the city of Tibur in Latium, but of the city of Tiberina, that is, of Tifernum surnamed Tiberinum, because it lies beside the river Tiber in modern Umbria, or in ancient Tuscia, part of which afterwards was added to Umbria. Not only does the Greek version indicate that reading, but also the Latin title of the chapter, which runs thus: On Amantius the presbyter of the province of Tuscia. For Tibur is not in Tuscia but in Latium, so that that city could not have been designated by the words alleged; but there was designated the city Tiberina, or Tifernum Tiberinum, which is now commonly called Civitas Castellana, in the vulgar tongue Città di Castello, situated within modern Umbria on the Tiber and on the borders of Etruria. This the ancient records of the people of Tifernum abundantly confirm, as has already been said.

[6] The approved Lessons of the Office, which the people of Tifernum recite on the feast of St. Amantius, The Lessons of the Office, have this about the deeds of the Saint: Amantius, presbyter of Tifernum, illustrious for the grace of miracles, whom saint Gregory the Pope highly commends, avoiding the fury of the Goths, went away together with saint Floridus the deacon to Perugia, where he profited much from the conversation and discipline of St. Herculanus the bishop. Then, after a long siege *, and after the city too had been laid waste by the Goths, and Herculanus had been cruelly slain by the command of king Totila, he returned to his native land, and shone with wonderful piety and the grace of healings. When the blessed Pontiff Gregory had learned this from saint Floridus, then bishop of the people of Tifernum, he called him to Rome, held him in great esteem, and proved by the trial of the fact the report spread abroad about him. He had received power over serpents, however monstrous their size, which by the sign of the cross he everywhere killed, their entrails being burst asunder, and those fleeing into their hiding places he brought back dead, when the hole had been sealed with the sign of the cross.

[7] customary among the people of Tifernum, While at Rome for a few days, by the appointment of Gregory the Pontiff, he was staying among the sick together with Floridus the bishop, and by the imposition of hands and the suffrage of prayers so restored to entire health a frenzied man who by his immense outcries was very troublesome to the other sick, that thereafter he disturbed none of the sick by outcry, nor was troublesome to anyone. Dismissed from the City with honour, he returned to Tifernum with saint Floridus, and there began to worship God with more ardent piety, and to serve his neighbours. To feeding the poor and caring for the sick he devoted himself in perpetual service, passing over nothing that might turn to the gain of souls. At last in a good old age, a little after the departure of saint Floridus, distinguished by holy works and by very great virtue, he fell asleep in the Lord. His body was brought into the same church in which saint Floridus had a little before been laid, that he might not seem to be separated in death from him whom he had loved in life. For which cause it came about that the church should be common to both, and equal honour be assigned. Thus far the lessons, upon which a few things are to be observed.

[8] in which some things are uncertain: How certain that is which is said about the Saint's journey with St. Floridus to Perugia, I do not find. St. Herculanus was in the sixth century bishop of Perugia, and about the middle of that century, when the city had been taken by the Goths after a long siege, he fell a martyr, slain by the command of Totila king of the Goths, as St. Gregory narrates in book 3 of the Dialogues, chapter 13, from the mouth of St. Floridus, who says of Herculanus, my foster-father. From these words it is indeed established that St. Floridus was a disciple of St. Herculanus; and perhaps Floridus was at Perugia with St. Herculanus when the city was besieged; but this is not equally certain. But from them it is not clear whether St. Amantius was likewise there, so that I am forced to confess that I am wholly ignorant whence the people of Tifernum drew or learned this. Yet the same is asserted by them in the Office of St. Floridus, and there Floridus is said to have been sent by St. Herculanus to St. Fortunatus, bishop of Todi, of whom St. Gregory also treats in book 1 of the Dialogues, chapter 10.

[9] another assertion about the Saint is improbable. Jacobilli, praised above, joins Amantius also to Floridus in this journey, and says that miracles were wrought by Amantius and Floridus at Todi, and that perhaps for this cause Amantius is venerated by the people of Todi. But I should rather believe that St. Amantius is venerated by the people of Todi because they formerly judged by an error that he was a presbyter of their church. But whether St. Amantius ever saw St. Herculanus seems to me quite uncertain; and it appears scarcely probable that he was sent by Herculanus to St. Fortunatus of Todi, if the latter died in the year 537, as Ughelli says in volume 1, in the bishops of Todi. For since St. Gregory wrote the Dialogues about 594 and speaks of Amantius as living, and yet says nothing about old age, Amantius was perhaps a boy or a youth in the year 537, in which St. Fortunatus is said to have died — nay, perhaps he was born after the latter's death.

[10] And so the only sufficiently certain deeds of St. Amantius are those which St. Gregory the Great committed to memory in book 3 of the Dialogues, chapter 35, while Amantius was still living. For Gregory answers this question of Peter, his interlocutor: The grace of miracles by which the Saint shone, I should like to inquire whether it is to be believed that there are now in the world any such men. But in order to prove that there survive among the living men resplendent with miracles, he first brings forward St. Amantius, of whom he narrates the following: Floridus, bishop of the church of Tibur (read Tiberina, that is, of Tifernum Tiberinum), of what truthfulness and holiness he is, is not unknown to your love. He told me that there is with him a certain presbyter, Amantius by name, a man of remarkable simplicity; who, he reports, has this power, that after the manner of the Apostles he lays his hand upon the sick and restores them to health, and however violent the sickness may be, it departs at his touch. He added that he has this miracle also: that in whatever place he has found a serpent, however monstrous its fierceness, as soon as he has signed it with the sign of the cross, he kills it; so that by the power of the cross which the Man of God has made with his finger, it dies with burst entrails. And if ever a serpent has fled into a hole, he blesses the mouth of the hole with the sign of the cross, and straightway the serpent, already dead, is drawn from the hole.

[11] This Man of such power I took care also to see myself, is thus asserted by St. Gregory, and, when he had been brought to me, I wished him to remain a few days in the house of the sick: where, if there were any grace of healing in him, it might the more quickly be proved. Now there among the other sick lay a certain man out of his mind, whom the physicians call by a Greek word phreneticus. When on a certain night he was uttering loud cries, as a madman does, and disturbing all the sick with immense outcries, so that no one there could take any sleep, the matter became very pitiable, because from one man's illness all fared worse. But as I learned in detail both earlier from the most reverend man Floridus the bishop, who was then staying there together with the aforesaid presbyter, and afterwards from the boy who on that same night was serving the sick, that same venerable Presbyter, rising from his own bed, silently approached the bed of the frenzied man, and laying his hands upon him, prayed. And soon he took him, now better, and led him with himself into the upper part of the house to the oratory: where he applied himself more freely to prayer for him, and straightway brought him back healed to his own bed: so that he uttered no more cries, nor now disturbed any of the sick with any outcry; nor did he now increase another's sickness, having perfectly recovered his own mind. From this one deed of his we learned to believe all those things which we had heard of him. Thus St. Gregory, who could prudently have given credit to St. Floridus. But since the matter was wonderful, and the grace of miracles with which St. Amantius shone could be proved by an easy trial, he did not neglect that either.

[12] so that it cannot prudently be doubted: the epoch of his death broadly placed. If anyone therefore should refuse to give full credit to this narrative, he will not do so by a critical judgment, by which certainties are distinguished from uncertainties and, where it can be done, truths from falsehoods; but rather by that stubborn incredulity in which some men glory, and by which they ridiculously judge that they are to be numbered among great men. For the whole matter is narrated by a learned and holy man, who likewise cites a holy man as witness, and who besides had wished to make trial of the grace granted by God to Amantius. But Amantius did nothing that is not conformable to the promises of Christ our Lord in Mark 16, where among the signs to be wrought by believers these are reckoned: They shall take up serpents … they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall be well. Yet not all believers have received such a grace from God, because, as the Apostle witnesses, 1 Cor. 12, verse 4, there are divisions of graces. Nor is it necessary for obtaining eternal salvation that anyone work miracles, provided he observe the divine commandments according to his state. For the rest, how long St. Amantius afterwards lived is plainly unascertained. Angelo Conti says he died about the year 601, Jacobilli about 609. He could have died some years earlier, and have lived much longer. I should therefore prefer to fix his death most broadly about the year 600. The aforesaid writers say besides that St. Amantius died on the twenty-sixth day of September, because he is venerated on that day. Peter de Natalibus, book 10, chapter 22, celebrates St. Amantius with a eulogy which is plainly conformable to Gregory, but fixes his death on the fourth day of November, on which St. Amantius, bishop of Rodez, is venerated.

* add: having followed