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E05123: Paulinus of Nola, writing in 401 and 407, in Nola (southern Italy), describes how perfumed oil was poured into the tomb *Felix (priest and confessor of Nola, southern Italy, S00000) and collected to create contact relics; account in the Natalicia.
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posted on 2018-02-22, 00:00 authored by francesPaulinus of Nola, Natalicia
Paulinus twice describes a practice which took place in Nola. Regularly, perfumed oil would be poured into the tomb; the resulting discharge was thought to have miraculous powers.
Natalicium 6, verses 38-39 [AD 400]
martyris hi tumulum studeant perfundere nardo,
ut medicata pio referant unguenta sepulchro.
'Others eagerly pour spikenard on the martyr's burial place, then withdraw the healing unguents from the hallowed tomb.'
Paulinus of Nola, Natalicium 13, verses 583-642 [407]
... super ipsum
martyris abstrusi solium claudente sepulchri
cancello latus in medio sit pagina quaedam
marmoris, adfixo argenti uestita metallo.
ista superficies tabulae gemino patet ore
praebens infuso subiecta foramina nardi.
quae cineris sancti ueniens a sede reposta
sanctificat medicans arcana spiritus aura,
haec subito infusos solito sibi more liquores
uascula de tumulo terra subeunte biberunt,
qui que loco dederant nardum, exhaurire parantes,
ut sibi iam ferrent, mira nouitate repletis
pro nardo uasclis cumulum erumpentis harenae
inueniunt ...
'Above the tomb of the enclosed martyr, where a rail encloses the sides of the sepulchre, there is visible a kind of marble slab on which a silver covering is superimposed. This table set over the tomb has twin holes, allowing perfume to be poured into the recesses below. From the holy ashes stored there comes a healing breath and a hidden fragrance, conferring a sacramental quality on the pouring vessels. For after they had poured in the liquid perfume, and at once as usual scooped it from the tomb lying below the earth, and those who had bestowed the nard on the tomb prepared to draw it up to apply it on themselves, they found the vessels miraculously filled not with nard but with a heap of dust which burst out from below.'
The devotees found not only strange dust in the oil, but also pieces of bone (ossiculis). Fearing an animal had entered the tomb, they opened it. Yet no animal was found, and Felix remained undisturbed.
Text: Dolveck 2015. Translation: Walsh 1975, lightly adapted by Frances Trzeciak.
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.
Paulinus twice describes a practice which took place in Nola. Regularly, perfumed oil would be poured into the tomb; the resulting discharge was thought to have miraculous powers.
Natalicium 6, verses 38-39 [AD 400]
martyris hi tumulum studeant perfundere nardo,
ut medicata pio referant unguenta sepulchro.
'Others eagerly pour spikenard on the martyr's burial place, then withdraw the healing unguents from the hallowed tomb.'
Paulinus of Nola, Natalicium 13, verses 583-642 [407]
... super ipsum
martyris abstrusi solium claudente sepulchri
cancello latus in medio sit pagina quaedam
marmoris, adfixo argenti uestita metallo.
ista superficies tabulae gemino patet ore
praebens infuso subiecta foramina nardi.
quae cineris sancti ueniens a sede reposta
sanctificat medicans arcana spiritus aura,
haec subito infusos solito sibi more liquores
uascula de tumulo terra subeunte biberunt,
qui que loco dederant nardum, exhaurire parantes,
ut sibi iam ferrent, mira nouitate repletis
pro nardo uasclis cumulum erumpentis harenae
inueniunt ...
'Above the tomb of the enclosed martyr, where a rail encloses the sides of the sepulchre, there is visible a kind of marble slab on which a silver covering is superimposed. This table set over the tomb has twin holes, allowing perfume to be poured into the recesses below. From the holy ashes stored there comes a healing breath and a hidden fragrance, conferring a sacramental quality on the pouring vessels. For after they had poured in the liquid perfume, and at once as usual scooped it from the tomb lying below the earth, and those who had bestowed the nard on the tomb prepared to draw it up to apply it on themselves, they found the vessels miraculously filled not with nard but with a heap of dust which burst out from below.'
The devotees found not only strange dust in the oil, but also pieces of bone (ossiculis). Fearing an animal had entered the tomb, they opened it. Yet no animal was found, and Felix remained undisturbed.
Text: Dolveck 2015. Translation: Walsh 1975, lightly adapted by Frances Trzeciak.
Summary: Frances Trzeciak.
History
Evidence ID
E05123Saint Name
Felix, priest and confessor of Nola (southern Italy) : S00000Saint Name in Source
FelixRelated Saint Records
Type of Evidence
Literary - PoemsLanguage
- Latin
