E04384: Gregory the Great, in his Dialogues (1.1), describes two miracles performed by *Honoratus (6th c. founder and abbot of Fondi, southern Italy, S01662). Written in Latin in Rome, c. 593.

online resource

posted on 2017-11-17, 00:00 authored by frances

Gregory the Great, Dialogues 1.1

Summary:

Honoratus, the son of the patrician Venantius, refused to eat meat at a banquet. As a result, he was mocked by his parents who said that fish would never be found in the mountains. When Honoratus went to draw up water, a fish entered the bucket. This fish was big enough to provide food for Honoratus for the rest of that day. His parents and all present were struck with admiration for Honoratus.

Gregory also describes how Honoratus founded the monastery of Funda [modern Fondi], where he became the abbot. A miracle which took place during this time. A rock fell from the mountain and threatened the monastery. Honoratus invoked Christ's name, extended his right hand and made the sign of the cross. The rock remained where it was and could still be seen when Gregory recounted the story.

Gregory continues to describe Honoratus’ virtues as a teacher.

Summary: Frances Trzeciak.

History

Evidence ID

E04384

Saint Name

Honoratus (abbot of Funda) : S01662

Saint Name in Source

Honoratus

Related Saint Records

https://oxford.figshare.com/articles/Honoratus_6th_c_founder_and_abbot_of_Fondi_southern_Italy/13733635

Type of Evidence

Literary - Hagiographical - Other saint-related texts

Language

Latin

Evidence not before

590

Evidence not after

600

Activity not before

500

Activity not after

600

Place of Evidence - Region

Rome and region

Place of Evidence - City, village, etc

Rome

Place of evidence - City name in other Language(s)

Rome Rome Rome Roma Ῥώμη Rhōmē

Major author/Major anonymous work

Gregory the Great (pope)

Cult Activities - Miracles

Miracle during lifetime Power over elements (fire, earthquakes, floods, weather) Material support (supply of food, water, drink, money)

Cult Activities - Protagonists in Cult and Narratives

Relatives of the saint Ecclesiastics - monks/nuns/hermits Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

Gregory the Great (Pope, 590-604) wrote his Dialogues on the Lives and Miracles of the Italian Fathers (Dialogi de vita et miraculis patrum italicorum) in Rome around 593. Organised into four books, the first three are a collection of lives and miracles of various Italian saints. The longest is the Life of Benedict of Nursia, which comprises the entirety of book 2. The final book consists of an essay on the immortality of souls after death. As a whole, the work documents and explains the presence of the miraculous in the contemporary world and the ability of saints to effect miracles both before and after death. The attribution of the Dialogues to Gregory has been disputed, most recently by Francis Clark who argued that the work was created in the 680s in Rome. Others - such as Adalbert de Vogüé, Paul Meyvaert and Matthew dal Santo - have, however, strongly argued for Gregory's authorship and it is broadly accepted that Gregory was responsible for the Dialogues. For a discussion of Gregory's devotion in writing the Dialogues, see E04383, and for the role of the Dialogues as a tract justifying the nature of miracles and theorising on the immortality of souls, see E04506. Gregory's principal aim in collecting the miracle stories of the holy men and a very few women of sixth-century Italy was to show the presence of God's power on earth as manifested through them, rather than to encourage the cult of these individuals. Indeed, though posthumous miracles at the graves of a few individuals are recorded (and also a few miracles aided by contact relics of dead saints), there is very little emphasis in the Dialogues on posthumous cult; some of the miraculous events that Gregory records (e.g. E04429) are not even attributed to named individuals. Although very few of the holy persons in the Dialogues are 'proper' saints, with long-term cult, we have included them all in our database, for the sake of completeness and as an illustration of the impossibility of dividing 'proper' saints from more 'ordinary' holy individuals.

Discussion

Fondi lies about half way between Rome and Naples on the Via Appia. Later tradition claimed Honoratus and identified his monastery with the Abbey of San Magno, which lies 2km north-west of the town.

Bibliography

Edition: Vogüé, A. de, Grégoire le Grand, Dialogues, Sources chrétiennes 260 (Paris: Cerf, 1979). Translation: Zimmerman, O.J., Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great, Fathers of the Church 39 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1959). Further Reading: Clark, F.,The 'Gregorian' Dialogues and the Origins of Benedictine Monasticism (Leiden: Brill, 2003). Dal Santo, M., "The Shadow of A Doubt? A Note on the Dialogues and Registrum Epistolarum of Pope Gregory the Great (590–604)," Journal of Ecclesiatical History, 61.1, (2010), 3-17. Meyvaert, P., "The Enigma of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues: A Reply to Francis Clark," Journal of Ecclesiastical History 39 (1988), 335–81. Vogüé, A. de, "Grégoire le Grand et ses Dialogues d’après deux ouvrages récents," Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique 83 (1988), 281–348.