Chapter V (2)

During his reign a strange heresy broke out. Eon de l'Etoile, a fanatic, took to himself the title of "Judge of the quick and dead," and armed with a forked stick, shared with God the empire of the universe. When he turned upwards the two prongs of his stick, he gave to the Almighty the government of two-thirds of the world, and when he turned the prongs downwards, he assumed them as his own. This poor visionary was followed by a number of peasants who pillaged churches, and committed all sorts of disorders. They were condemned, in 1148, by the Council of Rheims, and were reduced to submission by the temporal power. John exerted himself, by persuasion and instruction, to disabuse of their heresy such of the fanatics as over-ran his diocese, and succeeded in converting many of his wandering sheep.

He died in the odour of sanctity on Feb. 1st, 1163, and was buried on the Gospel side of the altar in the Church of S. Malo. His reputation for virtue was so well established, that almost immediately he received popular reverence as a Saint. Numerous miracles augmented the devotion of the people. In 1517, one of his successors, Denis Brigonnet, ambassador of the king to Rome, obtained from Pope Leo X. permission for him to be commemorated in a solemn office, as a confessor bishop. This was the year in which began the schism of Luther.

On the 15th October, 1784, Mgr. Antoine-Joseph des Laurents, last bishop of S. Malo but one, examined the relics of the blessed one. He found the bones of S. John enveloped in his pontifical vestments, his pastoral staff at his side, and ring on his finger. During the Revolution the relics of the Saint were ordered to be cast into the sea, but the order was countermanded, and the sexton was required to bury them on the common fosse in the cemetery. The grave-digger, whose name was Jean Coquelin, being a good Catholic, disobeyed the order so far as to lay the bones apart in a portion of the new cemetery as yet occupied by no other bodies. In November, 1799, he announced the secret to M. Manet, a priest who had remained through the Reign of Terror, in S. Malo; and this venerable ecclesiastic assisted by another priest and some religious, verified the relics. A sealed box received the precious deposit, and it was restored to its ancient shrine on 7th March, 1823. Unfortunately the loss of a document which supplied one necessary link in the chain of evidence authenticating the relics was missing, consequently they could not be exposed to the veneration of the faithful. By a strange accident this document was recovered later; whereupon the bishop wrote to Rome to state the proofs which were now complete. The necessary sanction having been received, the sacred relics were enshrined on the 16th November, 1839, with great ceremony; and are now preserved in the Church of S. Malo.

In French, S. John is called S. Jean de la Grille; in Latin, S. Joannes de Craticula.

B. RAYMOND OF FITERO, AB. C.

(A.D. 1163.)

[Cistercian Breviary. Authority:--Radez, Chronic de las ordines y
Cavall. de Santiago, Calatrava, y Alcantara.]

In the year A.D. 714, the Moors, having conquered King Roderick, took possession of Andalusia, and fortified the city of Oreto, to which they gave the name of Calatrava; of which they remained masters for nearly four hundred years, till Alfonso the Warlike took possession of it, in the year 1147, and gave it to the Templars, to guard against the irruption of the infidels. But they held it for only eight years. The forces which the Moors assembled to recover Calatrava so discouraged them, that they gave up the city into the hands of Don Sancho, who had succeeded to the kingdom of Castille, on the death of Alfonso, and withdrew from it. This prince announced to his court that if any nobleman would undertake the defence of the place, he should have and hold it, in perpetuity, as his own property. But no one offered; the host of the Moors which had so alarmed the Templars, caused equal dismay in the minds of the nobles at court. A monk of the order of Citeaux alone had courage to undertake the defence of the town. This was Don Didacus Velasquez, monk of the abbey of Our Lady of Fitero, in the kingdom of Navarre. He had borne arms before he assumed the white habit of Citeaux, and was well known to King Sancho, and this perhaps was the reason why his abbot, Don Raymond, had taken him with him on a visit to the king, about some matter concerning his monastery, at this very time. He entreated the abbot to allow him to ask permission of Sancho to undertake the defence of Calatrava. Raymond, at first, rejected the proposal, but at length, gained by the zeal and confidence of Didacus, he boldly asked the city of the prince. He was regarded as mad, but Sancho was prevailed upon by the evident assurance of the two monks to give the town of Calatrava to the Cistercian Order, and especially to the abbey of Fitero, on condition that the monks held it against the infidels. This was in 1158.

The abbot Raymond and his companion Velasquez then proposed to the king to found a military Order of Calatrava, and after having obtained his consent, they communicated their design to the bishop of Toledo, who not only approved it, but gave them a large sum of money for the fortification of the town, and accorded indulgences to all such as should take arms in its defence, or contribute arms or money for the purpose. Several persons joined the two monks, and in a short while an army was raised, at the head of which they entered Calatrava, and took possession of it. The walls were repaired and completed with such expedition and strength, that the Moors abandoned their purpose of attacking it, and withdrew.

The abbot Raymond, having nothing further to fear from the infidels, applied himself to organise the new military Order, which took its name from this town. The general chapter of Citeaux prescribed the manner of life and habit of these warrior monks, but historians are not agreed as to the colour or shape of the original habit.

As the territory of Calatrava was almost devoid of inhabitants, the abbot Raymond returned to Fitero, where he left only the aged and infirm monks, bringing all who were active and young to Calatrava, together with a great number of cattle, and twenty thousand peasants, that he might settle them in the newly acquired territory. He governed the order six years, and died at Cirvelos, in the year 1163. After his death, the knights of Calatrava, although they were novices of Citeaux into whose hands he had put arms, refused to be governed by an abbot, and to have monks among them. They elected as their Grand Master one of their number, Don Garcias; and the monks, who had chosen their new abbot, Don Rudolf, retired with him to Cirvelos, where they began an action against the knights, to eject them, that they might recover possession of Calatrava, which the king had given to their order, and especially to their house of Fitero. But a reconciliation was effected, probably through fear of the Moors, and the knights ceded to them a house at S. Petro de Gurniel, in the diocese of Osma, with all its dependencies, and there they built a monastery, leaving Calatrava in the hands of the knights.

In the year 1540, the knights were allowed to marry, and took only the vows of poverty, obedience, and conjugal fidelity; since the year 1652, they have added a fourth; to defend and maintain the Immaculate Conception of the blessed Virgin.

S. VERDIANA, V. R.

(A.D. 1242.)

[Roman and Benedictine Martyrology, those of Menardus, Ferrarius,
&c. Authority:--An old contemporary life, falsely attributed to
Atto, B. of Pistoria.]

Verdiana was the child of poor, though well-born parents; and her knowledge of the sufferings of the poor from her own experience in early years made her ever full of pity for those in need. At twelve years old she was noted for her beautiful and modest countenance, and humble deportment. A wealthy relation, a count, took her into his house, and made her wait upon his wife. Her strict probity and scrupulous discharge of her duties so gained the confidence of her master and mistress, that they entrusted to her the entire management of their house. One day that there was a famine raging in the diocese of Florence, and the poor were in extreme distress, the girl saw some miserable wretches dying from exhaustion at the door. Her master had a vessel of beans, and she hastily emptied the box, and fed the starving wretches with them. This would have been an act of questionable morality, were it not for the extremity of the case, when, to save life, an act is justified which would have been unjust were there no such an imperious necessity. Her master had, in the meantime, sold the beans, and he shortly after returned with the money. He went to the vessel, to send it to the purchaser, but found it empty. "Then," says the contemporary writer, "he began to shout and storm against the servants, and make such a to-do as to cause great scandal in the house and among the neighbours. Now when all the house was turned topsy-turvy about these beans, and was in an uproar, the lord's hand-maiden, with great confidence, betook herself to prayer, and spent the night in supplication. And on the morrow, the vessel was found full of beans as before. Then the master was called, and she bade him abstain for the future from such violence, for Christ who had received the beans had returned them."

By the kindness of the Count, her relative, she was enabled to make a pilgrimage to S. James, of Compostella, in company with a pious lady. On her return, she resolved to adopt the life of a recluse, and after long preparation, and a visit to Rome, where she spent three years, she obtained the desire of her heart, and received the veil from the hands of a canon of the Church of Castel Fiorentino, her native place, and bearing the Cross, preceded and followed by all the clergy and people, she was conducted to her cell, and, having been admitted into it, the door was walled up. In this cell she spent many years, conversing with those who visited her, and receiving her food through a window, through which, also, the priest communicated her. Two large snakes crept in at this window, one day, and thenceforth took up their abode with her. She received these fellow-comrades with great repugnance, but overcame it, and fed them from her own store of provisions. They would glide forth when no one was near, but never failed to return for the night, and when she took her meals. On one occasion they were injured by some peasants who pursued them with sticks and stones. Verdiana healed them, nevertheless the rustics attacked them again, killed one, and drove the other away, so that it never returned to the cell of the recluse.

When the holy woman felt that the hour of her release approached, she made her last confession and received the Blessed Sacrament through her window, and then closing it opened her psalter, and began to recite the penitential psalms. Next morning the people finding the window closed, and receiving no answer to their taps, broke into the cell, and found her dead, kneeling with eyes and hands upraised to heaven, and the psalter before her open at the psalm _Miserere mihi_, "Have mercy upon me, O God! after Thy great goodness; and according to the multitude of Thy mercies, do away mine offences."

[1] Vincent of Beauvais, and other late writers, say that the name of God was found after his death written in gold letters on his heart; but this is only one instance of the way in which legends have been coined to explain titles, the spiritual significance of which was not considered sufficiently wondrous for the vulgar.

[2] Lib. vi. c. 8.

[3] De Bel. Jud. vii. 3.

[4] As S. Ephraem related the incident several times to his monks, and they wrote it down from what he had related, there exist several versions of the story slightly differing from one another.

[5] Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 16.

[6] Moreover it contradicts the positive statements of more reliable authors, that Bridget was the legitimate daughter of Brotseach, the wife of Dubtach.

[7] But this legend is given very differently in another Life, and Cogitosus and the first and fourth Lives do not say anything about it.

[8] As near as can be ascertained; see Lanigan, Eccl. Hist. of Ireland, vol. 1, p. 455.

February 2.

The Purification of S. Mary.

S. CORNELIUS, _the Centurion, B. of Cæsarea, 1st cent._
S. FLOSCULUS, _B. of Orleans, circ._ A.D. 500.
S. LAURENCE, _Abp. of Canterbury_, A.D. 619.
S. ADALBALD, _C. in Belgium and Aquitaine_, A.D. 652.
S. ADELOGA, _V. Abss. at Kitzingen, 8th cent._
SS. MARTYRS, _of Ebbecksdorf_, A.D. 880.
B. PETER CAMBIAN, _O. S.D., M. in Piedmont_, A.D. 1365.

THE PURIFICATION OF S. MARY, OR THE PRESENTATION OF CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE.

The purification is a double feast, partly in memory of the B. Virgin's purification, this being the fortieth day after the birth of her Son, which she observed according to the Law (Leviticus xii. 4), though there was no need for such a ceremony, she having contracted no defilement through her childbearing. Partly also in memory of Our Lord's presentation in the temple, which the Gospel for the day commemorates.

The Old Law commanded, that a woman having conceived by a man, if she brought forth a male child, should remain forty days retired in her house, as unclean; at the end of which she should go to the temple to be purified, and offer a lamb and a turtle dove; but, if she were poor, a pair of turtle doves or pigeons, desiring the priest to pray to God for her. This law the Blessed Virgin accomplished (Luke ii. 12) with the exercise of admirable virtues; especially did she exhibit her obedience, although she knew that she was not obliged to keep the law, yet, inasmuch as her Son had consented to be circumcised, though He needed it not, so did she stoop to fulfil the law, lest she should offend others. She also exhibited her humility, in being willing to be treated as one unclean, and as one that stood in need of being purified, as if she had not been immaculate. Among the Greeks, the festival goes by the name of _Hypapante_, which denotes the meeting of our Lord by Symeon and Anna, in the temple; in commemoration of which occurrence it was first made a festival in the Church by the emperor Justinian I., A.D. 542. The emperor is said to have instituted it on occasion of an earthquake, which destroyed half the city of Pompeiopolis, and of other calamities. It was considered in the Greek Church as one of the feasts belonging to her Lord (Despotikaì Heortaì). The name of the Purification was given to it in the 9th century by the Roman pontiffs. In the Greek Church the prelude of this festival, which retains its first name, Hypapante, is "My soul doth magnify the Lord, for He hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden;" and a festival of Symeon and Anna is observed on the following day.

In the Western Church it has usually been called "Candlemas Day," from the custom of lighting up churches with tapers and lamps in remembrance of our Saviour having been this day declared by Symeon to be "a light to lighten the Gentiles." Processions were used with a similar object, of which S. Bernard gives the following description:--"We go in procession, two by two, carrying candles in our hands, which are lighted not at a common fire, but a fire first blessed in the church by a bishop. They that go out first return last; and in the way we sing, 'Great is the glory of the Lord.' We go two by two in commendation of charity and a social life; for so our Saviour sent out his disciples. We carry light in our hands: first, to signify that our light should shine before men; secondly, this we do on this day, especially, in memory of the Wise Virgins (of whom this blessed Virgin is the chief) that went to meet their Lord with their lamps lit and burning. And from this usage and the many lights set up in the church this day, it is called Candelaria, or Candlemas. Because our works should be all done in the holy fire of charity, therefore the candles are lit with holy fire. They that go out first return last, to teach humility, 'in humility preferring one another.' Because God loveth a cheerful giver, therefore we sing in the way. The procession itself is to teach us that we should not stand idle in the way of life, but proceed from virtue to virtue, not looking back to that which is behind, but reaching forward to that which is before."

The Purification is a common subject of representation in Christian art, both Eastern and Western. From the evident unsuitableness of the mystery of the Circumcision to actual representation, it is not usually depicted in works of art, and the Presentation in the Temple has been generally selected, with better taste, for this purpose. The prophecy of Symeon, "Yea, a sword shall pierce through Thine own soul also," made to the blessed Virgin, is the first of her seven sorrows.

The Christian rite of "The Churching of Women" is a perpetuation of the ancient ceremony required by the Mosaic Law. How long a particular office has been used in the Christian Church, for the thanksgiving and benediction of woman after child-birth, it would be difficult to say; but it is probably most ancient, since we find that all the Western rituals, and those of the patriarchate of Constantinople, contain such an office. The Greeks appoint three prayers for the mother on the first day of the child's birth. On the eighth day, the nurse brings the child to church, and prayer is made for him before the entrance to the nave. On the fortieth day, the mother and the future sponsor at the child's baptism bring the child. After an introductory service of the usual kind, the mother, holding the child, bows her head; the priest crosses the child, and touching his head, says, "Let us pray unto the Lord; O Lord God Almighty, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who didst create by Thy word all creatures, rational and irrational, who didst bring into being all things out of nothing; we beseech and entreat Thee, purify from all sin and pollution this Thy handmaid, whom by Thy will, Thou hast preserved and permitted to enter into Thy holy Church; that she may be deemed worthy to partake, without condemnation, of Thy holy mysteries." (If the child has not survived, the prayer ends here; if it be alive, the priest continues), "And bless the child born of her. Increase, sanctify, direct, teach, guide him; for Thou hast brought him to the birth and hast shown him the light of this world; that so he may be deemed worthy of the mental light at the time that Thou hast ordained, and be numbered among Thy holy flock: through Thy only begotten Son, with whom Thou art blessed, together with Thy all-holy, good, life-giving Spirit, now, always, and for ever and ever."

Other prayers referring to the mother of the child follow. Allusion is made to the presentation of Christ, in the Temple. The child is taken in the priest's arms to various parts of the church as an introduction to the sanctuary. A boy is taken to the altar; a girl only to the central door of the screen. There is a separate form in case of miscarriage.

S. CORNELIUS THE CENTURION, B.

(1ST CENT.)

[Roman and other Western Martyrologies. Commemorated by the Greeks
on Sept. 13th. Authorities:--The Acts of the Holy Apostles, c. 10,
the notices in the Martyrologies, and allusions in the Epistles of
S. Jerome. The Acts given by Metaphrastes are not deserving of much
attention.]

Cornelius, the centurion, was officer of the Italian band at Cæsarea. He was a devout proselyte, who feared God, with all his household, and gave much alms to the poor and prayed often and earnestly to God. He saw in a vision an angel, who told him that his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God, and that he was now to hear the words of Salvation, and to be instructed in the fulness of divine truth. He was to send to Joppa, to the house of one Simon, a tanner, for S. Peter, the prince of the Apostles, who would instruct and baptize him.

This he accordingly did, and S. Peter, hastening to Cæsarea, baptized him and all his house. And the Holy Ghost fell upon them.

Cornelius was afterwards, by S. Peter, ordained bishop of Cæsarea, where he strove mightily to advance the kingdom of Christ, and witnessed a good confession before the chief magistrate. He died at a ripe old age, and was buried secretly in a tomb belonging to a friend, a Christian of wealth. And, it is said, that a bramble grew over the spot and laced the entrance over with its thorny arms, so that none could enter in till S. Silvanus, bishop of Philippopolis, in Thrace, in the beginning of the 5th century, hacked away the bramble, and discovered, and translated the sacred relics.

S. LAURENCE, ABP. OF CANTERBURY.

(A.D. 619.)

[Roman and other Western Martyrologies. Authorities:--Bede, Hist.
Eccl. lib. ii. c. 4, 6, 7. Malmesbury lib. de Gest. Pontif. Angl.]

Laurence was one of the first missionaries to the Saxons, who came over with S. Augustine; and he succeeded the Apostle of England in the see of Canterbury, in 608, in which he sat eleven years. Bede says, "Laurence succeeded Augustine in the bishopric, having been ordained thereto by the latter, in his lifetime, lest, upon his death, the state of the Church, as yet unsettled, might begin to falter, if it were destitute of a pastor, though but for one hour. Wherein he followed the example of the first pastor of the Church, Peter, who, having founded the Church of Christ at Rome, is said to have consecrated Clement his assistant in preaching the Gospel, and at the same time, his successor. Laurence, being advanced to the degree of archbishop, laboured indefatigably, both by frequent exhortations and examples of piety, to raise to perfection the foundation of the Church, which had been so nobly laid. In short, he not only took care of the new Church formed among the English, but endeavoured also to employ his pastoral solicitude among the ancient inhabitants of Britain, as also among the Scots, who inhabited the island of Ireland. For when he understood that the course of life and profession of the Scots, as well as that of the Britons, was not truly ecclesiastical, especially that they did not celebrate Easter at the correct time, he wrote jointly with his fellow-bishops, an exhortatory epistle, entreating and conjuring them to observe unity of peace, and conformity with the Church of Christ spread throughout the world."

But soon troubles arose which obliged Archbishop Laurence to withdraw his attention from the British bishops to the condition of his own Kentish diocese. The pious King Ethelbert died, and his son Eadbald, instead of following his father's example, opposed Christianity, and caused great scandal by taking to him his step-mother to wife, his own mother, the saintly Bertha, having died some years before. The condition of Christianity became so hopeless in Kent, that Laurence resolved to desert his see, and he was confirmed in his determination by Mellitus, bishop of London, and Justus, bishop of Rochester, who fled from the violence of the sons and successors of the Christian Sebert, king of the East Saxons. Bede says, "Laurence, being about to follow Mellitus and Justus, and to quit Britain, ordered his bed to be laid, the night before, in the church of the blessed Apostles, Peter and Paul; wherein, having laid himself to take some rest, after he had poured out many prayers and tears to God for the state of the Church, he fell asleep. In the dead of the night, the blessed prince of the apostles appeared to him, and scourging him a long time with apostolic severity, asked of him, 'Why he would forsake the flock which he had committed to him? or to what shepherds he would commit Christ's sheep that were in the midst of wolves? Have you,' said he, 'forgotten my example, who, for the sake of those little ones, whom Christ recommended to me in token of His affection, underwent at the hands of the infidels and enemies of Christ, bonds, stripes, imprisonment, afflictions, and lastly, the death of the cross, that I might be crowned with Him?' Laurence being excited by these words and stripes, the very next morning repaired to the king, and taking off his garment, showed the scars of the stripes he had received. The king astonished, asked, 'Who had presumed to give such blows to so great a man?' and was much frightened when he heard that the bishop had suffered so much at the hands of the apostle of Christ for his salvation. Then, abjuring the worship of idols, and renouncing his unlawful marriage, he embraced the faith of Christ, and being baptized, promoted the affairs of the Church to the utmost of his power."

In the reign of this same king, Archbishop Laurence died, and was buried in the Church of S. Peter, close beside his predecessor Augustine, and was succeeded by Mellitus.

S. ADALBALD, C.

(ABOUT A.D. 652.)

[Belgian Martyrologies, and in Saussaye's supplement to the Gallican
Martyrology. Authorities:--Mention of him in the life of his wife S.
Richtrudis, by Hucbald the monk, A.D. 907; and in the life
of his daughter, S. Eusebia. In some Martyrologies he is styled
Martyr, but generally Duke.]

Duke Adalbald was a grandson of S. Gertrude of Hamage. His mother's name was Gerberta. From his earliest youth he was a model of virtue, even in the court of the king. He married S. Richtrudis, by whom he had S. Maurontus, his eldest son, who became afterwards abbot; and three virgin saintly daughters, Clotsendis, Eusebia, and Andalsendis. S. Amandus baptized Clotsendis, and Queen Nanthild, wife of King Dagobert, was sponsor to Eusebia. On his way to Gascony for some purpose, he was waylaid and murdered, by certain persons who were displeased at his marriage with Richtrudis. It seems probable, therefore, that the crime was committed on account of some property, but nothing for certain is known of the motive actuating the murderers. Relics at S. Amand, in Flanders.

S. ADELOGA, V. ABSS.

(8TH CENT.)

[Benedictine Martyrology and those of Menardus, Ferrarius, &c.
Authority:--An ancient, apparently authentic, life by an anonymous
writer, published by Bollandus.]

The blessed Adeloga was a daughter of Charles Martel, son of Pepin l'Heristal, by Kunehilda, whether his wife or concubine is uncertain. Adeloga was of singular beauty, so that she was greatly sought in marriage, but she constantly refused all offers, having given her heart wholly to her heavenly Spouse. Her father, greatly exasperated against her, on this account, treated her with studied brutality, subjecting her to public insult; and observing that the bruised spirit of his child sought refuge and comfort in the advice of her director, his private chaplain, he was filled with bitterness, and said, "Hearken, my daughter, you have refused kings, dukes, and peers to anger me, that you might wanton with a curate." Then calling to him one of his knights, who stood by, as he thus insulted his daughter, he bade him "Go and tell the chaplain to be off, he and his woman here, or they shall both be driven forth with contumely, to-morrow morning."

Hearing this, the priest groaned in spirit, and said, "O God of heaven and earth, who searchest the secrets of all hearts, and every thought of man, Thou knowest my innocence in this matter. But, although my lord has exercised his anger upon me, I will not desert my lady and mistress, but for Christ's sake will wait upon her with all reverence."

Then Adeloga went forth, and the priest with her, and they journeyed till they came to a wild and desert place, and there they built a convent. The name of the place was Kitzingen.

To her came many virgins, and the priest gave her the veil, and made her abbess, enjoining her to adopt the rule of SS. Benedict and Scholastica. He, himself, attended to the temporal affairs of the convent, till he was summoned to his rest.

The story is told that after his death, a young nun, having fallen in love with a youth, resolved to fly the convent. She waited till night, and then, when all were asleep, stole to the gates, but there she saw the form of the white-haired chaplain beckoning her back, and with a gentle voice addressing her, "Go back, dear virgin! A heavenly Spouse calleth thee, and no earthly lover! Return to him, my child. I watch without over this sacred house, and the abbess keeps ward within." And not many days after, the girl sickened and died.

There was another nun who was also smitten with passion for a young noble, and harboured in her mind the thought of escaping from her monastery, and flying to his arms. But in the night, as she slept, she saw the holy abbess, Adeloga, pass before her with a lamp in her hand, who turned and looked on her and said, "Lo, Christ cometh, prepare to meet Him. Awake, the Bridegroom cometh, go forth and trim thy light." Then she started from sleep, and was moved with compunction, and never after yielded to sensual thoughts.

Now it fell out that in after years Charles Martel was reconciled to his daughter, and endowed her monastery with lands, and visited her. Then, in the night, there stood before him, in vision, the old chaplain, who said to him, "The Eternal King hath sent me unto thee, to declare to thee my innocence in that thing whereof thou didst once accuse me. And if thou believest me not now, then will I cite thee to appear, and hear me plead my cause, before the just judgment seat of God." And when Charles awoke, he called to him his daughter, and said, "Pray for me, my dearest child, that the Lord lay not this sin to my charge, that once in wrath I spoke falsely against thee and my chaplain, thy director."

It is related that among the retainers of the abbey was a noble youth very fond of dogs, and above all, he loved one hound, which was with him in the field and forest by day, and slept at the foot of his bed at night. One day that he was in the wood, a couple of ruffians fell upon him, and murdered him for the sake of his clothes and purse, and left the body naked under the trees. For three days the faithful hound kept guard, and then it sought the abbey, and whined at the door of the lady Adeloga, and when she came forth, plucked at her dress, as though to lead her into the forest. Suspecting something was amiss, she called to her some servants, and they followed the dog to where his master lay slain. The abbess was determined to discover who were the murderers. She therefore summoned before her all the retainers and serfs on the land, and questioned them closely, but could obtain no confession. Then she solemnly warned the culprits to beware how they left the matter to the judgment of God, and she bade them, for the last time, confess. When all were silent, the hound of the murdered man was introduced, and it flew at the throats of the culprits and tore them so fearfully that one died.

The historian of the life of S. Adeloga, concludes with the following prayer. "We pray thee, most holy and gentle mother, that, as thou hast encouraged us in this life with thy good example and virtuous acts, so mayest thou deign to assist us with God in life eternal; that as we rejoice in thy commemoration on earth, so may we merit to be strengthened by thy intercession in heaven; for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Lord, who of all Saints is the reward, the glory, joy, and crown, through ages of ages, Amen."

THE HOLY MARTYRS OF EBBECKSDORF.

(A.D. 880.)

[Authority:--The contemporary Fulda Annals of the Franks. See also
the Legend in Langebek, Script. Rer. Danicarum II., pp. 57-71.]

These martyrs were Duke Bruno of Saxony, Theodoric, bishop of Minden, Marquard, bishop of Hildesheim, Erlulf of Fulda, Gosbert, bishop of Osnabrück, and many others; massacred by the Northmen.

B. PETER CAMBIAN, O. S.D., M.

(A.D. 1365.)

[Roman Martyrology.]

This Saint was sent by the Sovereign pontiff, into the vallies inhabited by the Waldensian heretics, as Inquisitor-general in Piedmont, in 1351, and was murdered by the heretics in the Franciscan convent of Susa. The person who did the deed stabbed him in the cloister, on the feast of the Purification of Our Lady, in 1365. His tomb was opened in 1854, and the relics were elevated to the altars of several churches to which they were given. Pius IX. confirmed the devotion of the Catholics towards this martyr.

February 3.

SS. CELERINUS, _D. C._, CELERINA, IGNATIUS, AND LAURENCE, _MM. in
Africa, 3rd cent._
S. FORTUNATUS, _M. at Rome_.
S. CANDIDUS, _M. at Volaterra_.
SS. TIGRIS AND REMEDIUS, _BB., MM. at Gap, 4th cent._
S. BLAISE, _B. M._, AND COMPANIONS, _at Sebaste, circ._ A.D. 316.
S. SIMPLICIUS, _B. of Vienne; beginning of 5th cent._
S. ANATOLIUS, _B. of Adana, in Cilicia; beginning of 5th cent._
S. LAURENCE THE ILLUMINATOR, _B. of Spoleto, circ._ A.D. 576.
S. PHILIP, _B. of Vienne, circ._ A.D. 578.
S. EVANTIUS, _B. of Vienne_, A.D. 586.
S. HADELIN, _P. at Celles in Belgium, circ._ A.D. 690.
S. BERLINDA, _V. at Meerbeeke in Belgium, circ._ A.D. 698.
S. WERBURGA, _V. Patroness of Chester; beginning of 8th cent._
S. NITHARD, _P. M. in Sweden, circ._ A.D. 840.
S. ANSKAR, _B. of Hamburg, Apostle of Sweden and Denmark_, A.D. 865.
S. LIAFDAG, _B. M. at Ripe in Denmark, circ._ A.D. 980.
S. ELINAND, _Monk of Froidmont, near Beauvais_, A.D. 1237.

SS. CELERINUS, D. C., CELERINA, IGNATIUS, AND LAURENTINUS, MM.

(3RD CENT.)

[Roman and other Latin Martyrologies. Authorities:--The letters of
S. Cyprian of Carthage, and S. Cornelius of Rome. A letter of S.
Celerinus to the Confessor Lucian is inserted in some editions of
the works of S. Cyprian.]

Of Celerina, Ignatius, and Laurence nothing, except their names, is known, and even these would not have come down to us, but for their being mentioned as glorious martyrs by S. Cyprian, in a letter to their nephew, S. Celerinus. This Celerinus was first Reader, and then Deacon, in the Church of Carthage, and received orders from S. Cyprian. He was in Rome in the year 250, and confessed Christ there in the Decian persecution, spending nineteen days in chains; but to his great sorrow, his sister yielded to her fears, and was numbered among the lapsed. Afterwards Celerinus was unfortunately drawn away by Novatian into schism, but when he perceived that the schismatic sought his own advancement rather than the glory of God, he acknowledged his error, and returned to the communion of the Catholic Church.

S. FORTUNATUS, M.

S. Fortunatus is mentioned, together with many other martyrs, in the Roman and other Martyrologies on Feb. 2nd, as having suffered at Rome; but their Acts have not been preserved. The body of S. Fortunatus was found in 1606, in the cemetery of S. Callixtus, and was given by Pope Paul V. to the Rev. Jacobus Tirinus, S.J., for the new and beautiful Jesuit church he had built in Antwerp, in the year 1622. On account of Feb. 2nd being the Feast of the Purification, the commemoration of S. Fortunatus has been postponed in that church till Feb. 3rd.

S. BLAISE, B. M.

(A.D. 316.)

[Roman and Western Martyrologies. Commemorated by the Greeks on
Feb. 11th, in some ancient Martyrologies, on Feb. 15th. The Greek
Acts, of which there are four versions, are modern, and deserve
little regard.]

Blasius, Blase, Blayse, Blays, or Blaise, was bishop of Sebaste, a city of Cappadocia, in the Lesser Asia. He spent a great part of his time in retirement on a hill not far from the city, whither he withdrew, after the duties of his office were finished, to be alone with God. During the persecution of the Christians in the reign of Diocletian, he lay concealed for some time in this retreat; but was at last taken and brought before Agricolaus, the governor of the province, and confessing himself a Christian, was thrown into prison. After enduring many tortures, he received the crown of martyrdom in the beginning of the fourth century. Some historians refer this event to the year 316, under the reign of Licinius. Seven holy women and two young children suffered at the same time. The Acts of his martyrdom are so untrustworthy that it is not possible to state any further particulars which are authentic. The Council of Oxford, A.D. 1222, prohibited servile labour on this day. Its observance in England was marked by several curious ceremonies. Among others a taper used to be offered at High Mass; and it was lately the custom in many parts of England to light bonfires on the hills on S. Blaise's night. Some have affirmed that these usages arose from an absurd pun on the Saint's name (sc. "blaze"); but this seems clearly erroneous, as they are not peculiar to England. In some parts of Germany, S. Blaise's Day is called "Little Candlemas Day," because of the bonfires that it was usual (for an uncertain reason) to kindle on that night. At Bradford, Yorkshire, a festival is holden every five years in memory of S. Blaise.

In the Greek paintings, S. Blaise is depicted as an old man with a pointed beard. In Western art he appears in the vestments of a bishop; his peculiar emblem is an iron comb, such as is used by wool-combers, which is said to have been an instrument of his torture. Owing, probably, to this reason, he has been esteemed the patron of manufacturers of wool, and that trade in the city of Norwich still observes his day, or did so until lately. S. Blaise is also frequently represented as surrounded by wild beasts, or birds are bringing him food; the text, Job v. 23, which occasionally accompanies these emblems, indicates that, in his case as in that of other saints, by long continuance in a solitary course of life, the denizens of the wood had become accustomed to the Saint's presence. Sometimes again, S. Blaise has a swine's head at his feet, typical of his victory over the sensual desires of the flesh. Finally, he occasionally holds in one hand, or has borne before him by a chorister, a lighted taper, typical of his being "a burning and a shining light."

S. LAURENCE THE ILLUMINATOR, B.

(ABOUT A.D. 576.)

[The learned Bollandus, S.J., pithily remarks: "Magnas Umbria circa
veterum suorum Sanctorum res gestas ortum ætatem, contraxit umbras,
si non tenebras." Little is known of this Saint.]

S. Laurence the Illuminator, is said to have come from Syria with many other illustrious bishops and confessors, to Italy, in the reign of Diocletian. He was elected by the clergy bishop of Spoleto; and illumined his diocese with his teaching and miracles.

S. HADELIN, P. C.

(ABOUT A.D. 690.)

[Martyrologies of Ado, of Wyon, Menardus, those of Liége, Cologne,
&c. Authorities:--Two ancient lives, one by Notker, B. of Liége
(971-1007).]

S. Hadelin was one of the disciples of S. Remacle, and when that Saint resigned his bishopric of Tongres, that he might retire from the world into the peaceful monastery of Staveloo, lately founded by S. Sigebert, King of Austrasia, he took with him the pious and humble Hadelin. On their way they rested on a bare plain, under a glaring sun, for their afternoon repose. S. Remacle remained awake, whilst his companion slept, and saw an angel bending over Hadelin, shading him with his wings from the burning heat. Remacle sent Hadelin into the neighbourhood of Dinant, on the Meuse, in 669, and finding a quiet retreat at Celles, on the Lesse, he dwelt there in a cave, and built a little chapel, on the site of which rose in after years a collegiate church. S. Hadelin is the patron of five churches in the diocese of Liége and Namur. His hermitage still exists, and from his time has never been without a pious successor. The body of the Saint was buried there, but was translated to Vise in the diocese of Liége, in 1338. His translation is commemorated on October 11th.

S. BERLINDA.

(ABOUT A.D. 698.)

[Molanus in his addition to Usuardus, Wyon, Menardus, and Ferrarius.
Authority:--An ancient life by an anonymous writer, published by
Bollandus.]

Berlinda was the daughter of a nobleman named Odelard, who resided at Meerbeeke, near Ninove, in Brabant, in the reign of King Dagobert, and of Nona, his wife, the sister of S. Amandus. To a rare beauty, Berlinda joined all the gifts of intellect, but she had the misfortune to incur the anger of her father. After the death of his wife and only son, Odelard was attacked by leprosy, and lived a miserable languishing life, ministered to by his daughter.

One day that he asked her for something to drink, she filled a bowl with water, and took it to him, and then, being herself thirsty, she rinsed out the vessel, and filled it again. The father, highly offended at her doing this, drove off at once to Nivelles and offered all his lands to S. Gertrude, by the symbolic gift of a white glove and a reaping-hook and a branch of foliage. Before accomplishing his donation, he supplicated the Saint to accept his offering with her own hands. Then the reliquary, in which the holy abbess reposed, opened, and the lifeless hands of S. Gertrude were extended to receive the glove, the branch, and the sickle. Then it closed upon them.

Berlinda, being disinherited, retired to the monastery of Moorsel, near Alost, where she lived in penitence and prayer. One night she heard a choir of angels singing, as they sailed across the dark starlit sky, bearing the soul of her father to Paradise. She at once besought of the superior permission to return to Meerbeeke for a while. Her request was complied with, and she flew to her father's castle. He was dead, so Berlinda buried him in the little church he had erected there to the honour of S. Peter.

Retained by force in her paternal dwelling by the servants and tenants, Berlinda remained at Meerbeeke, where she continued her life of austerities and prayer, and died about 690, on the 3rd of February.

As no stone sarcophagus could be found in which she might be laid, a large oak was cut down and scooped out to serve as a coffin, and her body was placed in it. Numerous miracles were wrought at her tomb, so that at the end of seven years the coffin was opened, and the wood was found to have become petrified. On this occasion a church was built in her honour and that of the Blessed Virgin, and thirty years later, her relics were solemnly enshrined on May 2nd, 728. S. Berlinda has remained in great honour at Meerbeeke. She is invoked against cattle diseases; and in accordance with an ancient custom, pilgrims pray before a wooden image of the saint represented beside a cow, and touch the udder of the cow, which has become black through the innumerable touchings to which it has become subjected. According to a popular saying S. Berlinda protects trees transplanted on her festival.

S. WERBURGA, V. ABSS.

(BEGINNING OF 8TH CENTURY.)

[English Martyrology. Authorities:--Life of Goscelin, the monk (fl.
1100), and mention in Bede, John of Brompton, Florence of Worcester,
Hyden, Langherne, Simeon of Durham.]

Werburga, patroness of Chester, was born at Stone, in Staffordshire, and was the daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia, or the Midland English. From the lips of her sainted mother, Ermingilde, she received those first lessons of Christian truth which afterwards produced such beautiful fruit in her life.

Being one of four children, all trained under the same godly discipline, she is said to have excelled them all in virtue and discretion. Her mind was open to receive good impressions, and she listened with earnest attention to every word of instruction and advice. Thus, she "daily grew in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ:" her mind continually expanding under the influence of holy thoughts and pure desires. At an age when most persons of her exalted position would have been found joining in the giddy whirl of pleasure, she found truest joy in contemplation of heavenly things, and holiest bliss, arising from a pure conscience chastened by fasting and sanctified by prayer. She daily assisted her mother in the performance of the whole Church Offices, and spent much time on her knees in the exercise of private devotions.

Having early resolved to devote herself to a life of virginal purity, she sought every opportunity to prepare her mind for that holy state. But she was not to overcome the world without a struggle. Temptations began to gather around her. The beauty of her person attracted a crowd of admirers, who eagerly sought her hand in marriage. Foremost among these was a prince of the West Saxons, who offered her rich gifts and made flattering proposals. She refused to accept his gifts; and to his proposals answered that she had resolved to become the bride of Christ, and wished no earthly spouse.

Another, and more violent temptation soon presented itself. Werbode, a powerful knight of her father's court, backed by the influence of her father, entreated Werburga to become his wife; but to his entreaties she turned a deaf ear. Imagining that to this refusal she was influenced by her two brothers, who were then under the instruction of S. Chad, and resolving by fair or foul means to compass his designs, Werbode sought an opportunity to murder the two brothers, and thus remove them from his path. In the accomplishment of this diabolical design, he was, to a certain extent, assisted by the father, whom he had incensed against his sons. Werbode soon after died a miserable death. The king, stung by remorse, saw reflected, as in a mirror, all the deeds of his past life, and remembered how he had promised to extirpate idolatry from his dominions, but had failed to perform his vow. With earnestness he began to atone for his faults; destroyed the idols and converted their temples into churches, built the great abbey of Peterborough, founded the priory of Stone, and in every way endeavoured to propagate the true faith among his people.

Seeing this happy change in his disposition, Werburga revealed to her father the earnest desire of her heart, and earnestly entreated his permission to consecrate herself wholly to God. At first he appeared to be very grieved, but yielding at length to her passionate entreaties, Wulfhere, attended by his whole court, conducted her with great state to the convent of Ely. Here they were met at the gates by a long procession of nuns, singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. Werburga, falling on her knees, begged of the royal abbess, S. Etheldreda, that she might be received as a postulant. Having obtained her request, the voice of praise again ascended to heaven, the virgins chanting the _Te Deum_, as they returned to the convent. Now followed the usual trials; Werburga was first stripped of her costly apparel, her rich coronet was exchanged for a poor veil, purple and silks and gold were replaced by a rough coarse habit, and she resigned herself into the hands of her superior, henceforward to live only to Christ.

The virgin, with great fervour, now devoted herself to God. Her affections being weaned from earthly things, were fixed more firmly upon those things which are above. By prayer and fasting, by self-sacrifice and mortification, by obedience and penance, she sought to sanctify her soul and body, that she might present them, a holy and acceptable sacrifice, unto God.

After many years she was chosen, at the request of her uncle King Ethelred, to superintend all the religious houses for women in his kingdom. When she entered upon this larger sphere of duty, she laboured with earnest diligence to make all the houses under her care models of exact monastic discipline. Through the liberality of her uncle, she was enabled to found new convents at Trentham, in Gloucestershire; Hanbury, in Staffordshire; and Weedon, in Northamptonshire. These remained for several centuries as evidences of her godly zeal. The king also, at her request, founded the collegiate church of S. John the Baptist, in the suburbs of West Chester, and gave to S. Egwin the ground for the great abbey of Evesham.

S. Werburga, both by precept and example, sought to develope the religious life in those committed to her charge, and many through her influence were won from a life of dissipation and vice to a life of holiness and love.

God, in answer to continual prayers, had crowned her with many spiritual and celestial blessings. The old chroniclers say that she became the most perfect pattern of meekness, humility, patience, and purity. Her fastings and mortifications were almost incredible. She never took more than one meal during the day, and that of the coarsest food: seeking in this to emulate the lives of those fathers of the desert who shed such radiance over the Eastern and African Church. Beside the usual monastic offices, she was in the habit of reciting, upon her knees, the whole of the Psalter daily. She often remained in the church all night, bathed in tears and prostrate in prayer.

In the exercise of these holy devotions she lived to a ripe old age. Receiving at last some premonitions of her approaching departure, she made a farewell visit to all the houses under her care, and exhorted the inmates to prepare for the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom. Then retiring to the convent at Trentham, she quietly waited her departure. The messenger soon came, and found the bride ready, and so with quiet faith and perfect trust she went to the home of her Spouse, on the 3rd of February, 699.

Her corpse, in accordance with her own directions, was conveyed to the monastery at Hanbury. It was interred with great honour, and there remained until the year 708. Then it was disinterred in presence of King Ceolred and many bishops, and transferred to a costly shrine. The old chroniclers say that it was found incorrupt, and remained so until A.D. 875, when, for fear of the Danes, who were invading the country, the shrine was carried to Chester. The body, however, fell to dust soon after its translation. In course of time a stately church was erected over the relics; this became the cathedral, and as such exists to this day.

During the reign of Henry VIII., the shrine was desecrated, and the holy relics of S. Werburga scattered abroad. What remained of the costly shrine was afterwards converted into an episcopal throne, and may still be seen, carved with the curious images of kings of Mercia, ancestors of S. Werburga, who flourished eleven centuries ago. To this day it is used as the throne of the bishops of Chester.

S. NITHARD, P. M.

(A.D. 840.)

[From the Life of S. Anskar, c. 6; Adam of Bremen, Hist. Eccl. lib. i.]

Nithard, nephew of Bishop Gauzbert, accompanied him in his mission to the Swedes; at first he was heard with patience, but the wild pagans, enraged at his denunciation of their worship of Thorr and Odin, burst into the house where he was, and killed him.

S. ANSKAR, B.; AP. OF SWEDEN.

(A.D. 865.)

[German, Scandinavian, and Belgian martyrologies. Authorities:--His
life by his successor, S. Rembert, who was personally acquainted
with him, and had shared in his mission. The following outline of
the life of this illustrious saint is from the pen of the Rev. G. F.
Maclear, B.D., and is extracted from his "Apostles of Mediæval
Europe," somewhat curtailed, and with some modifications.]