Presbyters Uniwersytet Warszawski
ID
ER 785
Presbyter Saturninus, a monk in Bierzo (Iberian Peninsula), comes to the church for the office, but finds the door shut. He invokes God, and the door miraculously opens. Valerius of Bierzo, "Replicatio sermonum", 2nd half of the 7th century.
The monks Valerius and Saturninus build a church in honour of the Holy Cross, St. Pantaleon and other holy martyrs near their hermitage in the region of Bierzo. Saturninus is ordained there a presbyter [783].
 
11. Demum cum matutino tempore celebrandum adfuisset officium, et claustra ingressi ita essent praepedita, ut ea reserare non posset, commotus animo veniens ad fenestram altaris clamavit dicens: Bene hoc est, domini sancti, ut veniam ad officium vestrum et ingredi me non permittatis. Haec dicens, cum ad ostium fuisset regressus, confestim audita est sera, quae intrinsecus claustra obserabat obstructa, procul abscedere, et ingressum patefacere. Quod videntes ipse et qui cum eo erant, in obstupore versi admirantes benedixerunt Deum. [...]
 
(ed. C.M. Aherne 1949: 139)
The monks Valerius and Saturninus build a church in honour of the Holy Cross, St. Pantaleon and other holy martyrs near their hermitage in the region of Bierzo. Saturninus is ordained there a presbyter [783].
 
11. Again when he had come in the morning to celebrate the office, and the doors of the entrance were fastened so that he could not open them, disturbed in mind, he, going to the altar window, cried out saying, "This is splendid, Lord Saints, that I come for your office and you do not permit me to enter." After he said this as he was going back to the door, suddenly the bolt which fastened the door shut from within was heard to move back and to leave the entrance open. Seeing this, he and those who where with him were dumbfounded and marveling they blessed God. [...]
 
(ed. C.M. Aherne 1949: 138, 140)

Place of event:

Region
  • Iberian Peninsula
City
  • Bierzo

About the source:

Author: Valerius of Bierzo
Title: Replicatio sermonum, Further account
Origin: Bierzo (Iberian Peninsula)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian
"Replicatio sermonum" is the second part of the autobiographical trilogy written by the eremitical monk from the region of Bierzo (Iberian Peninsula) Valerius. He relates the sufferings, attacks of the devil and conflicts he was involved during his monastic life. The exact dates of Valerius life, as well as the dates of the composition of his works cannot be established; it can only be said that he lived and worked in roughly the second half of the seventh century. Apart from the autobiographical writings he composed six short works: De vana saeculi sapientia, Vita et epistola beatissimae Egeriae, De genere monachorum, Dicta beatum Valeri ad beatum Donadeum scripta, De Bonello monacho, and De caeleste revelatione. On Valerius of Bierzo see Aherne 1949, Collins 1986, Díaz y Díaz 2006, Martín 2011.
Edition:
Edition and translation:
Valerius of Bierzo, Ordo querimoniae, [in:]  C.M. Aherne, Valerio of Bierzo, an Ascetic of the Late Visigothic Period. A Dissertation, Washington D.C. 1949, 68-109
Bibliography:
J.L. Avello Álvarez, "Los suevos y visigodos en la provincia de León", Memorias de historia antigua 11-12 (1990), 295-316.
R. Collins, "The Autobiographical Works of Valerius of Bierzo their structure and purpose”, [in :] Antigüedad y cristianismo: Monografías históricas sobre la Antigüedad tardía, 1986, 425-442.
M.C. Díaz y Díaz, Valerio Del Bierzo: su persona, su obra, León 2006.
M. Gómez Moreno, Catálogo monumental de España. Provincia de León (1906-1908), v. 1, Madrid 1925.
J.C. Martín, "¿Valerio en Compludo? Examen crítico de los opúsculos autobiográficos (CPL 1282-1284) y las Visiones del más allá (CPL 1277-1279) de Valerio del Bierzo”, Veleia 23 (2006), 327-338.

Categories:

Monastic or common life - Hermit
Ritual activity - Divine office/Liturgy of the hours
Devotion - Veneration of saints and relics
Devotion - Supernatural experience
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: M. Szada, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER785, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=785