Constantius of Lyon, in his Life of *Germanus (bishop of Auxerre, ob. c. 448, S00455), recounts how the saint healed a girl with a contracted hand at Autun (central Gaul), probably in the mid to late 440s. Written in Latin at Lyon (south-east Gaul) between c. 460 and c. 480.
E07556
Literary - Hagiographical - Lives
Constantius of Lyon, Life of Germanus of Auxerre 30
For a full account of Constantius' Life of Germanus, see E05841.
Germanus is travelling to Ravenna to seek the emperor's forgiveness for the rebellious Armoricans.
Erat iter illius comitatu proprio solitarium sed occurentem agminibus constipatum in tantum ut per omnes aggeres, quos in itinere suo inlustratos reliquit, in hodiernum diem, ubicumque aut orauit aut docuit, oratoriae cellulae et signa crucis elata praefulgeant. Territorium sane Augustodunense dum praeterit, aduenienti multitudo indiscretae aetatis et sexus occurrit. Illic in conuentu omnium prostrati in terram parentes filiam in annis nubilibus obtulerunt, cui debilitas poenam saeuissimam temporis accessione generauerat. Ab ortu enim natiuitatis suae ita, contractis neruis, in palmam digiti curuabantur ut, crescentibus introrsum nimie unguibus, cedente carnis teneritudine tot inciperent esse uulnera quot digiti, et, nisi insistenti acumini ossa obiecta aliquatenus restitissent, palmam totam ulcera ulterius inmersa transfoderent. Huius dexteram conprehensam dum adtrectat sacerdos, tactus salubritate benedixit adprehensosque singillatim digitos, cedentibus neruis, in usum flexibilem reuocauit, redditurque ministerio manus quae inferebat sibi ipsa perniciem. Id insuper pietatis adiungit ut sanctis manibus, directis iam digitis, excessum unguium ad formam communis consuetudinis resecaret.
'He made the journey alone, except for his retinue, but he was constantly thronged by the crowds that came out to meet him, so much so, that every eminence associated with his journey is to this day crowned by a chapel, a hermit’s cell or a cross erected where he prayed or taught. At Autun, in particular, as he passed through its territory, the people came out to meet him regardless of age or sex. Among them were two parents, who knelt in front of everybody and showed him their daughter, whose malady had in the course of time reduced her to a terrible condition. From birth the fingers of her right hand had been bent towards her palm by a contraction of the sinews, so that as her finger-nails grew they pierced her tender flesh and every finger made a wound; and, had it not been that the bones of the palm to some extent checked the growing points, she would have had ulcers right through her hand. The Bishop took her hand and felt it and his healing touch brought a blessing. Then he took her fingers one by one and eased the tendons, restoring them to flexibility, and the hand which had caused its own destruction was thus made serviceable. Adding kindness to kindness, he himself with his own sacred hands cut the long nails on the straightened fingers down to the customary length.'
After describing how Germanus carried an elderly traveller across a stream in the Alps (§ 31), a story without any miraculous element, Constantius narrates Germanus' arrival in Milan (E08359).
Text: Borius 1965.
Translation: Hoare 1954.
Cult building - oratory
Place associated with saint's life
MiraclesMiracle during lifetime
Healing diseases and disabilities
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Women
Children
Family
Source
Germanus of Auxerre (PCBE 4, 'Germanus 1', pp. 878-883) was the most important and revered episcopal saint of 5th-century Gaul. The Life of Germanus was written some years after his death (traditionally dated to 448, but perhaps earlier) by Constantius, a literary figure, possibly a cleric, attested in Lyon in the 460s and 470s (PCBE 4, 'Constantius 3', pp. 521-522). The precise date when he composed the Life is not documented, but it must have been sometime between the 460s and the early 480s. For full discussion of the authorship and date of the Life of Germanus, see its overview entry: E05841.Discussion
This event occurs when Germanus is on his way to the western imperial capital of Ravenna in order to intercede for the rebellious inhabitants of Armorica. Germanus died during his stay in Ravenna, at a date which is nowhere recorded directly but which the balance of evidence strongly suggests was in the second half of the 440s, though the specific year traditionally given (448) may not be the correct one.Apart from the healing of the girl whose hand was twisted, Constantius emphasises the veneration for Germanus among the local population, including the claim that anywhere associated with him was subsequently regarded as a holy place.
Bibliography
Editions:Borius, R., Constance de Lyon, Vie de saint Germain d'Auxerre (Sources chrétiennes 112; Paris: Cerf, 1965), with French translation.
Levison, W., Vita Germani episcopi Autissiodorensis auctore Constantio, in: Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici V (Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum 7; Hannover and Leipzig, 1919), 246-283.
English translation:
Hoare, F.R., The Western Fathers (London, 1954), 283-320. Reprinted in T.F.X. Noble and T. Head (eds.), Soldiers of Christ: Saints and Saints' Lives from Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages (University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995), 75-106.
David Lambert
15/05/2019
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00455 | Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, ob. 445/450 | Certain |
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