Letter 31: To my holy and kindred brother Severus,

XXXI. To the holy brother and like-minded Severus, from Paulinus. Brother Victor, among his other accounts of your works and your prayers, reported to us that you desire, for the basilica which you have lately built at our Primuliacum, larger than the earlier one, a blessing taken from the sacred relics of the saints, with which your household church may be adorned, as is worthy of your faith and grace. The Lord is witness, however, that if we had had even a scruple's weight of sacred ash beyond what will be necessary for us to dedicate the basilica which will shortly be completed in the name of the Lord, we would have sent it to your like-mindedness; but because we did not have an abundant supply of this gift, and he himself [Victor] said that he had an abundant hope of the same grace from holy Silvia, who had promised him relics of the many martyrs from the East, we found something to send to you, worthy both for the sanctification of the basilica and for heaping up the blessing of the holy ashes: a part of a particle of the wood of the divine cross. This good thing the blessed Melania brought to us from Jerusalem as a gift of the holy bishop John there, and our common fellow-servant [Melania] sent it especially to our venerable sister Bassula; but what is given to one of you belongs to both of you, because in each of you one and the same reckoning abides, and your faith does away with sex, by which you both run together into the perfect man. Receive, therefore, from brothers like-minded with you, desiring for themselves your fellowship in every good thing; receive a great gift in a little thing, and in a fragment almost an atom of a small splinter take up the defense of present and the pledge of eternal salvation. Let not your faith be cramped by carnal eyes that perceive a small thing, but let it behold with the inner gaze the whole power of the cross in this smallest portion. While you consider that you see that wood, upon which our salvation, upon which the Lord of majesty hung fastened while the world trembled, may you exult with trembling. Let us remember also the rocks that were split at the sight of this cross, and let us, at least in emulation of the stones, cleave our own hearts with divine fear. Let us reckon also the veil of the temple rent by the same mystery of the cross, and let us understand that the tearing of that veil was set before us for this reason, that we, hearing the voice of the Lord and the mystery of his boundless mercy, should not harden our hearts, but should be parted from carnal things and tear the veil of unbelief, so that with the face of our heart unveiled we may see the mysteries of the saving gifts of God. We do not write this to you so that you may imitate this arrangement by which we have enclosed a thing of such great blessing in a little tube of gold. For rather we have, by such a contrivance, imitated your faith, so that we might send back to you your own pattern in the likeness of gold, because we know that you, like gold tried by fire, have within you the kingdom of God, that is, the faith of the cross, by which the kingdom of heaven is taken by force. For if, says he, we suffer together, we shall also reign together. And therefore not for the strengthening of faith, since you have anticipated sight by faith, but on account of the merit of the faith which, received by hearing, you prove by deed, we have sent you a gift in the Lord of the saving wood, so that you may possess also in body what you hold in spirit and carry by the virtue of your purpose. But because faith itself seems to demand this very thing, I do not think it foreign, since it is worthy of being known, to relate the particular history, after the times of the Passion, of the cross unbarred and found. For if it is unknown, it is easy to perceive with what difficulty it might be proved that this is the wood of the Lord's cross, which it is certain, had it come into the hands of the Jews, who guarded against everything contrary to the faith of Christ, would have had to be ground up and burned. For those who sealed the sepulcher would not have been negligent so as to overlook the cross, nor could they have borne that, with the cross surviving, the suffering of him should be venerated, whose resurrection, proved by the tomb being emptied when their seals were broken, they cannot bear to be venerated. Why, then, is it now asked where it had been hidden away, since, unless it had lain concealed, it is plain that it would have had to be destroyed, especially in those times of persecution, which followed upon and almost surpassed in cruelty the Jewish hatred? For we can easily attain by conjecture with what violence they would have cut down the cross, if they had seen it standing, those who even persecuted the place of the cross. For the emperor Hadrian, thinking that he would destroy the Christian faith by an injury to the place, consecrated an image of Jupiter in the place of the Passion, and Bethlehem was profaned by a shrine of Adonis, so that, as it were, the root and foundation of the Church might be taken away, if in these places idols were worshiped, in which Christ was born that he might suffer, suffered that he might rise again, rose that he might reign, the judge, or as king might judge. Wretched me! Even these things the almighty Lord did not refuse to endure for our sake, that where he had hung crucified for the salvation of the human race, there he should be scorned by the sacrilege of men; and above the cross, at which, when the globe was shaken and the sun fled and the tombs of the dead burst open at their rousing, the nature of things had wavered, there stood the image of a demon, and the altar of the image smoked with the funeral pyres of cattle, and the name of God was carried off to the statues of the dead, while he himself, the God of the living, who is also the resurrection of the dead, was blasphemed by the reproach of a man not only dead but even crucified. In Bethlehem too, where the ox had recognized its owner and the ass the manger of its lord, there the chief men among men, denying God the savior, worshiped the infamous loves and deaths of men. Where, the eternal King being revealed by a new star, the Chaldeans had as suppliants adored his cradle with their treasures, there the Romans consecrated barbarous lusts. Where, the night being made bright, the shepherds had greeted the savior born, singing together with the army of angels in heavenly joy, there harlots mingled with half-men bewailed the paramour of Venus. O grief! What piety of men will be able to make amends for this impiety? Where the sacred infancy of the savior born had cried out as a babe, there the laments of those feigning the laments of Venus, an infamous rite, howled with wanton mournings, and where the Virgin had given birth, adulterers were worshiped. This crime of the former age remained into the times near our own, of Constantine, who deserved to be the first prince among Christian princes not so much by his own faith as by that of his mother Helena, who, inspired (as the outcome showed) by divine counsel, when she came to know Jerusalem, reigning together with him in the name of Augusta, asked him that he would grant her the means to cleanse all those places there, imprinted with the Lord's footsteps and marked by monuments of the divine works toward us, the temples and idols being destroyed, from all contagion of profane impiety, and to restore them to her religion, so that at last the Church might be celebrated in the land of its origin. And so, the assent of her son the emperor being ready, the mother Augusta, the treasuries being opened for holy works, made use of the whole treasury, and with as much expense and adornment as a queen could and religion advised, she covered with built basilicas and embellished all the places in which the Lord our redeemer had fulfilled for us the saving mysteries of his mercy by the sacraments of his incarnation and passion and resurrection and ascension. But a wonderful thing among these is that, in the basilica of the Ascension, that place alone from which, received up in a cloud, he ascended, leading our captivity captive in his own flesh, is said to be so hallowed by the divine footsteps that it has never allowed itself to be covered with marble or paved, the ground always shaking off and rejecting whatever the hand has attempted to apply in its zeal for adorning. And so in the whole space of the basilica it alone remains green in the appearance of its own turf, and preserves the imprinted veneration of the divine feet, the dust trodden by God being at once visible and within reach of those who venerate it, so that it may truly be said: We have adored in the place where his feet stood. But in the history of the cross receive a great and truly divine miracle. That venerable queen, when she came to Jerusalem, carefully and piously curious about the divine tokens in the places there and round about all of them, and longing to drink in with her eyes the faith which she had received with pious ears and through letters, set about most zealously to seek the cross of the Lord. But what way or method of finding it lay at hand, when no suitable informant could be found, where both the antiquity of the age and the long duration of impious superstition had abolished the memory and care of a religious conscience or observance? But by the Lord himself, who is conscious and witness of all things hidden both in the earth and in minds, the faithful woman, through her pious affection, deserved the Holy Spirit; and by his inspiration, when in vain she had diligently sought a thing divinely removed from human knowledge, she strove to be made more certain only of the place of the Passion. And so she sought out not only men full of doctrine and holiness from among the Christians, but also the most skilled among the Jews, as informants of their own impiety, in which the wretched men even glory; and having summoned them, she gathered them in Jerusalem. Then by one testimony of all concerning the place it was confirmed. She ordered at once, urged without doubt by the prompting of the revelation conceived, that the work of digging be undertaken in that very place; and presently, with a band of citizens and soldiers alike prepared, in a short time she carried through the labor of that great undertaking, and against the hope of all, but according to the queen's faith alone, by deep excavation, the bosoms of the earth being unbarred, the secrets of the hidden cross lay open. But when three crosses together had been found, as once they had stood fixed for the Lord and the robbers, the rejoicing at their being found began to be confounded by anxious doubt, by the just fear of the pious, lest perhaps they should either choose the gibbet of a robber instead of the cross of the Lord, or violate the saving wood by casting it away as the stake of a robber. The Lord regarded the pious cares of those faithfully burning, and into her above all, who was the chief of so pious a solicitude, he poured the light of this counsel, that she should order someone recently dead to be sought out and brought in. And without delay; the word was made deed, the corpse was brought in; it is laid down, one of the crosses is moved to it as it lies, and another; but death spurned the wood of the guilty ones. Last of all the resurrection reveals the Lord's cross, and at the touch of the saving wood, death being put to flight, the dead body was shaken and the corpse raised up; and while the living trembled, the dead man stood, and, freed from his funeral bonds as Lazarus once was, immediately walked, restored to life, among those who awaited him. Therefore the cross of the Lord, covered over for so many ages and hidden from the Jews in the time of the Passion, and not revealed to the heathen who, in the building of the shrine, were without doubt carrying earth to the very fabric, did it not lie hidden by a divine hand, so that it might now be found when it was sought religiously? Thus, as befitted the cross of Christ, by the experience of a resurrection the cross of Christ was found and proved, and presently with worthy ceremony it is consecrated, a basilica being built in the place of the Passion, which, glittering with gilded paneled ceilings and rich with golden altars, keeps the cross stored away in a hidden shrine, which the bishop of that city brings forth every year, when the Lord's Pasch is kept, to be adored by the people, the prince himself of those who venerate it. Nor, except for this day, on which the mystery of the cross itself is celebrated, is it (the cross), which is the cause of the sacraments, brought forth as a kind of token of a sacred solemnity, unless now and then the most religious request it, who have journeyed thither for this cause alone, that its showing may be granted to them as if in payment for their long pilgrimage. This alone they say is obtained by the favor of the bishop, by whose gift also and to such a degree these tiny portions of the sacred wood from that same cross are granted to be had for the great grace of faith and blessing. And indeed this cross, holding in insensate matter a living power, from that time so lends its wood almost daily to the countless prayers of men, that it suffers no diminution and remains as if untouched, daily divided among those who take it, and always whole for those who venerate it. But it draws that incorruptible power and that indestructible solidity, doubtless, from the blood of that flesh which, having suffered death, did not see corruption. And we hope that it will be for you also not only a memorial of blessing but also a seed-plot of incorruption, so that the sight of it may kindle your faith also from the remembrance of that blessed robber, who, his robbery being well turned, anticipating in the faith of a moment and in the moment of confession the long ways of the saints amid great labors, not undeservedly first before the very apostles and martyrs seized the kingdom prepared for them, as he says, from the beginning, and as a pious plunderer of heaven snatched it away, because, seeing Christ crucified in the likeness of his own punishment, in that very state at which even the faith of the disciples, troubled, had wavered, he nevertheless confessed the Lord of majesty, as he was, and, asking that remembrance of him be made in the kingdom of God unto the glory of the resurrection, he believed before the resurrection itself, which the apostles, after it had taken place, believed not only by seeing but by experiencing, and even they not doubting about the resurrection of the flesh so much as about the quality of the resurrection, because, namely, those who were to be sent into the whole world for the instruction of all nations had to grasp the faith to be preached not by ears only but also by eyes, so that what they had learned more firmly they might teach more steadfastly.

XXXI. SANCTO FRATRI ET VNANIMO SEVERO PAVLINVS. Frater Victor inter alias operum tuorum et uotorum narrationes retulit nobis desiderare te ad basilicam, quam modo apud Primuliacum nostram maiorem priore condideris, de sacris sanctorum reliquiis benedictionem, qua adornetur domestica tua ecclesia, ut fide et gratia tua dignum est. testis est autem dominus quod, si uel scripulum sacri cineris habuissemus supra quam nobis ad basilicam, quae proxime in nomine domini consummabitur, dedicandam necessarium erit, misissemus unanimitati tuae; sed quia nos non habuimus huius 1 solacia P magistros Fl 2 in quo F 4 propones F si] m sit F 5 artis] artificis coni. Lebrun dissimilis 0 pinget M (M m. 2) tamen] autem coni. Lebrun 6 et Ov, om. cet . 7 tam in M 8 erimus 8. I. 0 erimus] ualeto add. pIU, ualeto, ualeto, ualeto add. F . — explicit epistola septima F, explicit L, finit VITI. 0 . FLMOPU . — incipit decima eiusdem ad seuerum de cruce: ad seuerum de cruce F, item epistola eiusdem ad eundem VIllI. L, ad sulpicium seuerum • XVII. M, incipit ad eundem XI. de cruce 0, ad seuerum de cruce P, epistola sancti paulini episcopi ad seuerum monachum de quadam ligni xfi yñu particula pro munere debotionis ad eum transmissa. ubi etiam quomodo ipsa crux deo inuenta extiterit stilo breuiore retexit historiam U sancto et unanimo fratri seuero paulinus inscr. FU, karissimo (rmo M) fratri seuero paulinus LM, or unafo ffi seuB pauli\' P m. 2, om. 0 11 frater — p . 269, 6 inuaditur exh. a (= Dungalus) 12 nobis] mihi FPU 13 primuliacum Ov, primoliacum J, primiliacum cet . riffh 0, nostra e 15 testes O1 16 est M s. l. m. 2 ^ autem est ("-*" in ras.) L deus FPU 18 erat Pv missisemus 0 19 unianimitati L huius om. LM muneris copiam huius U muneris copiam et ille se spem eiusdem gratiae copiosam habere dixit a sancta Siluia, quae illi de multorum ex Oriente martyrum reliquiis spopondisset, inuenimus quod digne et ad basilicae sanctificationem uobis et ad sanctorum cinerum cumulandam benedictionem mitteremus, partem particulae de ligno diuinae crucis. quod nobis bonum benedicta Melanius ab Hierusalem munere sancti inde episcopi Iohannis adtulit, hoc specialiter sorori nostrae uenerabili Bassulae misit conserua communis; sed quod alteri uestrum datur utriusque uestrum est, quia in utroque uestrum una ratio manet et sexum euacuat fides, qua in uirum perfectum ambo concurritis. accipite ergo ab unanimis fratribus in omni bono uestrum sibi consortium cupientibus, accipite magnum in modico munus et in segmento pene atomo hastulae breuis sumite munimentum praesentis et pignus aeternae salutis. non angustetur fides uestra carnalibus oculis parua cernentibus, sed interna acie totam in hoc minimo uim crucis uideat. dum uidere uos cogitatis lignum illud, quo salus nostra, quo dominus maiestatis adfixus tremente mundo pependerit, exultetis cum tremore. recordemur et petras fissas ad huius adspectum crucis, et saltem saxorum aemulatione praecordia nostra findamus timore diuino. reputemus et uelum templi eodem crucis mysterio scissum et intellegamus illius ueli scissuram eo fuisse praetentam, ut audientes uocem domini et mysterium pietatis inmensae non obduremus corda nostra, sed a carnalibus diuidamur et scindamus infidelitatis uelamen, ut reuelata cordis facie salutarium dei munerum sacramenta uideamus. 10] (Gal. 3, 28). 11] (Eph. 4, 13). 22] Matth. 27,51; Marc. 15,38. 25] (Ps. 94, 8). 26] (II Cor. 3,18). 2 dixit Ov, dicebat cet . scilicet siluia L 6 melanias FU, melania OMv (M 8. l. m. 2 i melanins) 7 inde ex id est P m. 2 adtulit- l . 13 cupientibus om. a 8 basulg M 11 quia F1 accipite ergo a 14 atbomo FOP\'U, athomi M astulae dMIU 16 intermacie U 17 totum 0 uos om. F 20 fixas FPU 21 saltim JL fundamus L1, findimus 01 23 petentam 0 24 dei FPU Non autem uobis et hoc scribimus, ut imitemini conpositionem istam, qua tubello aureolo rem tantae benedictionis inclusimus. magis enim nos tali paratu fidem uestram imitati sumus, ut uestram uobis formulam mitteremus in specie auri, quia scimus uos ut aurum ignitum intra uos habere regnum dei hoc est fidem crucis, qua regnum caelorum inuaditur. si enim, inquit, conpatiamur, et conregnabimus. et ideo non ad fidei firmamentum, quia uisionem fide praeuenistis, sed propter meritum fidei, quam auditu receptam factu probatis, misimus uobis donum in domino ligni salutaris, ut et corpore possideretis quam tenetis spiritu et propositi uirtute portatis. Sed quia id ipsum fides uidetur postulare, non alienum puto, quia cognitu dignum est, enarrare specialem post tempora passionis historiam reseratae et inuentae crucis. quae si ignoretur, facile est perspici, qua difficultate adprobetur dominicae crucis esse lignum hoc, quod certum est, si in manus Iudaeorum uenisset omnia contra fidem Christi praecauentium, conterendum et exurendum fuisse. neque enim in cruce omittenda neglegentes fuissent, qui signauerunt sepulchrum, aut ferre potuissent, ut in cruce superstite passio illius coleretur, cuius resurrectionem uacuato discussis signaculis suis monumento probatam coli ferre non possunt. quid ergo nunc quaeritur ubi fuerit abdita, quia nisi latuisset, illis praesertim persecutionum temporibus Iudaicam consecutis inuidiam et pene supergressis saeuitiam, manifestum est abolendam fuisse? facile enim adsequi coniectura possumus, qua ui excidissent crucem, 5] (Apoc. 3, 18). (Luc. 17, 21; Luc. 16, 16). 6] Rom. 8,17. 9] (Rom. 10, 17). 11] (Gal. 6, 14). 19] (Matth. 27, 66 et 28, 13). a 6 qui L 7 post . et om. U 9 facto LM, factis Bigneus 10 ut] ut crucem v 14 reseratae scripsi, reuersatae 0 v, reuelatae cet., reuersatae coni. Sacch . 15 qua Ov, quia cet . difficultate Ov, difficulter cet . 17 precanentium 0 18 exuendum U obmittenda U, omittenda cet., abolenda v 19 signauere FU aut LMO, om. P1, et Fp\'JU, nec v auferre FPU 20 ut] ne FP* (Pa in ras.) U 21 indiscussis coni. Bigneus 22 queritur FLMOP 23 obdita LMO quia LOv, quae F, que PU, quis (I que s. I. m. 2) M 24 temporibus persecutionum M 25 seuitia L, seuicia M abolenda fuisset FPU -facili LM si extare uidissent qui et crucis locum persecuti sunt. nam Hadrianus imperator existimans se fidem Christianam loci iniuria perempturum in loco passionis simulacrum Iouis consecrauit, et Bethlehem Adonidis fano profanata est, ut quasi radix et fundamentum ecclesiae tolleretur, si in his locis idola colerentur, in quibus Christus natus est ut pateretur, passus est ut resurgeret, surrexit ut regnaret iudex uel rex iudicaret. me miserum! etiam ista pro nobis dominus omnipotens perpeti non recusauit, ut ubi pro salute generis humani crucifixus pependerat, ibi hominum sacrilegio sperneretur; et super crucem, ad quam orbe concusso et sole refugo et dissilientibus mortuorum excitatione monumentis rerum natura nutauerat, stabat simulacrum daemonis et ara simulacri pecudum busta fumabat et dei nomen deferebatur statuis mortuorum, cum ipse uiuorum deus, qui et resurrectio mortuorum est, non solum mortui sed et crucifixi hominis blasphemaretur obprobrio. in Bethlehem quoque, ubi agnouerat bos possessorem suum et asinus praesepe domini sui, ibi principes hominum infitiati saluatorem deum infames hominum amores mortesque coluerunt. prodita nouo sidere regis aeterni ubi cunabula supplices cum suis opibus adorauerant Chaldaei, ibi barbaras libidines sacrauerunt Romani. ubi natum saluatorem cum exercitu angelorum concinentes caelesti gaudio salutauerant inlustrata nocte pastores, ibi Veneris amasium mixtae semiuiris planxere meretrices. pro dolor! quae pietas 15] (Matth. 22, 32; Ioh. 11, 25). 17] Es. 1, 3. 23] (Luc. 2, 13). 2 adrianus FLMU 4 bethlem 0, bethleem FM, bethelem PU adonis Ov phano FM prophanata FLMPU ut] et F 5 fundamtu M 6 natus est christus M 7 iudex uel rex] iudicatus ut r 8 perpeti om. FPU 11 urbe 0 et sole] sole LM 12 mutauerat LU 14 busto L 15 quia FLXPU 17 bethlem 0, bethleem F, bethelem h PU, betlehem L, betleem (h m. 2) M 18 ibi] ubi 0 20 ubi pronatamite dita M aeterni L 21 cunabula ubi FptU supplices ubi cunabula Pl cunabula cum suis opibus supplices adorauere M adorauerunt 0 23 gaudo F1 24 exultauerunt L, exultauerant M admasium 0 25 prho PU, proh FM hominum hanc inpietatem conpensare poterit? ubi sacra nati saluatoris infantia uagierat, illic Veneris lamenta fingentium lasciuis luctibus infamis ritus ululabat, et ubi uirgo pepererat, adulteri colebantur. Mansit hoc saeculi prioris nefas in tempora nostris proxima Constantini, qui princeps esse principibus Christianis non magis sua quam matris Helenae fide meruit, quae diuino, ut exitus docuit, inspirata consilio, cum Hierosolymam agnosceret, nomine conregn(ans Augustae eum rog)abat, ut sibi facultatem daret cuncta illic loca dominicis inpressa uestigiis et diuinorum erga nos operum signata monumentis purgare destructis templis et idolis ab omni prophanae inpietatis contagio et religioni suae reddere, ut ecclesia tandem in terra originis suae celebraretur. itaque prompto filii imperatoris adsensu mater Augusta patefactis ad opera sancta thesauris toto abusa fisco est, quantoque sumptu atque cultu regina poterat et religio suadebat, aedificatis basilicis contexit omnes et excoluit locos, in quibus salutaria nobis mysteria pietatis suae incarnationis et passionis et resurrectionis atque ascensionis sacramentis dominus redemptor inpleuerat. mirum uero inter haec, quod in basilica ascensionis locus ille tantum, de quo in nube susceptus ascendit, captiuam in sua carne ducens captiuitatem nostram, ita sacratus diuinis uestigiis dicitur, ut numquam tegi marmore aut pauiri receperit semper excussis solo respuente quae manus adornandi studio temptauit 22] Act. 1, 9; Eph. 4, 8; Ps. 6, 19. 3 pepat M 5 nephas FPU 6 constantini L1 7 promeruit M 8 ierosolima M, hierosolimam FOPU, hierusolimam L 9 conregnans Augustae eum rogabat scripsi, conregnabat FOPUv, eum rogauit LM, quae Augusta cum filio conregnabat eum rogauit Lebrun secundum Sulpicium Seuerum II c. 33, filium rogabat cum quo Augustae nomine conregnabat coni. Duc., filium rogabat coni. Cauchius 11 monimentis L j M 13 redderet 0 tantem L1 14 itaque - l . 17 locos exh. A prumpto 0 18 et om. M 19 et om. M assensionis PU et infra, escenssionis L 24 pauiri 0 v, paueri FPU, pauimentari LM receperit] potuerit LM 25 studium (um in ras.) L adponere. itaque in toto basilicae spatio solus in sui cespitis specie uirens permanet et inpressam diuinorum pedum uenerationem calcati deo pulueris perspicua simul et adtigua uenerantibus harena conseruat, ut uere dici possit: ado r au i ill U S ubi steterunt pedes eius. Sed in historia crucis accipite magnum et uere diuinum miraculum. regina illa uenerabilis ut uenit Hierosolymam diligenter et pie locis illic et circa omnibus diuinorum curiosa insignium et oculis haurire gestiens fidem, quam piis auribus litterisque perceperat, crucem domini studiosissime inquirere adorsa est. sed quae uia uel ratio inueniendi subesset, cum index idoneus nemo inueniri potuisset, ubi memoriam et curam religiosae conscientiae uel obseruantiae et antiquitas aeui et superstitionis inpiae diuturnitas aboleuisset? uerum ipso omnium et terris et animis opertorum conscio et teste domino fidelis mulier sanctum spiritum per affectum pium meruit, quo adspirante, cum rem ab humana conscientia diuinitus remotam frustra diligens requisisset, de loco tantum passionis certior fieri studuit. itaque non solum de Christianis doctrina et sanctitate plenos uiros, sed et de Iudaeis peritissimos ut propriae, qua miseri et gloriantur, inpietatis indices exquisiuit et accitos in Hierosolymam congregauit. tum omnium una de loco testificatione confirmata est. iussit ilico urgente sine dubio conceptae reuelationis instinctu in ipsum locum operam fossionis accingi parataque mox ciuium pariter et militari manu breui laborem istius molitionis hausit, et contra spem 4] Ps. 131, 7. 1 in sui] a sua F, in sua U cespis U, om. F 3 perspicua deo F 5 ubi] in loco ubi LM 6 sed in — l . 11 adorsa est eaa. A 7 uenenit L hierosolimam 4FOPU, ierosolima M, hierusolimam L et infra 8 locis illic et] lociscilicet 0, locis illis et v, loci illius et A omnium a 9 aurire 0 11 uel] uel que FPU inueniendi om. F 12 iudex FU reperiri FPU possit 0, potuisset LM 14 aboleuissent F uero 01 15 deo FPU 16 spirante F 20 peritissimos] perimos F ut] et FptU 21 et OPlV, om. cet . inpietates 0 iudices LMU (sed indices s. I. m. rec. M) 23 testificatio Lt, testificationis Bom . est om. v urguente 01 24 operum L1 26 ausit 0 omnium sed secundum ipsius tantum reginae fidem alta egestione reseratis terrae sinibus abditae crucis arcana patuerunt. sed cum tres pariter cruces, ut quondam fixae domino et latronibus steterant, repertae fuissent, gratulatio repertarum coepit anxia dubitatione confundi iusto piorum metu, ne forsitan aut pro cruce domini patibulum latronis eligerent aut salutare lignum pro stipite latronis abiciendo uiolarent. respexit pias fideliter aestuantium curas dominus et ipsi potissimum, quae tam piae sollicitudinis princeps erat, huius consilii lumen infudit, ut aliquem recens mortuum inquiri et inferri iuberet. nec mora; uerbum factum, cadauer inlatum est; deponitur, iacenti una de crucibus admouetur et altera; sed reorum ligna mors spreuit. postremo dominicam crucem prodit resurrectio et ad salutaris ligni tactum morte profuga funus excussum et corpus erectum est tremefactisque uiuentibus stetit mortuus et funebribus, ut Lazarus quondam, uinculis expeditus, ilico inter expectatores suos rediuiuus incessit. Ergo crux domini tot operta aetatibus et Iudaeis in tempore passionis abscondita neque gentibus in aedificatione fani terram sine dubio ad ipsam fabricam egerentibus reuelata, nonne diuina manu latuit, ut nunc inueniretur, cum religiose quaereretur? ita, ut crucem Christi decuit, experimento resurrectionis inuenta et probata crux Christi est dignoque mox ambitu consecratur condita in passionis loco basilica, quae auratis corusca laquearibus et aureis diues altaribus arcano repositam sacrario crucem seruat, quam episcopus urbis eius 16] (Ioh. 11, 44). 3 sed cum - p . 274, 17 corruptionem exh. a ut ex et F m. 2 quodam F lationibus U 5 forsitam FL1 9 infundit JFOPU i tn 10 quaeri J afferri (l in m. 2) M 11 uerbo facto M allatum F 12 et altera om. a reorum Rosw., eorum dFOPUv, earum LM 16 quondam Lazarus FPU eipediditus A 17 exspectatores Ov, spectatores cet., exportatores Sacch . 20 reuelatam U, reuelata est JOv ehristi 21 diuina s, orn. Lebrun iuueneretur F1 23 crux F 25 corrusca PU, coruscat F, chorusca LM 26 positam v seruat] add. LM: quod crucis dñicę lignum innumeris pio munere distributum diuina uirtutę nullum sentiat (sentit M) detrimtu nVUlI. Pftulini Nol. epiltoJae. 18 quotannis, cum pascha domini agitur, adorandam populo princeps ipse uenerantium promit. neque praeter hanc diem, qua crucis ipsius mysterium celebratur, ipsa, quae sacramentorum causa est, quasi quoddam sacrae sollemnitatis insigne profertur, nisi interdum religiosissimi postulent, qui hac tantum causa illo peregrinati aduenerint, ut sibi eius reuelatio quasi in pretium longinquae peregrinationis deferatur. quod solum episcopi beneficio obtineri ferunt, cuius et tantum munere de eadem cruce haec minuta sacri ligni ad magnam fidei et benedictionis gratiam haberi datur. quae quidem crux in materia insensata uim uiuam tenens ita ex illo tempore innumeris pene cotidie hominum uotis lignum suum commodat, ut detrimenta non sentiat et quasi intacta permaneat cotidie diuidua sumentibus et semper tota uenerantibus. sed istam inputribilem uirtutem et indetribilem soliditatem de illius profecto carnis sanguine bibit, quae passa mortem non uidit corruptionem. speramus autem et uobis non solum benedictionis monimento sed et incorruptionis seminario futuram, ut eius inspectio fidem uestram etiam de recordatione beati illius latronis accendat, qui bene uerso latrocinio longas in magnis laboribus sanctorum uias de momenti fide et momento confessionis anticipans non inmerito ante ipsos apostolos et martyres praeparatum ipsis ab initio, ut ait, regnum primus inuasit et pius caeli praedo diripuit, quia Christum crucifixum similitudine suae poenae uidens in eo statu, de quo etiam discipulorum fides turbata nutauerat, dominum tamen 16] (Ps. 15,10; Act. 2,27). 19] (Luc. 23,48). 23] Matth. 25,84. 3 eius FPU ipsa quae Rosw., ipsaque Q) 4 sollempnitatis OP 5 interdum om. M hac om. 40, ea v tatum J1 6 peregrinanti U, peregrinationis a aduenerant U1 7 lognique U solo J 8 et om. M 9 minuta (f minutia s. l. m. 2) M 10 maceria insinsata 0 11 itaque F 14 totam J 18 monimento Ov, munimento cet . et om. FLIPU futuram 0, futurum LMv, fructum FPU 20 quod FPU longuas L 24 cęli (i cęlum m. 2) M dirripuit PU 25 similitudine suae poenae om. M similitudini L penae F, pene PU, pone L 26 turbata om. M mutauerat Ll maiestatis om. F maiestatis, ut erat, confessus est et petens in regno dei memoriam sui fieri in gloriam resurrectionis ante ipsam resurrectionem credidit, quam apostoli, posteaquam facta est, non tantum uidendo sed experiendo crediderunt, nec ipsi tamen de resurrectione carnis potius quam de resurrectionis qualitate dubitantes, quia uidelicet qui in orbem terrarum mittendi forent ad omnium gentium informationem non auribus tantum sed et oculis praedicandam fidem capere debebant, ut quod firmius didicissent constantius edocerent.