6"
So written in the Acts, as published by the Bollandists.
So written in the Acts, as published by the Bollandists.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v9
" Hence Rader gives it the Greek rendering, Hippocephalum.
In
from the town of Fussen, and in the direction of Augsburg.
? 9 The author of our saint's Acts remarks,
" 82 the map, prefixed to the Commentarius
Father Suysken believes, that this Rerum Augustinarum of F. Charles account is taken from what is related Stengel, the spot is shown at the River in a nearly similar manner in Daniel, xiv.
Lech, and a little more than a German mile 26.
"
"
quia omnes venatores reliquerunt ibi cabal los
idcirco vocatus est iste locus Caput Equi,
suos, et pedestres ibant, quocumque poterant ad venandum. "
*°
8l
See Daniel, c. vi. See Tobias, c. v.
K
i46 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September6.
which Tozzo devoutly joined. Afterwards, they left that rugged place, and went to the River Lech. From the neck of Magnus depended a crucifix or
case,83 containing relics of the Holy Cross, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the holy Martyrs, Maurice and his companions, as also of the Blessed Confessors
Columban and Gall. 8*
Near the banks of the River Lech was found a
Thy holy Mother, and prepare also a dwelling for Thy servants. " Whereupon, they began to dig the foundations and to build a church there. Afterwards, they invited Bishop Wictherp to come and consecrate it
83 This was afterwards kept in the monas- tery of Fiissen. The Abbot Henry, in 1607, opened this case, and found within it seven different objects, but without any inscription. In German they are called siven penggelin, but Father Suysken states, he could not anywhere find the interpretation of the words.
84 Father Suysken rather supposes the
narrative in the text to have been drawn by
the interpolator from an incident of a nearly
ecclesia non in honorem divse Virginis et S.
Floriani, sed in honorem Salvatoris nostri
est dedicata. "
8s where a 86 and on its large apple-tree grew,
and beautiful
branches Magnus hung the reliquary, and called Tozzo to him. Both engaged in prayer, and Magnus exclaimed: " Lord Jesus Christ, who hast deigned to be born of the Virgin and to die for our salvation, despise not the contrition for my sins, but allow us to construct an oratory here in honour of
spacious
plain,
to our Lord and to 87 Their Holy Mary.
he with, and it complied
request
was dedicated to the Mother of God and to St. Florianus. 88
In it, the Divine
of the
his merits, the people flocked far and near to the cell of St. Magnus for
such they chose to call it, on account of his virtues and miraculous powers.
8
It was also enriched with gifts by the faith ful. 9 Leaving Tozzo there to
were soon celebrated. Mysteries Hearing
great
miracle
wrought through —
minister for their spiritual welfare, and commending him to the congregation,^ Magnus knew that another place not far removed was destined for his own habitation.
Thence he went to Fauces—the present Fiissen—situated on the River
1
Leek, in the circle of the Upper Danube, Bavaria. 9
are said to have had previous possession of the locality, and while some were buried in the depths of the River Leek, others held possession of the
mountains near it. 9
2
They were heard mutually to lament the arrival of
similar character related by Walafridus However, in this he was mistaken, as
"
85 Rader states, that in his day it was for St. Tozzo, as the Bollandist Father
called Waltenhofen. See "Bavaria pia," p. 1S6.
Strabo in his
Vita S. Galli. " Waltenhofen was really the place destined
80
Father Babenstuber, in his "Vita S.
of January. See Acta Sanctorum," 'tomus ii. , at that same day.
Magni," relates, that in his day it was
staled this apple-tree grew in the garden of
a certain Adam Mayr of Waltenhofen, near
the parish church. Although from time
to time that tree had been imprudently
mutilated, still it recovered growth, and sanctze Mariae ad populum illis venturum many strangers came from a distance to custodiendum vocavitque ipsum locum obtain its leaves and branches, which were
thought to drive away mice from their meadows and fields. See lib. ii. , cap. 5.
87 The Abbot Henry, in annotations to
92 The Bollandist editor invites the reader to compare this account, with what is related ecclesiie Faucensi : nostra enim prima regarding St. Gall, by Walafridus Strabo;
his manuscript, writes : "Collige falli eos, qui hanc ecclesioe dedicationem attribuunt
There, too, the evil spirits
88
understood this dedication, as referring to
TheBenedictineFatherCharlesStengel
the monastery of Fiissen, in his
"
Monas-
teriologia, in qua insignium Monasteriorum Faniiliae Sancti Benedicti in Germanin,
Origines, Fundatores. Claiique Viii, &c. , reri iacbae occulis subjiciuntur. " Augsburg, 1619, 1638, two tomes in one folio volume,
Henschenn shows in his Acts, at the 16th "
*» In the edition of our saint's Acts by Goldast, much of what follows in the text is omitted.
9° The Vita S. Magni states :" relinquens prsefatum pnvsbyterum Tozzouem in ecclesia
Synagoga, id est Congregatio populorum. " l"
9 See Les Petits Bollandistes, Vies des Saints," tome x. , Jour vie Septembre, p. 528.
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
147
: Magnusinthedistrict,whensigninghimselfwiththecross,hesaid "Inthe
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not through my merits, but those of the blessed Gallus, his confessor, and through his glorious deposition, I adjure
you to depart from this place and return not, nor retiring presume to injure anv person. " Soon afterwards, the holy deacon crossed over the river 93 to the Church of St. Mary, which he had built for Tozzo, and related all he had heard and seen. ** When the hour for vespers came, with its sacred song, were heard the loud howls of the demons from the mountain tops, as if terrified on departing. The servants of God gave thanks in prayer for this victory over the wicked spirits. On the next day, Magnus and Tozzo returned to the place already described, and there, with the assistance of the people, a small oratory was erected. It was dedicated to our Saviour,95 by
Bishop Wictherpus.
This chapel had a ccenobium attached to it, but in the lapse of time,
both were more than once destroyed and again reconstructed until in the ;
—— ninth century, the bishops of Augsburg96 and especially Lanto97 took
care that a larger church should be erected. This was dedicated to our
Saviour and to St. Magnus. It was also regarded as a parish church. In
the year 1 701, the Most Rev. Dom. Gerard, the fifty-second Abbot of Fiissen,
had the church and monastery magnificently renovated, and in the year 171 7, on the 15th of February, the consecration took place, by the Most Rev. and
Serene Lord Bishop of Augsburg, Alexander Sigismund, Count Palatine.
According to the description given of this church, it was built in magnificent proportions, being of noble design, while the materials were superior, and the workmanship was most elaborate. 98 The structure was cruciform, two hundred feet in length, by sixty in height, whence a roof arose to the apex of forty additional feet. The transepts were eighty-four feet in width, elsewhere the breadth was sixty feet. Twelve columns supported the roof within, and on each of these was the beautiful and artistic figure of an apostle carved in fine marble ; while sixty triple windows, oblong, rounded and lunated, threw light into the building. Within the church were four oratories ; the two larger devoted to the choristers, and the other two fitted for the practice of devotion. The choir was rounded off and elongated for accommodation of the religious, who used it both by day and night, and the stalls were elegantly carved in mottled wood. Moreover, within the church were
and, he must find, that what has been attributed to the latter saint at Bregentz is also ascribed by the interpolator to St. Magnus at Fussen. Wherefore, lie deems the story in the text worthy only to be re- ganled as a fable.
93 Waltenhofen and Fussen were on opposite banks of the River Lech.
94 The Abbot Henry alludes to a spot
near the Lech, called S. Mangen schritt.
Regarding it, Father Ludovicus Babenstuber
states: "Extra suburbicen Fuessense, ubi Commentarius Przevius, sect, viii. , pp. 716 est fullonia, in utraque ripa Lyci notantur
partes petra; depressiores cateris, quas vulgus S. Magni vestigia (S. Mangen schritt) nominat; quaeDivusdestitueritibiimpressa,
quando omnem superavit, seu vado, seu portatus ab angelo. Non tamen referunt
ea, ut satis agnosci queat, figuram plantarum humanarum : in causa ajunt esse vetustatem,
quae madore imbrium, niveumque adjuta, manifestiora lineamenta exederit. "
^ Of it, the Abbot Henry writes, that in his opinion, it rested on a rock above the great church of his time, and that it was
"
near their conventual garden, ubi jam
constructa manet ecclesia nostra major. "
96 Much chronological uncertainty pre- vails regarding the order of succession and
dates for the episcopacy of Augsburg during the Middle Ages, as shown by Father
Suysken, in the " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Septembris vi. De Sancto Magno, &c,
to 720.
97 This prelate—also called Hanto—
is said to have presided over his see for seven years, and to have been present at the Synod of
Mayence, held A. n. 847.
98 We have here abridged a detailed descrip-
tion of this grand chinch, dedicated to St.
Magnus, from that given by the Rev. Father
Chardon, Rector of the Jesuit College of Constance, to the Bollandists.
148 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 6.
admirably pictured incidents in his life, and representations of some miracles
wrought by St. Magnus. The high altar, magnificently and skilfully carved from precious marble, closed the choir, and the pavement of the choir was of black and white marble, in a varied and harmonizing pattern. There are eight chapels wi—thin the church : two larger ones within the transepts ; and
and
six smaller ones all of their altars being marble
two smaller ones. A few steps conduct to the entrance of two subterranean chapels: one of these is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and there is the baptismal font, enclosed within a marble baptistery. But, the chapel of St. Magnus, which adjoins, is still more ornate ; for not alone is the altar of marble, but the walls and pavement are exquisitely adorned with varied coloured marbles, and arranged with great artistic taste. Tradition maintains, that this latter chapel stands on the original site of the cell of St. Magnus. ? ?
CHAPTER III.
ST. MAGNUS IS PATRONISED BY KING PIPPIN—ORDAINED PRIEST BY BISHOP WICTHERP—MIRACLES WROUGHT AT FUSSEN—BISHOP TOZZO VISITED ST. MAGNUS AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH—INTERMENT BY THEODORE—A MEMOIR PLACED IN HIS COFFIN—RESTORATION OF HIS CHURCH BY CHARLEMAGNE—TRANSLATION OF ST. MAGNOALD'S REMAINS TO A NEW SHRINE—MIRACLES THEN AND AFTER- WARDS WROUGHT—COMMEMORATIONS AND FESTIVALS—CONCLUSION.
Some religious clerics were soon found to place themselves under the rule
1
of St. Magnus, and they were recommended to his care by the good prelate,
who also furnished the means necessary for their support. He is said, like- wise, to have furnished a recommendation in person to the renowned King
Peppin
Pippin d'H£ristall,3
Germany
Gaul,*
2 or who then ruled over and
Begga, of Pepin le Vieux, or of Landen,
mayor of the palace under Sigebert III. , son of Dagobert, who died A. I). 638, and whom lie survived only one year. In concert with his brother Martin, Pepin dTIeristal declared war against the King of Neustria, or rather against the mayor or his house, the able minister, Ebroin. Their career commenced by getting rid of the Merovin- gian King Dagobert II. , who then ruled in
» Father Chardon adds " Sacellum S.
:
Magni ab initio et prima monasteni funda-
tione ereclum, antiquissime documenta dicunt fuisse habitaculum et ipsissimam cellam, in qua S. Magnus primus fundator et patronus noster habitavit in vivis ; et ideo semper in summo honore habitual, ssepius cum monasterio et ecclesia, partim incendi, partim devastationibus destructum, sed semper iterum innovatum, cum ecclesia et
monasterio anno MDCCI. noviter et fundo Austrasia. However, having levied a erecto et hoc sacellum e fundo noviter ex- powerful army, they marched against Ebroin tructum et pulcherrime exornaium fuit, and the Neustrian>, but were signally de- ut hodie visitur ; ita tamen ut eumdem feated near Laon, in 680, when Martin was
semper locum servaverit, quern habuit, vivente S. Magno, postcujus obitum postliac
killed, and Pepin saved himself by flight. Not long afterwards, Ebroin Was assas- sinated, and. his successors gave such
in sacellum muta—tum est.
'
'
Chapter hi. The Acts of St. Magnus,
as published by the Boilandists, state, that he ruled over them for thirty years ; but this account does not accord with other versions of his Acts, which give him only twenty- live years, as a superior. Even the aforesaid
Acts are inconsistent with their subsequent "
of the Neustnan
leudes
relation of the death of St. Magnus, ex- the Somme, in 687. Afterwards, Thierry
pletis viginti sex annis commorationis suae III. being made prisoner, Pepin consoli-
in illo ccenobio," &c. dated his authority over all provinces
2
He. was grandson, through his mother, occupied by the Erancs. See Le Dr.
; also,a
large organ,
offence, that many
sought refuge in the dominions of Pepin. The latter then levied a confederacy of those
malcontents, together with the Saxons, Prisons, Cattes, Hessians, Thuringians and other Germans ; and with these he fought a decisive and bloody battle near Testri on
September 6. ] LIVES OI THE IRISH SAINTS. '49
while he presented also an epistle of St. Columbans directed to Lothaire,6 in favour of the holy men, Gallus and Magnus,7 who had settled in his
that 8 from some epistle, Peppin enquired
moved
of his German chiefs about that place, for which Bishop Witcherp preferred
kingdom. Whereupon,
by
his petition. Then Gungo,9 Duke of Augsburg and Rhetia, told him about its desert character, and of its being only a haunt for wild animals and
serpents. Extolling the virtues of Magnus, Wictherp stated, so marvellous had been his\ sanctity, while in that country, that like the first man, Adam, he exercised an absolute power over the savage animals,10 and how in that vicinity was a stronghold occupied by a frightful demon, which assumed the figure of a dragon, and who, under such form, usurped the supreme honour, due to God alone, among the poor and ignorant mountaineers.
However, St. Magnus resolved to encounter that demon, and fortified by
prayer, he touched the monster on the neck, with the end of St. Columban's
staff. Immediately, the demon's wrath was excited, but swelling up in fury,
he expired on the spot, and with him disappeared all the other demons, that were thought to infest those mountainous regions. While there, it was
stated, that he also freed the neighbourhood from serpents.
On hearing such accounts, King Pippin declared, that as wonderful miracles had been already wrought where the body of St. Gallus was deposed, so should that wild district have its fame diffused abroad in after times. He then asked Gunzon if there could be found tax-payers to the royal treasury in that neighbourhood, who might have their tributary returns sent to St. Magnus, instead of to the royal fisc. The king learned, that there was a
village, called Geltenstein, he bestowed by charter
"
that might serve for that purpose. Whereupon, a large tract of woodland, with the village in
Nouvelle Biographie Generate," tome xxxix. , cols. 540, 54 1.
3 So designated from a celebrated villa,
in which he dwelt on the banks of the
Meuse, near Liege. See Henri Martin's
"
Ilistoire de France," tome ii. , liv. xi. , p. 160.
4 In ihe year 700 he was Mayor of the Palace for the whole of the French Empire,
—
pas beaucoup de respect ; mais il y supleoit par une grande force, et par un certain air de fierte, qui reparoit en lui ce defaut de la nature. "
Hoefer's
" Kohlrausch's
9 Goldast has the name written Cuntzo.
He seems to have been the from magnate,
whose daughter, Frideburga, St. Gall is stated to have expelled the evil spirit.
10 See Les Petits " Vies des Bollandistes,
tant en Neustrie qu'en Austrasie. "
"
Histoire d'Allemagne," traduite de l'Allemand, par A. Guinefolle,
Deuxieme
5 In his "Vita S.
Epoque, p. 77.
Columbani," Jonas
Saints," tome vie x. , Jour
528, n. 1.
11
Septembre, p.
11 I2
states, that when King Clothaire earnestly besought the holy Abbot to return and again preside over Luxeu, St. Columban wrote to Eustasius—then Superior over Luxeu—that he would excuse him to the King for not undertaking such a charge, but only to ask lor the assistance and protection of the monarch on behalf of his community, that
? Jonas makes no mention of Gallus and S. Benedicti," tomus ii. , lib. xxxii. , sect,
Magnus, and Father Suysken observes, xiv. , p. 609.
then lived in the monastery at Luxeu.
6"
So written in the Acts, as published by the Bollandists. In the edition of Canisius, it is written Geltinstein ; in that of Goldast, Keltinstein, and called by the Abbot Henry Geltenstain. The latter writer notices, that no longer was it known by such a name, bub he supposed it to have been in the Tyrol. Mabillon quotes a charter of Ludo- vicus Augustus, in favour of Kempten, and
Jonas adds : Litteras castigationem
affamine plenas regi dirigit gratissimum in which mention of it is thus made, "in munus," &c. pago Keltenstein. " See "Annate-; Ordinis
" 12 non dubito taman, quin hasce litteras
In the Acts as published by Goldast we
interpolator noster designet. "
8 " Gros et court comme son surnom le
read :
"
Dedit ei totum ipsum saltum cum
marcha, firmitatemque in epistola," &c. At portait, il etoit d'unc taille a n'imprimer this passage Goldast remarks, that by
—M. de Limiers' " Annates de la Monarchic Francoise, depuis son Etab- lissement jusques a Present. " Premiere Partie. Seconde Race, Pepin dit le Bref, pp. 49, 50. Amsterdam, 1 724, fol.
i5°
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 6.
x3 and a of one hundred and yearly payment
1* This was to be binding on himself and his successors for ever/s That grant was placed, also, under the jurisdiction of Bishop Wictherp and
all his episcopal successors. Receiving some royal present for Magnus, the bishop returned with great satisfaction to urge him there to supplement the
question, of silver.
twenty-three pounds
religious
services of St. and of St. 16 as also to and Mary Afra, regulate
institute all canonical observances. There accordingly St. Magnus founded
his chief monastic institution, and during the life-time of King Pepinxi
enjoyed his friendship and patronage. The latter monarch was viitual
sovereign, as Major Domus, in the palace of the French kings, and he died
December 1 6th, 18 while 714,
Dagobert
III. '9 was under his
tutelage.
No sooner had he been well settled in Fiissen, than his former com-
panion, Theodore of Kempen, paid him a visit, and after the usual
religious salutations had passed between them, Magnus was informed
and consulted about the persecutions and injuries Theodore had suffered
from the people around him,20 and how he had built a small church
on the banks of the Iller. He was desirous of having it consecrated
in honour of the Holy Mother of God, Mary, by Bishop Wictherp.
Both of those attached friends then went to see the at 21 bishop Eptaticus,
where he then resided, and preferred their request. He was then
sitting and at prayer in his oratory. On learning the object of their interview, the venerable prelate said: "I will first tell you what I had in my mind before you came, and then at a proper time, in the name of God, I shall go with you. Indeed, my most dear Father Magnus, as the Lord hath
marcha he means the
called Keltinstein, and that such term has
of a
16 In Goldast's edition of St. Acts, there is no mention of St. Afra.
the modern district.
l? his wife, By
signification
territory
Plectrude,
sons,
Aschauer usque ad Erspach, et quo spatio pnecipue continetur tota parochia Aschaver, Saxenriedt, Hohenfurch, bona in Nider- hoffen ei Altenstat, Dienhausen, Weyssensee et Fiiessen," &c.
virtues so justly merited. Grimoald left a son named Theudoalis or Theobaldus, who was styled Major Domus while still a youth ; but, (luring his minority, Plectrude, the wife of Pepin, took upon herself the chief administration of public affairs in the king- dom, which afterwards became the prey of great disorders. See Natalis Alexander's " Historia Ecclesiastica Veteris Novique Testamenti," tomus xii. , scec. vii. , cap. vi. ,
14
In the Acts as published by the Bol-
"
landists, the text reads,
viginti tria," but in other copies "centum et tredecim. " The Abbot Henry notes: "
village, previously
Magnus'
or
13 Henry, Abbot of Fiissen, gives the their father. Her he repudiated, and after-
he had two Drogon and Grimoald, who pie-deceased
" Nota saltum wards cohabited with whom he Alpaide, by
following interpretation :
ilium, quen. Pippinus S. Magno donasse had two illegitimate sons, Charles and dicitur, fuisse totum ilium districtum et Childebrand. However, repenting his illicit fundurn, magnum et spatiosum desertum, connexion, he recalled Plectrude to the quod se extendit ab Hornbach et parochia position his religious obligation and her
vectigalia centum
Si conjecturari licet, puto esse centum et
tredecim libra* argenti, qose quotannis art. vi. , p. 102, and saec. viii. , cap. vii. , art.
pendenda; erant ex Aschawensi S. Magni ecclesia : nam centum et tredecim librae
faciunt sexaginta quatuor Morenos, triginta crucigeros et tinum halerum. Sic hodie dttm nobis etiamnum pendunt Aschawcn-. es quotannis pro censu sexaginta quatuor florenos. Quod ego pro ratione conjecturce meas assertum volo. "
'5 Father Suysken, in a note, points out cer-
tain coincidences of statement and phrase-
ology, between what is given in the Acts of
St. Magnus, and in the text of Walafridus or in the village situated on its banks. In Strabo, in " De Miraculis S. Galli,"
cap. xi.
i. , ii. , iii. , iv. , v. , pp. 382 to 388.
,8 See Georgius Heinricus Pertz's "Monu-
menta Germanise J listorica," tomus v. , Bernoldi Chronicon, p. 417.
"SonofChildebert III. , who died A. D. 711.
"
See J. (J. L. Simonde de Sismondi's His-
toire Francois," tome ii. , chap, xii. , p. 104.
20 The Acts have
it,
" narravit ei Theodo-
rus diversa et innumerabilia, qua? passus est
a pagensibus Hilargaugensibus," &c. This
means either the people living near the Iller,
the Ratisbon Manuscript is substituted " ab incolis Canipidonensibus. "
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
exalted you in this place by His great miracles, I had intended to send for and ordain you a priest through Divine assistance, on the coming fast of the seventh month. " 22 However, the humble Magnus declared himself to be unworthy of such an exalted dignity, on account of his many sins. Still, if on their meditated journey, the Almighty should manifest His approval of that intention, Magnus declared, as an obedient servant, he would oppose no further obstacle to the prelate's desire. On making that statement, Wictherp and Theodore saw a brilliant crown of glory encircling his head. The prelate, then rising, embraced Magnus, and cried out: "Almighty Lord, who hath deigned in the plenitude of Thy power to show such virtues in you, who have left your country to observe His precepts, may He cause you to magnify and guard the place destined for you, through the grace of Thy Holy Spirit. " Theodore devoutly answered, " Amen. " Again the Bishop said :
been called 23 because it lies midway 2* Eptaticus,
of the Blessed Afra 2 s and own cell. Therefore your
" Well has this
place monastery
between the
shall you know, that after my departure, I desire this possession to belong to
the Blessed and to St. Virgin
26 as if this is destined to be a place
Afra,
mediator between thy monastery and my church of Augsburg. " All three
then came to Kempten, and on the day of the church's consecration, Wictherp preached an impressive sermon before a great number of people.
About the same was time, Magnus
duly
remained for two days. Leaving Theodore in charge of Kempten, Magnus
set out for Fiissen, and the venerable prelate, Wictherp, went to his own place of residence.
St. Magnus spent six-and-twenty years of his life, at Fassen. 28 The
vation of the name as given in the text, "quasi idem vocabulum (Eptaticum) inter- pretetur medium, et non potius numerum
31 Father Charles Stengel supposes he had
discovered the site of this place, not far from
the River Lech, and an hour's journey from
the village of Eppach. There in a lonely sonet Septenarium, qui Grsec£ dicitur and uncultivated situation was a small iirra.
chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and to St. Laurence. This information he re-
"
24 To the objection in the previous note, Father Suysken replies : "Recte : sed quidsi locus ille septem circiter leucis utrimque
ceived from a rustic.
earn omnino deveni sententiam, at mihi dissitus fuerit, inter Augustam scilicet et
September, &c. : for Quintilis, afterwards Julius, was the fifth month from Marcli ;
Quo responso in
Fauces medius ? Turn sane nihil erit, quod
improbet anonymus. "
25 Unless this be an interpolation of the
more recenr writer, according to Father
.
Martyrs, is celebrated on the 5th of August.
2? St. Gelasius, who flourished towards
the end of the fifth century, thus writes :
•'
Ordinationes etiam presbyterorum et diaconorum, nisi certis temporibus et diebus Sextilis, afterwards Augustus, the Sixth, exerceri non debent ; id est, q—uarti mensis
persuaded paterer, hanc ipse esse ecclesiam,
delectatum fuisse B. — qua Wicterpum legi-
nms, ubi et postea Herluca vitam egerit. " "
Monasteriologia. "
22 By this is understood the fast of Quatuor
Tense, in the month of September. It was
called the seventh month, because it is held,
that Romulus had ordered the year to com-
mence from March ; and although Numa Bernard Hertfelder states. However, Pompilius placed January and February Father Suysken would hesitate to place the before March, nevertheless the previous Regular Canons there in the age of St. numerical order of the months continued in
the writings of the ancients and ecclesiastical
authors. " That the year originally began with March is shown by the names of
several of the months ; as Quintilis, Sextilis,
and —wereaddedto &c. January February
the end of the year. " Thomas Henry
Dyer's History of the Kings of Rome," &c metres, south from Augsbourg, and 33
:
jejunio, septimi
etdecimi/'&c. Epistolaix.
Prefatory Dissertation, p. cxxvii.
23 The anonymous writer of the saint's
Ratisbon Acts thus finds fault with the deri-
kilometres south-east from Kempten. At present it contains about 2,000 inhabitants. On the 18th of April, 1745, a treaty was
ordained a 2? There they priest.
Suysken, by the monastery of St. Afra, we are to understand a community of Regular Canons, that occupied it before A. D. 1012, when the Benedictines succeeded them, as
Magnus.
26 The festival of St. Afra and Companions,
2b about kilo- This town of Bavaria is 90
152 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September6.
miracles he wrought there caused the conversion of numberless infidels, so
2
that he was afterwards regarded as the Apostle of Suabia. 9 It is related, in
the Legend of his Life, that when he travelled through the mountains and valleys in different places, the bears remarkable for their ferocity, through the efficacy of his prayers, lost all their wildness, and went before him tamely as didoxenbeforetheherdsman. Atonelime,havingascendedahighmoun- tain, called Suilinc,3° through a miracle, veins of iron were discovered by him, in that district of country where h» dwelt. 31 These were afterwards worked to great advantage by the inhabitants. 32 He is said to have founded many monasteries,inthedioceseofAugsburg. Itmayherebeobserved,thatJoannes Tamayus Salazar 33 has converted this saint into a bishop and abbot of Spain ; but, this is a ridiculous statement, and not deserving the slightest attention. He also absurdly places Fauces in Spain, and states, that the saint had been canonized by Benton or Lanthon of Caesar Augusta, the classic name for the
present city of Saragossa.
After the death of Bishop Wictherp, it is stated, that through the recom-
mendation of the Blessed Magnus, Tozzo was elected to succeed him in the
see of Augsburg. In the twenty-sixth year of his incumbency,3< the holy Abbot took ill of a fever, and then Tozzo sent word to his most faithful
friend, Theodore, at Kempten, to hasten and comfort him. Immediately he
sorrowfully set out, taking with him what he supposed requisite for the aged patient. He found the holy Abbot of Fussen in the last extremity, and then Theodore sent a message for the Bishop to hasten with all speed. Tozzo lost no time in coming to his bed-side, and seeing the Blessed Magnus near
death, said in tears
:
" Alas ! beloved Father, alas ! illustrious teacher, do
youleavemeasanorphaninthemidstofmydangers! " Totheseexclama- "
tions, Magnus was able to reply
see me struggling in the storms of worldly adversity, since I have faith in God's mercies, and that my soul shall rejoice in the freedom of immortality ; however, I entreat you, not to withhold your pious prayers for me a sinner, nor cease to afford the aid of your intercession. "
:
Weep not, venerable prelate, because you
The Life of St. Magnus states, that he departed on a Sunday, about the ninth hour, and on the viii. Ides of September^ which correspond with the 6thofthismonth. WhileBishopTozzoandTheodorestoodweeping,they heard a voice from Heaven " and receive the
saying: Come, Magnus, come,
crown for ! " Then Tozzo said to Theodore " let us prepared you ; Brother,
cease weeping, for rather should we rejoice than grieve, on hearing such
"
Vita S. Magni," Babenstuber Austria. See Pierre Larousse's " Grand states, that they had been deserted in his
there concluded between Bavaria and 32 In his
Dictionnaire Universel du XIX. Steele," tome viii. , p. 895.
day, "sed cum ferritin habeant notae non
adeo bona-, at aliucl. quod ut vicinis nego-
ciatorilms — tolerabili importatur, venditurque
pretio, piidum desectae sunt. ' Lib. iii. ,
iii.
cap.
31 In his Spanish Martyrology. He wri'. es :
"Ad Fauces, oppidum in Vettonia His-
paniae, sancti Magni, qui cum Hispanias cum S. Columbano venisset, et monas- terium S. Martini in Placentinae urbis territorio abbas inclytus construxisset, et alia plura contra haereticos machinasset, post hujus vitas excursum miraculis Celebris et sanctitate conspicuus. ad aeternam quietem confessor properavit strenuus. "
29 See Les Petits
Bollandistes, e
" Vies des
Saints," tome x. , Jour vi Septembre, p.
n. 1.
30 In the edition of Goldast, it is written
Swilinjr, and in the German Life of our
saint Seyling. Under the latter form, it is
noted Merianus, in "
by Topographia
Suevise," as being near the town of Fuessen, on the other side of the Lech River.
*" In the Manuscript of our saint's Acts,
used by the anonymous writer of Ratisbon, about the middle of the eleventh century, is
"
read: ab illo igitur diversae ferri venae
528,
inveniebantur in
tern diem.
in
3* Others have it the
3s Such is the statement in the Acta
"
ipso loco, usque
praesen-
twenty-fifth,
September 6. 1 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 153
words, since his soul is taken to immortal bliss ; but let us go to the church, that we may prepare to immolate the Sacred Victim for our dearly loved friend. "
St. Magnus died in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and a. d. 655, according to the best computation. The exact date for his death, however, has divided the opinions of various writers;36 some placing it, at 654, 655,37 665,38 670,39 673, 683, 689, and 691. <° After the departure of the holy servant of God^his friends, Bishop Tozzo and Theodore, found a beautifully-formed stone coffin, fashioned in ancient
12 times by a magnate named Abuzac,* who also gave the name Abuzacum*
to a fort he had erected. In that coffin, no corpse had been previously
deposited. Having carefully prepared the interior, the body of our saint was then placed in it, and buried in that place, where he had built
an oratory. Moreover, in the tomb was deposited a Memoir of his virtues,
written by Theodore.
With this was placed a certificate in the Latin
thus be rendered into " Wherefore I, English :
and which
Theodorus, monk from the monastery of St. Gall, by order of Bishop Tozzo, as I have learned from Theodegisilus,*3 monk ot St. Columban, from conver- sations with him, as also with the Blessed Columban,** and from what I have seen with my own eyes and heard with mine own ears, either after he left me in the cell at Kempten, and as afterwards from the aforesaid venerable Bishop Tozzo, I have learned about his virtues many things ; but, not all have I cared to write in my tract,*s and I have placed at his head within the coffin for futuie times, when the Lord revealing it, then those who shall be pastors and rectors of the church, may rind it to be just and right ; so that those things that should be corrected they may Correct, and what should be emended
language,
may
they may emend ; moreover, may they not forget to pray for me to the servant of Christ, so that supported by the suffrages of such a Patron, my soul may obtain eternal rest. " * 6
42
Pseudo-Theodori.
from the town of Fussen, and in the direction of Augsburg.
? 9 The author of our saint's Acts remarks,
" 82 the map, prefixed to the Commentarius
Father Suysken believes, that this Rerum Augustinarum of F. Charles account is taken from what is related Stengel, the spot is shown at the River in a nearly similar manner in Daniel, xiv.
Lech, and a little more than a German mile 26.
"
"
quia omnes venatores reliquerunt ibi cabal los
idcirco vocatus est iste locus Caput Equi,
suos, et pedestres ibant, quocumque poterant ad venandum. "
*°
8l
See Daniel, c. vi. See Tobias, c. v.
K
i46 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September6.
which Tozzo devoutly joined. Afterwards, they left that rugged place, and went to the River Lech. From the neck of Magnus depended a crucifix or
case,83 containing relics of the Holy Cross, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the holy Martyrs, Maurice and his companions, as also of the Blessed Confessors
Columban and Gall. 8*
Near the banks of the River Lech was found a
Thy holy Mother, and prepare also a dwelling for Thy servants. " Whereupon, they began to dig the foundations and to build a church there. Afterwards, they invited Bishop Wictherp to come and consecrate it
83 This was afterwards kept in the monas- tery of Fiissen. The Abbot Henry, in 1607, opened this case, and found within it seven different objects, but without any inscription. In German they are called siven penggelin, but Father Suysken states, he could not anywhere find the interpretation of the words.
84 Father Suysken rather supposes the
narrative in the text to have been drawn by
the interpolator from an incident of a nearly
ecclesia non in honorem divse Virginis et S.
Floriani, sed in honorem Salvatoris nostri
est dedicata. "
8s where a 86 and on its large apple-tree grew,
and beautiful
branches Magnus hung the reliquary, and called Tozzo to him. Both engaged in prayer, and Magnus exclaimed: " Lord Jesus Christ, who hast deigned to be born of the Virgin and to die for our salvation, despise not the contrition for my sins, but allow us to construct an oratory here in honour of
spacious
plain,
to our Lord and to 87 Their Holy Mary.
he with, and it complied
request
was dedicated to the Mother of God and to St. Florianus. 88
In it, the Divine
of the
his merits, the people flocked far and near to the cell of St. Magnus for
such they chose to call it, on account of his virtues and miraculous powers.
8
It was also enriched with gifts by the faith ful. 9 Leaving Tozzo there to
were soon celebrated. Mysteries Hearing
great
miracle
wrought through —
minister for their spiritual welfare, and commending him to the congregation,^ Magnus knew that another place not far removed was destined for his own habitation.
Thence he went to Fauces—the present Fiissen—situated on the River
1
Leek, in the circle of the Upper Danube, Bavaria. 9
are said to have had previous possession of the locality, and while some were buried in the depths of the River Leek, others held possession of the
mountains near it. 9
2
They were heard mutually to lament the arrival of
similar character related by Walafridus However, in this he was mistaken, as
"
85 Rader states, that in his day it was for St. Tozzo, as the Bollandist Father
called Waltenhofen. See "Bavaria pia," p. 1S6.
Strabo in his
Vita S. Galli. " Waltenhofen was really the place destined
80
Father Babenstuber, in his "Vita S.
of January. See Acta Sanctorum," 'tomus ii. , at that same day.
Magni," relates, that in his day it was
staled this apple-tree grew in the garden of
a certain Adam Mayr of Waltenhofen, near
the parish church. Although from time
to time that tree had been imprudently
mutilated, still it recovered growth, and sanctze Mariae ad populum illis venturum many strangers came from a distance to custodiendum vocavitque ipsum locum obtain its leaves and branches, which were
thought to drive away mice from their meadows and fields. See lib. ii. , cap. 5.
87 The Abbot Henry, in annotations to
92 The Bollandist editor invites the reader to compare this account, with what is related ecclesiie Faucensi : nostra enim prima regarding St. Gall, by Walafridus Strabo;
his manuscript, writes : "Collige falli eos, qui hanc ecclesioe dedicationem attribuunt
There, too, the evil spirits
88
understood this dedication, as referring to
TheBenedictineFatherCharlesStengel
the monastery of Fiissen, in his
"
Monas-
teriologia, in qua insignium Monasteriorum Faniiliae Sancti Benedicti in Germanin,
Origines, Fundatores. Claiique Viii, &c. , reri iacbae occulis subjiciuntur. " Augsburg, 1619, 1638, two tomes in one folio volume,
Henschenn shows in his Acts, at the 16th "
*» In the edition of our saint's Acts by Goldast, much of what follows in the text is omitted.
9° The Vita S. Magni states :" relinquens prsefatum pnvsbyterum Tozzouem in ecclesia
Synagoga, id est Congregatio populorum. " l"
9 See Les Petits Bollandistes, Vies des Saints," tome x. , Jour vie Septembre, p. 528.
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
147
: Magnusinthedistrict,whensigninghimselfwiththecross,hesaid "Inthe
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not through my merits, but those of the blessed Gallus, his confessor, and through his glorious deposition, I adjure
you to depart from this place and return not, nor retiring presume to injure anv person. " Soon afterwards, the holy deacon crossed over the river 93 to the Church of St. Mary, which he had built for Tozzo, and related all he had heard and seen. ** When the hour for vespers came, with its sacred song, were heard the loud howls of the demons from the mountain tops, as if terrified on departing. The servants of God gave thanks in prayer for this victory over the wicked spirits. On the next day, Magnus and Tozzo returned to the place already described, and there, with the assistance of the people, a small oratory was erected. It was dedicated to our Saviour,95 by
Bishop Wictherpus.
This chapel had a ccenobium attached to it, but in the lapse of time,
both were more than once destroyed and again reconstructed until in the ;
—— ninth century, the bishops of Augsburg96 and especially Lanto97 took
care that a larger church should be erected. This was dedicated to our
Saviour and to St. Magnus. It was also regarded as a parish church. In
the year 1 701, the Most Rev. Dom. Gerard, the fifty-second Abbot of Fiissen,
had the church and monastery magnificently renovated, and in the year 171 7, on the 15th of February, the consecration took place, by the Most Rev. and
Serene Lord Bishop of Augsburg, Alexander Sigismund, Count Palatine.
According to the description given of this church, it was built in magnificent proportions, being of noble design, while the materials were superior, and the workmanship was most elaborate. 98 The structure was cruciform, two hundred feet in length, by sixty in height, whence a roof arose to the apex of forty additional feet. The transepts were eighty-four feet in width, elsewhere the breadth was sixty feet. Twelve columns supported the roof within, and on each of these was the beautiful and artistic figure of an apostle carved in fine marble ; while sixty triple windows, oblong, rounded and lunated, threw light into the building. Within the church were four oratories ; the two larger devoted to the choristers, and the other two fitted for the practice of devotion. The choir was rounded off and elongated for accommodation of the religious, who used it both by day and night, and the stalls were elegantly carved in mottled wood. Moreover, within the church were
and, he must find, that what has been attributed to the latter saint at Bregentz is also ascribed by the interpolator to St. Magnus at Fussen. Wherefore, lie deems the story in the text worthy only to be re- ganled as a fable.
93 Waltenhofen and Fussen were on opposite banks of the River Lech.
94 The Abbot Henry alludes to a spot
near the Lech, called S. Mangen schritt.
Regarding it, Father Ludovicus Babenstuber
states: "Extra suburbicen Fuessense, ubi Commentarius Przevius, sect, viii. , pp. 716 est fullonia, in utraque ripa Lyci notantur
partes petra; depressiores cateris, quas vulgus S. Magni vestigia (S. Mangen schritt) nominat; quaeDivusdestitueritibiimpressa,
quando omnem superavit, seu vado, seu portatus ab angelo. Non tamen referunt
ea, ut satis agnosci queat, figuram plantarum humanarum : in causa ajunt esse vetustatem,
quae madore imbrium, niveumque adjuta, manifestiora lineamenta exederit. "
^ Of it, the Abbot Henry writes, that in his opinion, it rested on a rock above the great church of his time, and that it was
"
near their conventual garden, ubi jam
constructa manet ecclesia nostra major. "
96 Much chronological uncertainty pre- vails regarding the order of succession and
dates for the episcopacy of Augsburg during the Middle Ages, as shown by Father
Suysken, in the " Acta Sanctorum," tomus ii. , Septembris vi. De Sancto Magno, &c,
to 720.
97 This prelate—also called Hanto—
is said to have presided over his see for seven years, and to have been present at the Synod of
Mayence, held A. n. 847.
98 We have here abridged a detailed descrip-
tion of this grand chinch, dedicated to St.
Magnus, from that given by the Rev. Father
Chardon, Rector of the Jesuit College of Constance, to the Bollandists.
148 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 6.
admirably pictured incidents in his life, and representations of some miracles
wrought by St. Magnus. The high altar, magnificently and skilfully carved from precious marble, closed the choir, and the pavement of the choir was of black and white marble, in a varied and harmonizing pattern. There are eight chapels wi—thin the church : two larger ones within the transepts ; and
and
six smaller ones all of their altars being marble
two smaller ones. A few steps conduct to the entrance of two subterranean chapels: one of these is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and there is the baptismal font, enclosed within a marble baptistery. But, the chapel of St. Magnus, which adjoins, is still more ornate ; for not alone is the altar of marble, but the walls and pavement are exquisitely adorned with varied coloured marbles, and arranged with great artistic taste. Tradition maintains, that this latter chapel stands on the original site of the cell of St. Magnus. ? ?
CHAPTER III.
ST. MAGNUS IS PATRONISED BY KING PIPPIN—ORDAINED PRIEST BY BISHOP WICTHERP—MIRACLES WROUGHT AT FUSSEN—BISHOP TOZZO VISITED ST. MAGNUS AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH—INTERMENT BY THEODORE—A MEMOIR PLACED IN HIS COFFIN—RESTORATION OF HIS CHURCH BY CHARLEMAGNE—TRANSLATION OF ST. MAGNOALD'S REMAINS TO A NEW SHRINE—MIRACLES THEN AND AFTER- WARDS WROUGHT—COMMEMORATIONS AND FESTIVALS—CONCLUSION.
Some religious clerics were soon found to place themselves under the rule
1
of St. Magnus, and they were recommended to his care by the good prelate,
who also furnished the means necessary for their support. He is said, like- wise, to have furnished a recommendation in person to the renowned King
Peppin
Pippin d'H£ristall,3
Germany
Gaul,*
2 or who then ruled over and
Begga, of Pepin le Vieux, or of Landen,
mayor of the palace under Sigebert III. , son of Dagobert, who died A. I). 638, and whom lie survived only one year. In concert with his brother Martin, Pepin dTIeristal declared war against the King of Neustria, or rather against the mayor or his house, the able minister, Ebroin. Their career commenced by getting rid of the Merovin- gian King Dagobert II. , who then ruled in
» Father Chardon adds " Sacellum S.
:
Magni ab initio et prima monasteni funda-
tione ereclum, antiquissime documenta dicunt fuisse habitaculum et ipsissimam cellam, in qua S. Magnus primus fundator et patronus noster habitavit in vivis ; et ideo semper in summo honore habitual, ssepius cum monasterio et ecclesia, partim incendi, partim devastationibus destructum, sed semper iterum innovatum, cum ecclesia et
monasterio anno MDCCI. noviter et fundo Austrasia. However, having levied a erecto et hoc sacellum e fundo noviter ex- powerful army, they marched against Ebroin tructum et pulcherrime exornaium fuit, and the Neustrian>, but were signally de- ut hodie visitur ; ita tamen ut eumdem feated near Laon, in 680, when Martin was
semper locum servaverit, quern habuit, vivente S. Magno, postcujus obitum postliac
killed, and Pepin saved himself by flight. Not long afterwards, Ebroin Was assas- sinated, and. his successors gave such
in sacellum muta—tum est.
'
'
Chapter hi. The Acts of St. Magnus,
as published by the Boilandists, state, that he ruled over them for thirty years ; but this account does not accord with other versions of his Acts, which give him only twenty- live years, as a superior. Even the aforesaid
Acts are inconsistent with their subsequent "
of the Neustnan
leudes
relation of the death of St. Magnus, ex- the Somme, in 687. Afterwards, Thierry
pletis viginti sex annis commorationis suae III. being made prisoner, Pepin consoli-
in illo ccenobio," &c. dated his authority over all provinces
2
He. was grandson, through his mother, occupied by the Erancs. See Le Dr.
; also,a
large organ,
offence, that many
sought refuge in the dominions of Pepin. The latter then levied a confederacy of those
malcontents, together with the Saxons, Prisons, Cattes, Hessians, Thuringians and other Germans ; and with these he fought a decisive and bloody battle near Testri on
September 6. ] LIVES OI THE IRISH SAINTS. '49
while he presented also an epistle of St. Columbans directed to Lothaire,6 in favour of the holy men, Gallus and Magnus,7 who had settled in his
that 8 from some epistle, Peppin enquired
moved
of his German chiefs about that place, for which Bishop Witcherp preferred
kingdom. Whereupon,
by
his petition. Then Gungo,9 Duke of Augsburg and Rhetia, told him about its desert character, and of its being only a haunt for wild animals and
serpents. Extolling the virtues of Magnus, Wictherp stated, so marvellous had been his\ sanctity, while in that country, that like the first man, Adam, he exercised an absolute power over the savage animals,10 and how in that vicinity was a stronghold occupied by a frightful demon, which assumed the figure of a dragon, and who, under such form, usurped the supreme honour, due to God alone, among the poor and ignorant mountaineers.
However, St. Magnus resolved to encounter that demon, and fortified by
prayer, he touched the monster on the neck, with the end of St. Columban's
staff. Immediately, the demon's wrath was excited, but swelling up in fury,
he expired on the spot, and with him disappeared all the other demons, that were thought to infest those mountainous regions. While there, it was
stated, that he also freed the neighbourhood from serpents.
On hearing such accounts, King Pippin declared, that as wonderful miracles had been already wrought where the body of St. Gallus was deposed, so should that wild district have its fame diffused abroad in after times. He then asked Gunzon if there could be found tax-payers to the royal treasury in that neighbourhood, who might have their tributary returns sent to St. Magnus, instead of to the royal fisc. The king learned, that there was a
village, called Geltenstein, he bestowed by charter
"
that might serve for that purpose. Whereupon, a large tract of woodland, with the village in
Nouvelle Biographie Generate," tome xxxix. , cols. 540, 54 1.
3 So designated from a celebrated villa,
in which he dwelt on the banks of the
Meuse, near Liege. See Henri Martin's
"
Ilistoire de France," tome ii. , liv. xi. , p. 160.
4 In ihe year 700 he was Mayor of the Palace for the whole of the French Empire,
—
pas beaucoup de respect ; mais il y supleoit par une grande force, et par un certain air de fierte, qui reparoit en lui ce defaut de la nature. "
Hoefer's
" Kohlrausch's
9 Goldast has the name written Cuntzo.
He seems to have been the from magnate,
whose daughter, Frideburga, St. Gall is stated to have expelled the evil spirit.
10 See Les Petits " Vies des Bollandistes,
tant en Neustrie qu'en Austrasie. "
"
Histoire d'Allemagne," traduite de l'Allemand, par A. Guinefolle,
Deuxieme
5 In his "Vita S.
Epoque, p. 77.
Columbani," Jonas
Saints," tome vie x. , Jour
528, n. 1.
11
Septembre, p.
11 I2
states, that when King Clothaire earnestly besought the holy Abbot to return and again preside over Luxeu, St. Columban wrote to Eustasius—then Superior over Luxeu—that he would excuse him to the King for not undertaking such a charge, but only to ask lor the assistance and protection of the monarch on behalf of his community, that
? Jonas makes no mention of Gallus and S. Benedicti," tomus ii. , lib. xxxii. , sect,
Magnus, and Father Suysken observes, xiv. , p. 609.
then lived in the monastery at Luxeu.
6"
So written in the Acts, as published by the Bollandists. In the edition of Canisius, it is written Geltinstein ; in that of Goldast, Keltinstein, and called by the Abbot Henry Geltenstain. The latter writer notices, that no longer was it known by such a name, bub he supposed it to have been in the Tyrol. Mabillon quotes a charter of Ludo- vicus Augustus, in favour of Kempten, and
Jonas adds : Litteras castigationem
affamine plenas regi dirigit gratissimum in which mention of it is thus made, "in munus," &c. pago Keltenstein. " See "Annate-; Ordinis
" 12 non dubito taman, quin hasce litteras
In the Acts as published by Goldast we
interpolator noster designet. "
8 " Gros et court comme son surnom le
read :
"
Dedit ei totum ipsum saltum cum
marcha, firmitatemque in epistola," &c. At portait, il etoit d'unc taille a n'imprimer this passage Goldast remarks, that by
—M. de Limiers' " Annates de la Monarchic Francoise, depuis son Etab- lissement jusques a Present. " Premiere Partie. Seconde Race, Pepin dit le Bref, pp. 49, 50. Amsterdam, 1 724, fol.
i5°
LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [September 6.
x3 and a of one hundred and yearly payment
1* This was to be binding on himself and his successors for ever/s That grant was placed, also, under the jurisdiction of Bishop Wictherp and
all his episcopal successors. Receiving some royal present for Magnus, the bishop returned with great satisfaction to urge him there to supplement the
question, of silver.
twenty-three pounds
religious
services of St. and of St. 16 as also to and Mary Afra, regulate
institute all canonical observances. There accordingly St. Magnus founded
his chief monastic institution, and during the life-time of King Pepinxi
enjoyed his friendship and patronage. The latter monarch was viitual
sovereign, as Major Domus, in the palace of the French kings, and he died
December 1 6th, 18 while 714,
Dagobert
III. '9 was under his
tutelage.
No sooner had he been well settled in Fiissen, than his former com-
panion, Theodore of Kempen, paid him a visit, and after the usual
religious salutations had passed between them, Magnus was informed
and consulted about the persecutions and injuries Theodore had suffered
from the people around him,20 and how he had built a small church
on the banks of the Iller. He was desirous of having it consecrated
in honour of the Holy Mother of God, Mary, by Bishop Wictherp.
Both of those attached friends then went to see the at 21 bishop Eptaticus,
where he then resided, and preferred their request. He was then
sitting and at prayer in his oratory. On learning the object of their interview, the venerable prelate said: "I will first tell you what I had in my mind before you came, and then at a proper time, in the name of God, I shall go with you. Indeed, my most dear Father Magnus, as the Lord hath
marcha he means the
called Keltinstein, and that such term has
of a
16 In Goldast's edition of St. Acts, there is no mention of St. Afra.
the modern district.
l? his wife, By
signification
territory
Plectrude,
sons,
Aschauer usque ad Erspach, et quo spatio pnecipue continetur tota parochia Aschaver, Saxenriedt, Hohenfurch, bona in Nider- hoffen ei Altenstat, Dienhausen, Weyssensee et Fiiessen," &c.
virtues so justly merited. Grimoald left a son named Theudoalis or Theobaldus, who was styled Major Domus while still a youth ; but, (luring his minority, Plectrude, the wife of Pepin, took upon herself the chief administration of public affairs in the king- dom, which afterwards became the prey of great disorders. See Natalis Alexander's " Historia Ecclesiastica Veteris Novique Testamenti," tomus xii. , scec. vii. , cap. vi. ,
14
In the Acts as published by the Bol-
"
landists, the text reads,
viginti tria," but in other copies "centum et tredecim. " The Abbot Henry notes: "
village, previously
Magnus'
or
13 Henry, Abbot of Fiissen, gives the their father. Her he repudiated, and after-
he had two Drogon and Grimoald, who pie-deceased
" Nota saltum wards cohabited with whom he Alpaide, by
following interpretation :
ilium, quen. Pippinus S. Magno donasse had two illegitimate sons, Charles and dicitur, fuisse totum ilium districtum et Childebrand. However, repenting his illicit fundurn, magnum et spatiosum desertum, connexion, he recalled Plectrude to the quod se extendit ab Hornbach et parochia position his religious obligation and her
vectigalia centum
Si conjecturari licet, puto esse centum et
tredecim libra* argenti, qose quotannis art. vi. , p. 102, and saec. viii. , cap. vii. , art.
pendenda; erant ex Aschawensi S. Magni ecclesia : nam centum et tredecim librae
faciunt sexaginta quatuor Morenos, triginta crucigeros et tinum halerum. Sic hodie dttm nobis etiamnum pendunt Aschawcn-. es quotannis pro censu sexaginta quatuor florenos. Quod ego pro ratione conjecturce meas assertum volo. "
'5 Father Suysken, in a note, points out cer-
tain coincidences of statement and phrase-
ology, between what is given in the Acts of
St. Magnus, and in the text of Walafridus or in the village situated on its banks. In Strabo, in " De Miraculis S. Galli,"
cap. xi.
i. , ii. , iii. , iv. , v. , pp. 382 to 388.
,8 See Georgius Heinricus Pertz's "Monu-
menta Germanise J listorica," tomus v. , Bernoldi Chronicon, p. 417.
"SonofChildebert III. , who died A. D. 711.
"
See J. (J. L. Simonde de Sismondi's His-
toire Francois," tome ii. , chap, xii. , p. 104.
20 The Acts have
it,
" narravit ei Theodo-
rus diversa et innumerabilia, qua? passus est
a pagensibus Hilargaugensibus," &c. This
means either the people living near the Iller,
the Ratisbon Manuscript is substituted " ab incolis Canipidonensibus. "
September 6. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS.
exalted you in this place by His great miracles, I had intended to send for and ordain you a priest through Divine assistance, on the coming fast of the seventh month. " 22 However, the humble Magnus declared himself to be unworthy of such an exalted dignity, on account of his many sins. Still, if on their meditated journey, the Almighty should manifest His approval of that intention, Magnus declared, as an obedient servant, he would oppose no further obstacle to the prelate's desire. On making that statement, Wictherp and Theodore saw a brilliant crown of glory encircling his head. The prelate, then rising, embraced Magnus, and cried out: "Almighty Lord, who hath deigned in the plenitude of Thy power to show such virtues in you, who have left your country to observe His precepts, may He cause you to magnify and guard the place destined for you, through the grace of Thy Holy Spirit. " Theodore devoutly answered, " Amen. " Again the Bishop said :
been called 23 because it lies midway 2* Eptaticus,
of the Blessed Afra 2 s and own cell. Therefore your
" Well has this
place monastery
between the
shall you know, that after my departure, I desire this possession to belong to
the Blessed and to St. Virgin
26 as if this is destined to be a place
Afra,
mediator between thy monastery and my church of Augsburg. " All three
then came to Kempten, and on the day of the church's consecration, Wictherp preached an impressive sermon before a great number of people.
About the same was time, Magnus
duly
remained for two days. Leaving Theodore in charge of Kempten, Magnus
set out for Fiissen, and the venerable prelate, Wictherp, went to his own place of residence.
St. Magnus spent six-and-twenty years of his life, at Fassen. 28 The
vation of the name as given in the text, "quasi idem vocabulum (Eptaticum) inter- pretetur medium, et non potius numerum
31 Father Charles Stengel supposes he had
discovered the site of this place, not far from
the River Lech, and an hour's journey from
the village of Eppach. There in a lonely sonet Septenarium, qui Grsec£ dicitur and uncultivated situation was a small iirra.
chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and to St. Laurence. This information he re-
"
24 To the objection in the previous note, Father Suysken replies : "Recte : sed quidsi locus ille septem circiter leucis utrimque
ceived from a rustic.
earn omnino deveni sententiam, at mihi dissitus fuerit, inter Augustam scilicet et
September, &c. : for Quintilis, afterwards Julius, was the fifth month from Marcli ;
Quo responso in
Fauces medius ? Turn sane nihil erit, quod
improbet anonymus. "
25 Unless this be an interpolation of the
more recenr writer, according to Father
.
Martyrs, is celebrated on the 5th of August.
2? St. Gelasius, who flourished towards
the end of the fifth century, thus writes :
•'
Ordinationes etiam presbyterorum et diaconorum, nisi certis temporibus et diebus Sextilis, afterwards Augustus, the Sixth, exerceri non debent ; id est, q—uarti mensis
persuaded paterer, hanc ipse esse ecclesiam,
delectatum fuisse B. — qua Wicterpum legi-
nms, ubi et postea Herluca vitam egerit. " "
Monasteriologia. "
22 By this is understood the fast of Quatuor
Tense, in the month of September. It was
called the seventh month, because it is held,
that Romulus had ordered the year to com-
mence from March ; and although Numa Bernard Hertfelder states. However, Pompilius placed January and February Father Suysken would hesitate to place the before March, nevertheless the previous Regular Canons there in the age of St. numerical order of the months continued in
the writings of the ancients and ecclesiastical
authors. " That the year originally began with March is shown by the names of
several of the months ; as Quintilis, Sextilis,
and —wereaddedto &c. January February
the end of the year. " Thomas Henry
Dyer's History of the Kings of Rome," &c metres, south from Augsbourg, and 33
:
jejunio, septimi
etdecimi/'&c. Epistolaix.
Prefatory Dissertation, p. cxxvii.
23 The anonymous writer of the saint's
Ratisbon Acts thus finds fault with the deri-
kilometres south-east from Kempten. At present it contains about 2,000 inhabitants. On the 18th of April, 1745, a treaty was
ordained a 2? There they priest.
Suysken, by the monastery of St. Afra, we are to understand a community of Regular Canons, that occupied it before A. D. 1012, when the Benedictines succeeded them, as
Magnus.
26 The festival of St. Afra and Companions,
2b about kilo- This town of Bavaria is 90
152 LIVESOFTHEIRISHSAINTS. [September6.
miracles he wrought there caused the conversion of numberless infidels, so
2
that he was afterwards regarded as the Apostle of Suabia. 9 It is related, in
the Legend of his Life, that when he travelled through the mountains and valleys in different places, the bears remarkable for their ferocity, through the efficacy of his prayers, lost all their wildness, and went before him tamely as didoxenbeforetheherdsman. Atonelime,havingascendedahighmoun- tain, called Suilinc,3° through a miracle, veins of iron were discovered by him, in that district of country where h» dwelt. 31 These were afterwards worked to great advantage by the inhabitants. 32 He is said to have founded many monasteries,inthedioceseofAugsburg. Itmayherebeobserved,thatJoannes Tamayus Salazar 33 has converted this saint into a bishop and abbot of Spain ; but, this is a ridiculous statement, and not deserving the slightest attention. He also absurdly places Fauces in Spain, and states, that the saint had been canonized by Benton or Lanthon of Caesar Augusta, the classic name for the
present city of Saragossa.
After the death of Bishop Wictherp, it is stated, that through the recom-
mendation of the Blessed Magnus, Tozzo was elected to succeed him in the
see of Augsburg. In the twenty-sixth year of his incumbency,3< the holy Abbot took ill of a fever, and then Tozzo sent word to his most faithful
friend, Theodore, at Kempten, to hasten and comfort him. Immediately he
sorrowfully set out, taking with him what he supposed requisite for the aged patient. He found the holy Abbot of Fussen in the last extremity, and then Theodore sent a message for the Bishop to hasten with all speed. Tozzo lost no time in coming to his bed-side, and seeing the Blessed Magnus near
death, said in tears
:
" Alas ! beloved Father, alas ! illustrious teacher, do
youleavemeasanorphaninthemidstofmydangers! " Totheseexclama- "
tions, Magnus was able to reply
see me struggling in the storms of worldly adversity, since I have faith in God's mercies, and that my soul shall rejoice in the freedom of immortality ; however, I entreat you, not to withhold your pious prayers for me a sinner, nor cease to afford the aid of your intercession. "
:
Weep not, venerable prelate, because you
The Life of St. Magnus states, that he departed on a Sunday, about the ninth hour, and on the viii. Ides of September^ which correspond with the 6thofthismonth. WhileBishopTozzoandTheodorestoodweeping,they heard a voice from Heaven " and receive the
saying: Come, Magnus, come,
crown for ! " Then Tozzo said to Theodore " let us prepared you ; Brother,
cease weeping, for rather should we rejoice than grieve, on hearing such
"
Vita S. Magni," Babenstuber Austria. See Pierre Larousse's " Grand states, that they had been deserted in his
there concluded between Bavaria and 32 In his
Dictionnaire Universel du XIX. Steele," tome viii. , p. 895.
day, "sed cum ferritin habeant notae non
adeo bona-, at aliucl. quod ut vicinis nego-
ciatorilms — tolerabili importatur, venditurque
pretio, piidum desectae sunt. ' Lib. iii. ,
iii.
cap.
31 In his Spanish Martyrology. He wri'. es :
"Ad Fauces, oppidum in Vettonia His-
paniae, sancti Magni, qui cum Hispanias cum S. Columbano venisset, et monas- terium S. Martini in Placentinae urbis territorio abbas inclytus construxisset, et alia plura contra haereticos machinasset, post hujus vitas excursum miraculis Celebris et sanctitate conspicuus. ad aeternam quietem confessor properavit strenuus. "
29 See Les Petits
Bollandistes, e
" Vies des
Saints," tome x. , Jour vi Septembre, p.
n. 1.
30 In the edition of Goldast, it is written
Swilinjr, and in the German Life of our
saint Seyling. Under the latter form, it is
noted Merianus, in "
by Topographia
Suevise," as being near the town of Fuessen, on the other side of the Lech River.
*" In the Manuscript of our saint's Acts,
used by the anonymous writer of Ratisbon, about the middle of the eleventh century, is
"
read: ab illo igitur diversae ferri venae
528,
inveniebantur in
tern diem.
in
3* Others have it the
3s Such is the statement in the Acta
"
ipso loco, usque
praesen-
twenty-fifth,
September 6. 1 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 153
words, since his soul is taken to immortal bliss ; but let us go to the church, that we may prepare to immolate the Sacred Victim for our dearly loved friend. "
St. Magnus died in the seventy-fourth year of his age, and a. d. 655, according to the best computation. The exact date for his death, however, has divided the opinions of various writers;36 some placing it, at 654, 655,37 665,38 670,39 673, 683, 689, and 691. <° After the departure of the holy servant of God^his friends, Bishop Tozzo and Theodore, found a beautifully-formed stone coffin, fashioned in ancient
12 times by a magnate named Abuzac,* who also gave the name Abuzacum*
to a fort he had erected. In that coffin, no corpse had been previously
deposited. Having carefully prepared the interior, the body of our saint was then placed in it, and buried in that place, where he had built
an oratory. Moreover, in the tomb was deposited a Memoir of his virtues,
written by Theodore.
With this was placed a certificate in the Latin
thus be rendered into " Wherefore I, English :
and which
Theodorus, monk from the monastery of St. Gall, by order of Bishop Tozzo, as I have learned from Theodegisilus,*3 monk ot St. Columban, from conver- sations with him, as also with the Blessed Columban,** and from what I have seen with my own eyes and heard with mine own ears, either after he left me in the cell at Kempten, and as afterwards from the aforesaid venerable Bishop Tozzo, I have learned about his virtues many things ; but, not all have I cared to write in my tract,*s and I have placed at his head within the coffin for futuie times, when the Lord revealing it, then those who shall be pastors and rectors of the church, may rind it to be just and right ; so that those things that should be corrected they may Correct, and what should be emended
language,
may
they may emend ; moreover, may they not forget to pray for me to the servant of Christ, so that supported by the suffrages of such a Patron, my soul may obtain eternal rest. " * 6
42
Pseudo-Theodori.
