The Lives of the Saints, Volume II (of 16): February. Baring-Gould Sabine

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СКАЧАТЬ in the introduction of Christianity. His apostasy provoked the inveterate hostility of the Northmen, and the sea-kings determined to avenge the insult offered to the national gods.

      Rallying from all quarters under the banner of Guthrun, nephew of Eric, they attacked the apostate king near Flensburg, in Jutland. The battle raged for three days, and at its close Eric and Guthrun, and a host of kings and jarls lay dead upon the field; and so tremendous had been the slaughter, that the entire Viking nobility seemed to have been utterly exterminated.

      The new king, Eric II., easily persuaded that the recent reverses were entirely due to the apostasy of his predecessor, ordered one of Anskar's churches to be closed, and forbade all further missionary operations. After a while, however, he was induced to change his policy, and Anskar, on his return from Sweden, was reinstated in the royal favour, and received a grant of land for the erection of a second church at Ripe, in Jutland, over which he placed Rembert, his favourite disciple, charging him to win the hearts of his barbarous flock by the sincerity and devotion of his life.

      Anskar now returned to Hamburg, and devoted himself to the administration of his diocese. One of the latest acts of his life was a noble effort to check the infamous practice of kidnapping and trading in slaves. A number of native Christians had been carried off by the northern pirates, and reduced to slavery. Effecting their escape, they sought refuge in the territory of Northalbingia. Instead of sheltering the fugitives, some of the chiefs retained a portion of them as their own slaves, and sold others to heathen, and even professedly Christian tribes around. News of this reached Anskar, and at the risk of his life he sternly rebuked the chiefs and succeeded in inducing them to set the captives free, and to ransom as many as possible from the bondage into which they had sold them.

      This noble act formed an appropriate conclusion to his life. He was now more than sixty-four years of age, and during more than half that period had laboured unremittingly in the mission field. His friend and biographer expatiates eloquently on his character, as exhibiting the perfect model of ascetic perfection. Even when elevated to the episcopal dignity, he never exempted himself from the rigid discipline of the cloister. He wore a haircloth shirt by night as well as by day. He measured out his food and drink by an exact rule. He chanted a fixed number of Psalms, alike when he arose in the morning and when he retired to rest at night. His charity knew no bounds. Not only did he erect a hospital at Bremen for the sick and needy, distribute a tenth of his income among the poor, and divide amongst them any presents he might receive, but every five years he tithed his income afresh, that he might be quite sure the poor had their proper share. Whenever he went on a tour of visitation through his diocese, he would never sit down to dinner, without first ordering some of the poor to be brought in, and he himself would sometimes wash their feet, and distribute amongst them bread and meat.

      Such a practical exhibition of Christian love could not fail to exercise a gradual influence even over the rough pirates of the North, which was increased by the many miracles he wrought. But he was not one to seek distinction of this kind. "One miracle," he once said to a friend, "I would if worthy, ask the Lord to grant me; and that is, that by His grace, He would make me a good man."

      He employed his last days in arranging the affairs of his diocese, and calmly expired on the 3rd of February, a. d. 865.

      Relics. At Corbie is preserved an arm of the Saint.

      February 4

      S. Veronica, Matr. at Rome, 1st cent.

      S. Phileas, B. of Thmuis, S. Philoromus and Others, MM. at Alexandria, a. d. 304.

      S. Abraham, M. B. of Arbela, in Persia, a. d. 348.

      S. Gelasius, C. at Piacenza, beginning of 5th cent.

      S. Isidore of Pelusium, P. Monk in Egypt, 5th cent.

      S. Aventine, H. of Troyes, a. d. 538.

      S. Aventine, B. of Chateaudun, 6th cent.

      S. Theophilus the Penitent, C. at Adana in Cilicia, circ. a. d. 538.

      S. Liephard, B. M. at Honcourt, circ. a. d. 640.

      S. Modan, Ab. in Scotland, 7th cent.

      S. Ulgis, Ab. B. at Lobies, 8th cent.

      B. Hrabanus Maurus, Abp. of Mainz, a. d. 856.

      S. Nicholas of the Studium, Ab. C. at Constantinople, a. d. 868.

      S. Probatius, P. at Nogent.

      S. Rembert, B. of Hamburg and Bremen, a. d. 888.

      S. Gilbert of Sempringham, Ab. in England, a. d. 1189.

      S. Andrew Corsini, B. C. of Fiesoli, a. d. 1373.

      S. Jeanne de Valois, Q. of France, a. d. 1505.

      S. Joseph of Leonissa, C. in Italy, a. d. 1612.

      S. John de Britto, S.J., M. at Madura, a. d. 1693.

S. VERONICA(1ST CENT.)

      [Ferrarius in his Catalogue of the Saints. Some give March 25th as the anniversary of the Crucifixion, and as therefore the most appropriate day for the commemoration of the act, which has made Veronica famous. The festival of S. Veronica with special office, found its way into the Ambrosian Missal printed in 1555 and 1560, but it was expunged by the judicious S. Charles Borromeo.]

      ON the 8th December, 1854, when the Eternal City was crowded with bishops, assembled to promulgate the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Pius IX., at the expressed and urgent desire of the prelates, allowed the sacred relics of the passion of Christ to be exhibited in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament at S. Peter's. In the midst, over the altar, between burning tapers, loomed the veil of S. Veronica, impressed with the sacred lineaments of the Saviour. None but bishops were permitted to enter the chapel, all others looked through a grating, and to them, from the depth of the chapel, the portrait was wholly undistinguishable. One inferior ecclesiastic alone, by especial favour, was suffered to enter, accompanying a prelate. This was M. Barbier de Montault, canon of the basilica of Anagni; and he took advantage of the opportunity to scrutinize closely the miraculous portrait. He has fortunately communicated to the world the result of his examination. His words are full of interest: – "The Holy Face is enclosed in a frame of silver, partially gilt, and square, of a severe character and little adorned. The simplicity of the bordering gives prominence to the interior of the picture, which is protected by a thin plate of crystal. Unfortunately, a sheet of metal covers the field, and only leaves apparent the figure by indicating its outline. By this outline one is led to conjecture flowing hair reaching to the shoulders, and a short beard, bifurcated, and small. The other features are so vaguely indicated, or so completely effaced, that it requires the liveliest imagination in the world to perceive traces of eyes or nose. In short, one does not see the material of the substance, because of the useless intervention of a metal plate, and the place of the impression exhibits only a blackish surface, not giving any evidence of human features."12

      The legend of the origin of this portrait is as follows: A holy woman, named Bernice, or, as it has been Latinized, Veronica, lived on the way to Calvary. As Christ was on the road bearing the cross, He fell near her door, and she, moved with compassion, went to Him, and gently wiped the sweat from His face with her veil or napkin. Then the impression of the sacred countenance remained on the veil. Marianus Scotus, the historian (d. 1086), tells the rest of the story thus: "The emperor Tiberius was afflicted with leprosy. Hearing of the miracles of Our Lord, he sent to Jerusalem for Him. But Christ was already crucified, and had risen СКАЧАТЬ