own observation, or we are called upon to endure. For it is fitting that as new events continually occur they should be carefully committed to writing, to the praise of God; and thus, as the history of the past has been handed down to us by preceding writers, so also a relation of what is going on around us should be transmitted to future generations by the pen of contemporaries. I propose to treat of ecclesiastical affairs with the modesty becoming a humble son of the church; and to the best of my ability, diligently treading in the steps of the ancient fathers, I shall search out and give to the world the modern history of Christendom, venturing to call my unpretending work "An Ecclesiastical History." Confined to my cloister by the vows which have voluntarily bound me to the strict observance of the monastic rule, I am unable to make researches into the affairs of Alexandria, Greece, or Rome, and others worthy to be related; but I labour, by God's help, to unfold with truth contemporary events for the instruction of posterity,—both such as have passed under my own observation, and those which, occurring in neighbouring countries, have come to my knowledge. I firmly believe, however, from observation of the past, that some one will arise with far more penetration than myself, and more capable of examining the course of worldly affairs, who will perhaps extract from my pages, and from those of others of the same class, what he thinks worthy of being inserted in his chronicle or history for the information of posterity. I derive confidence from having begun my work by the express command of the venerable Abbot Roger,1 when he was advanced in years, and from now submitting it to you, 1 Roger du Sap, elected abbot of Saint Evroult in 1091; was consecrated Aug. 28, 1098; resigned in 1123; died Jan. 13, 1126. father Guérin,' his lawful successor according to the order of the church, that its redundancies may be expunged, and its errors rectified, and, being thus corrected, it may be stamped with your judicious authority. I shall treat first of the Source of all things, itself having no beginning, by whose aid I trust to persevere to the end, which, in truth, is endless, and to sing for ever, with the blessed above, devout praises to Him who is the Alpha and Omega. 1 Guérin des Essarts, or the Little, who probably derived his surname from the commune des Essarts, near St. Evroult, succeeded Roger du Sap in 1123; died June 20, 1137. THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF ORDERICUS VITALIS. BOOK I.1 CHAPTER I. Birth of Christ-Chronology of the event. THE Almighty Word, by whom God the Father created all things, is the true vine: and the Lord of the household who planted this vine cultivates the vineyard—that is, holy church-by means of the labourers sent into it, from dawn of day to the eleventh hour, that he may gather from it abundant fruit. He never ceases tending this vine, and propagating its magnificent branches, throughout every region of the world. He, indeed, the true King of ages, the true High Priest of good things to come, the true Prophet, and the Lord of men and angels, ineffably "anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows," the Angel of the covenant of the Father's unfathomable counsels, He (according to the oracles of the prophets, who, taught by the Holy Spirit, shone as stars in the 1 Duchesne, in his edition, divided the history into three parts, one of which included the two first books, with the following title here prefixed: "The first part, containing short annals of affairs, from the incarnation of Christ to the year of our Lord, 1149, with the succession of emperors, kings, and Roman pontiffs." As however, this title is not found in the MS. of St. Evroult, and is omitted in the recent French edition, it is not inserted in the present text. darkness of this world, and, like the cock which by his crowing awakes slumbering man before day-break, foretold the mysteries of the Lord's advent) chose for his mother, among many thousand women, Mary, the royal virgin, descended from the house of king David, and wonderfully endowed with the fulness of grace. This blessed Virgin, thus adorned with distinguished virtues, having been miraculously espoused to that just man, Joseph, saluted by the archangel Gabriel, and overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, conceived without sin, and brought forth without pain, on the eighth of the calends of January (25th of December), the Saviour, who was the desire of all nations. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, a city of Juda, at the time of the first census, when Cirinus1 was governor of Syria, according to the order of all the prophecies which had announced his coming. Glorious signs, as the sacred oracles relate, appeared in heaven at the birth of Christ, and the angels with pious thanksgivings for the salvation of man, sang: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!" Thus, in the forty-second year of the reign of Cæsar Augustus, twenty-eight years after the deaths of Cleopatra and Anthony, when Egypt became a Roman province, in the third year of the 193rd olympiad, and 752 years after the foundation of Rome, that is to say, at the time when Octavianus Cæsar, having restored order among all the nations of the earth, and, by God's providence, established a most firm and secure peace, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consecrated by his advent the sixth age of the world. From the creation to the birth of Christ, we reckon 3952 years, according to the correct Hebrew chronology; after the computation of Isidore, bishop of Seville, and some other doctors, there are 5154 years; again, according to the calculation of Eusebius of Cæsarea and Saint Jerome, we find 5231 years between the birth of Adam and the eighteenth year of Tiberius Cæsar, when Christ suffered on the cross. Let the whole multitude of believers rejoice in the Holy Spirit, unceasingly adoring the eternal Creator, and offering 1 2 Luke ii. 1-14. with their whole hearts a sacrifice of praise to Him, who appointed his only Son, co-eternal and consubstantial with himself and the Holy Spirit, to take upon him our flesh and redeem the servant of sin from a well-merited death by the undeserved death of his own Son! For our merciful Maker, who had fashioned man after his own image and similitude, was grieved at his fall, and decreed, in his secret and unfathomable counsels, that his Son, co-equal with himself, should visit the condemned servant in prison, and lovingly bring back man on his own shoulders from captivity to the flock, and heartily rejoice the nine orders of angels by the re-establishment of their number. CHAPTER II. Circumcision of Christ-Offering of the wise men. THUS, the Son of God, made man, remained what he was, and took upon him what he was not, without confusion or division of substance; but ruling all things, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, by his divinity, and enduring all the infirmities of our flesh by the assumption of humanity. The law which he had given by Moses, he kept inviolate; and, himself a lawgiver, fulfilled all righteousness. Thus, on the eighth day, he was circumcised, and on the fortieth, was presented to his Father in the temple, with the legal offering.1 Although the Virgin Mother wrapped her divine Son in swaddling clothes, although tight bandages swathed his feet and hands, although the tender infant, concealed within a narrow manger, uttered the cries of that human misery which it was the will of the Father that he should take upon himself; yet the High God was manifested by a new star appearing in the heavens, and the eastern Magi, thus guided, sought for him at Bethlehem, found him cradled in a manger, and worshipped him as God. The wise men then opened their treasures, and presented to Christ three costly presents, gold, frankincense, and myrrh, thus proclaiming 1 Luke ii. 21, 24. |