Chapter V (4)

S. Aventine was much beloved and respected for his singular virtues by S. Camelian, Bishop of Troyes, who made him steward of the possessions of the church. He afterwards became the abbot of a monastery at Troyes, and spent all the money he could collect in redeeming captives. During the reign of Thierry, son of Clovis, he purchased of a band of soldiers, who were leading captives past his door, the boy Fidolus, whom for his gentleness and piety he learned greatly to love; and treating him as a son rather than as a servant, he made of him a monk, and finally, when he himself was old, and Fidolus had grown to man's estate, with the consent of the monks, he delivered over into his hands the government of the monastery, and he himself retired into a lone hermitage in the forest, and spent many years in a cave. When he opened his window, and thrust forth his hand full of crumbs, multitudes of little birds came fluttering up, and perched on his fingers, and ate the crumbs. He was ministered to by a monk, who, in bringing water from the river, sometimes caught in the pitcher very little fish. The gentle Aventine invariably returned the small fish to the river, for he would not hurt or destroy any animal, unless it were necessary. One day he trod on a snake and crushed it, so that it lay numb, and as though lifeless. Then he bent over it, and cherished it, till life returned, and it glided away. Once a stag, pursued by hunters, took refuge in his cave, and he closed the door on it, and hid it, till the hunters had passed further. One stormy night, a bear came roaring to the door of the cell, and strove to beat it in. The hermit, in terror, sang the song, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thy holy one to see corruption!" and armed himself with prayer. Now when the sky grew white with dawn, Aventine opened his cell, and there lay the bear crouched on the threshold, and it stretched out its paw to him, and licked his feet. Then the hermit perceived that there was a splinter of wood in the paw, and he said, "Poor beast, thou wast in pain, and didst seek relief, and I thought that thou wast raging for my life." And he took the paw on his lap, drew forth the piece of wood, bathed and bandaged the wound, gave the bear his blessing, and let it depart.

Relics in the parish churches of Creney and S. Aventin and in the cathedral at Troyes. In Art he is represented drawing the splinter from the bear's paw.

S. AVENTINE OF CHATEAUDUN, B. C.

(6TH CENT.)

[Gallican Martyrologies. Authorities:--Mention in the life of his
brother, S. Solemnis, and an ancient metrical French life.]

In the reign of Clovis there lived a Count John, at Chateaudun, who was married to Agnes, daughter of the Count of Blois. By her he had three sons, Solemnis, Aventine, and John, and a daughter Agnes, who died young.

Flavius, uncle of Agnes of Blois, was bishop of Chartres, and called thither Solemnis and Aventine for the purpose of attending to their education. As both showed signs of sanctity, he ordained both, whilst young; Solemnis was raised to the priesthood, and Aventine was appointed archdeacon.

On the death of Flavius, the clergy and people, with the king's consent, proceeded to elect Solemnis to fill the vacant see; but he, knowing their intention, fled, and hid himself in a cave outside the city. When he could not be found, the electors with one consent shouted, "Aventine is worthy!" that being the customary formulary of election. Thereupon, Aventine, much against his will, was drawn into the cathedral, and ordained priest, and consecrated bishop. Now Solemnis, from his place of retreat, heard the shout in the city, and knew that a bishop had been chosen. Yet he waited till he saw peasants returning along the road that ran by his retreat, and he overheard them speaking of the consecration of his brother Aventine. So he, deeming all further concealment unnecessary, came forth, and entered the city. Then, at once, a crowd surrounded him, and the roar of a thousand voices proclaimed, "Solemnis is worthy! Solemnis shall be bishop!" And he was drawn to the cathedral, vested in white, a mitre placed on his head, the pastoral staff put into his hands, and the bishops of the province there present, proclaimed him. And when this was done, men asked, "What shall be done with Aventine?" and he was sent to be bishop of Chateaudun, his native town. Then he went his way. And as he drew near to the city, there met him a leper, who ran towards him, and stopped, and cried out, "I am John, thy brother." He would have rejoiced to meet his brother, had he not seen that he was afflicted with leprosy; for which reason John had retired from the city, and fled from the society of men. Then the bishop ran to him, and fell on his neck, and his tears flowed over him, and he kissed him; and the flesh of John came again as the flesh of a little child, and he was made perfectly whole.

Of the works of the holy Aventine in his diocese little is known, save that he laboured in season and out of season in the ministry of God, and that he lived in a little cell outside the city gates, in the face of a rock. After the death of Solemnis, about 509, Aventine governed the whole Chartrain Church, and subscribed the council of Orleans, 511, as bishop of Chartres. Relics translated in 1853 to the parish church of S. Madeleine in Chateaudun.

S. THEOPHILUS THE PENITENT.

(ABOUT A.D. 528.)

[Commemorated by the Greeks on this day. Not by the Westerns, though
the story is quoted by a great number of Latin writers.
Authority:--The Greek account by Eutychianus, who pretends to have
been a disciple of Theophilus, and declares that he relates what he
had seen with his own eyes, and heard from the mouth of Theophilus
himself. Metaphrastes embodied the narrative of Eutychianus in his
great collection of the Lives of the Saints. For a full account of
this strange story, see my "Myths of the Middle Ages."]

The following story must be received with caution. It has not received the sanction of the Western Church, and is probably a mere religious romance. It was very popular in the middle ages, and was frequently represented in sculpture and stained glass.

A few years before the Persian invasion, in 538, there lived, in the town of Adana in Cilicia, a priest named Theophilus, treasurer and archdeacon. He lived in strict observance of all his religious duties, was famous for his liberality to the poor, his sympathy with the afflicted, his eloquence in the pulpit, his private devotion, and severe asceticism. On the decease of the bishop, by popular acclamation he was summoned to the episcopal oversight of the diocese, but his deep humility urged him to refuse the office, even when it was pressed upon him by the metropolitan. A stranger was raised to the vacant seat, and the treasurer resumed the course of life he had pursued for so many years with credit to himself and advantage to the diocese, content in his own mind with having refused the office, which might have aroused his pride, and which certainly would have diminished his opportunities of self-sacrifice. Virtue invariably arouses the spirit of detraction, and Theophilus, by his refusal of the bishopric, was thrust into public notice, and attracted public attention. The consequence was, that the evil-minded originated slanders, which circulated widely, produced a revulsion of feeling towards Theophilus, and, what was generally reported, was accepted as substantially true. These stories reached the ears of the new bishop, he sent for the archdeacon, and, without properly investigating the charges, concluded he was guilty, and deprived him of his offices.

One would have supposed that the humility which had required the holy man to refuse a mitre, would have rendered him callous to the voice of slander, and have sustained him under deprivation. But the trial was too great for his virtue. He brooded over the accusations raised against him, and the wrongs inflicted upon him, till the whole object of his desire became the clearing of his character. He sought every available means of unmasking the calumnies of his malingers, and exposing the falsity of the charges raised against him. But he found himself unable to effect his object; one man is powerless against a multitude, and slander is a hydra which, when maimed in one head, produces others in the place of that struck off. Baffled, despairing, and without a friend to sustain his cause, the poor clerk sought redress in a manner which, a month before, would have filled him with horror. He visited a necromancer, who led him at midnight to a place where four cross-roads met, and there conjured up Satan, who promised to reinstate Theophilus in all his offices, and, what he valued more, to completely clear his character. The priest, to obtain these boons, signed away his soul with a pen dipped in his own blood, and abjured for ever Jesus Christ and His spotless Mother.

On the morrow, the bishop, discovering his error, how we know not, sent for Theophilus, and acknowledged publicly that he had been misled by false reports, the utter valuelessness of which he was ready frankly to acknowledge; and he asked pardon of the priest, for having unjustly deprived him of his office. The populace enthusiastically reversed their late opinion of the treasurer, and greeted him as a Saint and confessor.

For some days all went well, and in the excitement of a return to his former occupations, the compact he had made was forgotten. But after a while, as reason and quietness resumed their sway, the conscience of Theophilus gave him no rest. His face lost its colour, his brow was seamed with wrinkles, an unutterable horror gleamed out of his deep-set eyes. Hour by hour he prayed, but found no relief. At length he resolved on a solemn fast of forty days. This he accomplished, praying nightly in the Church of the Blessed Virgin, till the grey of morning stole in at the little window of the dome, and obscured the lamps. On the fortieth night, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, and rebuked him for his sin. He implored her pardon and all-prevailing intercession, and this she promised him. The following night she re-appeared, and assured him that Christ had forgiven him at her prayer. With a cry of joy he awoke; and on his breast lay the deed which had made over his soul to Satan, obtained from the evil one by the mercy of the holy Mother of God.

The next day was Sunday. He rose, spent some time in acts of thanksgiving, and then went to church, where the divine liturgy was being celebrated. After the reading of the Gospel, he flung himself at the bishop's feet, and requested permission to make his confession in public. Then he related the circumstances of his fall, and showed the contract signed with his blood to the assembled multitude. Having finished his confession, he prostrated himself before the bishop, and asked for absolution. The deed was torn and burned before the people. He was reconciled, and received the blessed Sacrament; after which he returned to his house in a fever, and died at the expiration of three days. The story is probably a mere religious romance.

S. MODAN, AB.

(7TH CENT.)

[Aberdeen Breviary:--from which almost all that is known of his life
is gathered.]

S. Modan was first monk, and then abbot of Mailros, in Scotland, and preached the faith in Stirling and at Falkirk. When old he retired among the mountains of Dumbarton, and there died. His body was kept till the change of religion, with honour, in the church of Rosneath.

B. HRABANUS MAURUS, B. C.

(A.D. 856.)

[From his life by Rodolph the priest, monk of Fulda, d. 865; and
various writers of a later period.]

Rabanus, or Hrabanus Maurus, was one of the most illustrious writers of the 9th century. He was born at Mainz, in the year 788. When very young he was sent to the monastery of Fulda, where he was brought up. From thence he was sent to Tours, where he studied for some time under the famous Alcuin. He returned afterwards to Germany, into his monastery, where he was entrusted with the government of the novices, was afterwards ordained priest in the year 814, and at last chosen abbot of Fulda, in 822. After he had managed this charge twenty years, he voluntarily quitted it, to satisfy the monks, who complained that his studies so engrossed his time that the affairs of the monastery were neglected. He retired to Mount S. Peter, and was shortly after chosen archbishop of Mainz or Mayence, in the year 847. He held a council in the same year for the reformation of discipline; and died in 856.

As a mystical interpreter to Holy Scripture, his commentaries will ever be read. He was a voluminous writer on various subjects, sacred and profane, and was certainly one of the most learned men of his day.

S. NICOLAS OF THE STUDIUM, C.

(A. D. 868.)

[Greek Menæa for this day. Authorities:--Life by a contemporary monk
in his monastery.]

This glorious confessor was born in Crete, and was the son of pious parents, who educated him from earliest infancy in the fear of God. At the age of ten he was sent to Constantinople, to see his kinsman Theophanes. He found him a monk of the order of the Sleepless Ones,[16] in the monastery called the Studium. He entered the same order, and fulfilled his monastic duties with regularity and devotion. Having set a brilliant example, he was deemed worthy to be invested with the priesthood. Then broke out the furious persecution of the Iconoclasts, about which a few words must be said in this place.[17]

When God was made Man, He was put at once into the most intimate relation with men; and just as it is lawful for any son to have a portrait of his father or mother, so did it become lawful and reasonable that he should have a picture of that God-Man, who is dearer to him than father or mother. The picture served as a constant reminder, an evidence for the Incarnation. It is a sermon declaring God to be made Man. But the Arians, who denied the divinity of our Lord, were most hostile to sacred representations of Christ, and with reason, for these pictures were a testimony against them. At first the Arian attack on the foundation doctrine of the Incarnation was open. But, when the theological statement of that mystery was made so plain that there was no opposing it by counter statement, Arianism adopted other tactics, and appeared as Iconoclasm, or war against sacred pictures. He who disbelieved, or only coldly acquiesced in the Incarnation of God, saw that this chief corner-stone of Christianity could only be uprooted by chilling the ardour of Christian affection. And no better method of chilling that affection could be devised, than the obliteration of representations of Christ, His acts, His passion, and of His mother, and His Saints; then there was some prospect of religious acceptance of this dogma sinking into cold intellectual apprehension, and thence it could be dislodged without difficulty. After the reconciliation of large congregations of Gnostics and Arians with the Catholic Church, they maintained that icy worship which had preceded their separation, they adored God as a Spirit, but actually, though they had ceased to do so formally, overlooked His manhood. These reconciled bodies afforded a fund of passive prejudice and aversion of small account so long as Catholic princes were on the throne, but which, in the fortune of a soldier, might produce serious results to the Church.

Of such adventurers, the most fortunate was the Emperor Leo III., who, from the mountains of Isauria, ascended to the throne of the East. He was ignorant of sacred and profane letters; but his education, his reason, perhaps his intercourse with Jews and Arabs, had inspired the martial peasant with a hatred of images; and he held it to be the duty of a prince to impose on his subjects the dictates of his own conscience. In the reformation of religion, his first steps were moderate and cautious; he assembled a great council of senators and bishops, and enacted, with their consent, that all the images should be removed from the sanctuary and altar to a proper height in the churches, where they might be visible to the eyes, and inaccessible to the devotion of the people. But it was impossible on either side to check the rapid though adverse impulses of veneration and abhorrence: in their lofty position, the sacred images still edified their votaries, and exasperated their enemies. He was himself provoked by resistance and invective; and his own party accused him of an imperfect discharge of his duty, and urged for his imitation the example of the Jewish king, who had broken without scruple the brazen serpent of the temple. By a second edict, he proscribed the existence, as well as the use of sacred pictures; images of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and the Saints, were demolished, or a smooth surface of plaster was spread over the walls of the edifice. The sect of the Iconoclasts was supported by the zeal and despotism of six emperors, and this topic involved the East and West in an angry conflict of one hundred and twenty years. It was the design of Leo the Isaurian to pronounce the condemnation of images as an article of faith, and by the authority of a General Council; but the convocation of such an assembly was reserved for his son Constantine Copronymus. This council was attended by three hundred and thirty-eight bishops of Europe and Anatolia, but not by those of the Western Church, African Church, or that of Palestine. It was, in fact, an assembly of those prelates who were weak enough to assist, fearing condemnation and exile if they did not submit, ambitious enough to follow the caprice of the reigning emperor, in hopes of emolument, and also of those who heartily concurred with his semi-Arianism. After a serious deliberation of six months, the prelates subscribed such a decree as the emperor desired, condemning all visible symbols of Christ,[18] except the Eucharist, as blasphemous and heretical; and denouncing veneration for images as the idolatry of Paganism. "As if," says a Catholic writer of the time, "there were not this great difference between the Christian image and the heathen idol, that the latter is the thing worshipped, whereas the former is the representation of the person adored."

The first hostilities of Leo had been directed against a lofty Christ on the vestibule, and above the gate, of the palace, placed there to exhibit to all men that the emperors had bowed before the King of kings. A ladder had been placed for the assault, but it was shaken by a crowd of women and zealots, and for their opposing the execution of the mandate, severe and savage reprisals were taken. The execution of the imperial mandates were resisted by frequent tumults in Constantinople and the provinces, which were quelled by the military, and much blood flowed.

In the cruel persecution that ensued, the monks, ever the champions of the Incarnate God, suffered most severely. Nicolas of the Studium, together with S. Theodore, the abbot, or archimandite, of the monastery were called to suffer. Nicolas was scourged with leather thongs on the back and limbs, and his arms extended, so that they became for a time paralysed. His back, which was lashed and bleeding, was tenderly bathed with warm water and healing lotions by S. Theodore, his superior, till it was healed. Both were driven into exile, and kept for three years in nakedness, and without sufficient food and drink, in a wretched prison. They were beaten again at Smyrna, and further imprisoned for twenty-two months, with their feet in the stocks. On the death of Leo, the confessors were released, and visited S. Nicephorus at Chalcedon. This took place during the absence of Constantine Copronymus, who had undertaken an expedition against the Saracens. During this absence, his kinsman, Artavasdus, assumed the purple, and everywhere the sacred images were triumphantly restored. Constantine flew for refuge to his paternal mountains; but he descended at the head of the bold Isaurians, and his final victory placed the unfortunate Catholics once more at the mercy of a brutal tyrant. This monster of crime derived his name Copronymus from having defiled his baptismal font. This incident of his infancy was accepted as an augury of his maturity, and he did not belie it. His reign was one long butchery of whatever was most noble, or holy, or innocent, in his empire. In person the emperor assisted at the execution of his victims, surveyed their agonies, listened to their groans, and indulged, without satiating, his appetite for blood: a plate of noses was accepted as a grateful offering, and his domestics were often scourged or mutilated by his royal hand. His long reign was distracted with clamour, sedition, conspiracy, mutual hatred, and sanguinary revenge. The hatred borne by this ruffian against monks and images was implacable. Images were torn down and defaced with wanton malice throughout the empire by an officer called the Dragon, sent round for that purpose; all religious communities were dissolved, their buildings were converted into magazines or barracks; the lands, moveables, and cattle, were confiscated, and the monks were mutilated in eyes and ears and limbs, with refined cruelty.

Under this emperor, Theophilus (829), Nicolas and Theodore again suffered persecution. Theodore, and the abbot Theophanes, kinsman of Nicolas, were mutilated by certain verses being cut upon their brows. During the persecution, S. Nicolas remained concealed; on the accession of the indifferent emperor, Michael III., (842), he emerged from his hiding place, and was elected archimandite of the Studium, the abbot Theodore being dead. After exercising the government for three years, he resigned it to Sophronius, and retired to Firmopolis, that he might pass the remainder of his days in peace; but it was not so to be; after four years he was recalled to the abbacy of the Studium, on the death of Sophronius, and was at once involved in conflict. For the patriarch Ignatius, having rebuked the Cæsar Bardas for incest, and then excommunicated him, the emperor Michael III., his nephew, was persuaded to exile Ignatius, and to intrude Photius into the Patriarchal see. The abbot Nicolas refused to communicate with the intruder, and was consequently driven from his monastery, and a monk, Achillas, was appointed in his room. Nicolas was pursued from one retreat to another by the hostility of the intruded patriarch, and after many wanderings, rested in the Crimea. Upon the death of Bardas and Michael, Bardas having been murdered by his nephew Michael, and Michael by his successor, Basil I., (867), the patriarch Ignatius was recalled, and the patriarch persuaded Nicolas to return to his government of the Studium, where he died the following year.

S. REMBERT, B. C.

(A.D. 888.)

[Roman Martyrology; this being the day of his consecration to the
Archbishopric of Bremen and Hamburg. But in some German
Martyrologies, on June 11th, the day of his death. Authority:--his
life written by a coeval author or authors].

This saint was born at Thourout, in Flanders, where was a monastic cell, that had been given by King Louis the Pious to S. Anskar. As Anskar was at Thourout one day, he noticed some boys going to church, and amongst them was one who, by his gravity, pleased him; and when the boy entered the church, he crossed himself, and behaved with so great reverence, that the archbishop went to him, and asked his name. He told him that he was called Rembert. Then S. Anskar took him and placed him in the little monastery, and bade that he should be well instructed. In after years, the apostle of Sweden called Rembert to assist him in his mission; and he loved his young friend greatly, and prayed to God for three days incessantly that He would grant to Rembert to accomplish the work that he, Anskar, had begun, and to make them companions together in the Heavenly Zion. After Anskar died, in 865, S. Rembert was unanimously chosen Archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen, and he superintended all the churches of Sweden, Denmark, and Lower Germany. He also began a mission to the Wends and Sclavonic race of Mecklenburg and Brandenburg, which was attended with considerable success. He sold the sacred ornaments of the Church to redeem captives from the Northmen. On one occasion he saw a party of these marauders pass, dragging after them a poor girl, who raised her shackled hands towards the bishop, and began to chant one of David's psalms. Then S. Rembert leaped off his horse, and ran to the chief, and offered him the horse if he would release the captive Christian maiden. And this he did, well pleased to obtain so valuable a horse. S. Rembert died on June 11th, in the year 888.

S. GILBERT OF SEMPRINGHAM, AB.

(A.D. 1189.)

[Roman, Anglican, Belgian, Benedictine, and Cistercian
Martyrologies. Authority:--his life, by a contemporary, published by
Bollandus.]

This S. Gilbert, of whom Henricus Chrysostomus, a Cistercian chronicler, speaks as "a disciple of Bernard the mellifluous, a man of apostolical zeal, of most severe and rigid life, in purity conspicuous, illustrious for his gift of prophecy, and the mirific performer of stupendous miracles," was born about the year A.D. 1083, near the close of the reign of William the Conqueror. From an apparently contemporary pedigree he seems to have been related on the mother's side to that monarch, who may have rewarded the services of his father, "a bold and skilful warrior," with the hand of one of his relations, in addition to the manor of Sempringham, where Gilbert first saw the light. His mother is said to have received, shortly before his birth, a miraculous presage of the future greatness of her child, a greatness, however, of which few external tokens would seem to have manifested themselves during his childhood; since one of his biographers relates that as a child he was so dull and spiritless as to provoke the contempt and ill-usage of even the servants of his father's household. Driven by this maltreatment from his home and country, or more probably sent from home by the care of his parents, who discerned in him a greater aptitude for the cloister than for the camp, he passed some years in Gaul in the peaceful study of letters and philosophy. His childish education completed, he returned to England, and took up his abode with one of his father's dependents. Here he fell in love with the daughter of his host, and gave the first proof of his vocation to the counsels of perfection; for finding his passion increase daily in strength, and fearing lest he should be overcome by it, he fortified his soul by prayer and fasting; and then seeking the company of his beloved, he so wrought upon her by his exhortations and entreaties, that he prevailed upon her to join him in a vow of perpetual chastity, and she was one of the first who afterwards became nuns under his rule.

He now took to keeping a school, and gathered together a number of children of both sexes, to be instructed in the rudiments of religion, and especially taught them to live an orderly and pious life in the world, without as yet leading them forward to the higher life of the cloister; and these afterwards became the nucleus (primitiæ plantæ) of his order.

During this time he seems to have lived in the family of the then Bishop of Lincoln, and to have been admitted by him to the minor orders of the ministry; for the next thing related of him is that being presented by his father to the united benefices of Sempringham and Torrington he most willingly accepted the charge, and devoted the whole revenue of his livings to charitable purposes. Such was the fervour of his devotion at this time, that it is related that having one day invited one of his companions to join him in his prayers, the youth was so fatigued by the length of the office, and the punctilious care with which Gilbert genuflected whenever the holy names of God and of Christ occurred, that he swore he would never pray with him again.

After a while he was ordained priest by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, who held him in such high esteem that he made him his confessor, and would have appointed him Archdeacon; but this Gilbert resolutely declined saying, "that he knew not of a shorter road to perdition."

Persevering in his resolve to give his all to the poor, he now for the first time formally constituted his religious order, by assembling a number of poor girls, amongst them the object of his youthful attachment, whom he made cloistered nuns at Sempringham, and maintained them at his own cost. He next founded a monastery for male religious, to whom he entrusted all the more responsible affairs of the order, providing both nuns and monks with a habit "expressive of humility."

To this time of his life we must probably refer his miraculous escape from death by fire. The story is that a great fire having broken out either in his own house, or in the buildings immediately contiguous, Gilbert remained sitting abstractedly in his window seat, praying and singing psalms; the fire devoured all before it until it reached the spot in which he sat; there its progress was arrested, and the flames died away on every side, leaving the saint and his seat unharmed.

His order continued to expand, many religious flocked to him, and gifts of manors and farms pouring in from all quarters, many monasteries arose under his rule.

The charge of his Order now became so onerous that he is said to have attended the general chapter of the order at Citeaux, in the year 1140, for the purpose of formally resigning his authority. To this, however, his brother abbots refused their consent, and Gilbert returned to his labours, which he was to relinquish only with his life.

A peculiar interest attaches to this chapter, from the circumstance related by the same writer,[19] who tells us of Gilbert's presence there, that the Pope Eugenius[20] was present and took part in the proceedings, "not, however, presiding as with apostolical authority, but in brotherly love taking his seat among the assembled abbots, as one of themselves."

Returned to Sempringham, Gilbert resumed his life of prayer and mortification, observing the fasts of the Church with such rigidity that from Septuagesima to Easter, and throughout Advent, he not only abstained from flesh-meat, but even a morsel of fish never passed his lips. He practised also great austerity with regard to sleep, hardly allowing himself to lie down for months together.

His unwearied devotion and severe asceticism so forwarded his growth in grace that his influence over the religious under his authority became almost unbounded; with such prudence and persuasiveness was he endued, that he allayed without difficulty a serious disturbance which arose in the order from a spirit of insubordination that had crept in among the lay brethren. Overcome by his skilful reasonings and loving exhortations, the greater number returned to their obedience, "whereas," the chronicler adds, "those who held out and refused to do so, all perished miserably." His holiness and his acceptance with God were also attested by many miracles and wonders. Being at one time afflicted with a very severe fever, a friend came to condole with him; the saint enquired whether he had ever experienced the sensations of a fever; finding that he had not, Gilbert asked him whether he would be willing to take the fever from which he himself was suffering, if he might be thereby cured. The friend assented, and returning home, was the next morning seized with the fever, whereas the saint arose entirely free from it. Another time, a man suffering from gout was cured by simply wearing Gilbert's list slippers; and another man, sick of a fever, was healed by drinking out of his cup.

Overcome at length by the infirmities of advancing age, he resigned the charge of Sempringham to one of his disciples, Roger by name; but he seems still to have retained his authority, as it is mentioned that some time after this, he gave shelter to S. Thomas à Becket in one of his houses when that prelate, worsted in his contest with Henry II., was wandering about the kingdom in search of means to escape to the continent. He also supplied the archbishop with money during his exile, thereby drawing upon himself the displeasure of Henry, who, however,--such was Gilbert's popularity in the kingdom,--found it expedient to refrain from any proceedings against him.

At last, in the year 1189, and the 106th of Gilbert's age, his death drew near, and the man of God, full of years, and not less full of grace, prepared to render up his account with joy. He announced to his disciples his approaching departure, and on the evening of Christmas Day he was fortified with the last sacraments of the Church. The remaining time which God vouchsafed him on earth he devoted to the edification of others, and during this time many prelates, and men of various degrees, resorted to him in order to be consoled by his blessing, and instructed by his discourse. The night before the day on which he died "an immense globe of fire, and an appearance as of many candles" were seen to hover in the air over the church of Sempringham, in which his tomb was prepared. Three times the appearance descended from above, rising again twice towards heaven; the third time it penetrated the roof of the church, and descended to the floor. Then the brethren and the nuns knew that the time was at hand when their abbot must indeed leave them.

And so, on the next day, the 3rd of February, he departed this life, amid the sighs and lamentations of all, leaving behind him of religious men about 700, and of sisters in religion 1500; all serving God night and day without ceasing.

He was interred within the church at Sempringham, his tomb being placed between the two choirs, the monks on the one side, and the nuns at the other, so that the religious might offer their prayers at his sepulchre, and continually bearing in mind his holy life and happy death, might both be incited to diligence in prayer and good works, and also might profit by his intercessions for them.

Not long after his death, a certain canon of that order saw in a vision a brother not long since deceased, who, among other things, told him of S. Gilbert: "he is not amongst us, a different place possesses him; for from that place to which he departed (from the world) he has been translated to the choir of the virgins."

The veneration in which he was held may be seen in the eulogium of William of Newbury:--

"Nor must we in silence pass over the venerable Gilbert, a man altogether admirable, and of singular skill in the guardianship of women; from whom also the order of Sempringham took its beginning, and its rapid advancement. He, as it is said, from his very youth, by no means contented with being in the way of salvation himself, but kindled with a zeal for gaining souls for Christ, began eagerly to rival the weaker sex in the imitating of God, deriving his pious boldness from the consciousness of his own chastity, and his confidence in heavenly grace.

"Yet, fearing lest he should fail in his enterprise, he first sought the advice of the holy Bernard, and being instructed and encouraged by him, he commenced his work, and proceeding with great prudence and caution, he was mightily carried forward, both in the abundant multitude of persons gathered together for the service of Almighty God, and in the acquisition of temporal things; 'seeking first,' as it is written, 'the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all necessary things were added to him.'

"At last he organized a not ignoble monastery of two servants and eight handmaids of God, which also he replenished with numerous societies, and, according to the wisdom given him, furnished it with regular rules. And truly the gift of instructing the servants of God, divinely imparted to him, abounded especially in the care of women; indeed, in my judgment, he bears the palm in this respect amongst all whom we know to have devoted themselves to the instruction of female religious; moreover, having some years before been loaded with spiritual gains, the worn-out bridesman of the heavenly Bridegroom now departed to the Lord. Further, the multitude of his sons and daughters in religion still remains, and his seed is mighty upon earth, and his generation shall be blessed for ever."

The Order was peculiarly constituted, the men being Augustinian Canons, and the women following the rule of S. Benedict.

S. ANDREW CORSINI, B. C.

(A.D. 1373.)

[S. Andrew died Jan. 6th; he was formally canonized by Urban VIII.,
in 1629, and his festival was transferred to Feb. 4th.
Authorities:--Two lives, one by a disciple, the other by Friar Peter
Andrew Castagna, written a hundred years after his death.]

Nicolas, a member of the illustrious Florentine house of Corsini, lived with his pious wife, Peregrina, for some time without children, which was to them a great grief, and they besought God to give them that blessing which He had hitherto withheld. Their prayer was heard, and on November 30th, 1302, a son was born to them, who received at the font the name of Andrew, because he was born on the festival of that apostle. His parents, who regarded him as the child of prayer, had already, before his birth, dedicated him to the Lord, and sought, in his childhood, to inspire him with devotion and morality. But Andrew was possessed of a vehement, independent spirit, which brooked no restraint, and he grew up to cause them bitter sorrow by his disorderly life. Nevertheless father and mother prayed on, hoping against hope. The wild youth passed for being one among the most dissolute young men of the city, and was acknowledged as the worst of a bad set, utterly godless and abandoned. But his parents prayed on. The mother cast herself before a figure of the Queen of Heaven, and, in the bitterness of her anguish of soul, cried, "Oh, Mother of my Saviour! Thou knowest how the soul of my child, for whom thy Son bled, is sinking to destruction. Thou knowest, Holy One! how, in his earliest youth, I dedicated my child to thee, and trusted him to thy protection, how I have done all that earthly mother can do to keep him clean and unspotted from the world! And now, pity me, weeping over my guilty son, thou, whose tears flowed for thy innocent Son! Thou, who art so mighty, entreat thy divine Son, that mine may be moved to true and broken-hearted repentance."

Thus praying, and with streaming eyes, Andrew lit upon her one day, as he was going forth to the commission of some new work of evil. He stood still and looked at her, and a feeling of compunction stirred his heart. Then, turning her reddened eyes towards him, she said, "I cannot doubt it; thou art the wolf whom I saw in a dream."

"What mean you, mother?" asked the young man.

She answered: "Before thou wast born, my child, I dreamt that I brought forth a wolf which rushed into a church, and was there transformed into a lamb. Thy father and I, on account of this dream, placed thee under the protection of the Mother of God. My son, thou art not ours, thou belongest not to the world, but only to the service of God. Oh, would to heaven, that as the first part of my dream has been fulfilled, the second part might find its accomplishment also!"

Andrew covered his face, and fell at his mother's feet, and sobbed forth: "Oh, good, pious mother! the wolf shall indeed become a lamb. Thou didst dedicate me to God, and to Him will I, also, devote myself. Pray, pray for me, mother, that I may obtain pardon for all my grievous offences."

Next day Andrew sought the Church of the Carmelites, and kneeling before an image of the Holy Virgin, wept bitterly over his past life, which now appeared to him in all its bare deformity. And he felt so powerfully called by the grace of God, that he resolved at once to take refuge from his evil companions and associations, in the cloister. He, therefore, sought the convent door that same hour, and asked to be admitted as a novice. He was received, and spent his novitiate in constant battle with his passions, and in trampling out the memory of the past, by not suffering his mind for a moment to repose on the thoughts of the evil he had done, save only for the purpose of stirring up compunction, and abasing himself in profound humility. After having been received into the Order, he became a model of self-restraint and earnestness, so that in the year 1328, at the age of twenty-six, he was ordained priest. He was shortly after appointed to preach in Florence; and his fervour and love for sinners produced very astonishing fruit, in moving many who had lived in sin to turn in sorrow to the cross, and renounce their evil ways. Andrew was next sent to Paris, there to prosecute his studies, and was there invested with the degree of doctor; and after he had completed his studies with Cardinal Corsini, his uncle, at Avignon, he returned to Florence, where he was elected prior of his cloister. His renown as a preacher of righteousness prevailed again, and his sermons produced such an effect, that he was regarded as the apostle of the land.

After the death of the bishop of Fiesole, the chapter elected Andrew Corsini to be his successor. But when the news of his election reached him, he fled away, and hid himself in a Carthusian monastery. He was sought for long in every direction, without result, and the chapter, despairing of finding him, were proceeding with the election of another, in his room, when a child cried out "He who is to be our bishop is praying in the Carthusian monastery." He was there sought, and Andrew recognising in this the will of God, yielded, and, in 1360, was consecrated bishop of Fiesole.

As prelate, he maintained the same discipline over himself, and never abandoned the penance he had imposed on himself for his youthful sins, of reciting daily the Seven Penitential Psalms, of sleeping on a faggot of vine twigs, and of never speaking without necessity. But however severe he was in his dealing with himself, nothing could exceed the tenderness and love with which he sought out and dealt with the greatest sinners in his diocese. And this love which overflowed from his heart rendered him peculiarly successful in reconciling enemies. Knowing this, Urban V. sent him to Bologna to appease a disturbance which had broken out between the nobles and the people, and he achieved this mission with signal success. In his 71st year, as he was singing midnight mass on Christmas Eve he felt great exhaustion, which was followed by a fever, from which he died on Jan. 6th, 1373.

Relics, in the Carmelite Church at Florence.

In Art he appears between a wolf and a lamb.

S. JOAN OF VALOIS, Q.

(A.D. 1505.)

[French Martyrology. The process of her canonization began under
Clement XII., and was completed by Pius VI. in 1775; but she was
venerated at Bourges from the time of her death.]

Before Louis the son of Charles VII, ascended the throne of France, his wife, Charlotte of Savoy, bore him a daughter, called Anne of France. When he succeeded his father, with the title of Louis XI., he desired greatly to become the father of a son, and when his wife became pregnant in the third year after his coronation, his hopes were at the highest. When, however, she gave birth to a daughter, his disgust manifested itself in bitter antipathy towards the child, who was baptized Jeanne, or Joan. When she was eight days old, she was betrothed, May 19th, 1464, according to the custom of the time, to Louis, son of the Duke of Orleans and Mary of Cleaves, and sent to the house of her father and mother-in-law. At the expiration of four years, she was ordered to appear before her father at Plessis-le-Tours, where she was received by her mother with love, but when she was brought before her father, Louis turned from her with contempt, saying, "Bah! I did not think she was so ugly;" and he thrust her away. She was in fact somewhat deformed, and plain in face. It will be remembered that Sir Walter Scott has introduced her into his novel of Quentin Durward, taking, however, considerable liberties with her history. To such an extent did the spite of the king manifest itself, that when he saw how devout his daughter was, and that in her loneliness, she found comfort in the House of God, he forbade her frequenting churches and even the castle chapel.

When Joan was six years old, a son was born to Louis XI., and this was to her a day of good fortune, for her brother became her friend and protector; and because she was now once more permitted to frequent the churches. Louis XI. then visited Paris, to thank God for the birth of his son. Joan was in the splendid retinue which on this occasion entered the cathedral church of Notre Dame. She cast herself before an image of Our Lady, and taking her gold crown from her head, besought the holy Virgin to be her protector. Then a voice made itself heard in her soul, "My daughter, thou shalt found an Order in mine honour!"

The dislike of Louis XI. for Joan increased every day: the Countess of Linières was allowed to treat her with gross contempt; and the king, once so far forgot himself as to rush into her room sword in hand, and threaten to kill her. The Count of Linières threw himself between the king and his daughter, and saved her life, but could not prevent her receiving a wound, the scar of which never disappeared. The king retired in shame, and for a while gave her greater liberty.

In her twelfth year Joan was married, against her will, to Duke Louis of Orleans; however she fulfilled her duties, as wife, to the best of her ability. But her husband, who had married her for political reasons, made no scruple of treating her with coldness and contempt; deserting her almost entirely, that he might spend his time amidst the pleasures of the court, scornfully remarking that there was no risk to his honour in leaving his young bride unprotected, as her diminutive stature and plain face would be her defence.

Louis XI. died in August, 1483, and his son succeeded him, as Charles VIII., under the regency of his elder sister Anne, who was married to Peter of Bourbon. The husband of Joan, thinking that the regency ought to have been entrusted to him, endeavoured to stir up an insurrection; but was unsuccessful; and knowing that his life was threatened, fled to Duke Francis II. of Brittany, the bitter foe of France, and entered into league with him against Charles VIII. War broke out, and Joan stood as an angel of peace and reconciliation between the contending parties. Twice she obtained pardon for her captured and imprisoned husband, and as often he returned to his perfidy,--once against his sovereign, and once against his wife.

After the death of Charles VIII., on April 7th, 1498, the Duke of Orleans ascended the throne, as Louis XII. He at once obtained a divorce from Pope Alexander VI., by taking an oath that his marriage with Joan was not complete. Joan offered no opposition, rejoicing to see herself at liberty; and her husband at once concluded another marriage with Anne of Brittany, the widow of the young king. As some recompence to his divorced wife, Louis XII. gave her the Duchy of Berry, besides Pontoise, and other townships. She resided at Bourges, where she spent her time in the exercise of charity, to which she devoted her large revenues.

In 1500, she founded the order of the Annunciation, for women. S. Joan took the habit herself in 1504, but died on the 4th of February, 1505; and was buried at Bourges. Her body was torn from its resting place, in 1562, and burned by the Calvinists.

S. JOSEPH OF LEONISSA, C.

(A.D. 1612.)

[Roman Martyrology Authority:--The Acts of his Beatification, which
took place in 1737, and those of his canonization in 1746.]

This Saint was born at Leonissa, in the States of the Church, in 1556. He entered the Capuchin Order, and laboured at the redemption of Christian slaves. He died of cancer, at the age of fifty-eight. As the doctors desired to perform a painful operation on him, to remove the cancer, they ordered him to be bound, but he placed his crucifix before him saying, "this is the firmest of all bonds; it will hold me immoveable. Cut deep, I shall not flinch."

B. JOHN DE BRITTO, M., S.J.

(A.D. 1693.)

[Roman Martyrology. Beatified on August 21st, 1853. The following
account is epitomised from his life in "Pictures of Christian
Heroism."]

John de Britto was born at Lisbon, March 1st, 1647; he was the son of Don Salvador de Britto Peregra and Beatrix his wife, both of whom were of noble birth. His father dying when he was only four years old, he was committed by his mother to the care of the Jesuits; and under them grew up full of the grace of God.

At the age of nine he was sent to court in the capacity of page to Don Pedro, the youngest son of the king, and probable heir to the throne of Portugal. During the six years he spent at court, he persevered in the pious habits he had formed under his mother's roof, and in the Jesuit school, frequently retiring for private prayer, and attending mass daily.

By this exemplary course of life he incurred the hatred of his fellow pages; for his rigid rule of life was a check upon their profligacy. They ridiculed his piety, and heaped upon him persecution, not only by words, but also by blows. He bore their ill-treatment with great patience; but it produced an illness which brought him into hourly danger of death. At the very moment of his agony his patron, S. Francis Xavier, at the earnest prayer of his mother, restored his health. She had from his birth dedicated her son to the apostle of India, and she now vowed that if her child were to recover, he should wear the Jesuit habit for the whole year in honour of his deliverer. When, therefore, he appeared at court again after his recovery, it was in a little black robe, with a chaplet of the Blessed Virgin hanging by his side; and in this garb he served the Prince, and attended the Jesuit college of S. Antony of Padua. The people stopped in the streets to see him pass; not on account of the strangeness of such a dress on a child, but to mark his holy and edifying demeanour. When the term of his vow had expired, he put off the dress, but with the intention to assume it one day for ever. Notwithstanding his infirm health, he had long resolved to leave the world, and lead an apostolic life as a Jesuit, and at the age of fifteen he carried this resolution into effect. He applied for admission into the society to the father-provincial, Michael Tinsco, by whom he was placed in the novitiate at Lisbon. The Prince, Don Pedro, opposed his resolution, but the mother rejoiced that her son should possess a vocation for the Company of Jesus.

It was on the 17th of December, 1662, that John de Britto entered the novitiate at Lisbon. A novena had just commenced in preparation for Christmas. At its close each postulant had to present the Infant Jesus with a petition, according to his wants. De Britto wrote his petition with the others. It was that he might be sent as a missionary to Japan, there to live and labour, and at length obtain the crown of martyrdom. After two years he took the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, having passed through the novitiate a very model of holiness.