E02685: Braulio, bishop of Saragossa (north-east Spain), composes between 631 and 646 his Latin Life of *Aemilianus (ascetic and miracle worker in Spain, ob. 570s, S00578), presenting the saint as an ascetic and miracle worker.

Braulio of Saragossa, Life of Aemilianus

[The paragraphs given here follow the edition of Vazquez de Parga.]

1–3. Braulio's dedicatory letter to the priest Fronimianus (see E02732).

4–7. In the preface Braulio juxtaposes the seriousness and difficulty of the subject (the life and deeds of the holy man) and his insufficient literary skills; he explains, however, that the text is not for the pleasure of reading fine words, but for learning the truth. Then he presents his sources:

7. ... Igitur a conuersatione eius principio, nos quoque dicendi ratio, Christo fauente eiusque beati uiri oratione conatus nostros adiuuante, sumamus exordium qualis extitit a uicesimo aetatis suae anno. Venerabiles namque ecclesiarum Christi sacerdotes, Citonatus, sanctae purissimaeque uitae, Sofronius et Gerontius, presbyteri quibus immodicam fidem habet Ecclesia, nobis, quae ipsi uiderunt, fideli relatione narrarunt. Additur his probatissimis testibus testimonium beatae memoriae religiosissimae Potamiae, cuius nobilem ortum nobilior uitae nobilitauit cursus. Hos ergo quattuor, de miraculis in corpore gestis, habere elegi testes, citra populorum prouinciarumque de huiusmodi re testimonia quae paene cuncta testatur Hispania ...

'7. ... Let us therefore begin our tale, with Christ’s favour and the prayers of the blessed man himself aiding our efforts, from the time of his conversion which occurred in the twentieth year of his life. The venerable priests of the churches of Christ, Citonatus, a man of a holy and most pure life; and Sofronius and Gerontius, presbyters in whom the church has no small faith, gave me a reliable account of what they themselves had seen. To these most worthy witnesses can be added the testimony of the most devout Potamia of blessed memory, who ennobled the nobility of her birth with a yet more noble way of life. I have chosen to take these four as witnesses of the miracles which he performed in the flesh, setting aside the testimonies of towns and provinces on matters of this sort to which almost all of Spain bears witness.'

8. Aemilianus, a shepherd, falls asleep and is raised to the contemplation of heavenly things. When he wakes up, he converts to the ascetic way of life.

9. Aemilianus becomes the disciple of the hermit Felix from Castrum Bibilense [today's Buradón], described by Braulio as 'a most holy man'.

10. Postea quam ab eo est adprime uias uitae edoctus, ac disciplinae diuitiis affatim thesaurisque salutis ditatus remeat ad sua, doctrinae gratia copiosus; ac sic uenit haud procul a uilla Vergegio, ubi nunc eius habetur corpusculum gloriosum, ibique, non multo moratus tempore, uidet inpedimento sibi fore hominum ad se concurrentium multitudinem.

'10. After he had been well taught the paths of life by this man and been greatly enriched by the wealth of instruction and treasures of salvation, he returned to his own country, full of the grace of religious learning and thus came to a place not far from the village of Berceo (Vergegio), where his glorious body now lies. He did not delay there long, for he saw that the crowd of men who came flocking to him would be a hindrance to him.'

11. The saint withdraws to the wilderness, to a place on Mount Dercetius [today's Sierra de la Demanda], and spends there forty years.

12. Didymus, bishop of Tarazona, forces Aemilianus to be ordained a presbyter. He performs the office in the village of Berceo. Braulio extols his ascetic virtues and heavenly wisdom which he acquired despite the lack of any education. He compares him to saints from the past, *Martin of Tours (S00050) and *Antony of Egypt (S00098). Braulio states, however, that the greatest deed of Aemilianus was to make his church very poor. In consequence (§13), his clerics accuse him before Bishop Didymus of harming the church's communal property. The bishop is inflamed with anger and demotes Aemilianus.

13. ... Tunc, a suscepto dudum ministerio relaxatus, ubi nunc uocatur eius oratorium reliquum uitae tempus peregit innoxium.

'13. ... After this he was released from the ministry he had taken up, and passed the rest of his life beyond reproach in the place which is now called his oratory'

In §13 Braulio ends the story of the life and conversion of Aemilianus, and turns to an account of his miraculous deeds.

14. Aemilianus wrestles with the devil.

15. Aemilianus heals the monk Armentarius suffering from the stomach pain.

16. Aemilianus heals a paralysed woman named Barbara, brought to him from the territory of Amaia [Cantabria, northern Iberian Peninsula].

17. Another woman from Amaia comes to Aemilianus during Lent and asks him to heal her legs. He refuses to see her because of Lent, during which he usually remained solitary, but she ask him to at least give her his staff to kiss. He agrees and she is healed.

18. Aemilianus gives sight to the maid of the senator Sicorius.

19-23. Aemilianus expels demons afflicting the possessed – a deacon, a female slave, a slave of the comes Eugenius, a married couple, a daughter of the curial Maximus.

24. Aemilianus casts a demon from the house of the senator Honorius in a place called Parpalines. He performs the exorcism by sprinkling water mixed with salt on the house.

25. Madmen are attracted to Aemilianus and he lives together with them. One day they try to burn him while he sleeps, but he realises this and commands them to put one another in chains.

26. Workers cut too short a beam that was to be used to build a granary. In consequence of the prayers of Aemilianus, the beam lengthens 'by more than a palm's breadth':

... quo in loco faciunt signum qui usque hodie claret in apertum; ac per hoc eius oratione nec laborem inaniter conducti exauriunt, nec operis mercede fraudantur: lignum quoque ipsud remediabile deuotis, usque in praesens, extitit aegrotis, tantisque uirtutibus celebratum habetur ut paene cotidianum obtinuerit languentibus praebendae sanitatis usum, unde in inmensum sermo procedet si uniuersa signa sanitatum quae inde conlata patescunt replicare uoluerim. Sed iam operae pretium iudico de liberalitate atque castitate eius pauca praestringere.

'... In that place he [Aemilianus] made a mark which can be clearly seen to this day. So through his prayer, the workmen did not waste their labour nor were they cheated of the wages for their task. The very wood even now cures the devout who are ill, and is said to have so much power that almost daily it gives health to the sick.'

27. Aemilianus gives the sleeves of his tunic and his cloak to a beggar, and is named by the hagiographer 'another Martin'. The fortunate beggar, however, is beaten by his jealous colleagues.

28. Aemilianus multiplies wine for the crowd that is visiting him.

29. On another occasion, he wants to give food for the many guests coming to him, but he has very little of it. On his prayer, a cart loaded with food from the senator Honorius (see §24) arrives.

30. While already at a very advanced age, Aemilianus lives with women ('maidens of Christ') who are helping him in his everyday needs. Because he suffers from dropsy, he also allows them to wash his body. This incites rumours against the holy man, in which Braulio sees the work of demons.

31. Robbers steal a horse of Aemilianus which he used to ride to church. The robbers lose their sight, and thus, they decide to restore the horse to Aemilianus. The saint sells the animal and distributes its price to the poor, but does not heal the blindness of the robbers 'by his spirit of discretion reasoning that unless they were deprived of their eyes they would not cease from deeds such as that they had perpetrated on him'.

32. The moment of his death is revealed to Aemilianus.

33. Aemilianus warns 'the senate of Cantabria' that if they do not convert and do penance for their crimes, Cantabria will be doomed. A certain Abundantius accuses him of becoming senile. Aemilianus predicts the sufferings that Abundantius will experience, and he indeed dies later 'cut down by the avenging sword of [King] Leovigild'.

34. Aemilianus dies in Berceo accompanied by the local priest Asellus:

Tum, eius beatissimi studio, corpus eius deportatus cum multo religiosorum obsequio, depositum est, ubi et manet, in suo oratorio. Uale. Uale, Emiliane beate, et mortalium carens labore in societate piorum bono tuo potire, ac relatoris tui Braulionis inutilis memor, succurre intercessor ut per te inueniam ueniam, quia mea nequeo effugere mala et hanc merear mercedem uicariam: ut cuius exaraui stilo uirtutes, eius fauore pro peccatorum meorum indulgentia meae audiantur preces, atque cum his quibus indignus cura pastorali praesideo dignus inueniar in extremo iudicio. Sentio me fine libelli urgueri; sed qui diximus de uiuentis mirabilibus quur taceamus de defuncti carismatibus? Duo uel tria adducam in medium miracula ut ista quae aliorum testimonio nobis sunt narrata et sub adnotatione testificata effici possint credibiliora.

'Then, through the care of that most blessed man [Asellus], his body was carried with great devotion being paid it by the devout and laid where it remains to this day in his oratory. Farewell, Farewell, Blessed Aemilianus, freed from mortal cares, take hold of your good fortune among the company of saints, and mindful of the teller of your life, the worthless Braulio, come forward as his intercessor, so that through you I, who am unable to flee my evil deeds, might find pardon and earn this vicarious reward: that my prayers for indulgence for my sins be heard through the favour of him whose virtues I set down with my pen, and that along w