ON SS. SILVANUS AND SILVESTER AND RODENA, CONFESSORS AND VIRGIN, AT LEPROSIUM OF BOURGES IN GAUL, AT LEPROSIUM OF BOURGES IN GAUL
COMMENTARY.
Memory in the Calendars, Acts from the Breviaries, cult, relics.
Silvanus, Confessor, at Leprosium of Bourges in Gaul (S.)
Silvester, Confessor, at Leprosium of Bourges in Gaul (S.)
Rodena, Virgin, at Leprosium of Bourges in Gaul (S.)
BHL Number: 7723
BY J. P.
The name of Silvanus alone in the Martyrologies: Of these three Saints only one, Silvanus, is known to the martyrologists, at least by name. Usuard in his pure form, in Solier's edition, announces him today thus: Likewise of St. Silvanus, confessor, in the territory of Bourges. Several enlarged codices of him agree; but the Pulsano codex: Likewise of St. Silvanus, confessor, with his companions, and these last words are added also in the Brussels codex, by which are probably designated Silvester and Rodena. Likewise of Silvanus alone Maurolycus, Galesinius, and Baronius in today's Roman Martyrology make mention; and besides, the authors of the German Martyrology and of our manuscript Florarium, scarcely or hardly at all differing in their announcements from the pure Usuard. Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology treats of Silvanus three times. First on the XXII of September, as follows: In the territory of Bourges, of St. Silvanus, confessor, a life indeed hidden from men, but most blessedly known to God; as the glory of his sanctity, long since spread abroad through all that region, bears witness. Secondly, on the following day: At Bourges, of St. Sylvinus, confessor, who, after he had run the way of the divine commandments with great observance, noble in every exercise of the virtues, came to his reward. He indeed wrote Sylvinus, perhaps because he had so read it in some Calendar, but that he is no other than our Silvanus is to be gathered from this, that Silvanus is honored with an ecclesiastical Office in the churches of Bourges and Bordeaux on the said XXIII day of September, as will appear from what is to be said. Thirdly and lastly, of the same Saint Saussay treats in his Supplement to the XXII day, where at length he joins Silvester to him as a companion, and adds some things about his Life, which in the first place he had said was hidden from men; and before I speak of it or of its epitome, I set down what Peter de Natalibus has in book XI, §257: Silvanus, confessor, on that same day (the X Kalends of October) rested in the territory of Bourges.
[2] Philippe Labbe, volume 2 of the Bibliotheca Mss., page 444, gives a historical eulogy of SS. Silvanus, Acts partly fabulous Silvester, and Rodena, briefly excerpted, as he notes, from the lessons which stand at the XXIII of September in the ancient Breviaries of the diocese of Bourges. But from the very beginning things so marvelous are related in it that the mind of the reader must at once be shocked and held back from assent, unless the strongest testimonies are produced from elsewhere. The beginning is as follows: Saint Silvanus or Silvinus, a priest, whom they report to have been Zacchaeus of Jerusalem, was sent from Rome into Gaul by Saint Peter with blessed Sylvester, whom, having died a little afterwards, by the mere touch of the staff which he had received from St. Peter, when he returned to him, he raised from the dead, and with him pursued the journey he had begun. First I should wish to know by whom and on what foundation it is reported that St. Silvanus was the same as Zacchaeus of Jerusalem, so that I might discern whether that tradition is worthy of discussion: which meanwhile I judge fabulous, and probably issued from the same workshop from which came forth the fiction by which it is laid down that St. Ursinus or Ursicinus, the first bishop and apostle of the people of Bourges, was the same as Nathanael of the Gospel — with this difference, however, that this fabulous tradition has been admitted by a few foreign writers, that one by none known to me hitherto.
[3] partly very suspect, The aforesaid Labbe, page 445, brings forward another history of the same Saints from a most ancient Breviary of the church of Bourges. In this the tradition already mentioned is not expressed, but the rest is set out a little more fully. Take his words: Silvanus, a priest, with his companion Silvester, sent into the Gauls by the blessed apostle Peter, when they had come to the place Bethania, which is not far distant from Rome, Silvester departed from this world: and when Silvanus had buried him, being anxious at his absence, whether he should proceed alone, he returned to Rome, and sorrowfully announced to blessed Peter the departure of his brother. Hearing this the Apostle, that it might appear herein how wonderful the Lord is in His Saints, gave him the pastoral staff which he held in his hand, saying: Dearest son Silvanus, return to the tomb of your Brother, and in the name of Jesus Christ bid the dead man rise, and tell him to pursue with you the duty of the obedience enjoined upon him. And Silvanus, having returned and touched the body with the staff, before he had finished the words, Silvester rose as though from sleep.
[4] and supported by no testimonies These things too are of such a kind that in our ages they will not easily obtain assent unless they are propped by ancient and firm testimonies; for by how many examples is it not established that a mission from St. Peter the Apostle, asserted in the Acts of the first pastors of churches, and afterwards examined according to the laws of true criticism, has of itself collapsed and been found fabulous, fabricated, that is, by idle men of the ninth or tenth or later centuries, who, when they either were ignorant of the beginnings of their own churches and of the deeds of their founders, or had learned from some tradition or other that they had been sent from Rome by the See of St. Peter the Apostle, did not hesitate to affirm them disciples of St. Peter himself, and to attribute to them deeds which either they had themselves devised, or had borrowed from the lucubrations of other biographers, whether true or feigned. Indeed, what is here related about the death of St. Silvester, about St. Silvanus's return to Rome, about the staff received from St. Peter, about its touch and St. Silvester raised again, the same, with the names of persons and places changed, is reported in the Acts of St. Fronto, bishop of Périgueux, in the Acts of St. Martial, bishop of Limoges, in Surius, in the Acts of SS. Eucharius, Valerius, and Maternus, bishops of Trier, and in the Acts of St. Memmius, bishop of Châlons; but the single biographer of St. Memmius substitutes St. Peter's garment for the staff.
[5] But no monument is produced, no testimony of an ancient writer or martyrologist, furnished, by which what is reported from the Breviaries concerning SS. Silvanus and Silvester may be confirmed; nay, their mission made by the apostle Peter is not insinuated by so much as a single word in the Franco-Gallic Hagiology which the aforesaid Labbe, a native of Bourges, published in print, excerpted from the ancient Martyrology of the abbey of St. Lawrence of Bourges, where these words alone are read: Likewise in the territory of Bourges, of St. Silvanus, confessor. And therefore they are to me so suspect that I should not dare to determine from them in what century our Saints flourished, and I leave both what I have recited from the lessons and the rest, which from the cited Bibliotheca of Labbe I proceed to transcribe, to the reader's judgment: But as they went on (St. Silvanus and St. Silvester raised from death), when they had traversed various parts of Italy, evangelizing the streams of doctrine, on a certain night, being in need of lodging, they went to a certain noble man, who, although a pagan, yet moved by a pious feeling of humanity, kept them with him that night as pilgrims.
[6] But that man had a virgin daughter, named Rodena, are recited betrothed to a certain most noble youth, named Corusculus. She, having questioned the Servants of God, when she recognized that they were Christians, at once, inspired by the Holy Spirit, coming in to them in the silence of the night, said: Servants of Almighty God, I pray you, rise, and baptize me, whom the devil is striving to seduce, in the name of your God. But the holy priests said to her: This we cannot conveniently do now; but when you shall have come, a little later, to the town of Gabatum in the district of Bourges, where the error of the heathen most rages, whither we are going, you shall enjoy your wished-for desire. And when the Saints of God had come to the aforesaid town, which is now called Levroux, and on a certain day were preaching to the people gathered there, holy Rodena is presented to their gaze: and being at once baptized, she began with them to evangelize Jesus.
[7] After these things, a little time having passed, Corusculus, her intended bridegroom, from the Breviary having discovered that she had followed the Saints of God, kindled with fury, taking with him forty-four soldiers, came at a rapid pace to the aforesaid town; and when this reached the ears of blessed Rodena, at once, snatching the shears with which she used to cut cloth, and cutting off her nose, lips, and ears, that she might seem contemptible, thus disfigured, coming to meet her bridegroom, she was rejected by him. But Saint Silvanus, seeing this, in the very presence of Corusculus, so restored the severed parts to their places that no mark of a scar appeared on her. But Corusculus, notwithstanding these things, hardened in mind against the Saints of God, having mounted their horses, departs with his men. But when they were some miles away, their horses sinking, against nature, into dry ground, and they themselves also having lost the use of their feet, creeping on knees and elbows, returned to the Saints of God, devoutly asking pardon and Baptism.
[8] Therefore, when the neighbors of the same place all round heard of such great marvels, from the Breviary of Bourges; they were baptized with them. This being done, the holy Priests dedicated a church there in honor of God and of holy Peter, prince of the apostles, in which our Lord Jesus Christ, deigning to be praised and blessed, poured out such grace that whoever, blind, lame, leprous, paralytic, possessed by a demon, or beset by other infirmities, came thither devoutly, returned home whole. But after some time holy Silvanus, full of days and of holiness, feeling himself to be dissolved so that he might reign with Christ, lay down on his bed; on which account Silvester and Rodena, groaning above all others, said: Why do you desert us, Father? To whom he: Lay aside your mourning, I pray; I shall not leave you long. And having said this, with angels singing together, he passed to Christ. Then, the office of the funeral being completed, within the space of two hours blessed Silvester and Rodena, suddenly stricken with a bodily affliction, completed the praises of their buried Father, and were buried beside him by the Christians.
[9] a fragment from other Acts. Labbe thinks that a fuller History of St. Silvanus lies hidden somewhere, and he says this is established from a miracle which he subjoins on page 446 under this title: Here begins a certain miracle of blessed Martin of Tours, excerpted from the Life of St. Silvanus. But from that miracle, if only the writer's authority and credit were established at the same time, we should learn two things pertaining to our purpose: first and chiefly, that already then, while St. Martin was living, that is, in the fourth century, there existed a church consecrated to our Saint; secondly, that that place at the same time took on the name of Leprosium. The words, so far as they belong here, I transcribe: Making a journey once through the territory of Bourges, (St. Martin) came to a village to which from the event of a miracle the name of Leprosium was given. For the lord of that village was honorable and rich, but a leper. When therefore the holy Martin had turned aside to the church of holy Silvanus for the sake of prayer … at the very entrance of the sacred building he met the aforesaid leprous lord* etc. The author then sets out at greater length the healing of the leper, upon whose narrative there is nothing for me to pronounce. Not even the editor noted from what codex or archive he took that fragment. And so I proceed to the present-day cult.
[10] St. Silvanus is honored on various days in various churches, The feast of St. Silvanus is celebrated yearly with a semidouble rite on the XXIII day of September in the diocese of Bourges, as is noted in the Calendar which we have transcribed from a Breviary printed in the year 1625. But the reason is that the XXII day is dedicated, according to Labbe, to the glorious triumphs of the holy Martyrs Maurice and his Companions. On the same XXIII day he is marked also in our manuscript Calendar of Orléans, but with these words only, Silvanus conf., no Office being assigned. But in the Breviary of the distinguished church of St. Martin at Tours, at the XXIV day of September, an office of St. Silvanus of 9 lessons is prescribed, of which the three middle ones are proper and contain his Acts as far as the raising of St. Silvester, conformable to those which I recited above from the most ancient Bourges Breviary. But in the manuscript Calendar of Nevers a commemoration of St. Silvanus is marked on the XXII day. But this blessed Confessor is chiefly honored, as Saussay's Supplement has it, in the ancient monastery of Déols, where on the XXVI day of this month he has his own celebration with a special Office. To that ancient monastery of the Order of St. Benedict in the province of Bourges, on the river Andra or Indra (l'Indre), there succeeded in the last century a college of secular canons.
[11] on this day at Leprosium; but it is uncertain whether his Companions also. Nowhere, however, without doubt, is that Saint in greater veneration than in the place of his death, namely Leprosium or Leprosum, which is a town of the same province of Bourges, where a collegiate church is dedicated to him as Patron, and where his sacred remains are preserved in the same church. The people of Leprosium keep his yearly festival on the XXII day itself, as Labbe writes; whether also on the same day those of SS. Silvester and Rodena, or whether these have a peculiar feast, is doubtful to me. The Reverend Father Guillaume Berthier, S.J., a priest distinguished for learning, transmitted here in the year 1745 historical documents concerning St. Silvanus of Leprosium, extracted from the archive of the said church, and delivered to him by the Reverend Father Guillaume Gerou, a Benedictine religious of the congregation of St. Maur, at the foot of which these words are subjoined: SS. Sylvanus, Sylvester, and Rodena of Leprosium are honored on the XXII of September, whence I suspected that they are honored together on the same day; but on the very front page, from the chest of indulgences marked B, the following are recited in the French tongue, in which nearly all the rest are drawn up: Pope Eugenius IV, in the fourth year of his pontificate, granted indulgences of a hundred days to those piously visiting the collegiate church of Leprosium on the days of the Nativity of the Lord, of the Circumcision, of Easter, of Pentecost, of the blessed Virgin Mary, and on the FESTIVALS of St. Silvanus, St. Silvester, and St. Rodena, and on the day of their translation, 1444. That was the XIV year of Eugenius: and so from this it seemed to me to follow that they are honored separately with three different festivals; but nothing occurred by which I might resolve the doubt, just as neither could I learn on what day the memory of the translation is celebrated, or when it took place.
[12] The Saint's church erected before the eleventh century, But I said above that the collegiate church of Leprosium is dedicated to St. Silvanus, and it is truly so called everywhere: nevertheless SS. Silvester and Rodena come in for a share of this honor, so far as I understand from these words: In the Necrology of this church it is written that on the V Ides of December there died the lady Ildesendis, who ordered this church to be built on her own land in honor of St. Silvanus, St. Silvester, and St. Rodena. The transcriber indicates that that Necrology is found about the middle of the cartulary, folio 35. The epoch of the building of this church I am no more able to elicit from these marks than to assign from elsewhere. That it is earlier than the eleventh century, however, becomes sufficiently plain to me from the Latin instrument of the foundation of the chapter made in it, which, taken from the same cartulary, folio 15, I transfer here. Whereas it is agreed that the course of carnal life is slippery for the human race on account of the disobedience of the first-formed man, and that every man of this age, avoiding its enticements, ought to show himself, while he may, such in good works that he may be able happily to pass over to that life which shall be without end, the Apostle exhorting: While we have time, let us work good toward all.
[13] at the beginning of which Compelled by the admonition of this Apostle and of the other holy Scriptures, I, Odo of Déols, considering that there is no stability in temporal riches, have determined to give to God a part of the greatest things of my possession, for the salvation of my soul, and for the souls of my friends. Wherefore I have determined that the church of Leprosium, founded in honor of God and of holy Silvanus, by the counsel of Dagbert, archbishop of Bourges, and also of my kinsmen and friends, should be adorned with a canonical clergy. Which aforesaid archbishop, desiring on his part to increase so venerable a purpose, and wishing moreover that the aforesaid church should be made free in perpetuity, not only granted that this should be established, but even remitted to that church the synod-dues and parriæ which it formerly paid. These things being thus arranged, accompanied by Drogo of Busintiacum, Gilbert of Bréniac, Beraud of Dun, Giraud Musca, Adalard of Châteaumeillant, and several other of my men, I went, all delay being put away, to the aforesaid church, in which, God helping, establishing a congregation of lawful persons, clerics, I set over them, chosen from among them by their own decree, Radulph as Prior, Gerbert as dean, Theotbert as precentor. a college was founded there
[14] And providing for their maintenance, lest, laboring in the service of God, they should suffer excessive want, I assigned to them a part of those revenues which I had there, namely the sale-dues which come from the office of the butchers, and from those same butchers credit in buying meat for forty days. And because it was fitting that they should have room enough in which they might raise cloisters, cloister-workshops, or other houses, I caused the part of that town nearer to the church to be surrounded with a ditch, and gave it to them so surrounded, and altogether free from every encumbrance. Whoever shall wish to bestow anything from his possessions belonging to my fief for the support of this holy congregation, I assent with grateful mind. Whoever therefore, struck by the dart of his own malignity, shall have cognatus this venerable institution (perhaps shall have attempted to injure, overthrow, or disturb it), let him first incur the wrath of God, and perish with Dathan and Abiram, and not attain what he wickedly seeks. This subscription was made in the presence of Odo himself, lord of Déols, of Radulph his son, of Droco of Busentiacum, of Gilbert of Benia, of Beraud of Dun, of Giraud Musca, of Odo of Montboriac, of Adalard of Châteaumeillant, of Utbert of Bardelia, and of several others, whose names it would be long to report. Given in the month of May, in the reign of king Robert, Dagbert archbishop presiding over the district of Bourges, in the tenth moon. This moon designates the year 997, in which Robert was king and Dagbert archbishop.
[15] a college of canons. Nicolas Catherinot in his Index of benefices (le Pouillé) of the church of Bourges writes that it was made about the year 1030 — I render his words into Latin: Leprosum, otherwise Gabatum or Cavatum … That church (understand, in so far as it is collegiate) was founded by Odo, prince of Déols, about 1030. The Prior is elected by the chapter; but the canonries are conferred in full right by the Prior and the chapter. But most probably he did not see the letters of Odo recited above; otherwise he would have placed the foundation earlier, since he himself, in the Sanctuarium of Bourges, page 13, says that Dagbert, under which archbishop it was made, died in the year 1012. In agreement is the anonymous monk of Saint-Sulpice in the Patriarchium Bituricense in Labbe, volume 2 of the Bibliotheca Mss., page 86, where he says that Dagbert sat from the year 987 until 1012; there are, however, those who postpone his death to the following year. Between this, therefore, and the year 996, in which Robert, son of Hugh Capet, first began to reign alone, the said foundation of the college of canons is to be placed.
[16] Their bodies In the aforesaid documents of Bourges there are mentioned letters patent, given in the year 1503 on the IV day of February, in which the most illustrious William of Cambrai, archbishop of Bourges, inserted the letters of his predecessor Henry d'Avaugour, archbishop, containing the occasion and history of the visitation of the relics of our Saints made in the year 1439. This was the occasion. Down to those times the head of St. Silvanus, famous for continual and remarkable miracles, had been accustomed to be exposed to the public veneration of the faithful, separated from the other relics of him and of his Companions, preserved in a larger reliquary. Meanwhile there were found men who maliciously spread it abroad among the people and asserted that the head customarily exposed to veneration was not the head of St. Silvanus. Hence the Prior and canons of the collegiate church of Leprosium laid complaints before Henry the archbishop; and he, on the XX day of October in the year 1439, committed to the prudent men William Crasset and Peter Durand, priests and notaries of the episcopal court, the charge of diligently examining the matter.
[17] They betook themselves to the collegiate church, and after the most holy sacrifice of the Mass had been piously celebrated, were duly visited in the presence of John, abbot of Landais (it is a monastery of the Cistercian Order in the archpresbytery of Leprosium), and of several most notable men, they ordered the reliquary exposed on the high altar to be opened. In that reliquary — these are the very words of our instrument, rendered from the French into Latin — there were three smaller wooden reliquaries, on one of which was inscribed in an old character: Case of St. Silvanus; on the second was inscribed in the same character: Case of St. Silvester; on the third: Case of St. Rodena. In the first reliquary the commissioners found all the bones of St. Silvanus, except the head and one arm, which were exposed to the veneration of men, and were preserved in the same church; they found likewise in each case the bones of the Saints whose names stood on the said cases. There were found besides in these three cases the Acts and Legends of the same Saints, and also several ancient ecclesiastical books. The commissioners found the letters of Philip Berruyer, archbishop of Bourges, attesting that the bodies of St. Silvanus, St. Silvester, and St. Rodena are preserved in the church of Leprosium, but the head and arm of St. Silvanus in reliquaries separate from the bones of the same Saint.
[18] Denis de Sainte-Marthe presently marks the aforesaid archbishop Philip with the title of Blessed, in volume 2 of the Gallia Christiana, in the year 1439, and by the archbishop of Bourges and sets his death in the year 1260, about the feast of the Epiphany. As for the Acts of the Saints found in the cases, I should not think them different from those recited above from the most ancient Breviary of Bourges; but if nevertheless I am mistaken, and they bear a greater authority than these, it will be welcome to have obtained copies of them, that they may be illustrated in the supplement of our Work or on any other opportune occasion, which perhaps the people of Leprosium would supply, either by assigning the day of the translation, or by signifying whether, and in what month and on what day, SS. Silvester and Rodena have a peculiar festival. I resume the history of the visitation. These things being done, the Prior and canons petitioned Henry d'Avaugour the archbishop that, according to what the commissioners delegated by him had found, he would declare that the bodies of SS. Silvanus and Silvester exist in the church of Leprosium, that those Saints were sent into that region to preach the Gospel, and that very many miracles are wrought by their intercession on those who had been stricken with the fire of St. Silvanus. It is a kind of disease, in French feu S. Silvain, concerning which Saussay writes thus in his Supplement: By the merits of the same (St. Silvanus) the diseased fire is extinguished, and relief is granted to sick limbs, the Lord bestowing it.
[19] At the said prayers of the people of Leprosium the archbishop Henry d'Avaugour, approved: the relics of St. Silvanus — these again are the words of our instrument — by letters given in the year 1439 declared that the bodies of SS. Silvanus, Silvester, and Rodena are preserved and rest in the church of Leprosium, granting indulgences of forty days to all who, being truly contrite, shall visit the church of Leprosium, shall bestow alms, and shall pour forth prayers for peace. To these is subjoined that in the year 1444 the ecclesiastical judge of the diocese of Bourges, commonly called the official, at the request of the Prior and canons of Leprosium, delegated master William Vaquelin, licentiate and canon of St. Anianus in the province of Bourges, to take out of the reliquary of St. Silvanus a bone four fingers in size, to be carried about through the whole province according to custom. That bone was taken out on the third weekday after the feast of St. Martin in winter, and replaced on the following Saturday in a (second) reliquary, in the presence of John of Rouvray, canon and professor of theology, of John of Brittonerie, cleric (perhaps sacristan), of Nicolas Maquerel, goldsmith, and of several other witnesses.
[20] and of St. Silvester were at least in part withdrawn from the fury In the year 1635, on the XXVI day of October, the head of St. Silvester was placed in a silver reliquary or bust, which the lord Charles de Carles gave as a gift, knight, lord of Pradines; at that solemn act there were present many most notable persons, among whom the illustrious lady de Fiesque, lady of Leprosium, Claude de Fiesque, abbot of Ferrières (de Ferieres) in the province of Poitiers, Marie de Fiesque, wife of the lord marquis de Bréauté. These relics had before been in a leaden reliquary. Thus far from the chest of indulgences assigned above. Then some things are recited from the codex of the Acts of the chapter marked 24, folio 120, in these words in French: In the year 1562, in the troubled times of religion, the ornaments, reliquaries, and other treasures of gold and silver … were plundered by the Huguenots, as appears from the instrument of clearance, granted on the sixth weekday, the first day of June, to William Boutier and Giles Gaillard, ministers and guardians of the church of St. Silvanus of Leprosium.
[21] of the heretics: and those of St. Rodena also? There escaped, however, the hands of the heretics, either certainly were afterwards recovered, the heads of SS. Silvanus and Silvester. Of the head of St. Silvester it is clear from the instrument of the year 1635 just cited; of both, from the following, to which this title is prefixed: Acts, transcribed, of the visitation of the most illustrious archbishop of Bourges, XXIX May 1685. That was Michel Phélypeaux de la Vrillière, promoted to that see in the year 1677. The Acts run thus: The most illustrious lord archbishop of Bourges, visiting the relics of the church of Leprosium, found two silver heads, one of St. Silvanus, the other of St. Silvester, containing the head entire. From each head the most illustrious archbishop took a small particle the size of half a gold crown. The authentic instruments were found entire, and furnished with all formalities, except the Acts of the translation of the head of St. Silvester, made by the praetor of Leprosium in the year 1635, when the relics were translated into a silver head, given as a gift by the lord de Pradines. These Acts the most illustrious archbishop removed, as null and issuing from lay authority. So there, no mention being made of St. Rodena, whether any relics of her even now survive is unknown to me.
Annotata\ bestowed*