ON S. EVIDIUS THE MARTYR, IN THE MONASTERY OF S. PETER OF BESALÚ, OF THE DIOCESE OF GIRONA IN CATALONIA.
From the Spanish History of Domenecc.
CommentaryEvidius, Martyr in the monastery of S. Peter of Besalú in Catalonia (S.)
G. H.
Antonius Vincentius Domenecc, in the general History of the Saints & illustrious men of Catalonia, going to treat at folio 54 of S. Evidius the Martyr, broadly describes the monastery of S. Peter of Besalú, of the Order of S. Benedict, in the diocese of Girona constructed in the year DCCCCLXXVII, & endowed with very many possessions; & in it he asserts to be celebrated on the day XIII June the feast of S. Evidius the Martyr, with an Octave. And because in the said monastery they recite the divine Office according to the Roman use, there received, when are added in Lauds & Vespers Commemorations common or suffrages of Saints, they recite about six Saints, whose bodies they have, the following Prayer. Be propitious to us thy servants, Feast with Octave. we beseech Lord, through the glorious merits of these holy Martyrs of thine, Primus & Felicianus, Concordius & Evidius, Marinus & Patronus, & other Saints, who rest in the present church, that by their pious intercession we may always be protected from all adversities. Prayer of him & other Saints: Of these SS. Primus & Felicianus are said to have suffered at Agen in Gaul, with S. Fides, on the day VI October. SS. Marinus & Patronus, XIX August. About these two & S. Evidius in the same place in Domenecc are read these things: Into this illustrious & sacred House were afterwards brought the holy pledges of our Saints, Evidius, Marinus, & Patronus, by whose intercession of these three God confers many benefits to men invoking them. But S. Concordius was referred by Domenecc & Ferrarius to the Kalends of January, benefits are bestowed: as if he were Concordius the Presbyter suffering at Spoleto , we indicated on his Acts. Of these six Saints, says Domenecc, the bodies in the major chapel of the said church are preserved with great reverence & veneration, in three elevated arks; as is established from a certain visitation of those Relics, made by the Most Reverend Abbot of Besalú, bodies in the chapel. President of the Religion of the glorious Father Benedict, in the provinces of Tarragona, Saragossa, & Navarre: & in the ark toward the bell-tower are the bodies of S. Concordius & S. Evidius, where are all the bones, with the head of S. Evidius entire. Nay are added Indulgences of one year & a quadragena, Indulgences. by Clement Pope the sixth conceded to those, who at the feasts of these Saints, & of SS. Peter & Paul the Apostles, contrite & confessed, shall visit these Relics. The Bull of such Indulgences, written in ancient character on a tablet, is hung in the church itself. Clement VI presided over the Church from the year MCCCXLII to year MCCCLII. Tamayus Salazar, Memory in fasti. in the Spanish Martyrology, on S. Evidius at XIII June formed this elogium: At the Besalú monastery in Spain, the depositio of S. Evidius the Martyr, who as a soldier distinguished for the faith contending in the stadium, unwearyingly ran to the trophy of reward. Because namely no Acts were extant, he applied this elogium common to all Martyrs. But Ferrarius mentions the same in a few words in the general Catalog: At Besalú in the Gironan territory, S. Evidius the Martyr.