Common Avens. _Geum Urbanum._
Dedicated to _St. Urban_.
[148] Butler.
[149] Porter, Golden Legend.
~May 26.~
_St. Philip Neri_, A. D. 1595. _St. Augustine_, Abp. of Canterbury, A.
D. 604. _St. Eleutherius_, Pope, A. D. 192. _St. Quadratus_, Bp. A. D.
125. _St. Oduvald_, Abbot, A. D. 698.
_St. Philip Neri._
He was born at Florence in 1515, became recluse when a child, dedicated
himself to poverty, and became miraculously fervent. “The divine love,”
says Alban Butler, “so much dilated the breast of our saint, that the
gristle which joined the fourth and fifth ribs on the left side was
broken, which accident allowed the heart and the larger vessels more
play; in which condition he lived fifty years.” According to the same
authority, his body was sometimes raised from the ground during his
devotions some yards high. Butler relates the same of St. Dunstan, St.
Edmund, and many other saints, and says that “Calmet, an author still
living, assures us that he knows a religious man who, in devout prayer,
is sometimes involuntarily raised in the air, and remains hanging in it
without any support; also that he is personally acquainted with a devout
nun to whom the same had often happened.” Butler thinks it probable that
they themselves would not determine whether they were raised by angels,
or by what other supernatural operation. He says, that Neri could detect
hidden sins by the smell of the sinners. He died in 1595: the body of
such a saint of course worked miracles.
St. Philip Neri founded the congregation or religious order of the
Oratory, in 1551. The rules of this religious order savour of no small
severity. By the “Institutions of the Oratory,” (printed at Oxford,
1687, 8vo. pp. 49.) they are required to mix corporal punishments with
their religious harmony:--“From the first of November to the feast of
the resurrection, their contemplation of celestial things shall be
heightened by a concert of music; and it is also enjoined, that at
certain seasons of frequent occurrence, they all whip themselves in the
Oratory. After half an hour’s mental prayer, the officers distribute
whips made of small cords full of knots, put forth the children, if
there be any, and carefully shutting the doors and windows, extinguish
the other lights, except only a small candle so placed in a dark
lanthorn upon the altar, that the crucifix may appear clear and visible,
but not reflecting any light, thus making all the room dark: then the
priest, in a loud and doleful voice, pronounceth the verse _Jube Domine
benedicere_, and going through an appointed service, comes _Apprehendite
disciplinam_, &c.; at which words, taking their whips, they scourge
their naked bodies during the recital of the 50th Psalm, _Miserere_, and
the 129th, _De profundis_, with several prayers; at the conclusion of
which, upon a sign given, they end their whipping, and put on their
clothes in the dark and in silence.”
_Oratorios._
The _Oratorio_ commenced with the fathers of the _Oratory_. In order to
draw youth to church, they had hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs, or
cantatas, sung either in chorus or by a single favourite voice. These
pieces were divided into two parts, the one performed before the sermon,
and the other after it. Sacred stories, or events from scripture,
written in verse, and by way of dialogue, were set to music, and the
first part being performed, the sermon succeeded, which the people were
induced to stay and hear, that they might be present at the performance
of the second part. The subjects in early times were the good Samaritan,
the Prodigal Son, Tobit with the angel, his father, and his wife, and
similar histories, which by the excellence of the composition, the band
of instruments, and the performance, brought the _Oratory_ into great
repute; hence this species of musical drama obtained the general
appellation of _Oratorio_.
_St. Augustine._
This was the monk sent to England by St. Gregory the Great, to convert
the English; by favour of Ethelbert, he became archbishop of Canterbury.
Christianity, however, had long preceded Augustine’s arrival, for the
queen of Ethelbert, previous to his coming, was accustomed to pay her
devotions in the church of St. Martin just without Canterbury. This most
ancient edifice still exists. Not noticing more at present concerning
his historical character, it is to be observed that, according to his
biographers, he worked many miracles, whereof may be observed this:--
St. Augustine came to a certain town, inhabited by wicked people, who
“refused hys doctryne and prechyng uterly, and drof hym out of the
towne, castyng on hym the tayles of thornback, or lyke fysshes;
wherefore he besought Almyghty God to shewe hys jugement on them; and
God sent to them a shamefull token; for the chyldren that were born
after in the place, had tayles, as it is sayd, tyll they had repented
them. It is said comynly that this fyll at Strode in Kente; but blyssed
be Gode, at thys daye is no such deformyte.”[150] It is said, however,
that they were the natives of a village in Dorsetshire who were thus
tail-pieced.[151]
Another notable miracle is thus related. When St. Augustine came to
Compton, in Oxfordshire, the curate complained, that though he had often
warned the lord of the place to pay his tythes, yet they were withheld,
“and therefore I,” said the curate, “have cursed hym, and I fynde him
the more obstynate.” Then St. Augustine demanded why he did not pay his
tythes to God and the church; whereto the knight answered, that as he
tilled the ground, he ought to have the tenth sheaf as well as the
ninth. Augustine, finding that he could not bend this lord to his
purpose, then departed and went to mass; but before he began, he charged
all those that were accursed to go out of the church. Then a dead body
arose, and went out of the church into the churchyard with a white cloth
on his head, and stood there till mass was done; whereupon St. Augustine
went to him, and demanded what he was; and the dead body said, “I was
formerly lord of this town, and because I would not pay my tithes to my
curate, he cursed me, and then I died and went to hell.” Then Augustine
bade the dead lord bring him to where the curate was buried, which
accordingly he did, and Augustine commanded the dead curate to arise,
who thereupon accordingly arose and stood before all the people. Then
Augustine demanded of the dead curate if he knew the dead lord, who
answered, “Would to God I had never known him, for he was a withholder
of his tythes, and, more over, an evil-doer.” Then Augustine delivered
to the said curate a rod, and then the dead lord kneeling, received
penance thereby; which done, Augustine commanded the dead lord to go
again to his grave, there to abide until the day of judgment; and
forthwith the said lord entered his grave, and fell to ashes. Then
Augustine asked the curate, how long he had been dead; and he said, a
hundred and fifty years. And Augustine offered to pray for him, that he
might remain on earth to confirm men in their belief; but the curate
refused, because he was in the place of rest. Then said Augustine, “Go
in peace, and pray for me and for holy church;” and immediately the
curate returned to his grave. At this sight, the lord who had not paid
the curate his tythes was sore afraid, and came quaking to St.
Augustine, and to his curate, and prayed forgiveness of his trespass,
and promised ever after to pay his tythes.