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ST. PERPETUUS, B. C.
HE was the eighth bishop of Tours from St. Gatian,
and governed that see above thirty years, from 461 to 491, when he
deceased on the 8th of April. During all which time he labored by
zealous sermons, many synods, and wholesome regulations, to lead
souls to virtue. St. Gregory of Tours mentions his prudent
ordinances, prescribing the manner of celebrating vigils before great
festivals in the different churches in the city. All Fridays and
Wednesdays he commanded to be observed fasts of precept, except
during Easter time, from Christmas to St. Hilary’s day, that
is, the 14th day of January, and from St. John Baptist’s day to
the end of August. He added a third fast day every week, probably
Monday, from St. Martin’s to Christmas, which proves the
antiquity of Advent. These regulations were all religiously observed
one hundred and twenty years after, when St. Gregory of Tours wrote
his history. St. Perpetuus had a great veneration for the saints, and
respect for their relics; adorned their shrines, and enriched their
churches. As there was a continual succession of miracles at the tomb
of St. Martin, Perpetuus finding the church built by St. Bricius too
small for the concourse of people that resorted thither, directed its
enlargement, causing it to be built one hundred and fifty-five feet
in length, sixty broad, and forty-five in height. When the building
was finished, the good bishop solemnized the dedication of this new
church, and performed the translation of the body of St. Martin, on
the 4th of July, in 473. Our saint was of a senatorian family, and
possessed very large estates in several provinces; but consecrated
the revenues to the service of the church, and the relief of the
necessitous. He made and signed his last will, which is still extant,
on the 1st of March, 475 fifteen years before his death. By it he
remits all debts that were owing to him; and having bequeathed to his
church his library and several farms, and settled a fund for the
maintenance of lamps, and the purchase of sacred vessels, as occasion
might require, he declares the poor his heirs. It begins thus: “In
the name of Jesus Christ, Amen I, Perpetuus, a sinner, priest of the
church of Tours, would not depart without a last will and testament,
lest the poor should be neglected. . . . You, my bowels, my most
beloved brethren, my crown, my joy, my lords, my children, O poor of
Christ, needy, beggars, sick, widows, orphans; you I declare, name,
and make my heirs. Excepting what is above disposed of whatever I am
possessed of in goods, in fields, in pasturage, in meadows, in
groves, in vineyards, in dwellings, in gardens, in waters, in mills,
or in gold silver, and garments, and other things, I appoint you my
heirs. It is my will that as soon as possible, after my departure,
they be sold, and the money divided into three parts; of which two
shall be distributed among poor men, at the discretion of the priest
Agrarius and count Agilo: and the third among widows and poor women,
at the discretion of the virgin Dadolena,” &c. He adds most
pathetic exhortations to concord and piety; and bequeaths to his
sister, Fidia Julia Perpetua, a little gold cross, with relics; he
leaves legacies to several other friends and priests, to one a silver
case of relics of saints, to others gold or silver crosses or
chalices, begging of each a remembrance of him in their prayers. His
ancient epitaph equals him to the great St. Martin: St. Apollinaris
Sidonius calls him the true copy of the virtues of that wonderful
saint. St. Perpetuus died either on the 30th of December, in 490, or
on the 8th of April, 491. In the martyrologies of Florus, and some
others, his festival is placed on the first of these days: but in
that of Usuard, and in the Roman, on the second. See his testament
published by D’Achery, Spicileg. t. 5, p. 105; also St. Gregory
of Tours, Hist. b. 10, ch. 31, and De Mirac. S. Martini, b. 1, c. 6;
Tillemont, 16, p. 393; Dom. Rivet. t. 2, p. 619.
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