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The Life which is here presented to the reader is for the most part
a translation of the French Vie de St. Hugues de Lincoln, which was
published by a monk of the Grande Chartreuse in 1890. From one
cause or another the production of the hook in its present form has
entailed almost as much labour as the composition of an original
work would have done, and the Editor has more than once been
tempted to regret, when it was too late, that he had not cut
himself entirely free from the trammels imposed by a rendering from
another language. The English version, however, had already been
made, and had become the property of the Manresa Press before the
duties of editorship devolved upon him. If the name of the
translator does not appear upon the title-page, the omission is not
due to any wish to ignore the service so rendered, but only to the
fact that in editing it for publication very many changes have been
made in the version throughout, and parts of it even rewritten. It
is possible that a number of these changes might not be regarded by
the translator, or others, as changes for the better, and it seems
fairer to leave the responsibility indeterminate than to assign any
definite name to what is really the work of more than one hand. If
any difference of style be detected between the earlier and later
portion of the book, it is chiefly to be referred to the process of
revision just spoken of. In the first few chapters the French as
originally translated has been more closely adhered to, in the
later the Editor has allowed himself considerably greater latitude.
Although the Preface, the Appendices, and occasionally portions of
the text, of the French Life have been omitted, the printed matter
contained in the book has been increased by more than one-third,
i.e., by the equivalent of more than two hundred pages of the
present volume. This is due to the large number of additional
topics which have been dealt with in the text or in the notes, a
list of which, under the heading Additions, will be found in the
Index. To the substantial facts of the history of St. Hugh's
career, the Editor can claim to have contributed little that is
new. Perhaps the most interesting of the points here touched upon
for the first time is the connection between the subject of this
biography and the revelations of the monk of Eynsham. The fact that
St. Hugh must have been personally acquainted with many of those
whose fate in the next world is there described, lends emphasis to
the share taken by him in the publication of the vision. Again, a
rather important chronological error, which has led Mr. Dimock, and
with him all subsequent English writers, to antedate by five years
the coming of St. Hugh to England, and hence to make the Saint five
years older than he really was, has at last, I think, been finally
disposed of.2 The author of the French Life had already rectified
this mistake, but his correction is now. further justified by an
extract from the Bruton Chartulary, and by the indisputable
evidence of an entry in the Norman Exchequer Rolls, to which
attention had not previously been directed. The Editor's principal
aim, however, has been to supplement the. information given by the
French biographer in those features of the Life which have a
special bearing upon English history or English institutions, or
which depend upon local knowledge not easily accessible to a monk
writing at a distance, and with the restrictions imposed by the
Rule of the Grande Chartreuse. That must be my excuse for dwelling,
perhaps somewhat unduly, upon such questions as perpetual
vicarages, St. Hugh's grants of churches, the right of sanctuary,
the character of Henry II, &c., and particularly on the
Cathedral, the Jewry, and the leper hospital of Lincoln, the site
of the house where St. Hugh died in London, and of the tomb where
his remains first reposed.
Let us consider this excerpt: " One day the Saint, taking Pinianus
aside, began tenderly and respectfully to question him. What she
asked was whether carnal love had still any place in his heart,
whether it ever occurred to him now to think of her as a wife.
Pinianus, with a smiling face, and full of the joy of the Lord,
answered her cheerily, Happy art thou to love thy husband after
such sort. Be satisfied on my account, quite satisfied in our Lord,
that ever since we made together our promise to God, I have had
just the same feeling for thee as for Albina, thy saintly mother.'
On hearing these words Melania kissed him upon the breast and upon
the hands, and gave glory to God for this firm resolution. But a
few days afterwards, anxious that he should always advance in
perfection, she said to him again; 'Pinianus, my lord, listen to me
as a mother, as thy spiritual sister; lay aside these costly
Cilician robes, dress thyself in more sober fashion.' Like the boy
that he was, Pinianus, on hearing this, was rather cast down, but
in order that he might not see her look unhappy, and knowi ng that
all was done for God and for his own eternal welfare, he assented
with a good grace, and began to dress in the cheaper garments of
Antioch. But Melania, like a busy bee, was eager to add flower to
flower on his behalf. She pressed him to adopt an even coarser
dress, and this in fact he did. Eventually his clothes cost no more
than a gold piece, or two thirds of a gold piece, and Melania
fashioned them for him herself out of the cheapest natural wool
without dye of any sort." After sketching the condition of Rome at
the end of the fourth century, during which time Saint Melania
lived, we get into her personal story. "But this great solicitude
of her parents, which, however affectionate it may have been, was
yet purely human, was the cause of great torture to the innocent
girl. Melania was not, like so many noble Roman ladies of the time,
a convert to Christianity. She had never tasted the bitter fruit of
Roman corruption. She came into the world with an instinctive
hatred of those infamous customs which were the canker then eating
out the heart of primitive Roman society. Her pure angelic soul
revolted from the licentious manners which held sway around her.
From her earliest years, the love of God completely filled her
heart. She herself on her death-bed declared that in early
childhood she had consecrated herself wholly to Christ. Providence,
which had implanted these desires in the girl's heart, did not
permit them to remain barren. ..." Saint Melania's life in this
time is an inspiration to all of us who live these days of
perversion. She rose to the heights of sanctity, inspiring her
mother and husband to join with her.
THE volume which is here presented to the reader does not, I think,
require any lengthy introduction. Its chief purpose is to supply a
popular account of those external observances by which the season
of paschal preparation is marked off from the rest of the
ecclesiastical year. Although a devotional conception has not been
excluded, the writer's principal object has been to touch upon
points of historical and liturgical interest, points which often
bring us into immediate relation with the practice of the early
Christian centuries. The discipline of fasting, the lenten liturgy,
and in particular the ceremonies of Holy Week, have all been
treated with some degree of fulness, while an attempt has also been
made to trace the history of certain devotions of more recent date,
such as the Quarant' Ore and the 'Three Hours.' The book is not in
any way controversial. Although written from a Catholic standpoint,
it does not pretend to do more than supply a plain statement of
liturgical facts, such as would be accepted by the more scientific
students of every communion. The volume is more bulky than I had
intended, and it would of course have been easily possible to make
it many times longer than it is; but it seemed necessary to keep
within reasonable limits, and with the exception of an occasional
reference, such as that, for instance, to Easter eggs and pancakes
on p. 476, or the flowering of the graves on p. 209, I have thought
it better to refrain from the tempting theme of Volksgebrauche. For
a similar reason, ceremonies now obsolete have not as a rule been
discussed at any great length. If the account given of the Easter
Sepulchre might seem to be an exception, the intimate connexion of
that rite with the existing Quarant' Ore, as well as its relation
to the early history of the drama, (see page 457), may perhaps be
deemed sufficient justification. "IF we would understand the full
significance of the great Resurrection Feast, we must not merely
study the liturgy of the eight days which follow Palm Sunday, but
we must begin further back and pass in review the incidents of the
long penitential season which serves as an introduction to the
whole. What Holy Week is to Easter, that Lent is to Holy Week. Just
as the meaning of Easter will only be fully comprehended by one who
has tried to enter into the spirit of the days which precede, so
the solemnities of Holy Week form both the climax and the
justification of the change of ritual introduced nearly two months
earlier." This work is an excellent preparation for Easter during
Lent.
St. Alphonsus writes: "a single bad book will be sufficient to
cause the destruction of a monastery." Pope Pius XII wrote in 1947
at the beatification of Blessed Maria Goretti: "There rises to Our
lips the cry of the Saviour: 'Woe to the world because of scandals
' (Matthew 18:7). Woe to those who consciously and deliberately
spread corruption-in novels, newspapers, magazines, theaters,
films, in a world of immodesty " We at St. Pius X Press are calling
for a crusade of good books. We want to restore 1,000 old Catholic
books to the market. We ask for your assistance and prayers. This
book is a photographic reprint of the original The original has
been inspected and many imperfections in the existing copy have
been corrected. At Saint Pius X Press our goal is to remain
faithful to the original in both photographic reproductions and in
textual reproductions that are reprinted. Photographic
reproductions are given a page by page inspection, whereas textual
reproductions are proofread to correct any errors in reproduction.
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