GM 50

English

The martyr St Benignus

Benignus, another witness to the name of the Lord, was perfected by martyrdom in the town of Dijon. After his martyrdom, because he was buried in a huge sarcophagus, men of our time and in particular the blessed bishop Gregorius always thought that some pagan had been buried there. For the countryfolk fulfilled their vows there and quickly received what they sought. After one man noticed the many blessings there, he brought a candle to the tomb of the saint; after lighting it, he returned home. A young boy watched this, and after the man left he went down to the tomb to extinguish the burning candle and steal it. As he approached, behold, a huge serpent came from another direction and wrapped itself around the candle. The boy was afraid and turned back; even after trying a second and third time, he was unsuccessful because the serpent blocked him. Although these stories and others like them were reported to the bishop, in no way did he believe them, but all the more did he strongly encourage people not to worship there. Finally the martyr of God once revealed himself to the blessed confessor [Gregorius] and said: 'What: he asked, 'are you doing? Not only do you scorn this tomb, but you disdain those who honor me. Do not do this, I ask, but quickly prepare a shelter for me: Gregorius was disturbed by this vision; he went to the sacred tomb and there at length wept and begged forgiveness for his ignorance. And because the crypt that had been vaulted by the original builders was in disrepair, the blessed bishop rebuilt it and vaulted it with elegant workmanship. But for some unknown reason the holy sarcophagus remained outside. When Gregorius wished to transfer it inside, he gathered the abbots and other monks for the task. At this assembly the holy martyr performed a spectacular miracle for the people and for his own confessor Gregorius. This sarcophagus was in fact so large, as I said, that at the time three yoke of oxen were unable to budge it. They dallied for a long time and did not figure out how to carry the sarcophagus inside. So, in the spotlight of the candles and with the accompaniment of the loud chanting of psalms, St Gregorius picked up the sarcophagus at the end with the martyr's head and two priests moved it at the foot end. Effortlessly they brought the sarcophagus into the crypt and placed it where they had decided. For the people this was a fantastic sight. A few years later the blessed confessor Gregorius acquired from men traveling to Italy a history of Benignus' suffering. Thereafter the holy martyr revealed himself to the people with many miracles. Without delay Gregorius ordered a large church to be constructed over the crypt.

There is another church nearby in which the nun Paschasia is venerated. At that time it seemed to the builders that an old woman had come out of the church. She was dressed in black, her hair was white as a swan, and her face was glorious. She said to the builders: 'Greetings, my most beloved men; complete your fine work. Let the scaffolding that supports this building be raised, and the task that has such a director will justly proceed quickly. For if it were possible for the sight of your eyes to see, you would surely realize that St Benignus is directing your construction.' After she said this, she entered the church from which she had come and never again appeared to anyone. The men of that time thought that the blessed Paschasia had appeared there.

Many people pour wine and cider into the depressions that were made on top of the stone to which Benignus' feet were affixed with molten lead. Then, once eyes afflicted with inflammation or some other sores are soaked [with this liquid], immediately the illness leaves and they are healed. 1 certainly experienced this. For when my eyes were severely inflamed, 1 was touched with this holy ointment and immediately lost the pain.

When that plague of the groin that the prayer of the bishop St Gallus [eventually] repulsed was approaching the territory of Clermont, signs and marks appeared on the walls of homes and churches suddenly, as men looked. My mother had a vision during the night in which it seemed that the wine that was in our cellars had been changed into blood. She wept and said: 'Woe am I, because my house has been marked for the plague.' A man replied to her and said: 'Do you know that the [anniversary of the] suffering of the martyr Benignus will be celebrated tomorrow on the Kalends of November [I November]?' 'I know,' my mother said. He said: 'Go, keep the vigil in his honor during the entire night, celebrate mass, and you will be rescued from the plague.' My mother awoke from her sleep and did what she had been ordered. Although the houses of our neighbors were marked, our home remained untouched.

Latin

Benignus autem ac dominici nominis testis apud Divionensim castrum martyrio consummatus est. Et quia in magnum sarcophagum post martyrium conditus fuit, putabant nostri temporis homines, et praesertim beatus (iregorius episcopus, ibi aliquem positum fuisse gentilem. Nam rustici vota inibi dissolvebant et quae petebant velociter inpetrabant. Ad hoc ergo beati sepulchrum quidam, dum exinde multa beneficia perciperet, cereum detulit; quo accenso, domi rediit. Puerulus enim parvulus haec observans, illo abeunte discendit ad tumulum, ut ardentem cereum extingueret et auferret. Quo discendente, ecce serpens mirac magnitudinis de alia parte veniens, cereum circumcingit. Puer autem timens, sursum rediit et bis aut tertio cereum auferre temptans, obsistente angue non potuit. Talia et his similia beato pontifici nuntiata nullo modo credebat, sed magis, ne ibidem adorarent, fortiter testabatur. Tandem aliquando Dei martyr beato se confessori revelat et dicit: 'Quid', inquid, 'agis? Non solum quod tu dispicis, verum etiam honorantes me spernis. Ne facias, quaeso, sed tegmen super me velocius praepara'. De qua ille visione concussus, beatum sepulchrum adit ibique diutissime pro ignorantia cum fletu veniam deprecatur. Et quia cripta illa, quae ab antiquis inibi transvoluta fuerat, diruta erat, rursum eam beatus pontifex reaedificavit, eleganti transvolvens opere. Sed sanctum sepulchrum, nescio qua causa faciente, foris evenit. Quod ille intus transferre cupiens, convocatis ad hoc obsequium abbates atque alios religiosos viros; in quo conventu grande miraculum beatus martyr et populis et suo praestetit confessori. Erat quippe validum, ut supra diximus, illud sarcophagum, ut talem in isto tempore nec tria paria bovum trahere possint. Cumque diutissime morarentur nec invenirent, qualiter eum intus inferrent, sanctus Gregorius, inluminatis cereis, cum grandi psallentio adprehensum a capite martyris sarcophagum, et duo presbiteri ad pedes moventes eum, in cripta habilissime detulerunt, et ubi ipsis fuit placitum, conposuerunt; quod non minimum populis spectaculum fuit. Post paucos autem annos ab euntibus in Italiam passionis eius historiam adlatam beatus confessor accepit. Sed et deinceps sanctus martyr multis se virtutibus manifestavit in populis. Nec moratus, super criptam illam basilicam magnam iussit aedificari. In proximo autem est et alia basilica, in qua Paschasia quaedam religiosa veneratur. Nam visum est eo tempore structoribus, quendam anum egressam fuisse ab ipsa basilica, nigra veste, cigneo capite vultuque decora, quae sic affata est structoribus: 'Heia, dilectissimi, perficite opus bonum; eleventur machinae, quibus erigitur haec structura, et merito acceleratur, quae talem habet exsecutorem. Nam si permitteretur, ut vestrorum oculorum acies contemplaret, nempe videbatis vobis operantibus sanctum praeire Benignum'. Haec effata, basilicam, de qua egressa fuerat, ingrediens, nulli ultra conparuit. Autumabant enim eius temporis homines, beatam ibi apparuisse Paschasiam. Super lapidem vero illum, in quo cum plumbo remisso pedes eius confixi fuerunt, factis loculis vinum aut siceram multi infundunt; unde, si aut oculi lippitudine gravati aut quaelibet vulnera fuerint peruncta, protinus, fugata infirmitate, sanantur. Quod ego evidenter expertus sum. Nam cum mihi nimia lippitudine oculi gravarentur, ex hoc sacrato unguine tactus, dolorem protinus carui. Cum autem ad Arvernam regionem lues illa inguinaria adveniret, quae sancti Galli episcopi oratione depulsa est, et in subita contemplatione · parietes domorum atque eclesiarum signarentur atque caraxarentur, matri meae apparuit in visu noctis quasi vinum, quod in apothecis nostris habebatur, sanguis esset effectus. Cui lamentanti ac dicenti: 'Vae mihi, quia signata est plagae domus mea', ait ei vir quidam: 'Nosti', inquid, 'quod post pridie, quod erit in Kalendis Novembris, passio Benigni martyris caelebrabitur?' 'Novi', ait 'Vade', inquid, 'et vigila totam noctem in honore ac revoca missas, et liberaberis a plaga'. Expergefacta autem a somno, implevit quae sibi fuerant imperata, signatisque vicinorum domibus, domus nostra inviolata permansit.