S. ANSKAR, B.; AP. OF SWEDEN.

(A.D. 865.)

[German, Scandinavian, and Belgian martyrologies. Authorities:--His

life by his successor, S. Rembert, who was personally acquainted

with him, and had shared in his mission. The following outline of

the life of this illustrious saint is from the pen of the Rev. G. F.

Maclear, B.D., and is extracted from his "Apostles of Mediæval

Europe," somewhat curtailed, and with some modifications.]

Charlemagne was once, we are told,[9] at Narbonne, when, in the midst

of the banquet, some swift barks were seen putting into the harbour.

The company started up, while some pronounced the crew to be Jewish,

others African, others British traders, the keen eye of the great

emperor discerned that they were bound on no peaceful errand. "It is

not with merchandise," said he, "that yonder barks are laden; they are

manned by most terrible enemies." And then he advanced to the window,

and stood there a long while in tears. No one dared to ask him the

cause of his grief, but at length he explained it himself. "It is not

for myself," said he, "that I am weeping, or for any harm that yon

barks can do to me. But truly I am pained to think that even while I

am yet alive they have dared to approach this shore; and still greater

is my grief when I reflect on the evils they will bring on my

successors."

His words were only too truly fulfilled. The sight of those piratical

banners told its own tale. The fleets he had built, the strong forts

and towns he had erected at the mouths of the various rivers

throughout his empire, were neglected by his successors, and what he

foresaw came to pass. Year after year, during the ninth century, the

children of the North burst forth from their pine forests, their

creeks, their fiords, and icebound lakes, and prowled along the

defenceless shores of Germany, France, and England. They laughed at

the fiercest storms, landed on the most inaccessible coasts, and

pushed up the shallowest rivers, while Charlemagne's degenerate

successors tamely beheld the fairest towns in their dominions sacked

and burnt by the terrible crews of those terrible barks.

"Take a map," writes Sir Francis Palgrave, "and colour with vermilion

the provinces, districts, and shores which the Northmen visited, as

the record of each invasion. The colouring will have to be repeated

more than ninety times successively before you arrive at the

conclusion of the Carlovingian dynasty. Furthermore, mark by the usual

symbol of war, two crossed swords, the localities where battles were

fought by or against the pirates; where they were defeated or

triumphant, or where they pillaged, burned, destroyed; and the valleys

and banks of the Elbe, Rhine, and Moselle, Scheldt, Meuse, Somme, and

Seine, Loire, Garonne, and Adour, the inland Allier, and all the

coasts and coastlands between estuary and estuary, and the countries

between the river-streams, will appear bristling as with

_cheveux-de-frise_. The strongly-fenced Roman cities, the venerated

abbeys, and their dependent _bourgades_, often more flourishing and

extensive than the ancient seats of government, the opulent sea-ports

and trading-towns, were all equally exposed to the Danish attacks,

stunned by the Northmen's approach, subjugated by their fury."[10]

But while the mind faintly strives to conceive the misery and

desolation thus inflicted, on well-nigh every town and village of

Germany and France, it finds satisfaction in the thought that even now

missionary zeal did not falter; that while every estuary and river

darkened under the sails of the Northmen's barks, there were not

lacking those who had the Christian bravery to penetrate into the

dreary regions whence they issued forth, to seek them out amidst their

pine forests and icebound lakes, and to plant amongst them the first

germs of Christian civilization.

The first mission in Denmark was organized in the year A.D. 826, when

Harold, king of Jutland, his queen, and a large retinue of Danes, were

baptized with great pomp in the vast Dom of Mayence. On this occasion,

Harold solemnly did homage to Louis the Pious, and agreed to hold the

Danish kingdom as a feudatory of the Carlovingian crown. On this

occasion also, Ebbo, the primate of France, determined to seek out a

monk who would be willing to accompany the newly-baptized king on his

return to Denmark, and remain at his court as a priest and teacher.

But the well-known ferocity of the Northmen long deterred any one from

offering himself for such a duty. At length the abbot of Corbey, near

Amiens, announced that one of his monks was not unwilling to undertake

the arduous task.

The intrepid volunteer was Anskar, a native of a village not far from

Corbey. Born in the year A.D. 801, and early devoted by his parents to

the monastic life, he had always evinced the deepest religious

enthusiasm, and his ardent imagination taught him to believe that he

often saw visions and heard voices from another world. When he was

only five years of age, he lost his mother: and a dream, in which he

saw her surrounded by a majestic choir of virgins, the fairest of whom

bade him, if he would join his mother in bliss, flee the pomps and

vanities of the world, exerted a profound impression upon him, and

induced him to devote himself more than ever to prayer and meditation.

But when he was thirteen years of age, A.D. 814, an event occurred

which exercised a still deeper influence over his susceptible mind.

News reached the monastery that Charlemagne was dead. The greatest of

great emperors had passed away, and now, in the sepulchre which he had

made for himself, "he was sitting on his curule chair, clad in his

silken robes, ponderous with broidery, pearls, and orfray, the

imperial diadem on his head, his closed eyelids covered, his face

swathed in the dead-clothes, girt with his baldric, the ivory horn

slung in his scarf, his good sword 'Joyeuse' by his side, the

Gospel-book open on his lap, musk and amber and sweet spices poured

around."[11]

Anskar at this time had relaxed somewhat of his usual austerities, and

now the thought that even that mighty prince, whom he himself had seen

in all the plenitude of his power could not escape the hand of death,

filled him with awe, and he gave himself up more unreservedly than

ever to the severest discipline. Meanwhile his talents had brought him

into general notice, and when his abbot founded another monastic

outpost in Westphalia, in a beautiful valley on the west bank of the

Weser, and called it New Corbey, Anskar was removed to the new

foundation, and at the age of twenty-five was elected, with the common

consent of all, to superintend its conventual school, and to preach to

the neighbouring population.

He was on a visit to Old Corbey, when the news arrived that a monk was

much needed to accompany the Danish Harold to his native land, and

that the abbot Wala had nominated him to the emperor as a fit person

to be entrusted with the arduous mission. Summoned to the court,

Anskar calmly but resolutely announced his willingness to go. In

dreams and visions, he said, he had heard the voice of Christ himself

bidding him preach the word to the heathen tribes: and nothing could

induce him to shrink from the plain path of duty. In vain, therefore,

on his return to the monastery, the brethren learning that he was

about to resign all his hopes and prospects to preach amongst heathens

and barbarians, warned, protested, and even mocked at him for his

madness. Immoveable in his resolution to brave all risks, he began to

prepare himself for his great enterprise by prayer and study of the

Scriptures; and so deep was the impression made by his evident

sincerity and self-devotion, that Autbert, steward of the monastery,

and a man of noble birth, when every one else hung back, declared that

he could not find it in his heart to desert his friend, and was

resolved to become his companion.

A foretaste of the difficulties that awaited them was experienced at

the very outset. No one could possibly be prevailed on to accompany

them as an attendant. The abbot himself shrank from interposing his

authority, and they were fain to set out alone. Before starting, they

had an interview with Louis, and received from him everything they

were likely to need for their undertaking, in the shape of church

vessels, tents, and books. From Harold, however, they met with but

little encouragement, and neither he nor his nobles cared much for

their company.

On their arrival at Cologne, whence they were to sail up the Rhine to

Holland, and so to Denmark, Bishop Hadebold bestowed upon them a ship

with two cabins. The better accommodation promised in such a vessel

induced Harold to share it with Anskar; and the engaging manners of

the missionary gradually won his respect, and inspired him with an

interest in his undertaking.

On landing, Anskar fixed his head-quarters at Schleswig, and commenced

the foundation of a school, purchasing, or receiving, from Harold,

Danish boys, whom he tried to train, so as to form the nucleus of a

native ministry. Two years thus passed away, and some impression

seemed to have been made upon the people, when Autbert sickened, and

was obliged to return to Corbey, where he died. Meanwhile the baptism

of Harold, and still more his destruction of the native temples, was

bitterly resented by his subjects. Before long a rebellion broke out,

and the king was obliged to fly for refuge to a spot within the

ancient Frisian territory, while Anskar finding it necessary to leave

Schleswig, was consoled by an unexpected opportunity of commencing a

similar work in Sweden.

In the year A.D. 829, ambassadors from Sweden presented themselves at

the court of Louis, and after arranging the political object of their

mission, announced that many of their countrymen were favourably

disposed towards Christianity. The commerce carried on at this period

between Sweden and the port of Doerstadt, combined with the teaching

of some Christian captives, whom the Swedes had carried off in their

piratical excursions, had predisposed not a few towards lending a

favourable ear to Christian teachers. The emperor gladly embraced the

opportunity thus afforded, and summoned Anskar to the palace, who,

after an interview, declared his entire willingness to undertake the

enterprise.

A monk named Gislema was therefore left with Harold, and Anaskar

having found a new companion in Witmar, a brother monk of Corbey, set

out in the year A.D. 831 with presents from Louis to the King of

Sweden.

But the voyage was most disastrous. The missionaries had not proceeded

far when they were attacked by pirates. A fierce battle ensued, and

their crew, though first victorious, were overpowered in a second

engagement, and barely escaped to land. The pirates plundered them of

everything, the presents for the king, their sacred books, and all

their ecclesiastical vestments. In this forlorn and destitute

condition they reached Birka, a haven and village on the Mälar lake,

not far from the ancient capital Sigtuna, the residence of rich

merchants, and the centre of the northern trade. Here they were

hospitably welcomed by the king, Biorn "of the Hill," and received

full permission to preach and baptize. The nucleus of a church was

found already existing in the persons of many Christian captives, who

had long been deprived of the consolation of Christian ordinances. The

work, therefore, of the missionaries commenced under fair auspices,

and before long Herigar, the king's counsellor, announced himself a

convert, and erected a church on his estate.

A year and a half was thus employed, and then Anskar returned to the

court of Louis with a letter from the King of Sweden, and an account

of all that had befallen him. Thereupon Louis resolved, without delay,

to give effect to the ecclesiastical plans of his father, and to make

Hamburg an archiepiscopal see, and the centre of operations for the

northern missions. Accordingly, Anskar was elevated to the

archiepiscopal dignity, and was consecrated at Ingleheim by Drogo,

Archbishop of Mayence, and other prelates. At the same time, because

of the poverty of the diocese, and the dangers to which the mission

would be inevitably exposed, the monastery of Thourout in Flanders,

between Bruges and Ypres, was assigned to him as a place of refuge,

and a source of revenue. Then he was directed to repair to Rome, where

he received the pall from Gregory IV., and was regularly authorized to

preach the Gospel to the nations of the North.

These arrangements made, Anskar returned from Rome. Ebbo, who had been

associated with him in the commission to evangelize the northern

tribes, deputed his missionary duties to his nephew Gauzbert, who was

raised to the episcopal dignity, and entrusted with the special care

of the Swedish mission. Thither, accordingly, Gauzbert set out,

received a hearty welcome from Biorn and his people, and laid the

foundation of a church at Sigtuna. Meanwhile Anskar had proceeded to

Hamburg, and, in pursuance of his former plan, bought or redeemed from

slavery a number of Danish youths, whom he either instructed himself,

or sent for that purpose to the monastery of Thourout.

But the times were hardly ripe for successful operations. Three years

had barely elapsed, when an enormous army of Northmen, led by Eric,

king of Jutland, attacked Hamburg, and before relief could arrive,

sacked and burnt it, together with the church and monastery which

Anskar had erected with great trouble. He himself had barely time to

save the sacred vessels, and, before the sun went down, every external

memorial of his mission was reduced to ashes. "The Lord gave, and the

Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord," was the

exclamation of the archbishop, as he surveyed the scene. Driven from

Hamburg, he now wandered for a long time over his devastated diocese,

followed by a few of his clergy and scholars, and at length sought

refuge at Bremen. But the envious Bishop Leutbert refusing to receive

him, he was fain to avail himself of the hospitality of a noble lady

in the district of Holstein. And, as if this was not enough, he now

received intelligence that, owing to similar risings of Northmen, the

hopes of the Swedish missions were utterly crushed.

The pagan party had conspired against Bishop Gauzbert, expelled him

from the country, and murdered his nephew Nithard. But divine

vengeance did not fail to pursue the conspirators. One of them had

carried home some of the property of the missionaries. Before long he

died, together with his mother and sister, and his father found his

own property wasting from day to day. Alarmed at this sudden reverse

of fortune, he began to consider what God he could have offended, to

bring all these troubles on his house. Unable to solve the difficulty

himself, he had recourse to a soothsayer. The lots were cast, and it

was found that none of the native deities bore him any ill will. At

length the soothsayer explained the cause. "It is the God of the

Christians," said he, "who is the author of thy ruin. There is

something dedicated to Him concealed in thy house, and therefore all

these evils have come upon thee, nor canst thou hope to prosper till

the sacred thing is restored."

After vainly trying, for some time, to comprehend what this could

mean, he suddenly recollected the day when his son had brought home

one of the sacred books from the spoil of the missionaries' dwellings.

Stricken with alarm, he immediately called together the inhabitants of

the place, told them all that had occurred, and prayed their advice in

the emergency. Every one declined to receive the terrible relic, and

at last, fearful of further vengeance if he retained it any longer in

his house, the man covered it carefully, and then fastened it to a

stake on the public road, with a notice that any one who wished might

take it down, and that for the crime he had unwittingly been guilty of

against the Christians' God he was ready to offer any satisfaction

that might be required. One of the native Christians took it down, and

the man's terrors were appeased.

Anskar meanwhile was still wandering over his desolated diocese. Even

the monastery of Thourout, which Louis had bestowed upon him for the

very purpose of being a covert from such storms as these, was closed

against him, having been bestowed upon a layman by Charles the Bald.

Under such accumulated misfortunes most men would have sunk, but

Anskar waited patiently in the hope of some change, and comforted

himself with the words addressed to him by Archbishop Ebbo before his

death: "Be assured, my dear brother, that what we have striven to

accomplish for the glory of Christ will yet, by God's help, bring

forth fruit. For it is my firm and settled belief, nay, I know of a

surety, that though the work we have undertaken among these nations is

for a time subject to obstacles and difficulties on account of our

sins, yet it will not be lost or perish altogether, but will, by God's

grace, thrive and prosper, until the Name of the Lord is made known to

the uttermost ends of the earth."

Before long, events occurred which seemed to promise that the clouds

would roll away, and a brighter era be initiated. Mindful of the

converted chief, Anskar sent to Sigtuna an anchoret named Ardgar, with

directions to see how he fared, and to strengthen him against falling

back into heathenism. Thither Ardgar set out, and was rejoiced to find

Herigar still remaining faithful to the faith he had embraced. The

recollection of the Divine vengeance which had attended the previous

outbreak, protected the missionary from injury, and the new king who

had succeeded Biorn was persuaded by Herigar to permit Ardgar to

preach the Gospel without fear of molestation.

That chief was no half-hearted believer, and openly confronted the

malice of the pagan party. On one occasion, as they were boasting of

the power of their gods, and of the many blessings they had received

by remaining faithful to their worship, he bade them put the matter to

an open and decisive proof. "If there be so much doubt," said he,

"concerning the superior might of our respective gods, let us see

whose power is greatest: whether that of the many whom ye call gods,

or that of my one omnipotent Lord, Jesus Christ. Lo! the season of

rain is at hand. Do ye call upon the names of your gods, that the rain

may be restrained from falling upon you, and I will call upon the name

of my Lord, Jesus Christ, that no drop may fall on me; and the god

that answereth our prayers, let him be God."

The heathen party agreed, and repairing to a neighbouring field, took

their seats in great numbers on one side, while Herigar, attended only

by a little child, sat on the other. In a few moments the rain

descended in torrents, drenched the heathens to the skin, and swept

away their tents; while on Herigar and the little child no drop fell,

and even the ground around them remained dry. "Ye see," he cried,

"which is the true God; bid me not, then, desert the faith I have

adopted, but rather lay aside your errors, and come to a knowledge of

the truth."

On another occasion the town of Birka was attacked by a piratical

expedition of Danes and Swedes, under the command of a king of Sweden,

who had been expelled from his realm. The place was closely invested,

and there seemed to be no prospect of a successful defence. In their

alarm, the townspeople offered numerous sacrifices to their gods, and

when all other means failed, collected such treasures as they

possessed, together with a hundred pounds of silver, and succeeded in

coming to terms with the hostile chiefs. But their followers, not

satisfied with the amount, prepared to storm the town. Again the gods

were consulted, the altars raised, the victims offered, but with

results equally unpromising. Herigar now interposed, rebuked the

people for their obstinate adherence to the worship of gods that could

not give aid in trouble, and when they bade him suggest some device,

and promised to follow his council, he urged them to make a solemn vow

of obedience to the Lord of the Christians, assuring them that, if

they turned to Him, He at any rate, would not fail them in the hour of

danger. The people took his advice, went forth to an open plain, and

there solemnly vowed to keep a fast in honour of the God of the

Christians, if He would rescue them from their enemies.

Help came in an unexpected fashion. The Swedish king, while the army

was clamouring for the signal to attack, suggested that the gods

should be consulted by lot, whether it was their will that Birka

should be destroyed. "There are many great and powerful deities

there," said he; "there also formerly a church was built, and even now

the worship of the Great Christ is observed by many, and He is more

powerful than any other god. We ought, then, to inquire first whether

it is the divine will that we attack the place." Accordingly the lots

were cast, and it was discovered that the auspices were not favourable

for the assault; and thus Birka was spared. The arrival, therefore, of

Ardgar was well timed, and he was not only welcomed by Herigar, but

the Christians were strengthened in their adherence to the faith by

his coming.

Nor was it in Sweden only that the prospects of the missionaries

brightened. In A.D. 847, Leutbert, bishop of Bremen, died. Anskar's

own see of Hamburg was now reduced, by the desolating inroads of the

Northmen, to four baptismal churches. It was therefore proposed that

the see of Bremen should be annexed to the archbishopric of Hamburg,

and, after the plan was matured, Anskar no longer found himself

hampered by want of means from devoting all his energies to the wider

planting of the faith. At the same time he was enabled to appoint a

priest over the church at Sleswik, and from Horik, king of Jutland, he

no longer experienced opposition in preaching the word amongst the

people. This encouraged many who had been baptized at Hamburg and

Doerstadt, but who had subsequently conformed to idolatrous practices,

to publicly profess their adhesion to the Christian faith, and they

rejoiced in the opportunity of joining in Christian fellowship. The

trade also of Doerstadt prospered by the change; Christian merchants

flocked thither in greater numbers, and with greater confidence, and

thus helped forward the work of Anskar and his colleagues.

At this juncture the hermit Ardgar returned from Sweden. Anskar, more

than ever unwilling that the mission there should be allowed to drop,

tried to prevail on Gauzbert to revisit the scene of his former

labours. But the latter, discouraged by his previous failure,

declined, and Anskar finding no one else willing to undertake the work

once more girded up his loins, and encouraged by Horik, who gave him

letters to Olaf king of Sweden, set out for Birka. The time of his

landing was unfortunate. The heathen party had been roused by the

native priests, and a crusade was proclaimed against the strange

doctrines. Suborning a man who pretended to have received a message

from the native deities, the priest announced it to be the will of

heaven that, if the people wished for new gods, they should admit into

their company the late king Eric, and allow divine honours to be paid

to him. This wrought up the feelings of the populace to such a pitch,

that the retinue of the archbishop pronounced it absolute madness to

persevere in his undertaking.

But Anskar was not thus to be thwarted. He invited Olaf to a feast,

set before him the presents sent by the king of Jutland, and announced

the object of his visit. Olaf, on his part, was not indisposed to make

the concessions he desired, but as former missionaries had been

expelled from the country, he suggested that it would be well to

submit the affair, once for all, to the solemn decision of the sacred

lots, and consult in an open council the feelings of the people.

Anskar agreed, and a day was fixed for deciding the question.

First, the council of the chiefs was formally asked, and their opinion

requested. They craved the casting of the sacred lots. The lots were

accordingly cast, and the result was declared to be favourable to the

admission of the archbishop and his retinue. Then the general assembly

of the people of Birka was convened, and at the command of the king a

herald proclaimed aloud the purport of the archbishop's visit. This

was the signal for a great tumult, in the midst of which an aged chief

arose, and thus addressed the assembly:

"Hear me, O king and people. The God whom we are invited to worship is

not unknown to us, nor the aid He can render to those that put their

trust in Him. Many of us have already proved this by experience, and

have felt His assistance in many perils, and especially in the sea.

Why, then, reject what we know to be useful and necessary for us? Not

long ago some of us went to Doerstadt, and believing that this new

religion could profit us much, willingly professed ourselves its

disciples. Now the voyage thither is beset with dangers, and pirates

abound on every shore. Why, then, reject a religion thus brought to

our very doors? Why not permit the servants of God, whose protecting

aid we have already experienced, to abide amongst us? Listen to my

counsel, then, O king and people, and reject not what is plainly for

our advantage. We see our own deities failing us, and unable to aid us

in time of danger. Surely it is a good thing to obtain the favour of a

God who always can and will aid those that call upon Him."

His words found favour with the people, and it was unanimously

resolved that the archbishop should be permitted to take up his abode

in the country, and should not be hindered in disseminating the

Christian faith. This resolution was announced to Anskar in person by

the king, who further conceded a grant of land for building a church,

and welcomed Erimbert, a colleague of the archbishop, whom he

presented as the new director of the Swedish mission.

Meanwhile matters had not been so prosperous in Denmark. Eric "the

Red," though not professedly a Christian, had, as we have seen, aided

the archbishop materially in the introduction of Christianity. His

apostasy provoked the inveterate hostility of the Northmen, and the

sea-kings determined to avenge the insult offered to the national gods.

Rallying from all quarters under the banner of Guthrun, nephew of

Eric, they attacked the apostate king near Flensburg, in Jutland. The

battle raged for three days, and at its close Eric and Guthrun, and a

host of kings and jarls lay dead upon the field; and so tremendous had

been the slaughter, that the entire Viking nobility seemed to have

been utterly exterminated.

The new king, Eric II., easily persuaded that the recent reverses were

entirely due to the apostasy of his predecessor, ordered one of

Anskar's churches to be closed, and forbade all further missionary

operations. After a while, however, he was induced to change his

policy, and Anskar, on his return from Sweden, was reinstated in the

royal favour, and received a grant of land for the erection of a

second church at Ripe, in Jutland, over which he placed Rembert, his

favourite disciple, charging him to win the hearts of his barbarous

flock by the sincerity and devotion of his life.

Anskar now returned to Hamburg, and devoted himself to the

administration of his diocese. One of the latest acts of his life was

a noble effort to check the infamous practice of kidnapping and

trading in slaves. A number of native Christians had been carried off

by the northern pirates, and reduced to slavery. Effecting their

escape, they sought refuge in the territory of Northalbingia. Instead

of sheltering the fugitives, some of the chiefs retained a portion of

them as their own slaves, and sold others to heathen, and even

professedly Christian tribes around. News of this reached Anskar, and

at the risk of his life he sternly rebuked the chiefs and succeeded in

inducing them to set the captives free, and to ransom as many as

possible from the bondage into which they had sold them.

This noble act formed an appropriate conclusion to his life. He was

now more than sixty-four years of age, and during more than half that

period had laboured unremittingly in the mission field. His friend and

biographer expatiates eloquently on his character, as exhibiting the

perfect model of ascetic perfection. Even when elevated to the

episcopal dignity, he never exempted himself from the rigid discipline

of the cloister. He wore a haircloth shirt by night as well as by day.

He measured out his food and drink by an exact rule. He chanted a

fixed number of Psalms, alike when he arose in the morning and when he

retired to rest at night. His charity knew no bounds. Not only did he

erect a hospital at Bremen for the sick and needy, distribute a tenth

of his income among the poor, and divide amongst them any presents he

might receive, but every five years he tithed his income afresh, that

he might be quite sure the poor had their proper share. Whenever he

went on a tour of visitation through his diocese, he would never sit

down to dinner, without first ordering some of the poor to be brought

in, and he himself would sometimes wash their feet, and distribute

amongst them bread and meat.

Such a practical exhibition of Christian love could not fail to

exercise a gradual influence even over the rough pirates of the North,

which was increased by the many miracles he wrought. But he was not

one to seek distinction of this kind. "One miracle," he once said to a

friend, "I would if worthy, ask the Lord to grant me; and that is,

that by His grace, He would make me a good man."

He employed his last days in arranging the affairs of his diocese, and

calmly expired on the 3rd of February, A.D. 865.

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

[9] Pertz, "Mon. Germ." vol. ii. p. 757.

[10] Palgrave's "Normandy and England," vol. i. p. 419.

[11] Palgrave's "Normandy and England," vol. i. p. 158.

February 4.

S. VERONICA, _Matr. at Rome, 1st cent._

S. PHILEAS, _B. of Thmuis_, S. PHILOROMUS AND OTHERS, _MM. at

Alexandria_, A.D. 304.

S. ABRAHAM, _M. B. of Arbela, in Persia_, A.D. 348.

S. GELASIUS, _C. at Piacenza, beginning of 5th cent._

S. ISIDORE _of Pelusium, P. Monk in Egypt, 5th cent._

S. AVENTINE, _H. of Troyes_, A.D. 538.

S. AVENTINE, _B. of Chateaudun_, 6th cent.

S. THEOPHILUS THE PENITENT, _C. at Adana in Cilicia_,

_circ._ A.D. 538.

S. LIEPHARD, _B. M. at Honcourt_, _circ._ A.D. 640.

S. MODAN, _Ab. in Scotland, 7th cent._

S. ULGIS, _Ab. B. at Lobies, 8th cent._

B. HRABANUS MAURUS, _Abp. of Mainz_, A.D. 856.

S. NICHOLAS OF THE STUDIUM, _Ab. C. at Constantinople_, A.D. 868.

S. PROBATIUS, _P. at Nogent_.

S. REMBERT, _B. of Hamburg and Bremen_, A.D. 888.

S. GILBERT OF SEMPRINGHAM, _Ab. in England_, A.D. 1189.

S. ANDREW CORSINI, _B. C. of Fiesoli_, A.D. 1373.

S. JEANNE DE VALOIS, _Q. of France_, A.D. 1505.

S. JOSEPH OF LEONISSA, _C. in Italy_, A.D. 1612.

S. JOHN DE BRITTO, _S.J., M. at Madura_, A.D. 1693.

The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): February · 第 48 / 219 题