For we have seen the bones of the body,
Alas, the harmful hour then gave them to the ashes.
But the labor remains skillfully, and in flowing words
Ambrosia and cedar-wood finally have their time.
Through no unworthy crime shall the rich letter be destroyed,
Nor shall the noble work vanish into the fire original: "vulcanum," referring to Vulcan, the god of fire.
Your Franciscus, a member of your kin and a master
Of your people, though he was famous before, now brings him forth anew.
You bring him from the false, lest an adulterous hand should truncate him,
Lest a foreign hand should add forbidden things.
And you add new light and new stars to the truth,
Being a more worthy interpreter of so great a Father.
You wished to test your shoulders and your hands;
May you be a Father of more prosperous outcome.
You took up this work, suited to your strengths—not those of many—
Now the offspring also has life.
It lives under the name of the Divinity and the sacred empire;
It is praised, it is read, it now flourishes and pleases.
I groaned as if for one lost, when from our threshold
You took your way far from here, and far from this city,
And through Lorraine, sublime in that learned city,
Where you hold the seat of a teacher with much praise.
So that I, though needing to be taught, cannot now go through your precepts,
Devoted to sacred studies and to you.
As I remember your teaching and learned arguments,
Sweet love flows into my restless breast.
So solid, so sharp, so skilled in greater
Wisdom, so pious under strong reason.
That Prelate of mine, to whom I owe myself and mine,
Fosters you with pious love for the Aussaricae of Auxerre people.
As often as he received you in a friendly embrace,
He commanded you to share his meals with him.
This Coriolanus Coriolanus Garzadoro, Bishop of Ossero and Papal Nuncio of the descendants of Aeneas, who was sent from the city
While the Father still held the keys of Peter,
Pleads the causes of sacred things and the highest business,
Being famous everywhere by the mission of the Pontiff,
In the lands which the German holds, with the Main, the Rhine, and the Elbe,
The Meuse, the Moselle, and the Scheldt seeking the sea.
So great a man burned with love for you and your fame, that you were
A companion of his table, his side, and his conversation.
I often wondered at you two bringing back sought-after things;
This one seeks the causes of the inquiry, that one teaches;
This one teaches, that one seeks, responses are brought in turns,
As if new words from the sanctuary in sacred rhythms.

To the reader
studious of Holy Literature.

There are those in whose writings much eloquence shines,
But who have nothing of sincere piety.
There are also those whose pious writings are approved, but
A harsh barbarism commands them to lie hidden.
Irenaeus surpasses these by a long distance,
Whether weightiness pleases, or the honor of piety.
A champion over monsters, surpassing the triumphs of Hercules original: "Alceida," a patronymic for Hercules,
The Gnostic Chimera lies defeated by his pen.
He had been torn and mutilated in his whole body,
But now, refined and adorned, he comes before the faces of men.
This is the labor of the craftsman, who took his name from
Burning Fire original: "IGNE ARDENTI," a pun on the name Feu-ardent, the flower and glory of our robe.
You marvel: thus his life pleases, thus his tongue is approved,
That the buried flame might show the burning funeral pyres.

F. Gilbert Rondreux, Franciscan,
Theologian of Monluc.

The sweet seasonings of the sacred table were there,
Where the more learned Prelate and you exchange words.
Thus Garzadoro, whom Vicenza brought forth as a famous man,
And is now of Auxerre, discourses and teaches,
Even more joined to this, having once been versatile and
Teachable through the French schools,
And before that in the flourishing city of Bologna original: "Felsineam," the ancient name for Bologna,
Which is called the Mother of Study.
Afterward, he sought Paris with an exalted mind,
Lest the laurel should be lacking to a man in Gaul.
It is a joy to remember this; he shares the loves
Of the Muses with you; such is the charm of his Gallic speech.
I could believe the Sorbonne was forged for you
Two; you were also a Doctor of the Sorbonne.
The hall of my Lord could be seen as the Sorbonne,
For it always stands open to the learned and pious.
Nothing was ever more pleasing to the Lord than sacred studies;
To these sacred things, lesser ones also succeed.
He is skilled in the ancient annals of time, the customs
Of the world, the laws of peoples, and their wandering sites.
He conducts himself as a Greek, and describes the world with rays
By the Syracusan art the geometry of Archimedes, having measured the stars.
He knows harmony suited to numbers and voices;
Indeed, the sacred Muses original: "Pierides" accompany him.
He even raises me into the high groves of Parnassus,
And makes me daring by his own steps.
A learned man loves the learned: therefore, O Franciscus,
He began to hold you more ardently in his learned number.
When you bring forth the Palestinian Esther, having obtained
Half the scepter, O Persian, and of your bed.
A work of art, a work of piety, memorable to all,
Now more noble because of your argument.
Coriolanus shines before this, a masterly name,
And stands present as the champion of the work to be seen on the front;
For let this be sacred to him, now a greater messenger adorns
You, Franciscus, and the fame of the new book is great.
Behold, Irenaeus is increased and purged of worms;
I pray your fame becomes equal to that of Irenaeus.

Saint Francis of Assisi represented
in Franciscus Feu-ardentius.
The Umbrian Francis, once burning from Seraphic fire,
Now shines as if with celestial fire:
The other Francis is now that "Ardent" one;
He burns continually with the winged Seraphic God.

To Franciscus Pyraithon original: "Pyraithona," Greek for Feu-ardent or Fire-burner
The most divinely inspired and most famous theologian of the Church.

Fire indeed is carried upward and touches heaven again,
God appears as a fire to all the divine ones.
You have a fiery name, and you have the greatest power of burning,
And your mind shines with light from the ethereal sky.
Whatever divine voices you examine, they shine with a fire-bright word;
You have hastened to the truth, it kindles those who are flowing.
And you have called the blessed Irenaeus himself from his monuments
With your immortal fire and that which is struck by God.
I know this man is a worker and a fire-breathing man in speech,
A flaming driver of the creeping heretics.
May you be strong, being young, purifying all things with your inner fire.
How great and how many things shall this unquenchable fire reveal?

By N. Gelanius, Lyr. Gamb.

SAPPHIC DOXOLOGY TO THE

BLESSED MARTYR IRENAEUS, AUTHOR OF THESE
books.

A decorative initial letter 'O' begins the poem.
Glory of heaven, noble Doctor,
Alone obscuring the rays with your brightness,
How shall I be able to celebrate worthy
Praises in song?
My senses are stunned, all strength flees,
The tongue becomes mute, yet it labors with thirst,
When I attempt to speak of the weight
And order of the matter in words.
For who, O Martyr, would strive to speak of
Your deeds? What mouths could extol you enough,
And fashion new songs by singing
Your praises?
Yet I myself, as a suppliant, will tune this,
Which I attempt relying on your piety:
Only cherish us, your clients, with the
Sweet nectar of heaven.
You loved Christ from your very nails meaning from earliest childhood,
You held the sacred faith, and being
Powerful in letters themselves, you desired to reach
The heights of heaven.
You wished to be present for God alone,
Always loving honorable things in return,
Your only study and pleasure was always
To trust in Christ.
He refused to cherish his nature elegantly,
And at the same time to sacrifice to foul Venus;
He also prone refused to bear the pleasant
Joys of the flesh.
Rightly you despised great riches and fragile things,
Which harm their masters: for things left behind
Will not be able to appease God at the
Time of death.
In his first glowing struggle, he provides
A distinguished symbol, and an excellent sign of honor,
Forming the barbarian tyrants with the
Gentle doctrine of Christ.
Duly extending his face with redness withdrawn,
He speaks to the grim tyrants;
He preaches Christ as Lord, and the God
Of the Christians.
He does not dread threats, swords, axes,
Claws, fires, and hard stones;
Let the barbarian torturer pluck at every side,
Jesus will conquer.
It is enough: whatever the tyrants may do,
Though they pour out blood and tear the limbs,
Then virtue will bring back its trophy
With a favorable omen.
By the art of virtue, and protected by the
Shield of faith, he learned to tame the
Horrid heresies, and subdued the wicked enemies
With chaste blows.
Those who remain holy and reverent toward God,
And who stand firm in His love,
The good God always views them peacefully
From highest Olympus.
Envious Marcion flashes (alas!) with grim fury,
Likewise his companions of falsehood,
When they see so great a master teaching
With constant holiness.
Let this foul race of envious demons
Give way here, let their unspeakable rage cease,
For this martyr of ours will grow under
Every storm of hail.
What else? The good citizens and the fervent
People of Christ keep his ashes in the tomb;
Embracing them, they keep the bones of the
Blessed martyr in the mound.
They believe him dead, yet he has lived again;
The learned honor him; he flies through the world,
Sharply shaking the false prophets
With holy doctrine.
You are indeed pleasing to kind Christ;
What could speak of such heaps of praise?
Who could count your triumphs further?
Surely no one.
If any of the martyrs please the Thunderer original: "tonanti," a classical epithet for God,
And at the same time deserve the high heaven,
You stand worthy, I confess, to climb
The blessed seats.
If as many tongues should sound as stars
Shine out, or as many as the sea bears sands,
They will not be sufficient for such
Praise and merits.
Receive, O at last, these plaintive prayers,
And look upon your servants from on high;
Grant that we may be aided by your many merits
Through every age.

F. Jacobus Alo,
Franciscan, placed this.