Part 20

A curious, late, and utterly worthless story, save as an example of the manner in which the popular tongue forges marvels, is related of his relics. At his death, three priests of different parishes were present, one from Llandaff, where he had been bishop; one of Llandeilo Fawr, where he died; and one of Penaly, near Tenby, where his ancestors had been buried. Each wished to claim the body for his church. The contention grew sharp between them, and was only terminated by the oldest of the three exhorting his brethren to leave the decision to God. Then they retired to rest, and, next morning, when they entered the room where the dead saint lay, lo! his one body had become three, perfectly identical in every particular, and each priest was able to carry off a S. Teilo to his own church. The origin of this foolish story is self-evident. It is an attempt to account, by a miracle, for the existence, in three places, of bodies of S. Teilo; a portion of his relics being probably preserved in each of these churches, and the popular tongue having magnified each portion into an entire body.

S. SABINE, B. OF CANOSI.

(ABOUT A.D. 566.)

[There is great uncertainty whether there were one or two bishops of Canosi of this name, as it is impossible to fit all that is recorded of the Acts of S. Sabine into the life of one man; as a S. Sabine of Canosi was certainly present, in 493, at the dedication of the Church of S. Michael, on Mount Gargano; and a S. Sabine of Canosi is mentioned as meeting Totila, K. of the Goths, in 549, fifty-six years after. That there were two is, therefore, most probable, the name being that of the great and wide-spread Sabine family, occurs repeatedly among the bishops and saints of Italy, and has led to much confusion. It is impossible to distinguish, from the confused Acts of S. Sabine of Canosi, which events belong to the first, and which to the second, bishop of that name. S. Sabine is the second patron of Canosi, and also of Bari, after S. Nicolas. His life was written by an anonymous writer of the eight century.]

This saint belonged to a noble family at Canosi, in the present arch-diocese of Bari, in Italy. He was elected to the see of his native city, and distinguished himself by his zeal in building and adorning churches, as also by his learning. He was one of the prelates present at the consecration of the Church of S. Michael, on the scene of the apparition of the archangel, on Monte Gargano, journeying thither in company with the blessed Roger of Canosi. And as the sun was hot in the heavens, and they fainted with the burning of its rays, Sabine raised his eyes to heaven, and prayed that a cool breeze might spring up and fan their fevered brows. But his prayer was heard and answered in other sort, for a great eagle came between the travellers and the sun, and floated over their heads with wings expanded, accompanying them, so that they walked on in the shadow. Now, Sabine's ardour in prosecuting his studies raised the suspicion of the multitude, and they denounced him as addicted to the arts of magic; so this report came to the ears of the Pope, and he summoned him to Rome, to clear his character from the aspersion cast upon it. Then Sabine hasted and went to Rome, and arrived in the evening, and was lodged in the palace of the Holy Father, who, prejudiced against him, received him coldly, and harshly bade him not set foot outside the house till his case were heard. And at midnight, a strange, unearthly music resounded through the courts, and men started from sleep to listen. Then they were aware of chanting, as of a multitude, and they rose, and the Pope also, and they followed the sound, and till they came to the door of the hall in which the Bishop of Canosi lay. And beneath the door was a streak of dazzling light. Then they burst in, and beheld the accused prelate standing in a blaze of heavenly radiance, amidst angel forms, chanting the Psalms of David. So the Pope cast himself at his feet, and acknowledged his complete innocence.

Now, on his way home, the holy bishop doubtless visited S. Benedict, at Monte Cassino, for between them there existed a warm friendship; and we find that S. Placidus, the loved disciple of Benedict, often visited and was entertained by the Bishop of Canosi, for the love he bare to the great Patriarch of the Monks of the West.

A pretty incident of his life is as follows,--it is but a trifle, but these trifling anecdotes give the character of the man. He was walking in his garden one day, among the flower-beds, reciting psalms and hymns, when a bright smile broke out over his face. Those accompanying him were surprised, and asked the reason of that smile. "Listen to those sparrows," said he, "there is a wagon upset yonder, which was laden with corn, and they are all eagerly communicating to one another the joyful news of an abundant feast. Oh! the charity to one another of those dear little birds!"[30]

In the year 535, Pope Agapetus sent an embassy to the Emperor Justinian at Constantinople, of which the bishop of Canosi was a member. Agapetus was himself obliged to follow his embassy, the following year, on a deputation to the emperor from Theodatus, the Gothic king. Theodoric, king of the Goths, had been succeeded by Athalaric, son of his daughter Amalasvintha, but he, being a minor, the public affairs were administered by his mother, who did not spare any pains in the education of her child. But the young king fell a victim to intemperance, before he had attained the age of manhood. On the failure of issue in the male line, Amalasvintha, in order to maintain herself on the throne, gave her hand to Theodatus, her cousin, and allowed him to participate in the sovereign power. But Theodatus grasping at supreme sovereignty, suffocated his wife and benefactress in a bath, and then, in abject terror for the consequences, sent off Pope Agapetus to Constantinople, to deprecate the wrath of the Emperor Justinian. Agapetus arrived in Constantinople, when that see was vacant, Epiphanius, the patriarch, being dead. He found the Empress Theodora in power, favouring the Eutychian heretics, and encouraging Anthimus, bishop of Trebizond, a ringleader of the sect. Agapetus at once deposed Anthimus, and ordained one Mennas, a Catholic, in his place; then, feeling his end approach, he exhorted Sabine and his companions to stand by and maintain the new bishop of Trebizond. Agapetus died in 536, and the same year a council was held against Anthimus the heretic, at which Sabine was present, and the anathemas of which he subscribed. In consequence of this decided action, the bishop of Canosi suffered much from the anger of the Empress Theodora. In 537 he returned to Italy, and according to some accounts, died on his way, and was buried at Tripalta on the Sabbato, above Benevento, near Avellino, where his body, entire, still rests enshrined. But at Bari is the body of S. Sabine, bishop of Canosi, and it is believed that there were two saints of this name, and that the first Sabine, bishop of Canosi, is at Bari, and that the events we are about to relate, occurred to the second bishop of this name, who lies at Tripalta. That there were two is most probable, as it is hardly possible that he who was bishop in 493, could have sat till 566, which would give an episcopate of over seventy-three years.

Totila, king of the Goths, the seventh of that race who had governed Italy, swept Campania and Samnium with his barbarian army, occupied Naples, and in the midst of his victorious course, visited S. Benedict on his rock of Cassino. The incident of the meeting between the barbarian king and the ascetic patriarch shall be recorded in the life of S. Benedict. S. Gregory relates in his Dialogues, (lib. iii. c. 5), that Totila, hearing of S. Sabine of Canosi, now blind with age, that he was endued with the spirit of prophecy, visited him and invited him to dinner, and to prove the old bishop, when the page brought wine round, the king took the goblet from the boy's hand, and himself offered it to the prelate. Then Sabine, taking the goblet, and turning his darkened eyes on the royal bearer, said, "May that hand that offers live long!" And the king blushed, joyous at receiving this part blessing, part prophecy. S. Gregory relates another story of this saint. The Archdeacon of Canosi, a man full of ambition and pride, desiring the episcopate, and impatient of the long life of Sabine, bribed his butler to poison him. The deadly cup was offered him, and the aged prelate drank it off, but instantly the Archdeacon was seized with all the symptoms of having been poisoned, and died in agony, whereas the bishop remained unhurt.

It is unfortunate, that owing to the carelessness of the historian, who wrote two hundred years after the death of S. Sabine I., the records of the two bishops of that name should have been so run together as to render it almost impossible to dissever them.

There seems also to have been a third S. Sabine of Canosi, bishop of Lesina, a ruined and deserted city, on the lagoon of the same name in the Capitanta. Lesina, in the 10th century, was the seat of a bishop. No records of this saint exist, but in November, 1597, the cathedral and second church of Lesina being thoroughly ruinous, officials were deputed to remove from the deserted churches such relics as could be found, and works of value that remained. They found the roof of the cathedral fallen in, doors and windows broken and open, and grass growing on the sacred floor. The crypt was in better preservation, and there they found altars standing, containing sacred relics. In one of these they found a marble sarcophagus, on which was inscribed, S. Sabinus Canusinus, "S. Sabine of Canosi." Within was a leaden coffin, on which was engraved, S. Sabinus Canusianus, pontifex Lesinensis. "S. Sabine of Canosi, bishop of Lesina." The skeleton in this was perfect. This body, together with others there discovered, was removed to Naples, where it now reposes in the church of the Annunciata.

SS. VICTOR, M., AND SUSANNA, V. C.

(DATE UNKNOWN.)

[Of local celebrity at Mouzon, on the Meuse, above Sedan. The names occur, however, in some Martyrologies of minor importance. Authority:--A MS. life published by Bollandus.]

SS. Victor and Susanna were peasants at Mouzon, or the neighbourhood, Victor being the brother and protector of Susanna, a modest and beautiful girl. The Lord of Mouzon having cast his lustful eyes on Susanna, endeavoured to deceive her, but her virgin modesty withstood his threats and promises; and finding her inflexible, in a paroxysm of rage, he tore out her eyes. Victor, her brother, denounced the tyrant to his face, and threatened him with the vengeance of the God of the fatherless, and protector of the poor, whereupon the noble, furious at being insulted by a vile peasant, ordered his retainers to despatch him, which they did.

S. ANSBERT, B. OF ROUEN.

(A.D. 695.)

[Roman and other Martyrologies. Authority:--Life by Ansgrad, the monk, dedicated to Abbot Hilbert, the successor of S. Ansbert. This life has, however, suffered from interpolators.]

This saint was at one time chancellor to Clothaire III., and in the midst of the temptations of a court, preserved his integrity and purity. At length, quitting the court, he assumed the monastic habit at Fontenelle, and on the election of the abbot Lantbert to the see of Lyons, he succeeded him as abbot of that famous monastery. He was confessor to Thierri III., and was, with his consent, chosen archbishop of Rouen, on the death of S. Ouen, in 683. Pepin, mayor of the palace, afterwards banished him, on a false accusation of treason, to the monastery of Hautmont in Hainault, where he died on the 9th February, 695. His body was transported to the abbey of Fontenelle, and afterwards to Boulogne, but in 944, through fear of the Northmen, it was translated to the convent of S. Peter in Ghent; but was dragged from its resting-place by the furious Calvinists, under William of Orange, in 1578; some portions of the sacred relics have, however, we believe, been preserved.

S. Ansbert is often called S. Aubert.

[28] Dr. Lanigan's Eccles. Hist. of Ireland, Dublin, 1827; Vol. iii., p. 39, & i. p. 243.

[29] Rees: Essay on the Welsh Saints, pp, 245-6.

[30] In the original, the simplicity of this story is quite spoiled by what is evidently added by the monkish author, unable to see the beauty of the unadorned incident; for, it is said, this was a proof of miraculous power in the saint, that he was able to see through a stone wall the upsetting of a corn-cart.

February 10.

SS. CHARALAMPIUS, _P. and Companions, MM. at Magnesia_, A.D. 202. S. SOTERIS, _V. M. at Rome, 4th cent._ S. ZENO, _Monk at Antioch, in Syria; circ._ A.D. 419. S. SCHOLASTICA, _V. at Monte Cassino_, A.D. 543. S. PROTADIUS, _B. of Besancon_, A.D. 626. S. TRUMWINE, _B. of the Picts, circ._ A.D. 700. S. AUSTREBERTHA, _V. in French Flanders_, A.D. 704. S. SURA OR ZUWARDA, _V. M. at Dortrecht_. S. WILLIAM OF MALEVAL, _H. in Italy_, A.D. 1157. B. JOHN WILLIAM OF THE OLIVE, _P. H. at Mariemont, in Belgium_, A.D. 1241. S. ARNALD OF CATANEA, _Ab. at Padua_, A.D. 1255. S. CLARA OF RIMINI, _Matr._, A.D. 1346.

SS. CHARALAMPIUS, P. AND COMPANIONS, MM.

(A.D. 202.)

[Commemorated in the West on this day; in the East on Sept. 17th. The Acts are not trustworthy.]

Saint Charalampius was priest at Magnesia, in the reign of Severus. He was brought before the governor, Lucianus, and was flayed with iron scrapers; the governor himself, in his rage, assisting the executioners in their barbarous work. With him suffered two soldiers and three women.

S. SOTERIS, V. M.

(4th CENT.)

[Modern Roman Martyrology, and those of Usuardus and Ado. But the ancient Roman Martyrology, bearing the name of S. Jerome, and those of Notker Bede (so-called), Rabanus, and others, on Feb. 6th. Nor are the Martyrologies agreed as to where she suffered, some saying, "in the East," others "at Rome." Authority:--S. Ambrose, who was of her family, gives an account of her martyrdom in his Exhort. Virginit. lib. iii.]

S. Ambrose boasts of this saint as the greatest honour of his family. She was descended from a long series of consuls and prefects; but her greatest glory was in despising, for Christ's sake, her wealth, birth, and beauty. When the edicts of persecution were issued under Diocletian and Maximian, against the Christians, she was summoned before the judge, and her face was beaten because she would not deny Christ. She, however, counted it all joy to suffer in the like manner of her Master, and, though cruelly beaten, shed not a tear. At length, overcome by her constancy, the judge ordered her head to be struck off.

One of the Roman catacombs on the Appian way, bears the name of S. Soteris. This catacomb was restored by Pope Stephen III., when the roof had fallen in. It has been erroneously supposed, by some, that this catacomb was called after Pope S. Soter; but Anastasius the Librarian, in recording the restoration of the cemetery, calls it "Cemeterium Sanctæ Soteris." Stephen III. (II.) reigned from 752 to 757. The body was removed from this catacomb by Pope Symmachus, (498-514,) to the church of S. Sylvester, in the city of Rome. A portion of the relics were given to the church of Sezanne, in the modern department of Marne, in France. One of her bones is preserved in the Jesuit Church at Luxembourg. A body of S. Soteris is preserved in the Cistercian Church at Madrid; but as the history of the Acts of this S. Soteris cannot be adapted to the saint of Rome, it is probable that she is some local Spanish saint, of whom nothing authentic is known.

S. ZENO, H.

(ABOUT A.D. 419.)

[Theodoret in his Philotheus, c. 12, gives an account of this venerable monk, whom he had visited, and knew personally.]

This venerable hermit lived in an old tomb cut out of the rocks in the neighbourhood of Antioch, in Syria. He observed the monastic rule for forty years, living on bread and water, and on Sunday visiting a church, that he might partake of the divine mysteries, and listen to sermons. Theodoret makes a quaint little remark about him: "That he used to borrow one book at a time from his friends, read it through, and return it when read, and then borrow another."

S. SCHOLASTICA, V. (A.D. 543.)

[Famous wherever the name of S. Benedict, her brother, is known. Authorities for her life, the same as those for his. The following sketch of her life is extracted from Montalembert's Monks of the West.]

In the history of most saints who have exercised a reformatory and lasting influence upon monastic institutions, the name and influence of some holy woman is almost invariably found associated with their work and devotedness. These bold combatants in the war of the Spirit against the flesh seemed to have drawn strength and consolation from a chaste and fervent community of sacrifices, prayers, and virtues, with a mother or a sister, by blood or choice, whose sanctity shed upon one corner of their glorious lives a ray of sweeter and more familiar light. To instance only the greatest: Macrina is seen by the side of S. Basil, and the names of Monica and Augustine are inseparable; as in later ages are those of S. Francis of Assisi and S. Clara, S. Francis of Sales and S. Jeanne Chantal. S. Benedict had also a sister, born on the same day with himself, named Scholastica; they loved each other as twins often love, with fraternal regard, elevated into a passion. But both loved God above all. Still earlier than her brother, Scholastica had consecrated herself to God from her infancy; and, in becoming a nun, she made herself the patroness and model of the innumerable family of virgins who were to acknowledge, adopt, and follow the code of her brother. She rejoined him at Monte Cassino, and established herself in a monastery, in the depths of a valley near the holy mountain. Benedict directed her from afar, as he did many other nuns in the neighbourhood. But they met only once a year, and then it was Scholastica who left her cloister, and sought her brother. He, on his side, went to meet her: they met upon the side of the mountain, not far from the door of the monastery, in a spot which has long been venerated. There, at their last meeting, occurred that struggle of fraternal love, and the austerity of the rule, recorded by S. Gregory,[31] which is the only known episode in the life of Scholastica, and which has insured an imperishable remembrance to her name. They had passed the entire day in pious conversation, mingled with praises of God. Towards the evening they ate together. While they were still at table, and the night approached, Scholastica said to her brother, "I pray thee, do not leave me to-night, but let us speak of the joys of heaven till the morning." "What sayest thou, my sister?" answered Benedict; "on no account can I remain out of the monastery." Upon the refusal of her brother, Scholastica bent her head between her clasped hands on the table, but prayed to God, shedding torrents of tears, to such an extent, that the table was flooded with them. The weather was very serene: there was not a cloud in the air. But scarcely had she raised her head when thunder was heard, and a violent storm began; the rain, lightning, and thunder were such, that neither Benedict, nor any of his brethren, who accompanied him, could take a step beyond the roof that sheltered them. Then he said to Scholastica, "May God pardon thee, my sister, but what hast thou done?" "Ah, yes," she answered him, "I prayed thee, and thou would'st not listen to me; then I prayed God, and he heard me. Go now, if thou canst, and send me away, to return to thy monastery." He resigned himself, against his will, to remain, and they passed the rest of the night in spiritual converse. S. Gregory, who has preserved the tale to us, adds that it is not to be wondered at, that God granted the desire of the sister rather than that of the brother, because, of the two, it was the sister who loved most, and that those who love most have the greatest power with God.

In the morning they parted, to see each other no more in this life. Three days after, Benedict, being at the window of his cell, had a vision, in which he saw his sister entering heaven under the form of a dove. Overpowered with joy, his gratitude burst forth in songs and hymns to the glory of God.

Her body was translated to Le Mans, in France, of which city she is patroness, but her relics were dispersed by the Huguenots, in 1562. However, some portions have been preserved, some in the Jesuit Church at Antwerp, and a bone in the Carthusian Church at Cologne.

S. SURA, V. M.

(DATE UNKNOWN.)

This Saint, called in Dutch, Zuwardt, is said to have built the first Christian Church at Dordrecht. She was murdered by some ruffians, who hoped to possess themselves of her money, wherewith she paid for the edification of the house of God, but found only three pennies in her purse, whence arose the tradition that she had only that sum the whole time, and that as often as she paid it away, the same sum remained in her purse.

S. WILLIAM OF MALEVAL, H.

(A.D. 1157.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authority:--His Life, by his friend and disciple, Albert, in whose arms he died. Several modern writers have confused S. William of Maleval with S. William of Mariemont, and even with S. William I., Duke of Aquitaine, and S. William IX., Duke of Guienne, who died 1137.]

Nothing is known of the birth of this saint, or of his early life, on which he preserved an impenetrable secrecy. It is said that he made a pilgrimage to S. Jago of Compostella, but even this is uncertain, as S. William of Guienne, his contemporary, is known to have made this expedition, and it is quite possible that the act of one S. William has been transferred to the other.