The Latin Life of the Jura Fathers recounts how *Lupicinus and Romanus (brothers and founders of the Jura monasteries, mid 5th c., S00003) appeared in a vision to *Eugendus (ascetic in the Jura mountains, ob. 512/515, S02182), and revealed that he would become abbot; late 5th c. in Condat. Written at Condat in the Jura mountains (modern Saint-Claude in eastern Gaul), 512/525.
E05922
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
The Life of the Jura Fathers 135-138 (Life of Saint Eugendus the Abbot)
Summary:
The author describes (§§ 132-4) how, when Lupicinus' successor as abbot was too old and infirm to continue alone, Eugendus, at the abbot's request, took on many of his duties. However, he was unwilling to be ordained a presbyter, as the abbot wished, considering that it would conflict with his wish for seclusion and humility. Eugendus then has a vision (§ 135):
Nocte igitur subsecuta subito raptus in uisione, beatissimis quoque Romano ac Lupicino abbatibus, ut in initiis quondam, ita nunc in oratorii secretario a parte dextera praesentatur, necnon etiam inter ipsos seniores ac superstites circumspicit fratres cereos ac lampades gestare lucentes. Et data sibi a sanctis patribus oratione uel pace, ilico benedictum illum abbatem, decessorem sibi utique mox futurum, conspicit intromitti, ac super dorsum ipsius uel scapulas, rigentibus clauis purporeis, pallium album aspicit dependere.
'The following night he was suddenly seized by a vision: both blessed abbots, Romanus and Lupicinus, were present, as had happened at the beginning. Now, however, the vision took place in a sacristy of the oratory, to the right of the church. He also saw brothers among them, old men who had survived Romanus and Lupicinus, carrying candles and lighted lamps. After he was blessed and given the kiss of peace by the holy fathers, he immediately saw the blessed abbot who was to be his predecessor brought in, and he saw a white pallium set with purple bands fall the length of his back and over his shoulders.'
(136.) Romanus removed the abbot's belt and pallium and put them on Eugendus. He then showed Eugendus the abbot's dalmatic and said that this would be bestowed on Eugendus because he had made good use of what he had already received. After he said this, the monks accompanying Romanus and Eugendus began to strike their candles against the wall, extinguishing them.
(137-8.) Eugendus was astonished, but heard a voice reassuring him that the lights that had been extinguished were merely earthly, and that if he turned to the east he would see a light given to him by God. He did so, and a ray of the dawn light stretched out to him. He then woke. Reality followed the vision without delay (nec mora uisionem sequitur effectus): the previous abbot soon died and Eugendus became his successor. However the monks who in the vision had snuffed out their candles were inflamed with envy and tried to undermine him.
Text: Martine 1988, 384-8.
Translation: Vivian et al. 1999, 164.
Summary: David Lambert.
Miracle after death
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Miraculous appointment to office
Miraculous sound, smell, light
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Source
The Life of the Jura Fathers (Vita patrum Iurensium) consists of three vitae – of Romanus (ob. 455/460; PCBE 4, 'Romanus 3'), Lupicinus (ob. 472/475; PCBE 4, 'Lupicinus 4'), and Eugendus (ob. 512/515; PCBE 4, 'Eugendus'). Romanus and his brother Lupicinus were the founders of the ascetic communities which grew up in the 5th century in remote rural areas in the Jura mountains of eastern Gaul; Eugendus was their eventual successor in the late 5th century. Romanus' community was located at Condat (Condadisco), modern Saint-Claude, where he seems to have settled sometime in the 430s (to judge from the not always clear chronology of his Life); within a few years he was joined by his younger brother Lupicinus. As the size of the community grew, Lupicinus eventually established his own settlement nearby at Lauconnus (modern Saint-Lupicin). Romanus also founded a female monastic community, headed by his sister (whose name is unknown), at Balma (La Balme, modern Saint-Romain-des-Roches), a few miles from Condat.The Life of the Jura Fathers was written after the death of Eugendus, which occurred in the period 512/515 (the date is established by Avitus of Vienne, Letter 19), probably soon after. François Massai pointed out that in spite of the author's demonstrative reverence for Eugendus, the Life attributes no posthumous miracles to him (Massai 1971, 57), suggesting that it was composed only a short time after his death. More debatably, Massai argued (Massai 1971, 50, 56) that references in the text to the shrine of the Theban Legion at Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune – notably the preface (E05898) and § 44 (E07851) – seem to depict it before its refoundation by the Burgundian prince Sigismund in 515. While not dating the work quite so early, Martine 1968, 56, argued that it influenced the Life of the Abbots of Agaune (E06267), which he dated to the mid 520s.
The Life of the Jura Fathers is anonymous, but the author discloses various details about his life: he seems to have been a native of the Jura region, and he himself was a member of the community at Condat. He knew Eugendus personally, and regularly emphasises that he was a witness of events in Eugendus' time and was told about many earlier events by Eugendus himself. His knowledge of Romanus and Lupicinus came from the traditions of the community and the reminiscences of Eugendus and other older monks (by the time the Life of the Jura Fathers was written, thirty to forty years had passed since the death of Lupicinus, and fifty to sixty since the death of Romanus). On the author, and the information that can be established about him, see Martine 1968, 45-53; Vivian et al. 1999, 48-52.
The author was well-read in Latin ascetic literature: he was certainly familiar with the works of Sulpicius Severus on Martin of Tours, which he sometimes quotes directly. Allusions and references in his work suggest that he also knew the Life of Antony (probably the Latin version by Evagrius, E00930), Jerome's ascetic Lives, Rufinus' Latin version of Eusebius' Church History, and works by Basil of Caesarea (in translation) and John Cassian. See Vivian et al. 1999, 50-51.
For full discussion of the text, author, and date, see primarily the introduction to Martine 1968; see also Vivian et al. 1999, 47-61. For brief accounts of the sites associated with Romanus, Lupicinus and Eugendus, see Vieillard-Troiekouroff 1976, 249-250, 262-264, 273-274. The lives of Romanus and Lupicinus are also recounted by Gregory of Tours in his Life of the Fathers 1 (see E00003, E00004).
(David Lambert)
Discussion
The predecessor of Eugendus as abbot is not named in the Life of the Jura Fathers, but later lists of the abbots of Condat name him as Minausius (Martin 1968, 381, n. 4).The account of Eugendus' vision discloses that his appointment as abbot was not readily accepted by some of the older members of the community, who are portrayed in the vision as embittered with envy. Martine, 387, n. 2, suggests Eugendus' problems in establishing his authority were because he was relatively young and had been appointed by his predecessor not elected by the whole community. The vision also justifies Eugendus' appointment by portraying him as the choice of Romanus and Lupicinus, not just of Minausius (note that this vision, unlike the one described in E05921, took place when Romanus and Lupicinus were both dead).
Bibliography
Edition:Martine, F., Vie des pères du Jura (Sources Chrétiennes 142; Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1968).
English translation:
Vivian, T., Vivian, K., and Russell, J.B. The Life of the Jura Fathers (Cistercian Studies Series 178; Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1999).
Further reading:
Massai, F., "‘La «Vita patrum iurensium» et les débuts du monachisme à Saint-Maurice d’Agaune," in: J. Autenrieth and F. Brunhölzl (eds.), Festschrift Bernard Bischoff zu seinem 65. Geburtstag (Stuttgart, 1971), 43-69.
Pietri, L. and Heijmans, M., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 4 Prosopographie de la Gaule chrétienne (314-614), 2 vols. (Paris 2013), vol. 1, 679-683, 'Eugendus', vol. 2, 1194-1199, 'Lupicinus 4', and 1620-1625, 'Romanus 3'.
Vieillard-Troiekouroff, M., Les monuments religieux de la Gaule d'après les œuvres de Grégoire de Tours (Paris, 1976).
David Lambert, Katarzyna Wojtalik
08/07/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00003 | Romanus and Lupicinus, brothers and founders of the Jura monasteries, mid 5th c. | Lupicinus, Romanus | Certain | S02182 | Eugendus, ascetic in the Jura mountains, ob. 512/515 | Eugendus | Certain |
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