Pope Pelagius I, in a letter of 556/561, authorises the consecration of a monastic oratory dedicated to *Chrysanthus and Daria (chaste couple and martyrs of Rome, S00306) just outside Salerno (southern Italy). Written in Latin in Rome.
E06880
Documentary texts - Letters
Pope Pelagius I, Letter 89 (Gassó and Batlle) ('Vindimius abbas', JK 958/JH 1984)
PELAGIUS ASTERIO EPISCOPO
Vindimius abbas petitorii nobis insinuatione suggessit, quod habetur in subditis, iuxta muros ciuitatis Salernitanae, intra monasterium suum oratorium, se pro sua deuotione fundasse, quod in honore beatorum martyrum Chrisancti et Dariae desiderat consecrari. Et ideo, si nullum corpus ibidem constat humatum, praedictum monasterium absque missis publicis sollemniter consecrabis, ita tamen, ut si fundator praedictus missas ibidem fieri forte maluerit, a dilectione tua presbyterum nouerit postulandum.'
'PELAGIUS TO BISHOP ASTERIUS
The abbot Vindimius has informed us in a petition, which is included below, that he desires that an oratory he has founded for his own devotion in his monastery, next to the walls of the city of Salerno, be consecrated in honour of the blessed martyrs Chrysanthus and Daria. And so, if it is clear that no body is buried there, you will solemnly consecrate the aforesaid monastery without public masses, in such a way, however, that if the aforesaid founder perhaps wishes masses to be held there, he knows that a presbyter must be requested from Your Affection.'
Text: Gassó and Batlle 1956, 215-16.
Translation: Frances Trzeciak.
Ceremony of dedication
Cult PlacesCult building - dependent (chapel, baptistery, etc.)
Non Liturgical ActivityConstruction of cult buildings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - abbots
Source
Letter of Pope Pelagius I (556-561). The letter in its surviving form is not dated and could date from any point in Pelagius' papacy. It survives through being included in medieval canonical collections, beginning with the Collection of Canons (Collectio canonum) by Cardinal Deusdedit, issued in 1087 (Collectio canonum 3.129 (108)). See Kéry 1999, 228.Collections like that of Deusdedit made use of genuine material from the papal archives, but they were not compiled for historical or documentary purposes but as sources of canon law. The compilers therefore frequently edited the original letters to remove material (usually including the date) which was not relevant to the point of canon law they were cited to illustrate.
Discussion
This is one of a number of surviving papal letters – two from Pelagius I (556-561) and four from Gregory the Great (590-604) – permitting, while also carefully regulating, the consecration and dedication to saints of private oratories, either on aristocratic estates or in monasteries, by the use of a set form of wording: E06878 and E06880 (both from Pelagius); E06377, E06390, E06399, E06403 (all from Gregory).Bibliography
Editions:Gassó, P.M., and Batlle, C.M., Pelagii I Papae epistulae quae supersunt (556-561) (Montserrat, 1956).
Wolf von Glanvell, V., Die Kanonessammlung des Kardinals Deusdedit (Paderborn, 1905).
Further reading:
Kéry, L., Canonical Collections of the Early Middle Ages (ca. 400-1140): A Bibliographical Guide to the Manuscripts and Literature (Washington DC, 1999).
Frances Trzeciak and David Lambert
20/10/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00306 | Chrysanthus and Daria, chaste couple and martyrs of Rome, and companion martyrs | Chrisanctus, Daria | Certain |
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Frances Trzeciak and David Lambert, Cult of Saints, E06880 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E06880