The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

Life of the Holy Virgin Gertrudis (Vita sanctae Geretrudis virginis, BHL 3490, CPL 2109)

Summary:

(Prologue) The author states that he is writing at the request of the abbess of Nivelles, and with the aid of the Holy Spirit.

(1) How, as a child (puella), Gertrudis resisted her betrothal to a duke of the Austrasians, despite King Dagobert's insistence.

(2) How, after her father Pippin's death, her mother Itta followed the counsel of Bishop Amandus and built a monastery, where she handed over control to (the newly veiled) Gertrudis; and how Gertrudis 'deservedly obtained through her envoys, men of good reputation, relics of saints and holy books from Rome (per suos nuntios, boni testimonii viros sanctorum patrocinia vel sancta volumina de urbe Roma), and from regions across the sea (de transmarinis regionibus), experienced men for the teaching of divine law and to practice the chants for herself and her people.'

(3) On the death of Itta, twelve years after Pippin, and her burial under the roof of *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) at the monastery of Nivelles (in Nivalcha monasterio sub tegimine beati Petri apostoli honorifice sepulturae). How Gertrudis then took full control over the monastery, and how she 'constructed churches of the saints and other special buildings from the ground up' (sanctorum eclesias et alia praecipua aedificia ex fundamentis construxit).

(4) On the miracle which 'this servant of God herself, terrified almost to shaking, told us' (quod ipsa Dei famula quasi pavore perterrita nobis narravit), about how a 'flaming pellucid sphere' (sphaeram flammeam perlucidam) descended upon her when she was standing praying at the altar of *Sixtus (probably Xystus/Sixtus II, bishop and martyr of Rome, S00201), the brightness of which filled the basilica for about half an hour; the same miracle later appeared to the other sisters.

(5) How the author and his companions, sailing on the monastery's business, warded off a sea monster (magna ac terribilis belua) by invoking Gertrudis' aid three times.

(6) How, exhausted after years of abstinence and vigils, Gertrudis foresaw her death, and appointed her niece Wulfetrud as head of the monastery. Wulfetrud took to her own deathbed in her eleventh year as abbess, distributed alms and forgave debts, and died aged thirty on 23 November: 'with the greatest care she was covered with a marble tomb in the nave of the basilica of the blessed apostle Peter; there she awaits the day of the resurrection of all the saints' (in gremio basilicae beati Petri apostoli cum summa diligentia marmoreo tegitur tumulo; ibi sanctorum omnium ressurectionis exspectat diem).

(7) The author returns to the subject of Gertrudis' death: how, as her death approached, Gertrudis had secretly worn a hair shirt, and had arranged that she only be buried in a cheap cloth, 'which a certain pilgrim nun several days earlier had sent her to cover her head in return for a blessing' (quod quaedam peregrina sanctemonialis ante dies plures illi pro benedictione direxerat ad capud cooperiendum) – 'In the tomb, where she rests in peace, she is covered by no other cloth, except these two: the hair shirt in which she was dressed and the old head cloth with which the hair shirt was covered. Indeed, she used to say that excess property is able to provide aid neither to the dying nor to the living' (in sepulcro, ubi in pace quiescit, null alio velamine cooperire, exceptis his duobus, cilicio, quo induta fuerat, et panno vetere, quo ipsum cilicium tegebatur. Dicebat autem, quod res superflua nihil morientibus nec viventibus adiuvare potuisset). How Gertrudis sent a messenger to the pilgrim (peregrinus) at the monastery of Fosses to discover the date of her death, which he revealed as the following day, Sunday 17 March, and stated that she should not be alarmed, since *Patrick (missionary and bishop of Ireland, S01962) and God's angels were to receive her. How she died aged thirty-three, and how the author (sent to the monastery with 'another brother' to 'comfort the sisters') smelt a sweet odour in the room where her body lay. How Gertrudis was buried 'in her underground tomb ... with divine praises by the priests and maidservants of God, and daily in the place blessings of prayer are manifested' (in cisterna sua ... cum divinis laudibus a sacerdotibus et Dei ancillis corpus beatissimae virginis Christi Geretrudis honorificae traditur sepulturae, ubi cotidie orationum praestantur beneficia).


Text: Krusch 1888, 453-64.
Translation: Fouracre and Gerberding 1996, 319-26.
Summary: B. Savill.

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

Prayer/supplication/invocation
Construction of cult buildings
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Oral transmission of saint-related stories
Ceremonies at burial of a saint

Miracle during lifetime
Miracles experienced by the saint
Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather)
Miracle with animals and plants
Revelation of hidden knowledge (past, present and future)
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation

Unspecified relic
Transfer/presence of relics from distant countries

Women
Ecclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Ecclesiastics - abbots
Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits
Relatives of the saint
Monarchs and their family
Aristocrats
Angels

Source

Discussion

Bibliography