Epistolæ

• Elisabeth of Schönau

• Burchard, abbot of Odenheim and his brothers

To lord Burchard, venerable abbot of Odenheim, sister Elisabeth sends devout prayers. On the day of Pentecost I acted on your request and asked the angel of the Lord who had appeared to me about the name of the holy virgin whose body you have and about her parentage. He responded to me, saying, “The name of the virgin about whom you ask is Viventia. Her father’s name was Arian and her mother was called Leticia and they both were upright before the Lord. When they had been married for forty years without child, they finally merited to receive this daughter from the generous Lord. Because they loved her tenderly, they wished her not to be joined to a husband. The fame of blessed Ursula and her companions had arisen, so they sent their daughter to Ursula and joined her to that society. Thus it happened that she suffered martyrdom among that number of holy virgins.”
Also, I don’t want you to be unaware that when I heard these things from the angel during the Canon of the Mass, I did not correctly retain the name of the virgin in my memory. When my brother asked me about these things after Mass, I said that her name was Convivia. After this, at noon, that very virgin appeared to me and completely persuaded me that I had not named her correctly and showed me her garment of marvelous whiteness and around it in gold letters was written, “I am called chosen Viventia.” I inquired of her, saying, “My good lady, why was I allowed to err in this way about your name and call you Convivia?” She said, “Because I was led to the banquet of heavenly mysteries.” (!2) When I asked her where she was born, she responded, “I was born in Bebruannia.”
I also asked the angel about your holy patrons Bonosius and Abrunculus and with what kind of merit they stood before the Lord. He said, “They were saints before the Lord from their earliest age and bore much fruit among the people. Therefore, their sanctity was declared by the Lord in the many miracles which have been performed in curing the sick and raising the dead.” He added to this, saying, “Know that the place where their relics are held has been sanctified greatly by their merits.”

Elisabeth transmits the answer she received from the angel to a question Burchard had put to her about the identity of bones in his possession. A large graveyard was discovered outside Cologne in 1156 and the bones, identified as those of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgin martyrs, were taken to various local religious houses, see the letter to Gerlach of Deutz and his brothers. This letter was not transmitted as part of the collection created by Ekbert but is found in a manuscript transmitting a collection of hagiographical materials, including Elisabeth’s revelations about the virgins of Cologne, from the Benedictine abbey of St. Magnus in Füssen.

(!1)This translation is copyrighted by Anne Clark. For permission to reproduce, contact Paulist Press. (!2)This explanation relies on a pun on the Latin word for banquet, convivium. The other name of the virgin, Viventia, would also have evoked an etymological resonance for a Latin audience, suggesting “one who lives.”

Ph. Schmitz, “’Visions’ inédites de Sainte Elisabeth de Schoenau,” Revue Benedictine 47 (1935), 181-83; trans. Anne L. Clark, The Complete Works of Elisabeth of Schönau (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 23.(!1)