Valerius, hermit of Bierzo (north-west Hispania), in his Replicatio sermonum, records that a presbyter stole the book 'on the triumphs of saints' which he had copied and possessed in his cell. Written in Latin probably near the end of the 7th century.
E01855
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Valerius of Bierzo, Ordo querimoniae
Valerius complains about a priest who persecuted him as he conducted eremitic life.
3. Post haec itaque pietatis Domini confisus virtute in abditissima antiquae solitudinis me contuli quem quaerebam. Cumque ibidem aliquanto tempore solitarius permanerem nec sic a mea persecutione quievit ipse jam saepe dictus pseudosacerdos. Nam libros quos de lege Domini et sanctorum triumphis pro consolationem peregrinationis meae atque correptionis disciplinae vel scientiae industria ipse conscripseram mihi prius cum ingenti contumelia abstulit.
'3. Accordingly after this, confiding in the strength of the goodness of the Lord, whom I was seeking, I betook myself to the depths of an ancient solitude. Although I remained there alone for some time, that pseudo-priest already named did not then desist from persecuting me. First he stole from me with great effrontery books on the law of the Lord and the triumphs of the saints, which as the consolation of my pilgrimage and a correction of my way of life, and out of zeal for knowledge, I myself have copied./
Text and translation: Aherne 1949: 73-76
Transmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Source
Ordo querimoniae is the second part the autobiographical trilogy written by the hermit Valerius from the region of Bierzo in the northern Iberian Peninsula. He relates his sufferings, attacks of the devil, and conflicts he was involved in during his monastic life. The exact dates of Valerius' life and the composition of his works cannot be established; it can only be said that he lived and worked in roughly the second half of the seventh century.Discussion
The book on the triumphs of saints' was most probably a collection of martyrdoms, but other forms of hagiographical literature, such as monastic stories are also possible. It is interesting that they were apparently copied in the same book as the biblical texts.Bibliography
Edition and translation:Aherne, C.M., Valerio of Bierzo, an Ascetic of the Late Visigothic Period (diss. Washington D.C. 1949) 68-109.