The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

Paulinus of Nola, Natalicia

The date of Felix's feast is identified as 14 January in Nat. 3: it is twenty days after the solstice, on which day Christ was born in the flesh (post solstitium, quo Christus corpore natus) (verse 15).

Paulinus describes the crowds of pilgrims who are present at Felix’s tomb on feast days (Nat. 1, verses 10-15; Nat. 2, verses 20-26; Nat. 6, verses 181-209; Nat. 11, verses 10-15,).

The cities and regions the pilgrims come from - all located in Italy - are listed in Nat. 3 (verses 55-78):

Lucani coeunt populi, coit Apula pubes
et Calabri et cuncti quos adluit aestus uterque,
qui laeua et dextra Latium circumsonat unda;
et bis ter denas Campania laeta per urbes
ceu propriis gaudet festis, quos moenibus amplis
diues habet Capua et quos pulchra Neapolis aut quos
Gaurus alit, laeta exercent qui Massica qui que
Ufentem Sarnum que bibunt, qui sicca Tanagri
qui que colunt rigui felicia culta Galaesi,
quos Atina potens, quos mater Aricia mittit.

ipsa que caelestum sacris procerum monumentis
Roma Petro Paulo que potens rarescere gaudet
huius honore diei portae que ex ore Capenae
milia profundens ad amicae moenia Nolae
dimittit duodena decem per milia denso
agmine; confertis longe latet Appia turbis.

nec minus ex alia populis regione profectis
aspera montosae carpuntur strata Latinae,
quos Praeneste altum, quos fertile pascit Aquinum,
quos que suburbanis uetus Ardea mittit ab oris,
qui que urbem liquere Cales geminam que Teanum,
quam grauis Auruncus uel quam colit Apulus asper;
huc et oliuifera concurrit turba Venafro,
oppida Samnites duri montana relinquunt.

'The Lucanian clans gather, the youth of Apulia, the Calabrians, and all the peoples of Latium, round whom both seas resound left and right. Campania, rejoicing throughout her sixty cities, takes pleasure in the feast being her own. The contingent includes the citizens which rich Capua contains within her large walls, and those whom fair Naples or Caurus feeds, those who cultivate the gladdening Massic vines, and those who drink at the Ufens and the Sarnus; those who work at the dry soil of the Tanager, and at the fertile fields of the well-watered Galaesus; and those whom the strong Atina and their mother-city Aricia sent. Rome herself so powerful through the sacred tombs of the heavenly princes Peter and Paul, is delighted that her population shrinks because of the glory of this day. From the mouth of the Porta Capena she pours forth thousands, dispatching them in a thick swarm over the hundred and twenty miles to the walls of friendly Nola. The Appian way is invisible for long distances through the thick massed crowds.

No fewer are the city bands which have set out from other areas and take the rough road along the steep Latin way. There are those nurtured by lofty Praeneste and fruitful Aquinum, and those whom ancient Ardea sends from the coast abutting on the city. Some have left Cales and the twin towns of Teanum, where the sober Aurunci and the rough Apulians dwell. A crowd hastens also from Venafrum rich in olives, and the tough Samnites leave their high-perched towns.'


Earlier, Paulinus explicitly states that - in addition to honouring Felix - many of these devotees hope for a miracle from the saint (Nat. 3, verses 21-36).

Devotees donate various gifts to the saint, which include food, curtains, lamps and candles (Nat. 6, verses 25-43). Vows - sometimes inscribed in silver foil - are affixed to the door posts of the shrine (Nat. 3, verses 44-45; Nat. 6, verses 33-34). The tomb is richly decorated with curtains, lamps, flowers and anointed with spikenard and oil, which is later collected and believed to have miraculous properties (Nat. 3, verses 98-115; Nat 6, verses 25-43). The festival celebrations are not an entirely sober affair. At other times, Felix's tomb is anointed with wine (Nat. 9, verses 547-595). The drunken nature of the festival is hinted at in this section: Paulinus justifies the figural representations in the basilicas at Nola by suggesting the entertainment they provide prevents the rustics (agrestes) visiting the shrine from getting too drunk (see also E04768).

Throughout the rest of the year, the locals around Nola sing hymns to Felix and donate gifts to his shrine. Nat. 12, for example, describes how animals are earmarked for sacrifice, driven to the tomb, slaughtered and their meat distributed amongst the poor (see E04741). Paulinus compares his poem to the songs those in the countryside around Nola sing in devotion to Felix in their homes (Nat. 13, verses 84-104). The singing of devotees in the church of Felix is described in Nat. 9, verses 542-567.


Text: Dolveck 2015.
Translation: Walsh 1975.
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.

Chant and religious singing
Sacrifice/libation

Saint’s feast

Cult building - independent (church)
Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Feasting (eating, drinking, dancing, singing, bathing)

Prayer/supplication/invocation
Vow
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Distribution of alms
Visiting graves and shrines
Pilgrimage

Miracle after death

Bodily relic - entire body
Contact relic - oil
Contact relic - water and other liquids
Making contact relics

Oil lamps/candles
Precious cloths
Flowers
Inscription

Source

Discussion

Bibliography