Curiosities of Christian History Part 36

When the British emigrants in the sixth century went to convert the inhabitants of Armorica, in Brittany, they took also a bard named Hyvernion, who married a female bard; and these two had a little blind child named Herve, who, when an orphan at the age of seven, went about the country singing hymns with the voice of an angel. He became a universal favourite, and people wished him to be made a priest. But he would not leave a little monastery of his own which he had founded in a forest, and where he had a school and a church and taught children's songs. This church was managed by a child cousin of his own, a little girl named Christina, who used to be compared to a little white dove among the crows.

Three days before his death Herve fell into a trance, in which he saw visions of choirs of angels, and of his father and mother among the saints of heaven. The third day of his illness he told Christina to make his bed with a stone for a pillow and ashes for a couch, as he was anxious that the black angel should find him in that state. The little girl, on comprehending that his end was near, begged him to ask G.o.d to let her accompany him, and the prayer was granted, for when he died she threw herself at his feet and died too immediately. Ever since then the little blind monk is often heard singing his little hymns, and he is the patron of all the mendicant singers of Brittany. The same legend says that his mother used to be so proud of her minstrel boy as to think that, if there were a thousand singing together, she could still distinguish little Herve's voice among them.

THE SUPPER OF ST. GREGORY.

St. Gregory was in his early days a monk in St. Andrew's at Rome, though afterwards he became Pope and sent St. Augustine to preach to the Saxons at Canterbury. When at St. Andrew's a beggar once came to the gate and was relieved, and he came again and again till all the monk's means were exhausted. At last Gregory ordered the silver porringer which his mother Sylvia had given to him to be handed to the mendicant. When Gregory became Pope, he used to entertain every evening to supper twelve poor men, and one night he was surprised to notice that there were thirteen seated at the table. He called to the steward and said he had given orders that there should be twelve only. The steward looked and counted them over and said, "Holy father, there are surely twelve only!" Gregory said nothing more, but at the end of the meal he called to the thirteenth and unbidden guest, "Who art thou?" The answer was, "I am the poor man whom thou didst formerly relieve, and my name is the Wonderful, and through me thou shalt obtain whatever thou shalt ask of G.o.d." Then Gregory knew that he had entertained an angel, or, as some say, our Lord Himself. This legend is often represented in pictures, Christ sitting as a pilgrim with the other guests. Another legend represents St. Gregory officiating at the Ma.s.s where some one was near who doubted the real presence; and the Saviour in person descended upon the altar surrounded by the instruments of His pa.s.sion in answer to a prayer addressed by the saint.

ST. GREGORY RELEASING THE SOUL OF TRAJAN.

The doctrine of purgatory was said to arise from the feelings expressed by St. Gregory at the following incident in the life of Trajan. That Emperor was once hastening at the head of his legions, when a poor widow flung herself in his way, crying aloud for justice and vengeance over the innocent blood of her son, killed by the son of the Emperor. Trajan promised to do her justice when he returned from his expedition. The widow then exclaimed, "But, sire, if you are killed in battle, who then is to do me justice?" Trajan answered, "My successor." She then retorted, "But what will it signify to you, Emperor, if it is left to some other person to do me justice? Is it not better that you should do this honourable action and receive the reward yourself?" Trajan, moved by her piety and her reasoning, then alighted, and having examined into the matter, he gave up to her his own son in place of her son, and also bestowed on her likewise a liberal pension. Now it came to pa.s.s that one day, as Gregory was meditating in his daily walk, this action of the Emperor Trajan came into his recollection, and he wept bitterly to think that a man so just should be condemned as a heathen to eternal punishment. And entering a church, he prayed most fervently that the soul of the good Emperor might be released from torment. And a voice said to him: "I have granted thy prayer, and I have spared the soul of Trajan for thy sake; but because thou hast supplicated for one whom the justice of G.o.d had already condemned thou shalt choose one of two things: either thou shalt endure for two days the fires of purgatory, or thou shalt be sick and infirm for the remainder of thy life." Gregory chose the latter, and this accounted for the many bodily infirmities of the saint during the rest of his life.

LEGEND OF ST. BEGA.

In c.u.mberland, on a promontory of the Irish Sea, stood the monastery of St. Bees, named after St. Bega, who was one of the nuns under the great abbess St. Hilda of Whitby. St. Bega was the daughter of an Irish king, the most beautiful woman of her time, and was sought in marriage by a prince of Norway. But she had vowed to live a nun, and had received from an angel a bracelet marked with the sign of the cross, as the seal of her high calling. On the night before her wedding day, while her father's retainers were carousing, she escaped alone with nothing but the bracelet, and in a skiff landed on the western sh.o.r.e of Northumbria, and took refuge in a cell in a wood, and then joined St. Hilda till she could build a monastery of her own. During the building she prepared with her own hands the food of the masons and waited on them. Her bracelet was long preserved as a relic. She was celebrated for her austerity, her fervour, and her kindness to the poor, and remained the patron saint for six hundred years after her death of the north-west coast of England.

ST. FRUCTUOSUS AND THE DOE.

Fructuosus, who died about 665, displayed when a mere child a genius for monkery. When a boy he had already fixed on a site for a monastery; and when he had carried out his enterprise and gathered a large body of followers, and was praying in a secluded spot in a forest, a labourer took him for a fugitive slave, and put a rope round his neck and brought him to a place where he was recognised. Another time he was wandering covered with a goat skin, and a huntsman thinking him a wild beast shot an arrow at him, and only then discovered that it was a man perched on the top of a rock with his hands extended in prayer. On another day a hind pursued by the hunters threw itself into the folds of the monk's tunic, and he was so pleased at this mark of confidence that he took the wild creature home and treated it kindly. They soon became mutually attached. The simple doe followed him everywhere, slept at the foot of his bed and bleated incessantly if he was out of her sight. He tried to send her back to the woods, but she soon returned to his cell and haunted it as before. At last a brutal fellow, who was supposed to have no goodwill to the monks, one day killed her while Fructuosus was on a journey. On his return his eyes searched in vain for a welcome from his faithful friend, and when informed of her death he fell prostrate on the floor of the church, quivering with agony. The bystanders thought he was asking of G.o.d some punishment for this brutality. Soon after the murderer fell sick, and begged urgently this monk to go to his aid. The monk avenged himself n.o.bly; he went and healed his greatest enemy, and at the same time made him repent of his sins.

POPE JOAN (A.D. 854).

The story that there was once a female Pope, who succeeded Leo in 854, and reigned two years and five months, was first told three hundred years later by a chronicler named Stephen, a French Dominican, who died in 1261.

She concealed her s.e.x, but on her way to the Lateran she was delivered of a child in the street, and died shortly afterwards. Others say the child was born as she was celebrating High Ma.s.s. The story was embellished as time advanced. But it has been in modern times treated as a fable devised and kept up by the Protestant reformers in order to discredit the Papacy.

Some added that Joan was the daughter of an English missionary, and fell in love with a monk; that she dressed herself in male attire in order to pursue her studies, became celebrated for her learning, and at last arrived at the high dignity of Pope. Others say she was an Athenian woman celebrated for her learning, who had come to Rome as an adventuress.

Others say she was a native of Mayence, who fell in love and went in man's attire to Rome, and after many adventures succeeded to the highest dignity.

BISHOP HATTO DEVOURED BY RATS.

Bishop Hatto had a castle on a little rock in the Rhine. In 970 a famine existed in Germany, and the famishing people asked the bishop for help, and he invited them to go into a large barn. He set fire to the barn, and they were all consumed. Soon afterwards an army of rats collected and moved towards the palace, and on seeing them the bishop fled to his tower in the Rhine, thinking they could not follow him. But they swarmed through the river and climbed up into the holes and windows and ate up the bishop.

This story was told for the first time at the beginning of the fourteenth century, and a similar legend is found in the records of Poland and Bavaria.

ST. CONRAD SWALLOWING A SPIDER.

It is related of St. Conrad, a devout bishop who died in 976, that he was celebrating the Ma.s.s on Easter Day, when a great spider dropped into the chalice. The insect might have been taken out and then decently burnt, but out of devotion and respect for the holy mysteries the bishop swallowed the spider, which he vomited up some hours after without receiving any harm.

THE PIPER OF HAMELN AND THE RATS.

The town of Hameln was infested with rats, which swarmed everywhere and drove the people mad. One day a stranger came saying he was a ratcatcher, and offered to rid the place of the vermin for a sum of money. This was agreed to, and the piper began to pipe, and the rats with a mighty rumbling noise came out of their holes and followed him. The townspeople, on seeing the rats leaving them, repented of the bargain, and refused to pay the money, on the ground of the piper being a sorcerer. The piper then waxed wroth and threatened revenge, and soon after he came again into the town and blew his pipe, whereon all the children rushed out and followed him towards a side of the mountain, when they all vanished through an opening, and none of them were ever seen again. There were one hundred and thirty children. The street through which the poor children were decoyed is called the Bungen Stra.s.se, and to this day no music is ever tolerated in it.

LADY G.o.dIVA RELIEVING COVENTRY.

It is related by Matthew of Westminster that Count Leofric, who died in 1057, and his n.o.ble and pious wife G.o.diva, had founded a monastery in Coventry, had established monks in it, and endowed it so abundantly with estates and treasures of various kinds that there was not found such a quant.i.ty of gold, silver, and precious stones in any monastery in all England as there was at that time in that monastery. The countess had on an occasion wished in a most pious spirit to deliver the city of Coventry from a burdensome and shameful slavery, and often entreated the count her husband with earnest prayers to deliver the town from that slavery. And when the count reproached her for persevering in asking to no purpose for a thing which he disliked, he at last charged her never for the future to mention this subject to him. She, however, prompted by female persistence, continued her entreaties, till her husband was provoked, and then taunted her thus: "Mount then your horse naked and ride through the market of the town from end to end, and when you return you shall succeed in your request." The countess replied, "I am willing even to do that if you will give me your permission." And he gave it. Then the countess, beloved of G.o.d, on a set day mounted her horse naked, letting her tresses of hair fall, which covered her whole body except her beautiful legs; and when she had finished her journey without being seen by any one, she returned to her husband with joy. He looked on this as a miracle, released the city from slavery, and confirmed the charter with his own seal.

THE SACRED FIRE IN THE GREEK CHURCH.

A ceremony was long prevalent among the Greek Christians at Jerusalem which resembled the carnival in Rome. On Easter Eve it was pretended that fire descended from heaven into the sacred sepulchre. In order to keep up this illusion, all the lamps were extinguished. The crowd then collected round the sepulchre, some crying "Eleison" and jumping on each other's backs, and throwing dirt about like people at a fair. Some held up their wax tapers, as if imploring the Almighty to send the fire. Then people marched round the sepulchre, some personating the archbishops and bishops.

At last one entered the sepulchre and pretended his taper had caught fire.

The crowd then pressed round to light their tapers at that which first took fire. Great rioting and tomfoolery then succeeded. Some ascribe the origin of this superst.i.tion to a real miracle of the same kind which once happened, and it is added that G.o.d Almighty being provoked at the irregularities of the Christian Crusaders refused to work the miracle, but at last vouchsafed to do so after fervent supplications. It was said the fire had never descended since the beginning of the twelfth century. Part of the above ceremony consisted in the crowd bringing pieces of linen cloth, said to be marked with a cross by the tapers kindled at the sacred fire; and these cloths were preserved as winding-sheets and sacred relics.

SOME SUPERSt.i.tIONS OF THE GREEK CHURCH.

The Greeks of the Holy Land all believed as an unquestionable fact that the birds which fly about Jerusalem never sing during Pa.s.sion Week, but stand motionless and confounded, as if in sorrow. Pilgrims to Jerusalem got certain marks imprinted on their arms with indelible characters, and which they afterwards produced as certificates of their pilgrimage. The Grecian populace ascribed to the waters of the Jordan the supernatural virtue of healing several distempers. The plant known as the rose of Jericho was in their opinion a sure defence against thunder and lightning.

They also believed that on Easter Day the lands all round Cairo and the Nile throw up their dead and continue to do so till Ascension Day.

PRESTER JOHN.

The belief that a great Christian Emperor reigned in Asia arose in the twelfth century. He was called Presbyter Johannes, and had defeated the Mussulmans and was ready to a.s.sist the Crusaders. Pope Alexander III. once sent a physician with a letter to this Emperor, but the messenger was never again heard of. The first chronicler who mentioned the existence of this doubtful sovereign was Otto, who wrote at the date 1156, and stated that the Priest John's kingdom was on the farther side of Persia and Armenia, and that he had routed the Persians after a b.l.o.o.d.y battle. He was supposed to belong to the family of the Magi who visited Christ in His cradle. He wrote a letter in 1165 to various Christian princes, giving details of the splendour of his country and his possessions. He said seventy-two kings paid him tribute, and the body of the holy Apostle Thomas was buried in his country beyond India. His country was the home of the elephant, the griffin, the centaur, the phoenix, giants, pigmies, and nearly all living animals.

LORETTO AND THE HOLY COTTAGE OF THE MADONNA.

The small city of Loretto, about twenty miles from Ancona, has been for five centuries a popular place of pilgrimage, so called from a grove of laurels in which the Santa Casa is said to have rested. This is the holy cottage which, according to the tradition, was the birthplace of the Virgin, as well as the dwelling of the Holy Family after the flight out of Egypt. The house was held in extraordinary veneration throughout Palestine after the Empress Helena discovered the true cross, and it was conveyed by angels from Nazareth in 1291 to the coast of Dalmatia, and in 1294 it was suddenly again transported to a grove near Loretto, and the Virgin appeared in a vision to St. Nicholas of Tolentino to announce its arrival to the faithful. It three times changed its position before settling down, and pilgrims soon flocked to visit it. The city is very small, and stands on a hill three miles from the sea, and it consists chiefly of shops which carry on a great trade in crowns, medals, and pictures of the Madonna di Loretto. The place now swarms with beggars who appeal for charity, while the shrine glistens with gold and diamonds. The church contains the Santa Casa, which is a small brick house twenty-nine feet long, thirteen feet high, and twelve feet broad, and a humble dwelling of rude workmanship is enclosed in a marble casing adorned with beautiful sculptures. In a niche above the fireplace is the celebrated statue of the Virgin said to have been sculptured by St. Luke. The height of this statue is thirty-three inches, and the child fourteen inches. The figures are rude, but are hung with glistening jewels; and silver lamps are constantly burning before the shrine. There are also three earthen pots here which are said to have belonged to the Holy Family.

KING RICHARD I.'s STORY OF AN INGRATE.

About 1196 Matthew Paris says that Vitalis, a Venetian n.o.ble, who was rich and miserly, went into a forest to hunt for venison for his daughter's marriage feast, and fell into a large pit cunningly set for lions, bears, and wolves, out of which escape was impossible. Here he found a lion and serpent; but as he signed with the cross, neither animal, though fierce and hungry, ventured to attack him. All night he called aloud with lamentations for help, and a poor woodcutter being attracted, went to the pit's mouth and heard the story. Vitalis offered him half of all his property--namely, five hundred talents--if he would rescue him; and the woodcutter said he would do so if Vitalis would be as good as his word. A ladder and ropes were brought and let down by the poor peasant, but the lion and serpent eagerly strove to be the first to rush out, and then came Vitalis, who was conducted to a place of safety, and being asked where and when the promise would be discharged, told his deliverer to call in four days at his palace in Venice for the money. The peasant went home to dinner, and while sitting at table was surprised to see the lion enter and lay down a dead goat, and then lick his feet. Then came the serpent, and brought a jewel as a present. When the peasant went to claim his money, Vitalis pretended he had never seen or heard of the poor man, and ordered the latter to be put out by his servants and cast into prison. But by a sudden spring the peasant managed to escape, and then applied to the judges of the city. The judges at first hesitated; but when the peasant took witnesses, and visited the lion and serpent, both of which fawned on him, the justices were satisfied, and compelled Vitalis to fulfil his promise and pay compensation. This story used to be told by King Richard I. to expose the conduct of ungrateful men.

ST. FRANCIS AND HIS LOVE OF BIRDS.

One day St. Francis met in his road a young man on his way to Siena to sell some doves which he had caught in a snare. And Francis said to him, "My good young man! these are the birds to whom the Scripture compares those who are pure and faithful before G.o.d; do not kill them, I beseech thee, but give them rather to me." And when they were given to him, he put them in his bosom and carried them to his convent at Ravacciano, where he made for them nests, and fed them every day, until they became so tame as to eat from his hand. And the young man had also his recompense, for he became a friar and lived a holy life from that day forth. St. Francis also loved the larks, and pointed them out to his disciples as always singing praises to the Creator. A lark once brought her brood of nestlings to his cell to be fed from his hand. He saw that the strongest of these nestlings tyrannised over the others, pecking at them, and taking more than his due share of the food. Whereupon the good saint rebuked the creature, saying, "Thou unjust and insatiable! thou shalt die miserably, and the greediest animals shall refuse to eat thy flesh." And so it happened, for the creature drowned itself through its impetuosity in drinking; and when it was thrown to the cats they would not touch it. On St. Francis returning from Syria, in pa.s.sing through the Venetian Lagune, vast numbers of birds were singing, and he said to his companion, "Our sisters the birds are praising their Creator; let us sing with them." And he began the sacred service. But the warbling of the birds interrupted them; therefore St.

Francis said to them, "Be silent until we have also praised G.o.d," and they ceased their song and did not resume it till he had given them permission.

On another occasion, preaching at Alviano, St. Francis could not make himself heard for the chirping of the swallows, which were at that time building their nests. Pausing, therefore, in his sermon, he said, "My sisters, you have talked enough; it is time that I should have my turn. Be silent and listen to the Word of G.o.d." And they were silent immediately.

On another occasion, as St. Francis was sitting with his disciple Leo, he felt himself penetrated with joy and consolation by the song of the nightingale, and he desired his friend Leo to raise his voice and sing the praises of G.o.d in company with the bird. But Leo excused himself by reason of his bad voice; upon which Francis himself began to sing, and when he stopped the nightingale took up the strain; and thus they sang alternately until the night was far advanced and Francis was obliged to stop, for his voice failed. Then he confessed that the little bird had vanquished him; he called it to him, thanked it for its song, and gave it the remainder of his bread; and having bestowed his blessing upon it, the creature flew away. A gra.s.shopper was wont to sit and sing on a fig tree near the cell of the man of G.o.d, and oftentimes by her singing she excited him also to sing the praises of the Creator. And one day he called her to him, and she flew upon his hand; and Francis said to her, "Sing, my sister, and praise the Lord thy Creator." So she began her song immediately, nor ceased till at her father's command she flew back to her own place; and she remained eight days there, coming and singing at his behest. At length the man of G.o.d said to his disciples, "Let us dismiss our sister; enough that she has cheered us with her song and excited us to the praise of G.o.d these eight days." So being permitted, she immediately flew away, and was seen no more. When Francis found worms or insects in his road, he was careful not to tread on them. He would even remove them from the path, lest they should be crushed by others. One day, in pa.s.sing through a meadow, he perceived a little lamb feeding all alone in the midst of a flock of goats. He was moved with pity, and said, "Thus did our mild Saviour stand alone in the midst of the Jews and the Pharisees." He would have bought the lamb, but had nothing in the world but his tunic. A charitable man, however, pa.s.sing by and seeing his grief, bought the lamb and gave it to him. When he was at Rome in 1222, he had with him a pet lamb which accompanied him everywhere; and in pictures of St. Francis a lamb is frequently introduced.

ST. FRANCIS AND THE WOLF.

Another story of St. Francis is, that finding the neighbourhood of Gubbio was held in terror by the ravages of a wolf, he went out fearlessly to meet the beast, and when found he addressed the latter as "Brother Wolf,"

and brought him to a sense of his wickedness in slaying not only brute animals but human creatures. And Francis promised that if his friend Wolf would desist from such practices the citizens of Gubbio would maintain him. Brother Wolf, as a token of this sensible overture, put his paw into the saint's right hand and accompanied him to the town, where the people gladly ratified the preliminaries of the treaty. The wolf spent the rest of his days in innocence and competence, and when he died in his old age he was lamented by all Gubbio.

"ST. FRANCIS AND THE BIRDS," BY A CONTEMPORARY.

Roger of Wendover, a contemporary of St. Francis, in noticing his death in 1227, thus describes him: "This servant of G.o.d, Francis, built an oratory in Rome, and, like a n.o.ble warrior, engaged in battle against evil spirits and carnal vices. When the Roman people despised him, he said, 'I have preached the Gospel of the Redeemer to you. I therefore call on Him to bear witness to your desolation, and go forth to preach the Gospel of Christ to the brute beasts, and to the birds of the air, that they may hear the life-giving words of G.o.d and be obedient to them.' He then went out of the city, and in the suburbs found crows sitting among the dead bodies, kites, magpies, and other birds flying about in the air, and said to them, 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, whom the Jews crucified, and whose preaching the wretched Romans have despised, to come to me and hear the Word of G.o.d in the name of Him who created you and preserved Noah in the ark from the waters of the deluge.' All that flock of birds then drew near and surrounded him; and having ordered silence, all kinds of chirping were hushed, and those birds listened to the words of the man of G.o.d for the s.p.a.ce of half a day without moving from the spot, and the whole time looked in the face of the preacher. This wonderful circ.u.mstance was discovered by the Romans pa.s.sing and repa.s.sing to and from the city; and when the same had been repeated by the man of G.o.d to the a.s.sembled birds, the clergy and crowds of people went out and brought back the man of G.o.d with great reverence. And he then softened their obdurate hearts. His fame spread abroad, and many of n.o.ble birth, following his example, left the world and its vices. The order of the brethren soon increased and scattered the seed of the Word of G.o.d and the dew of the heavenly doctrine."