De sancta Kunegunde
A Royal Marriage of Chastity
Empress Kunegund and Emperor Henry, though married, lived in holy continence and dedicated their lives to building churches and performing works of mercy.
From the most noble blood of great parents—namely, the August Emperors—two flowers of unfading glory blossomed: the second, Henry, the most glorious ornament of the Roman Empire, and his most worthy consort, Empress Kunegund, of pious memory. This same blessed Kunegund, beloved of God, was joined to the earthly emperor corporally, but not carnally; she consecrated her virginity to the heavenly King, and with the consent of her chaste husband—God being her witness—she preserved it until the end. Established, therefore, in the heights of her continence, she [kept] the glory of her [virtue] under an earthly cloak. cloak. She strove to hide the glory of the empire so that she might promote it all the more eagerly and effectively, intending, with God’s prompting and assistance, to perfect it for His praise. Finally, she built a monastery in the place of Bamberg, most beautifully—as can be seen to this day—with her most studious collaborator, Henry; she built it under the patronage of the prince of the apostles, blessed Peter, and the holy martyr George, under the rule of blessed Benedict, on the northern side, in honor of the archangel Michael, with no less zeal for the endowment of lands and various gifts of ornaments. Finally, she dedicated a third church toward the south, under the order of canons, under the title of the blessed protomartyr Stephen, in a small design, but with greater work from her own marriage; to dedicate it, she asked Pope Benedict to come, whom the emperor Henry, worthy of God, had invited to confirm the Bamberg pontificate. For they rebuilt others that had collapsed from age, and they restored some that were destroyed and reduced to nothing to their original or even a better state; and just as prudent virgins, they poured out the oil of their mercy in various ways, so that they might rightly say: 'We are the good odor of Christ in every place.'
The Spirit of Holy Matrimony
The author reflects on the unique spiritual union of the couple and includes a letter from Kunegund to the sisters at Confugia, emphasizing prayer and mutual charity.
O marriage joined not by desire, but by good will! O holy matrimony, where there is one faith of inviolate chastity, one spirit of mercy and truth, where there is the same will in virtues and the same refusal in vices, where neither the first nor the second could be distinguished, since the second wanted what the first wanted, where an equal mind in the manifold effects of their works showed equal affections in the two! I don't know what to call such a marriage; I only know that our age doesn't know such ones, who, castrating themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and not expecting offspring of earthly fertility, received a celibate generation from God, from whose mouth the praise of God will never fail. This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, who, living in Christ and mortifying their members for the sake of Christ, reign in a new way on the earth of the dying, seeing the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. Since the Church has received sufficient and worthy writings about the life and miracles of the pious Henry, most Christian emperor, and about the various mercies he performed in the house of the Lord, and about the signs and miracles that God performed through him after his passing, it has now pricked my spirit and come to mind to briefly explain the life of our memorable virgin and commit it to writing, so that all virgins and true widows who look to her example may consider her conduct the standard of a perfect life. We have deemed it unworthy and more worth our while to withhold the service of our mouth from her whose providence provides our daily bread; and so, with Henry—that most patient guardian of her chastity—having been translated to the heavenly joys she constantly sighed for, where he resigned her in Christ as a virgin just as he had led her, she gave herself entirely to God, so that she might always be present to Him, to support her chastity, necessity, and salvation, and to support his churches and the children he had gathered for her in him, and she did not cease to call upon him with vigilant prayers, and to live a life of practice with Martha by day and contemplation with Mary by night. How great was the generosity of her alms, and with what great persistence in prayer she labored for the soul of her blessed deceased spouse, anyone who wishes can recognize in the following page, which she composed and wrote herself—for she was very skilled in distinguishing letters and other arts with gold and gems on sacred vestments—Kunegund, by divine dispensation, empress in name only, to the spiritually beloved congregation in Confugia. Whatever befits a just love, I would, as I reckon, more easily bear the burden of my own adversity if I saw your affairs safe and sound. I would see them. For although the mind may be shaken on all sides by the stormy waves of cares, the anchor of your remembrance is not torn from the depths of the heart, and though you are far removed from my eyes, you will never be removed from my mind, for no pain of sorrow or distance of separation will separate you from the love of Christ. Indeed, even if the use of the lost opportunity were granted, this will would be proven by the exhibition of the work. Yet we do not wish this small amount that we still hold, God willing, to be alien to your Communion, so that by the participation of our smallness, the greatness of devotion may be revealed. For a mother, if she has little, gives little to her children. Behold, these small gifts of modest expense are sent to you for the refreshment of the flesh, so that you may refresh the soul of your elder father with the continuous nourishment of prayer, since the prayers of so many just people, unanimously joined before God, can accomplish much, as James attests: the constant prayer of a righteous person is powerful. He, the just Lord, who has loved justice, does not refuse to hear the equity of supplication, but will give the reward of salvation to you, the tireless intercessors who make remembrance of the aforementioned dear one, which He himself promises, saying: whoever perseveres to the end will be saved. You see that a good work is pleasing in the sight of God, if you pray not only for those who are still in this life and have given you many gifts, but also for those who have done nothing. Be mindful of my needs as well, always showing mercy with a cheerful heart, according to the Apostle's words: "love without hypocrisy."
The Life of a Consecrated Virgin
After Henry's death, Kunegund formally renounces the world to live as a humble nun, where she continues to serve God through prayer and hidden acts of virtue.
May your minds grow ever more firmly rooted in a mutual charity, so that in the day of trouble, He who says, "where two or three are gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them," may hear your cry. I urge you to earn this in every way, through the grace of Him who lives and reigns with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Finally, when Conrad succeeded to the throne, she was at last freed from worldly cares, just as she had long desired. On the anniversary of the death of Saint Henry, she summoned the archbishops and bishops for the dedication of the church at Kaufungen. There, amidst the solemnity of the Mass, dressed in full imperial regalia, the virgin of God stepped forward before the main altar and offered to the Lord an incomparable treasure: a small cross of the Lord's wood, small in material but great in power. When the Gospel reading was proclaimed—the one where the little one merits to receive a blessing from Jesus as He descends upon the tree of the cross to receive those who look upon Him—she took off her royal purple and put on the habit of religious life. While many wept for her, others rejoiced for her, as she had already renounced the world. Her hair, which is still kept in that monastery for veneration, was cut off, and after the bishop placed the veil upon her and betrothed her with the ring of faith, she sang with joy: "The Lord Jesus Christ has placed a sign upon my face and has betrothed me to Himself with His ring." Thus consecrated to Christ her Spouse, when she joined the holy company of her daughters, she did not act as a mother lording it over them, but served everyone, showing herself as a servant, yet doing so in such a way that, while she did everything, she avoided all outward display, so as not to receive her reward in this present age. She worked with her own hands, knowing it is written: "whoever does not work, let him not eat." She would speak to her Spouse either in prayer or, while chanting, would hasten to the threshold of the church, which she visited almost in secret. Nothing was more pleasant than her severity, and nothing more severe than her pleasantness; sad in her laughter, yet sweet in her sadness, she compensated for the brief span of this life with eternal memory. Her place of prayer was also her place of rest, and her habit of mind was always directed toward the care of the body, knowing that the body's delights must be rejected, since it would soon be food for worms. You would always see her reading or listening to someone read; she had great devotion toward her sisters, frequently visited the sick, and was a solicitous comfort to the poor. Furthermore, we believe she performed many miracles, but because she always fled from human glory and the oil of flattery, she wanted them to be hidden, and this should be attributed to the neglect of men or the passing of time, not to a lack of virtues. Therefore, since there was little material worthy of writing for such majesty, we have thought it right to include here the few things we found in writing or learned from the truthful accounts of the nuns where she served Christ. When, after much prayer, she had relaxed her body, heavy with sleep, in her bed—not one made of feathers, but a straw mat covered with haircloth—the young girl who usually sat with her to read the holy books closed her eyes as she read late into the night. The light fell from her hands, and as it caught the straw, the noise woke the sisters nearby. The virgin of Christ, startled from her sleep by the noise and the commotion, saw the flames struggling around her, turned to the weapons of prayer, and by the sign of the cross, averted the burning without any damage to her clothes. averted.
Discipline and Divine Signs
Kunegund exercises strict discipline over her niece Jutta and experiences divine manifestations of her holiness, including a miraculous sign on her hand.
These are your works, Christ—you who confounded the King of Babylon in his fury and quenched the Babylonian fires so that your children might be delivered unharmed. It pleased her to subscribe to another miracle, as fearful as it was wondrous, in which you can learn of her constancy of spirit and the severity of her rigor. She had with her her sister's daughter, named Jutta, whom she had raised from her earliest years and instructed in every discipline, including the knowledge of secular letters. This girl followed her mother into the monastery, where she was consecrated, moved by no less love for the religious life than for her. Once she saw that the girl was fully instructed in all things—perceiving her perseverance in prayer, vigils, and fasting, and her patience from the Lord—she appointed her as abbess of that very monastery with the consent and request of all. When the virgin mother received her daughter, she recalled the holy advice long held by the fathers who came before her, and she urged her to speak often of things useful and pleasing to God, to listen frequently, to never desert the accustomed paths of the religious journey, and to trample more and more upon the devious ways of error and the fabrications of the devil. It is not fitting for the servants of God to have any communion between light and darkness, truth and lies, or filth and poverty; they must be solicitous to take care that, by pursuing vain things, they do not cease to be a temple of God, become a dwelling place of darkness, or turn into a monument to the devil, but rather fix their eyes upon the light of God. She taught her to act first so that she might find the fruit of her own teaching in that God who helps her. By repeating these and similar things again and again with motherly zeal, she began to venerate her as if she were already perfect in all things and a teacher herself. Once she was placed in mature freedom, she began to fall away little by little from her rigor, to desire better clothing, more luxurious food, and the nourishment of vices, to be the last in the choir but the first at the table, to take part in the gossip of the girls, and to conduct herself more loosely in all things. Because the holy woman of God would argue with her about such levities privately and publicly before everyone, and would often plead with and rebuke her, she did not amend her ways, relying vainly on the protection or familiarity of her aunt. One day, when she was following the cross with the community (for it was Sunday), the abbess was missing. Searching for her and finding her crying with her peers in a private room, the holy woman, armed with the zeal of piety, struck her on the cheek with a word of correction and her right hand, which took on the shape of her fingers like a seal—a mark she did not lose for the rest of her life. It is certain that she endured this not so much for her own sake, but for the amendment of others, so that the sight of this might profit them and turn them back from their vices toward a state of better life. Perhaps this will even be considered a fable by detractors and something visible to be seen by the faithless, but the elements themselves speak of her holiness, which she wished to hide from men through the grace of humility. Finally, when she was approaching the altar to offer sacrifice in her customary solemn manner after the reading of the Gospel, she took off the glove of her right hand. She took it off and cast it aside when no one was there to receive it. A ray of sun coming through the cracks of the window caught it. And. She endured it for as long as if she were starving, until she received it back after returning from the sacrifice. It is recorded that something like this was once shown by divine power in the vestment of the blessed Goar. While he was despised by the seat of the rustic Bishop of Trier, he was honored by the highest Majesty through the service of a greater light. He was therefore capable of all the merits that he deserved to have as the judge of all virtues. He lived for fifteen years in this holy purpose, admirable to all for his grace of humility as much as for his reverence for religious life. Finally, because of his excessive abstinence from food, prayer, and his incredible perseverance in vigils, he began to grow weak in body and gradually fail from an increasing illness; but while his limbs were contracting with pain... ...he was outwardly, yet his spirit was inwardly strengthened, because the praise of God was always in his mouth. He called upon the holy angels, whose company he enjoys there now, as he did in life here; he called upon the apostles and confessors, whose faith and confession he always held; he invited the choir of the virgins of Christ at his departure, by whose emulation he had consecrated his body to Christ as immaculate while he lived in the flesh; he prayed for the help of all who serve God to be present and to come to his aid. Truly, we see that what is written is proven in the passing of such a virgin: 'For those who love God, all things work together for good.' She had not yet exhaled her spirit, she had not yet returned the life owed to Christ, and already the flying fame, a herald of such great mourning, was gathering not only the consecrated virgins or men of various orders, but even the people of the whole city for her funeral. Psalms were sounding, and the litany, resonating on high for the departing soul, was shaking the whole house where her sacred little body lay composed in the middle upon her noble hairshirt. Meanwhile, according to custom, royal honors were being offered as if to an empress, not as they are owed to a poor sister, and golden veils were brought forth to be placed over the bier. When she saw her pale face—which you would have seen looking joyful before, as if at the coming of the Bridegroom—she turned it toward her mouth and signaled with her hand: 'This garment,' she said, 'is not mine; take it away from here. This finery is alien; it belongs to a worldly bridegroom, but I belong to the heavenly one.'
A Holy Passing and Miraculous Legacy
Kunegund dies in humility, and her tomb becomes a site of healing and grace, confirming her status as a saint of the Church.
I was born naked from my mother's womb, and I will return there naked; wrap the vile matter of this wretched flesh in these, and lay my little body to rest in its own small place beside the tomb of my brother and lord, the Emperor Henry, whom I see calling to me. With these words, she surrendered her spirit into the hand of the Lord, and having cast off the burden of the flesh, she flew back to her beloved Creator; and having long been a pilgrim, she ascended to her ancient home, while those on earth wept that they had lost a common mother, and those in heaven rejoiced that they had received a fellow citizen into their company. At last, with that holy body placed upon the bier and the order of nobles leading the way, and with crowds gathering from all sides—along with that company of the poor who had always been so familiar to her—the joyful funeral procession was carried to the place predestined for her burial. You could see people rushing from everywhere, leaving behind cities, empty fields, and deserted towns; mothers carrying their little ones in their arms, and the sick lying on their pallets, hoping for the grace of healing, believing themselves blessed if it only happened that they could touch the bier or be overshadowed by it. Finally, the body was carried into the church of Saint Peter, not without effort, and there it received funeral rites worthy of her merits and good deeds. The children whom she had gathered there in Christ, now secure in their mother's peace but anxious for themselves, sang psalms without ceasing, rejoicing that they had received her back—though she had been taken from them for a time—without fear of losing her, in the hope of her perpetual intercession. The Mother, looking down from heaven at the affection of her children, rejoiced. Thus, the sacred body, veiled in holy vestments and with the crown of Christ placed upon its own small place on the right side, was laid to rest, just as it is venerated to this day. O happy Church of Bamberg, you have received the treasure you had lost! The bold and wicked tongue was refuted by the testimony of hidden miracles, while her virginity was proven by facts, and her holiness, shining forth in signs, is testified by Christ our Lord, advancing the Christian religion and the faithful Church, which in the Gospel, by the testimony of the Lord's own voice, is called the Mother and Daughter of God through grace. She is a mother because, by the example of her holy work, she generates children for the Lord; she is a daughter because she is generated daily by the instruction of the holy fathers for the Son of the Virgin, who was incarnate for the salvation of the world, and she is full of the medicine of salvation sent by the Lord, the heavenly physician. Let the ears of the body perceive this: the Creator of the worldly machine, grieving for the human race that had fallen through disobedience, so that he might plant a new growth that would bear the fruits of eternal life, namely... the primitive. he deigned to insert into the Church, and to send patriarchs and prophets into the world. They faithfully fulfilled the service entrusted to them—the five senses of the body, and the sixth, which is the spirit of prophecy—by preaching the mystery of Christ's incarnation and everything that was to be announced about him, some through the austerity of their lives, others through various painful deaths, serving the very one they prophesied. Christ, the boundary of these men, proceeded from the womb of the undefiled Virgin by the counsel of the eternal Father to set men free, so that now, as the planting began, he might send them throughout the world. He built up the new Church for the apostles, fashioned from his own body and shed blood. This Church, imbued with the faith of the Holy Trinity and cleansed by the grace of baptism, offered up the first fruits of martyrs, confessors, and virgins of the weaker sex who were nonetheless constant in spirit. Among them was the blessed Kunigunde, the flower of the Bamberg church, who, with the holy Henry who held the Roman Empire, served the immortal Bridegroom under the guise of marriage in the honor of chaste virginity. Her merits of holiness now appear manifest to the world, for in the place where her holy body rests, those suffering from any illness whatsoever receive health. But so that we might be certain witnesses to all this for the lovers of truth who follow in our age and who inquire curiously about these things we write—namely, at what time the operations of healing through the merits of the aforementioned empress began—we wish to explain it, as we are able, by the Lord's bounty: in the year of our Lord's incarnation 1189, in the 13th indiction, in the fourth year of the pontificate of Thiemo, bishop of the Bamberg church, at the feast of Saint Peter in Chains, we were certified by the experience of signs so that we would not doubt the holiness of the aforementioned virgin. For when the people had gathered in the customary way at the aforementioned place for the sake of prayer and vigils, there was also present a certain demoniac from the village of Bairrentt, who, recognizing neither piety nor abhorring his crime, had burned his own son with fire. Bound with hard ropes, he began to grow calm at the tomb of Saint Kunigunde, so that, freed from his raging disease, he praised God Almighty and, with the crowd that was present, offered due praises to him by whose merits he knew this had happened. Therefore, while these things were being performed with the solemnity of the choir and the devotion of the people, a certain crippled man from the hospital of Saint Giles in the suburb was brought forward for healing. He asked, and being mercifully heard, he obtained what he prayed for. When the fame of the signs had spread throughout the whole Bamberg area, a crippled man from the house of Conrad, provost of the major church, seeking health, and although nature had failed in his limbs, nonetheless crawled as quickly as he could and threw himself at the venerable tomb, where he found the health he desired from the Lord. Hearing this, another crippled man from the house of Otto, a canon in the same church, came as quickly as possible to the place of the tomb, hoping to be helped by the benefit of grace just as the others had been, and we testify that he was helped in Christ without delay.
Read the original Latin
Ex nobilissimo parentum magnorum videlicet Augustorum sangnine duo immarcescibilis gloriae flores emicuerunt, secundus videlicet Henricus, Romani imperii gloriosissimum decus, ejusque dignissima collectalis piae memoriae Kunegundis imperatrix. Eadem vero beata et Deo dilecta Kunegundis terreno imperatori corporaliter, non carnaliter conjuncta coelesti regi virginitatem suam consecravit, quam usque in finein casti conjugis consensu teste Deo conservavit, Quod postmodum divinitatis testimonimn ne lumen in tenebris lateret, ostendit dum eam ad confondenduin virginitatis hostem et obstruendum 0s ainendacium contra virginem Christi loquentium super ignitos voieres incedere et illaesam procedere dedit. In fastibus itaque constituta’ continentiae suae gloriun sub terreni. chlamyde. imperii satagebat abscondere, ut tanto propensius, quanto efficacius erat, promoveret, quam Deo instigante illo quoque adjuvante ad laudem ipsius cogitabat perficere, Denique postmodum novellun foecundissimae plantationis suae ecclesiam, quam cuin. illo suo studiosissimo cooperatore Henrico in loco Bambergensi venustissime, sicut hactenus cernitur, fabricavit, sub patrocinio principis apostolorum beati Petri et sancti Georgii martiris monasterium sub rezula beati Benedicti ad aquilonarem plagam in honore sancti Michaelis archangeli exstruxit, non minori studio praediorum quoque ac diversorum donariis ornamentorum. Tertiam demum versus meridiem sub ordine canonicorum 57 sub titulo beati protomartiris Stephani parvo quidem schemate, scd majori opera de suo matrimonio ecclesimn dedicavit, ad quam dedicandam Benedictum papam, quem privatus Deo dignus imperator Henricus ad confirmandum Bambergensem pontificatum advocaverat, venire rogavit, Ipsa quoque illud psalmographi secum decantans: domine, dilexi decorem domus tuae, diversa eidem ecclesiae juxta imperialem magnificentiam munera contulit, in diversis ecclesiae ornamentis, quae omnia ipse dominus apostolicus, ut semper memoria fundatricis ipsius illic floreat, ne quando per fraudem aut violentiam vel furto subtraherentur, dura banni ui innodatione, LXXI quoque duorum episcoporum, qui illuc aderant, auctoritate ipso die confirmavit, Hem monasterium ad honorem sancti salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi et ejus vicloriosissimae crucis in loco, qui Confugia dicitur, magnifice construxit et ancillarum Dei ibidem Deo secundum regulam beati Benedicti servientium congregationem decentissine declinavit, Porro cooperante ei in omnibus inperiali majestate idem nonasterium omai ornatu decoravit, ante principale altare yconam de auro et lapidibus pretiosissimis statuit, calices aureos et argenteos, catinos aureos, aureos urceos, pallas et casulas, vela et cortinas, cappas auro el pretiosis geminis intextas et caetera utensilia sive vasa ad ministeria tanto studio et tam sumtuósis expensis eidein ecclesiae contulit, nt, quicunque ea intuentur, regiam muniĥcentiam et miram utriusque imperatoris, videlicet et inperatricis devotionem in Deum, magnopere mirari non cessent, Praeter has principales suae operationis et primarias ecclesias, quae conventualis ecclesia, quae monasteria illorum donativo non gloriantur, se aut in praediis dilatatas aut decoratas ornamentis! Alias enim antiquitate collapsas reaedificarunt, quasdam etiam destructas et ad nihilum redactas in pristinum vel etiam in meliorem statum instauraverunt, et sicuti prudentes virgines oleum snae misericordiae in diversos fuderunt, ut merito dicere possint: Christi bonus odor sumus in omni loco.
O conjugium non voluptate, sed bona voluntate copulatun, 0 sanctum matrimonium , ubi una fides inviolatae castitatis, nbi unus spiritus misericordiae et veritatis, ubi idem velle in virtntibus idemque nolle in vitiis, ubi nec primus nec alter discerni potuit, dum alter, quod primus, voluit, ubi par animus in multifariis operum effectibus pares in duobus ostendit affectus, quales has nuptias dixerim, nescio, unum scio, quia nostra modo nescit regio tales, duin propter regnum coelorum se castrantes nec prolem terrenae foecunditatis exspectantes coelibem a Deo generationem reciperent, a quorum ore laus Dei nunquam deficiet. Haec est generatio quaerentiwn dominum, qui viventes in Christo, membra sua mortificantes propter Christmn, super terrai morientium inodo regnantes cum Christo bona domini sni vident in regione viventium. Quoniun de vita et miraculis pii Henrici christianissini imperatoris et iniserationibus variis, quas fecit in domo domini, de signis quoque et miraculis, quae post transitum ipsius per eum fecit Deus, satis et digne scripta sancla recepit ecclesia, nunc animum pupugit ac in mentem venil, vitam me memorandae virginis nostrae breviter explicare et memoriae scripto commendare, ut ad exempla ejus se inluentes quaecumque virgines, quaecunque verae viduae perfectae vilae normam arbitrentur conversationem ilius, Indigmun enün nobis et magis operae pretium dignae duximus, ut illi officium subtrahamus oris, cujus providentia quotidie alimenta percipimus corporis, Henrico itaque suo suae castitatis patienlissimo semper custode, ubi eam suis virginem , uti transduxerat, in Christo resignavit, ad coelestia, quae jugiter suspirabat, gandia translato, illa se ad Deum ut seinper totam contulit, ipsum snae castitali, necessitati ac saluti adesse, illum suis ecclesiis, illum filiis, quos ei in ipso aggregaverat, praesentem aflore, advocare, vigilibus orationibus instare, die practicam cum Martha, noctu contemplativam cnm Maria vitam agere non cessabat, Quanta vero elemosinarum largitate, quanta orationis instantia pro beati conjugis defuncti anima desudaverit, in subscripta pagina, quam ipsa per se, nam litterarum et artium aliarum distinguere auro geminisque sacras vesles perilissima fuil, composuit et scripsit, Onicunque volnerit, agnoscere poterit, Kunegundis divina dispensatione solo imperatrix nominc spiritualiter dilectae congregationi in Confugia. Qnidqnid justae convenit dilectioni, propriae adversitatis sarcinam facilius, veluti aestimo, tolerarem, si vestras res salvas incolumesque exsistere. viderem. Quamvis enim mens procellosis curarum fluctibus undique quatiatur, vestrae tamen recordationis ancora a cordis profunditate non evellitur, et licet louge remoti ab oculis, ab animo tamen nunquam recedetis, quos non separabit a caritate Christi casus doloris ac longinquitas remotionis, Quin etiam, si amissae facultatis usus concederetur, voluntas haec operis exhibitione comprobaretur. Ipsum tamen modicum, quod adbuc Deo volente reliquum tenemus, vestrae communitioni alienum esse nolumus, nt participatione parvitatis reveletur magnitudo devotionis, Mater namque, si parum habuerit, parum filiis tribuit, Ecce haec modici sumtus munuscula ad refectionem vobis mittuntur carnis, mt animam senioris patris vestri continua orationis alimonia reficiatis, quoniam tot justorum preces unanimiter continmatae apud Deum multum possunt proficere Jacobo attestante: multum valet deprecatio justi assidua. Ille etiam atque etiam justus dominus; ; qui justitias dilexit, aequitatem supplicationis exandire non respuit, sed vobis indefessis intercessoribus supradicti cari memoriam facientibus salutis dabit praeiium, quod ipse promittit dicens: qui perseveraverit usque in finem, salvus erit.
Alque bonum opus in conspectu etiam Dei placitum esse cernilis, si non solum pro illis, qui in hac vita positi, multa vobis dona, sed qui mulla fecerunt, oraveritis, Obsecro ergo, ul eum a cordibus vestris nunquam abjiciatis, qui vos tamquam proprias amavit, atque hunc locum vestra servitute florere voluit. Estote quoque meae necessitatis memores, semper in hilaritate cordis inisericordes, secunduin illum apostoli: dilectio sine simulatione. Necnon vestrae mentes jn quadam mutuae caritatis soliditate magis atque magis concrescant, quatenus in die tribulationis clamorem vestrum ipsius aures exaudiant, qui dicit: ubi duo vel tres congregati fuerint in nomine meo, in medio eorum sum, Quod vos omni modo promereri hortor eodem praestante, qui cum patre et filio et spiritu sancto vivit et regnat per omnia saecula saeculorum, Amen, Denique Conrado sibi succedente in regno, ipsa curis saecularibus, sicut jundiu desideraverat, exoneraia jam in ipso anniversario die transitus sancti Henrici archiepiscopos cum episcopis ad dedicationem Confugiensis ecclesiae convocavit, ubi inter missarum sollemnia imperiali decentissime omni ornatu culta ante principiale altare virgo Dei devola processit ibique thesaurum incomparabilem, ligni videlicet dominici crucem, parvam quidem in materia, sed maximam in virtute domino obtulit, At ubi lectio evangelii, in qua super arborem crucis descendens conspicientem se Jesum suscipere et ab eo benedictionem pusillus mernit accipere, lecta fuit, regalem purpuram exuens tunicam fusciorem, quam ipsa sibi manibus suis operata fuerat, sacerdotali benedictione data vestem religionis induit et multis quidem pro se flentibus, pro illa autem gaudentibus, quae jam saeculum damnasset in vestibus, capillis, qui hucusque in eodem monasterio pro veneratione servantur, praecisis, imposito sibi ab episcopo velo annulo fidei subarrata gratulabunda succinuit: posuit signum in faciem meam et annulo suo subarravit me dominus mens Jesus Christus, Jta sponso Christo consecrata, dum filiarum suarum se sanctissimo contubernio applicuisset, non nt mater filiabus se praeferebat, sed omnibus inserviens servilem personam se ostendebat, ita tamen, ut, cum omnia faceret, ostentationem fugeret singnlorum, ne reciperet in praesenti saeculo mercedem suam. Operabatur manibus suis sciens, scriptum esse: qui non operatur, non manducet, Sponso suo aut orans loquebatur aut psallens ad ecclesiae limina paene invisa properabat. Nihil severitate illins jucundius, nihil jucunditate severius, tristis im risu, in tristitia snavis breve vitae spatium aelerna memoria compensabat. Idem illi orationis locus et quietis fait, idem semper habitus in cultum corporis, dum sciret, rejiciendas delicias corporis, quod paulo post vermibus exarandum fuit, Semper eam legere aut legentem audire vidisses, multa illi circa contubernales devotio, frequens decubantium visitatio, sollicita pauperum consolatio, Praeterea eam fecisse plara miracula credimus, sed quod gloriam humanam et oleum adulationis semper fugeret, illa voluit esse suppressa, aut incuriae hominum seu revolution temporum, non defectui deputandum virtutum, Unde etiam tantae majestati indigna scribendi minor materia fuit, pauca tamen, quae in scriptis reperimus vel veridica sanctimonialium, ubi illa pro Christo militabat, relatione cognovimus, hic inserere dignum duximus. Cum post orationis frequentiam inter lectionis lassitudinem ancilla Christi in lecto non plumis exstructo, sed cilicio strato membra sopore gravata remisisset, puella sacra, quae de more illi assidebat, sacros codices legens, cmn fere ad medium noctis lectionein extenderet, caligantes oculos clausit lumenque e manibus elapsum paleas corripiens sui fragore cireumjacentes sorores excitavit, clamore et concussu faclo virgo Christi de somno excussa, dum colluctantes inter se flammas circa se aspexit, ad orationis arma se convertit et signo crucis adustionem illam absque omni suarum laesione vestium. avertit.
Tua haec, Christe, opera, qui Babylonensem regem in suo Turore confadisti et Babylonios ignes, nt pueri tui liberentur illaesi, Aliud miraculum tam timendum, quam mirandum huic placuit subscribere, in quo animi illius constantiam et rigoris severitatem discere poteris, Habuit secum sororis suae filiam, Juttam nomine, quam a primis annis educatam omni disciplina saecularium quoque litterarum scientia instruxerat, Haec materleram non minus religionis quam dilectionis ainore in monasterio secuta et consecrata fuit. Hanc in omnibus plene instructam, ut ejas in orationibus, vigiliis ac jejuniis perseverantiam et a domino patientiam perspexit, omnium assensu el rogatu primam in ipso coenobio eam abbatissam praefecit, Cum virgo maler filiam suscipiens juxta commonitionem sanctam jamdudum habitam praecedentium patrum repetens alloquia monet ob salutis affectum utilia ac Deo placita saepe dicere, frequenter audire, solitas religiosi itineris vias non deserere, inagis magisque errorum devia et dyaboli calcare figmenta. Nullam luci ac tenebris, veritati atque mendacio, turpitudini atque egestali apud Dei servos decet esse cominunionem, sollicite cavere, ne vana sectando desineret esse templum Dei, feret habitatio tenebrarum, fieret daemonis monumentum, lumina sua in Dei defigere aspectum, Primamque docet facere, ut fructum doctrinae suae ipsa in illo Deo adjuvante possit invenire, Haec et hujusmodi iternm alque iterun materno sludio ei inculeans quasi in omnibus jam perfectam et ipsam magistram venerari coepit. Hla ubi in matura libertate posita est, paulatün a rigore suo deficere, meliorem cultum, lautiorem cibum, vitiormn alimenta desiderare, ultima in choro, prima in convivio, puellarum fabulis interesse et in omnibus laxins se agere coepit, Pro hujusmodi levitatibus dum eam sancta Dei privatim inter se publice coram omnibus argueret, saepius obsecraret, increparet, nec illa velut materterae patrocinio ant familiaritate vane confisa emendarat. Quadam die cum ipsa cum conventu crucem (nam dies dominicus erat) sequitur, abbatissa defuit, quam illa inquirens et ejulantem cum coaevis in conclavi reperiens zelo pietatis armata cum verbo correptionis dextra maxillam ejus percussit, quae quasi sigillum quoddam formam digitorum accepit, qua omni tempore vilae suae non caruit. De quo nimirum facto constat, quia non tam pro se, sed aliorum emendatione hoc pertulit, ut hujus visio aliis proficeret et ad melioris vitae statwn a vitiis snis retorqueret, Forte et illud detractoribus fabulosum et infidelibus videre visibile putabitur, quod sanctitate illius, quam gratia humilitatis ipsa homines latere voluit, elementa loquuntur, Denique cum post lectionem evangelii suo sollemni modo ad altare sacrificatura accederet, destra manus snae chirothecain. detrahens, cum nullus, qui reciperet, adesset, a se rejecit. Quam radius solis per fenestrae rimulas intrans suscepit.
et. tamdiu quasi famnlando sustinuit, donec illa post sacrificium rediens eam reciperet. Tale etjam quid in beati veste Goaris aliquando divina virtute ostensum fuisse legilur. Qui dum a sede rustici Trevirensis pontificis despicitur, a summa majestate per majoris luminaris famulatum honoratur, Omnium itaque capax erat meritorum, quae judicem cunctorum meruit habere virlulum, Quindecün in sancto proposito supervixit annos, tam humilitatis gratia quam pro religionis reverentia omnibus admiranda, Tandem pro nimia abstinentia ciborun Oralionis et vigiliarum incredibili perseverantia coepit corpore languescere et ingravescenle morbo paulatim deficere, Sed dum membra dolore contraherentur. exterius, tamen spiritus, quia laus Dei in ore hujus semper confortabatur interius. Vocabat sanctos angelos, quorum hic vita, illic nunc consortio fruitur, apostolos et confessores, quorun fidem semper et confessionem tenuit, interpellabat, virginum Christi in suo exita invitabat chorum, quarum aemulatione in carne, dum propter carnem viveret, immaculatum Christo consecraverat torum, omnium Deo famulantiumn sibi adesse, sibi occurrere orabat auxilium. Vere quod seriptum est: timentibus Deum omnia cooperantur in bonum, in obitu tantae virginis videmus comprobatum. Necdum spiritum exhalaverat, necdum Christo debitam reddiderat vitam et jam fama volans tanti praenuntia luctus non tam sacratas virgines aut diversi ordinis viros, sed et totius urbis populos ad exsequias congregabat, Sonabant psalmi et totam domum , ubi sacrum corpusculum in medio super illo nobili suo cilicio compositum jacebat, in sublime resonans litania pro exeunte anima quatiebat, Interim ex more regales tamquam imperatrici, non ut pauperculae debentur sorori, papantur obsequiae, aurea feretro obtendenda proferuntur velamina, Cum illa pallentes vultus, quos ante ut sponso venienti laetos videres, ad os retorquere, manu annuere: amictus iste, ait, non est meus, auferte hinc, Ornatus hic alienus est, his terreno sponso, istis coeJesti sum.
copulata, nuda de utero matris meae egressa sum, nuda regrediar illuc, his miserae vilem carnis materiam involvite et corpusculum meum juxta tumulum fratris mei ac domini Henrici imperatoris, quem me vocantem video, in proprio locello reponite, His dictis in manum domini spiritum condemnans carnis sarcina abjecta ad suum amica revolabat autoren et in antiquam possessioneim diu peregrinata conscendit, terris matrem cominunem se amisisse flentibus, coelis autem concivem in suum consortium se suscepisse gaudentibus. lta demum sacro illo corpore feretro supposito nobilium ordine praeeunte, multis hinc inde confluentibus turnis cuim illo sibi semper familiarissino pauperum contubernio ad locum praedestinatun sepulturae felices exsequiae usque delatae sunt, Cum vero relictas urbes, vacua rura, desolatas civitales, undique concurrere populos videres, matres parvulos suos in brachiis gestantes, infirmos in grabbatis jacentes sanitatis gratiam sperare, felicem se credere, si cui aut feretro jungi aut ab ipso contigisset obumnbrari. Tandem in ecclesiam sancti Petri corpus non sine labore deportatun triduanas ibi meritis suis ac beneficiis condignas habuit exsequias, Filii, quos illic ipsa in Christo aggregaverat, de matris pace jam securi, pro se autem solliciti incessanter psallebant, dum eam sibi ad horam subtractam sine timore amissionis in spe perpetuae intercessionis recepisse plaudebant. Mater de coelo filiorum prospectans affectum gaudebat, Ita velatum sacrum corpus sacris vestibus dyadeimate Christi supposito suo loculo in dextro latere, sicut hactenus veneratur, repositum est, O felix Bambergensis ecclesia, recepisti thesaurnm, quem amiseras, procax et malefica lingua deiracliornm occultorum testimonio confutata est, dum virginitas ejus rebus approbata sanctitas clarescentibus signis videtur testificata per Christum dominum nostrmn, Christianae religioni proficiens, fidelis ecclesiae, quae in evangelio vooe domini testante Dei mater et filia per gratiam nominatur. Maler, quia sanctae operationis exemplo filios domino generat: filia, quia virginis filio pro salute mundi incarnato eruditione sanctorum patrum quotidie generatur, salutem missam a domino coelestis archiatri effectibus medicinae plenam tam. corporis auribus animadvertat, Mundanae machinae conditor, humano generi per inobedientiam lapso condolens, ut aeternae vitae fructus facientem novam plantationem, scilicet. prinitivam. ecclesiam insereret, palriarchas et prophetas in mundum mittere dignatus est.
Qui creditum sibi officuun quinque corporis sensibus, sexto quoque, qui est spiritus prophetiae, mysterium incarnationis Christi et omnia, quae de ipso annuntianda erant, praedicantes alii asperitate vitae, alii diversis poenarum mortibus, ipsi, quem prophelabant, famulatum suum fideliter impleverunt. Horum limes Christus aeterni patris consilio pro liberandis hominibus de intemeratae virginis ulero processit, nt jam inchoante plantatione missis per Orbem. apostolis aram de suo corpore fuso sanguine fabricatam novellam superaedificaret. ecclesiam, qnae sanctae trinitatis fide imbuta et mundata baptismi gratia martires, confessores et infirmi sexus virgines animo tamen constantes primitias obtulit, inter quas beata Kunegundis flos Bambergensis ecclesiae cum sancto Henrico, qui Romanum tenuit imperium, sub conjugii specie immortali sponso castae virginitatis honore deservivit, Unde jam ejns sanclilatis merita per orbein manifesta declaratione apparent, quia in loco, ubi sanctum corpus ejus quiescit, infini quacumque laborantes aogritudine sanitatem recipiunt, Ut antem ad omnia caulissuni testes simus, veritatis amatoribus aetati nostrae succedentibus de his, quae scribimus, curiose indagantibus, scilicet quo tempore curationum operationes meritis praefatae imperatricis initium habuerunt, largiente domino, prout possumus, explicare volumus, Anno dominicae incarnationis MCLXXXIX indictione H Thiemone XIII Bambergensis ecclesiae episcopo quarto pontificatus sui anno ad vincula sancti Petri, ne de sanctitate praedictae virginis ambigeremus, signorum experientia cerlificati sumus. Nam dwn solito more populus ad praedictiuun locum orationum et vigiliarum causa convenisset, affuit etiam quidam daemoniacus de villa, quae d Bairrentt, qui nec pietatem agnoscens nec scelus abhorrens filium suum igne cremaverat, Hic duris funibus adstriclus ad sepulchrum sanctae Kunegundis ita mansnescere coepit, ut furiali morbo absolutus Deum oinnipotentem landaret eique, cujus patrocinantis meritis boc accidisse cognovit, cuin caterva, quae praesens exstiterat, debitas laudes declunaret, Igitur dum haec cum sollemnitate chori et populi devotione agerentur, quidam contractus in suburbio de hospitali sancti Aegidii adductus sanitatem. postulabat et misericorditer exauditus, quod precabatur, obtinuil, Dum signorum fama totum Bainbergensemn locum respersisset, coniractus de domo Conradi praepositi majoris ecclesiae sanitatem affectans, et quamvis natura in membris ejus oberrasset, tamen, prout potuit, velocius reptans venerabili sepulchro se ingessit, ubi a domino salutem optatam invenit, Audiens hoc etiam contractus de domo Ottonis in eadem ecclesia canonici venit quantocins ad locum sepulchri sperans sibi ex beneficio gratiae sicul caeleris subveniri, cui sine morasubventum esse in Christo testamur,
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
- Daily reminders so the plan survives busy weeks