The priest Uranius writes On the death of *Paulinus (bishop of Nola, ob. 431, S01321), recounting the pious death of the saint; how he was visited before dying by *Martin (ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397, S00050) and *Ianuarius/Genuarius (bishop, and martyr of Naples, S01322); and how, after his death, he visited a bishop of Naples, encouraging him to join him in heaven. Written in Latin at Nola, shortly after 431.
E07860
Literary - Hagiographical - Other saint-related texts
Literary - Other narrative texts (including Histories)
Letter of the priest Uranius on the death of saint Paulinus (Epistula Uranii presbyteri de obitu s. Paulini ad Pacatum, BHL 6558)
1. The author addresses Pacatus who has asked for an account of Paulinus' death. He promises an accurate account and asks forgiveness for any shortcomings. He concludes:
Nunc autem veniamus ad ea, quae tibi, qui vitam eius versibus illustrare disponis, dicendi materiam subministrent.
'Now, however, let us come to the things which can provide you, who wish to tell of his life in verse, with the material you need to speak of it.'
2. Paulinus' death and life complement each other in their sanctity. Three days before his death, when already very weak, he was visited by two bishops, Symmachus and Acindynus. With them he takes communion.
3. Et cum haec omnia sanctus episcopus laeto atque perfecto ordine celebrasset; subito clara voce interrogare coepit, ubi essent fratres sui. Tunc unus ex circumstantibus, qui putavit quod fratres suos, id est episcopos qui tunc aderant, quaereret; ait ille: Ecce sunt fratres tui. At ille: Sed ego nunc fratres meos Januarium atque Martinum dico, qui modo mecum locuti sunt, et continuo ad me venturos se esse dixerunt.
'And when the holy bishop had celebrated all these things in their joyful and complete sequence, he suddenly began to ask in a clear voice where his brothers were. Then one of those standing there, thinking that the brothers he was seeking were the two bishops present, replied: "Your brothers are here." But he answered: "But I am speaking of my brothers Ianuarius and Martin, who were speaking to me just now, and said they would immediately come back to me."'
He was told by a presbyter, named Postumianus, that forty solidi were owed for clothes that have been given to the poor; Paulinus assured him that the money would come, and indeed another presbyter arrived from Lucania, sent by Bishop Exuperantius, with a gift of fifty solidi.
4. After a difficult night, Paulinus celebrated matins and addressed the presbyters, deacons and other clerics. Later he celebrated vespers. At the fourth hour of the night, his cell shook as if in an earthquake, and his spirit left him.
5. All the earth mourns his loss, but the heavenly host rejoices that he has joined it.
6. How shining an example he was. How many of the poor, of captives and of debtors he helped.
7. As a bishop he was mild and just.
8. His behaviour and character mirrored the best traits of the various patriarchs of the Old Testament.
9. Denique non solum Christiani, sed etiam Judaei atque pagani, ingenti fletu, scissis etiam vestibus, ad domini Paulini exsequias convenerunt: ereptum sibi patronum, defensorem, tutorem una omnes nobiscum voce planxerunt.
'Then not only the Christians, but even the Jews and pagans, weeping greatly, and even having rent their clothes, came to the funeral of our lord Paulinus; they bewailed, in one voice with us, their loss of a patron, defender and protector.'
He was loved by everyone, throughout the Roman world, and even amongst the barbarian peoples. He had all the Christian virtues, and 'we can be silent about the nobility of his birth, shining in senatorial purple through both his father's and his mother's ancestry' (Taceamus generis nobilitatem, paternis maternisque natalibus in senatorum purpuras rutilantem).
10. On his death his face and body shone like snow, and everyone praised God who takes his saints to Him.
11. You should also know that the holy Iohannes, bishop of Naples, was summoned from this world by Paulinus.
Nam ante diem tertium quam de hoc mundo sanctus Iohannes ad Dominum migraret, retulit se vidisse sanctum Paulinum, angelica dignitate vestitum atque ornatum totum niveum, totum sidereum, atque odore ambrosio renidentem: favum etiam candidissimum mellis in manu tenentem ac dicentem sibi: Frater Iohannes, quid hic facis? Solve vincula taediorum tuorum, et iam ad nos veni: haec enim esca quam in manu teneo, apud nos satis abundat. Et cum haec dixisset, complexus est eum, et immisit in os eius partem favi illius: cuius dulcetudinem et odorem ita sanctus Iohannes concupisse se dixit, ut si sibi in ea revelatione potestas fuisset, ab eius vestigiis nullo modo recessisset.
'For on the third day before the holy Iohannes passed from this world to the Lord, he recounted how he had seen the holy Paulinus, dressed and adorned with angelic authority, all as white as snow and glittering, smiling and with the sweetest of smells. In his hand he held a brilliantly shining honeycomb and he spoke to him: "Brother Iohannes, what are you doing here? Shake off the chains of your wearisome life, and come now to us. This food which I hold in my hand is abundant with us. And, as he said this, he embraced him and placed in his mouth a part of that honeycomb. The holy Iohannes said that he so longed for its sweetness and smell, that, if in that vision he had had the power, he would in no way have left its traces.'
Iohannes does indeed soon die, on Easter Saturday, and is solemnly buried on Easter Sunday.
12. Uranius signs off, hoping that the life of Paulinus can be cast in verse. Paulinus died on the tenth of the calends of July [22 June] in the consulship of Bassus and Antiochus [431].
Text: Migne, PL 53, cols 859-866.
Translation and summary: Bryan Ward-Perkins
Miracle at martyrdom and death
Power over life and death
Apparition, vision, dream, revelation
Miraculous sound, smell, light
Miraculous protection - of people and their property
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Jews and Samaritans
Pagans
Source
Uranius, the author of this letter, was almost certainly a member of the community at Cimitile/Nola. He was probably the 'Uranius presbyter' of a funerary epitaph at Cimitile, which records his burial on 22 December of an unknown year (Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, X.1, 156, no. 1385); but he is otherwise unknown (Pietri and Pietri, vol. 2, 2342-3, 'Vranius 1').The vision of Iohannes, bishop of Naples, dates the writing of the letter to April 432 at the earliest
Discussion
The Pacatus who was planning to write a verse Life of Paulinus of Nola is otherwise unknown, and there is no evidence that his project ever came to fruition. He could have been an Italian, but it is perhaps more likely that he was from Paulinus' native Aquitaine/Gaul.Of the two bishops who visited Paulinus just before his death, Acindynus (and his see) are otherwise unknown, but Symmachus was almost certainly a bishop of Capua, whose building works are known from inscriptions (Pietri and Pietri, vol. 2, 2145, 'Symmachus 3'). Bishop of Exupernatius, who sent the 50 solidi, is otherwise unknown, but was presumably a bishop in Lucania (south of Nola).
The Bishop Iohannes of Naples, who was visited in a vision by Paulinus, can be identified as the Iohannes, bishop of Naples, whose death occurred on Easter Saturday (2 April) 432, some nine months after Paulinus' demise (Pietri and Pietri, vol. 1, 1059, 'Iohannes 4').
That Paulinus was visited, as death approached, by Ianuarius (San Gennaro) and Martin, and not by his personal patron, Felix of Nola, is somewhat surprising. This is the first datable reference to Ianuarius - later tradition attributed to Iohannes, the bishop of Naples mentioned above, the translation of Ianuarius' body to the catacombs of Naples, now known as the 'Catacombe di San Gennaro'. If this tradition is accurate, it is possible that there was particular interest in Ianuarius around the time of Paulinus' death. That Martin features in the story is testimony to the great success that Sulpicius Severus and his Life had in spreading Martin's cult.
Bibliography
Edition:Migne, J.P., Patrologia Latina 53, cols 859-866.
Further reading:
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, X.1, Berlin 1883.
Pietri, C. and Pietri, L., Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire, 2 Prosopographie de l'Italie chrétienne (313-604), 2 vols. (Rome 1999 and 2000).
Bryan Ward-Perkins
08/03/2020
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00050 | Martin, ascetic and bishop of Tours, ob. 397 | Martinus | Certain | S01321 | Paulinus, bishop of Nola, ob. 431 | Paulinus | Certain | S01322 | Ianuarius/Genuarius, bishop of Benevento and martyr of Naples | Ianuarius | Certain |
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