Part 38

Albric succeeded his uncle Gregory, who had died about this time. Ludger gives a touching account of the old man's death. "He had been smitten with paralysis some years before: as he grew weaker, he eagerly looked forward for his nephew's return from Italy. When Albric arrived, he entrusted the monastery to his charge, and prophesied his own immediate decease. He bade them carry him to the oratory of S. Saviour, and set him in front of the tabernacle; there he prayed for a time, and then received the Lord's Body; then, with his eyes fixed on the altar, and his soul fixed on heaven, he departed to the Lord, whom he had served so long in sincerity." His death occurred in 776, according to the Bollandists; in 781 according to the editors of the Benedictine Acta Sanctorum.

Albric besought Ludger to assume Liafwin's charge, and to rebuild the church over his body. Being unable to discover his remains, he laid the foundations of the church within the space in which he thought they lay. Liafwin appeared to him in a vision of the night, telling him that his body was buried deep beneath the south wall of the foundations. The next day it was found in the spot pointed out, and the foundations were transferred so as to include the saint's tomb within the church. Many miracles were afterwards wrought at it. Perhaps the Romanesque crypt of the present vast church of S. Lubien at Deventer marks the site of this tomb.

Afterwards Albric sent Ludger and others to destroy the heathen temples and places of worship throughout Friesland. They found a vast quantity of treasure in them, of which Charlemagne reserved two-thirds, and gave the other to Albric for his own uses.

When Albric, in 778, was consecrated bishop at Cologne, he caused Ludger to be raised to the priesthood at the same time, and then sent him to be teacher of the Church in the canton of Ostracha, where S. Boniface was martyred. It seems that Ludger erected a church on the site of his martyrdom, near Dockum, for Alcuin afterwards sent him some Latin heroic verses to be inscribed on it.

These verses will be found in Migne's edition of Alcuin's works. The two first of the fourteen lines run thus:--

"Hic pater egregiis meritis Bonifacius almis, Cum sociis pariter fundebat sanguinis undam."

He also, in turn with Albric and two others, presided over the monastery at Utrecht for three months in every year. Once, after he had said the night office, and had laid himself down to rest, "in solario ecclesiæ," S. Salvatoris, which probably corresponded to our parvise, or prophet's chamber, abbot Gregory appeared to him in a vision, and bade him follow him. The old man cast down to him from a higher place, as it were, pieces of garments and parchments, which he bade him distribute well. Ludger gathered them into three heaps. Marchelm, the custodian of the church, in the morning interpreted the dream to mean that Ludger would be spiritual ruler over three peoples. Then Ludger exclaimed, "Would that the Lord would give me, instead, fruit in the place now entrusted to my charge."

Ludger zealously exercised his office among the Frisians, and the seeds of life, sown by him, watered by dew from above, bore abundant fruit in the hearts of many. Thus did he avenge the death of S. Boniface by bringing to the knowledge of the truth those very peoples who had shed his blood. Again was verified the old saying, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," for that land afterwards brought forth rich crops of the corn of God's elect.

When Ludger had toiled there nearly seven years, that "root of evil," Wittikind, in 784, leader of the Saxons, drove out the servants of God, burned the churches, and made the Frisians, as far as the river Fleo, sacrifice again to the false gods. So Ludger dismissed his disciples, and taking with him his brother, Hildegrim, and another, went to Rome, where pope Adrian received him kindly, in 785. Thence he went on to S. Benedict's monastery at Monte Cassino, "for he was anxious to build a monastery on his own estate, and this was afterwards done at Werden."

Though S. Ludger's name occurs in Benedictine Martyrologies, he seems never to have become formally a monk of that order. Probably he wore their habit at Monte Cassino. The author of the Third Metrical Life says, "though he wore the cowl." "Nec hujus Regulæ, ullum observantiæ fecerat promissum." The fact that the monasteries founded by him both at Werden and Munster observed the rule of the Canons Regular, seems to settle the matter. He was called abbot simply because he presided over a Cænobium. In 787, he passed through Rome on his way home, where he obtained some relics of our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin, and of some of the saints. The news of Wittikind's conversion, or rather submission, had recalled him to his old field of labour.

Charlemagne had been at war with the Saxons, who then occupied nearly the modern circles of Westphalia and Lower Saxony, with short intervals of peace, for nearly thirty years. In 779, he defeated the Westphalians at Bochold, and received their submission, which entailed that of the Ostphali and the Angrarii. The following year he overran the country as far as the Elbe, where he encamped. Wittikind took refuge at the court of the king of Denmark, his father-in-law. The solemn sacrament of baptism was administered to an immense multitude at Horheim.

Charlemagne determined to secure the people by a systematic occupation of their territory. It was divided into districts, whither bishops, priests, and abbots were sent. The king gave them the lands, but God alone could give them the souls of the people.

The rebellion which burst out in 782, under Wittikind, was punished severely. His accomplices, 4,500 in number, were tried before their own chiefs at Verden, on the Aller; were condemned and put to death. Their relatives and all the tribes took up arms to avenge them: a bloody battle of doubtful issue was fought at Detmold. After Charlemagne had ravaged the country for two years, he offered terms of peace. Wittikind and the Saxon nobles accepted them. He submitted to be baptized at Attigny. His example brought about the submission of Saxony and Friesland. The story is told somewhat in this fashion:--On great festivals Charlemagne was wont to distribute money to all the poor who assembled at his gate. On Easter-day, Wittikind, in the dress of a beggar, penetrated into the king's tent, where Mass was being said. After mass, he came to receive alms with the rest. He was recognised in spite of his rags, arrested, and brought before the king. Then he asked to become a Christian, and ordered the chiefs of his party to lay down their arms. It is hardly necessary to add that marvels accompanied this conversion.

On S. Ludger's return, in 787, to Friesland, Charlemagne sent him to bear the glad tidings of the gospel of peace to the Frisians in the neighbourhood of Gröningen and Norden. Away in the sea to the north was a white island, so he was told, a home of hardy seamen, whither S. Willibroad had been. Ludger resolved to go to this island of Fositesland, or Heligoland, and water the little seed of life that Willibroad had sown there. He embarked in a little vessel, and a pleasant breeze springing up, the boat was wafted towards the distant isle. Ludger stood in the bows, cross in hand, and saw a dark grey fog envelope the island. But presently the veil of mist rose, and disclosed the white chalk-cliffs glittering in sunshine, and the bishop gladly took this as an omen of success. He landed, preached the faith, and destroyed the temples, erecting churches in their stead. The people gladly heard the Word, and Ludger baptized them in the waters of the very fountain in which S. Willibroad had baptized three of the islanders on a former occasion. A son, also, of one of the chiefs embraced the faith, and became a teacher of the Frisians and the founder of a monastery.

After the complete subjugation of the Saxons, S. Ludger was directed by the emperor to repair into Westphalia. He erected a monastery where now stands the episcopal city of Münster, and travelled over the district with unflagging energy, wearing no hood, as his biographer says, with which monks usually keep their heads and shoulders warm, instructed the barbarous tribes, and appointed priests to minister the sacraments to them. He was soon after ordained bishop by Hildebold, archbishop of Cologne. His heart now turned to the wild Normans, the scourge of all the maritime peoples of Gaul and on the Baltic.

As bishop, he ministered to his Saxon flock with great judgment and gentleness, and that proud conquered people yielded more to his gentle persuasion than to the harsh commands of Charlemagne. He still ruled Friesland, which he had brought to the faith. Charlemagne also set him over a monastery in Brabant. Thus his dream of the three heaps, signifying his rule over three peoples, was fulfilled.

The chief seat of his diocese was in the canton Sudergau, at a place called Mimigardford (or, more properly, Miningardvard, the fort of Miningard) on the Aa, where he built a monastery by the river for the Regular Canons.

From this establishment the city eventually took its name of Münster, though the bishops continued to style themselves "of Mimigard" to the time of Thierry II.

He built the cathedral of S. Paul at Münster. The five Frisian counties contributed largely towards the cost. Their liberality was commemorated in a sculpture representing them offering gifts to S. Paul, which once stood near the N.W. door of the cathedral. It was defaced by the Anabaptists in 1535.

He uprooted idolatry, sowed the Word of God, built churches, and ordained priests to minister in them. He desired to bring many nations to the knowledge of the true God, and volunteered to preach to the heathen Northmen, but Charlemagne refused his consent.

The blameless conduct of Ludger did not save him from detractors, nay, perhaps it rather incited their malice. He was accused (as the anonymous Frieslander who wrote his life tells us) to Charlemagne of penuriousness in decorating the houses of God. The emperor summoned him to court, and on the morning after his arrival the chamberlain was sent to call him before the council. He found Ludger saying the divine office. Our saint promised to come as soon as it was done. A second and a third messenger summoned him, but he did not go to the emperor till the office was over. Charlemagne asked him, "Why didst thou disregard my command to come at once?" The saint said, "God is to be preferred to thee, O king, and to all men." The emperor, pleased at his reply, exclaimed, "I am thankful that I have found thee such as I ever esteemed thee, and I promise never again to give ear to those who calumniate thee." Once Ludger imposed a severe penance on a priest who left off saying the office that he might blow the fire, as they were saying Matins in their travelling tent, because the smoke was driving into the bishop's face; for the saint desired to teach his clergy that they ought to suffer nothing to disturb them when saying the Divine office.

Altfrid adds that S. Ludger "was well read in Holy Writ," as is clearly proved in the book he wrote about the life of Gregory and Albric; moreover, he wrote an account of the early events which took place at the coming of S. Boniface and at his ordination. His meaning, probably, is not that separate lives of these holy men were written by Ludger, but that notices of them were inserted in his "Life of Gregory." This is the only genuine work of his that has survived, for the epistle on the canonization of S. Suibert is not from his pen.

When he felt his end approaching, he devoted more time than before to reading Holy Writ, to chanting Psalms, and, though feeble in body, he celebrated Mass every day.

On the day of his death, March 26th, 809, very early, he heard Mass at Coesfeld, and preached; then hastening to Billerbeck, arrived there at nine o'clock the same morning, preached again, and celebrated his last Mass. That evening he gently expired.

March 27.

MEMORIAL OF THE RESURRECTION.[91] SS. PHILETUS, LYDIA, AND COMPANIONS, _MM. in Illyria, 2nd cent._ S. AUGUSTA, _V.M. at Serravalle in Venetia_. S. ALEXANDER, _M. at Drizipara, in Pannonia_. SS. ZANITAS, LAZARUS, AND COMPANIONS, _MM. in Persia_, A.D. 326. S. JOHN, _H. at Lycopolis, in Egypt_, A.D. 393. S. RUPERT, _B. of Salzburg_, A.D. 718. S. MATTHEW OF BEAUVAIS, _M. in France, 11th cent._ S. WILLIAM TEMPIER, _B. of Poitiers_, A.D. 1197.

[91] In some ancient Martyrologies we find this day set down as that of the Resurrection, but others make the day to be March 25th, March 28th, April 1st, or April 5th.

SS. PHILETUS, LYDIA, AND COMPANIONS, MM.

(2ND CENT.)

[Greek Menæa and Menologium, and modern Roman Martyrology. The following account from the Greek Menology, it is almost needless to say, is fabulous.]

Saint Philetus, a senator, his wife, Lydia, their sons, Macedo and Theoprepius, also Amphilochius, a general, and Chronides, a registrar, who suffered under Hadrian, are venerated by Greeks and Latins on this day. According to the account in the Menology, Philetus, his wife and sons, and Chronides, were handed over to Amphilochius, the general, to be by him tortured. Amphilochius ordered them to be cast into a vessel of boiling oil, but as the bubbling fluid suddenly became cold, when the martyrs were about to be plunged into it, full of astonishment, he exclaimed, "God of the Christians, help me!" Then there came a voice from heaven, "Thy prayer is heard, come up hither." Now when this was noised in the ears of the emperor, he came down, full of wrath, and ordered a cauldron of oil to be boiled for seven days, and all to be cast thereinto. But they were unhurt. Then the emperor left them, and they, praying, and giving thanks to God, gave up the ghost.

S. AUGUSTA, V. M.

(DATE UNCERTAIN.)

[Ferrarius, in his Catalogue of Saints. Not in the Roman Martyrology. Venerated at Serravalle, near Ceneda, on the Piavia. There is at Serravalle a church on a hill-top, containing her relics, and to this pilgrimages are made on August 1st, the day of the translation of her relics, but the anniversary of her martyrdom is March 27th, and that of the invention of her relics in Aug. 22nd. The story of this saint is purely traditional.]

There was once upon a time, when the Roman empire was tottering to its decline, a certain duke of Friuli, named Matrucus, of Gothic race, who built for himself a great castle on the mountain dominating Serravalle, the ruins of which remain to this day. Now the people of that part were Christians, but Matrucus was a heathen. He had a daughter named Augusta, young and fair, and her heart turned from the fierce gods of Germany to the Christ whom the bruised and suffering people of Serravalle adored, and to His spotless Mother, so pure and loving. And she sought means of receiving instruction, and was baptized secretly. Now there were many things in his daughter's conduct which roused suspicion in the mind of Matrucus, and he set spies to watch her. One day, he was told that she was in the church praying, and he rushed in upon her, dragged her forth, and locked her up in a chamber of the castle. In ungovernable fury he afterwards beat out her teeth, and executed her with his sword, reproaching her with having despised the gods of their ancestors and degraded the honour of his house.

S. JOHN OF EGYPT, H.

(A.D. 393.)

[Almost all Latin Martyrologies, not however that of Bede, nor by the Greeks. Authorities:--Two lives, one by Evagrius, translated into Latin by Ruffinus of Aquileia, the other by Palladius, in his Hist. Lausiaca; both were contemporaries, and had visited and conversed with the saint.]

No solitary after S. Antony acquired such renown as S. John of Egypt. He was not only respected by the people, but by emperors. The most celebrated doctors and ecclesiastical writers, S. Jerome, S. Augustine, S. Prosper, Cassian, Palladius, Ruffinus, S. Eucher, and S. Fulgentius, have extolled him. John was born at Lycopolis in the lower Thebaid, the modern Siout. He exercised the trade of a carpenter till he was twenty-five, and then, the desire of labouring only for his salvation, of coming to a death-grip with flesh and blood, possessed him; and he placed himself under the direction of an aged hermit, whom he served with alacrity and diligence. The old man fearing lest the merit of this service should be injured by any admixture of human affection, affected great capriciousness, and gave his disciple many absurd orders. For instance, he one day commanded him to plant his staff in the sand and water it daily. John obeyed without a murmur, and though he had to go two miles for water, continued his task for a year. On another occasion, he ordered John to throw their dinner out of the window. He was obeyed without a trace of hesitation. On one occasion when some visitors were with the old man, to exhibit the docility of his disciple, he ordered John to run to a rock some distance off, and roll it up to his door. John ran, nothing doubting, and laid his shoulder, and then breast against the huge mass, and toiled ineffectually to move it, dripping with perspiration, till his master recalled him. On the death of the hermit, John spent five years in visiting the different monasteries of Egypt, and then he chose a cave in the face of a rock, near his native place, and walled up the entrance, leaving only a door and window. In this grotto he spent the remaining thirty-eight or forty years of his life.

However great may have been his desire to live in solitude, his fame brought great numbers to visit him, so that a great house had to be erected at the foot of his rock to receive the pilgrims. His abstinence was great. He ate nothing that had been cooked, not even bread, but took only a little fruit at sun-down. He was given an extraordinary insight into the future, and many of his prophecies have been recorded. The most famous were those made by him to Theodosius the Great, to whom he announced beforehand the irruption of the barbarians into the empire, the revolts that would take place, and the means he must employ against them. This prince specially consulted him concerning two enemies with whom he was called to fight. One was Maximus, who had killed the emperor Gratian in 383, and driven the emperor Valentinian from his possessions in 387. John assured him of victory, and promised that it would be unattended by great effusion of blood. Theodosius defeated Maximus in two encounters in Pannonia, passed the Alps without difficulty, pursued and surprised Maximus at Aquileia, where he cut off his head. Four years after, Eugenius having seized on the empire of the East, through the credit of Arbogastes, who had strangled the younger Valentinian, Theodosius resolved to march against him. Eugenius, who awaited him, prepared for the combat by consulting the augury and the entrails of victims. Theodosius sent the eunuch Eutropius into Egypt to invite the hermit John to come to him and declare to him the will of God. The saint refused to leave his cell, but sent word to the emperor by Eutropius that he would gain a victory, which would however be very bloody, and that he would only survive it a short while. Both predictions were accomplished. A battle was fought in the plains of Aquileia, on Sept. 6th, 394, in which Eugenius was defeated; Theodosius lived till January 17th of the following year, and died leaving the empire divided between his two sons Arcadius and Honorius.

Palladius was in the Nitrian desert with his master Evagrius, Albinus, Ammon, and three others; and their conversation turned on the reputation of S. John. Evagrius expressed his desire to know if all that was reported of his great virtue was true, and to have his powers of discernment tested by some one of experience. Palladius at once resolved to go. He was then aged twenty-six. He started without communicating his design to any one, and made his journey partly on foot, and partly in a boat, for it was the period of the overflow of the Nile. This is an unhealthy time, owing to the evaporation of the slime left by the retreating waters; and Palladius fell ill on his way. On his recovery he prosecuted his journey, and reached the vestibule of the hermit's cell, where he learnt that John only gave audiences on the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Sunday, and that he must therefore wait in patience till the Saturday. On that day he found the saint seated at his window, through which he conversed with all who approached. When John saw him, he greeted him through an interpreter, and asked his object in visiting him, saying at the same time that he looked like a disciple of Evagrius. Palladius satisfied his inquiries, and began to converse with him, when Alypius, the governor of the province, arrived, and approaching hastily, John signed to Palladius to withdraw whilst he received the governor. Palladius waited with some impatience, thinking in his heart that John was not free from the common infirmity of respect of persons. But the saint divined his thoughts, and sending his interpreter to him, bade him not be impatient, for he would speedily dismiss the governor. When Palladius was recalled, the hermit gently reproved him for his thoughts, saying, "It is not the whole, but those that are sick that need the physician. Thou art constantly engaged in labouring for thy salvation, but that man is immersed in the cares of this world, and can scarcely snatch an hour from business for the cultivation of his soul. Whom should I greet and prefer most readily?" and putting out his hand he gently cuffed Palladius. "And now to proceed with thy affairs," continued John. "I know that the thoughts of thy father have distracted thee of late, and thou hast been thinking of returning from the solitary life to him. But know that both he and thy sister have entered into religion like thyself. Thy father will live seven years longer. Think no more of returning to thy home, for it is broken up. He that putteth his hand to the plough, and looketh back, is not fit for the kingdom of God."

These words consoled and encouraged Palladius; and the saint having asked him with a smile whether he wished to be a bishop, Palladius answered in the same bantering style, that he was one already, as his name implied. "And prithee what is thy diocese?" asked the hermit. "I rule the diocese of the kitchen, and my episcopal jurisdiction is exercised over pots and pans," answered Palladius. "Enough of this joking," said the hermit. "In truth I tell thee thou shalt be a bishop one of these days, and shalt suffer many contradictions. But, if thou wouldest escape them, leave not thy solitude, for so long as thou remainest there, none will ordain thee bishop."

Some years after, this prophecy was verified; for, being threatened with dropsy, Palladius left the desert for Alexandria, and thence afterwards for Bithynia, where he was ordained bishop of Helenopolis. He was speedily enveloped in the persecution against S. Chrysostom, and was obliged to remain concealed for eleven months in a dark chamber.

Palladius returned from his visit to the Nitrian desert, and related all he had seen and heard to Evagrius, who was stirred to undertake the journey himself, and his account of this visit is found in the pages of Ruffinus.

S. MATTHEW OF BEAUVAIS, M.

(END OF 11TH CENT.)

[Gallican Martyrology. Authority:--Guibert, Ab. of Nogent-sous-Coussi, l. 1053, d. 1124. Guibert knew S. Matthew personally; they were both natives of the same village, and grew up together from childhood as friends.]