Saint of the Day – 14 October – Saint Bernard of Roccadarce (Died 8th Century) Pilgrim. Born in England (or France) in the 8th Century and died of natural causes in Roccadarce in Campagna in Italy. Also known as – Berhard of Arce, Bernardo. Additional Memorial – 26 June (recovery of the Relics), 13 September (translation of his Relics). Patronage – Roccadarce, Italy.
The details of the “Life of Saint Bernard” are deduced from the “Inventarium Originalis Ecclesiae Parochialis Sanctae Mariae Roccae Arcis” of 1698, by the hands of the Archpriest of the same Parish, Don Antonio Nardone of Arce (Roccadarce today).
Bernard, from the City of Silloth (sometimes known as Silloth-on-Solway, in Cumberland, Cumbria) in England, decided to walk the world, together with Saint Gerard, Saint Fulk and Saint Arduin, brothers in Christ and to visit the holy places of Jerusalem and the Holy Land, the Grotto of Saint Mary Magdalene in Marseilles, of St James in Galicia, of St Nicholas in Bari, of St Michael the Archangel in Puglia on Mount Gargano and the holy places of Rome, as in fact, they did.
These saintly pilgrims were moved too, by a very great need to escape from their land, from the Kingdom of England, unable to tolerate the tyranny and heresies spread there. Since those Saints were similar to four candlesticks of Holy Church, they could not shine in the darkness and the light of their good works did not shine in that place darkened by the thick darkness of sins.
The four Saints, therefore, walked through all the aforementioned places, until, coming from the Sanctuary of the Archangel in Puglia, they arrived in the City of Atina. Here, Saint Gerard, one of these four, fell ill and died on 11 August .
Then, when St Bernard in Arpino, St Fulk in Santopadre and St Arduin in Ceprano, fell ill, they all died in a short space of time, one after the other, in the aforementioned places. To this day, their bodies rest in each of those Towns and where they are exposed to devotion, with great veneration, by all of the faithful.
Only Bernhard would not lie still. According to tradition, he appeared in a dream to a man and asked that he be moved from his tomb in Arpino to Rocca d’Arce (now Roccadarce). Then his remains were exhumed from the tomb in the Chapel of San Giovanni in Arpino and transferred to the Parish Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Roccadarce, where he still rests, surrounded by miracles.
These events are commemorated on14 October. In the current year 1698, on 26 June, the works for the construction of a new Chapel having begun, by order of Monsignor Giovanni Ferrari, Bishop of Aquino, the Holy Body was found there, which the aforementioned Bishop showed to the people, Consecrating and dedicating the Chapel and celebrating the Saint’s Mass there. Then he placed the body of the Saint again in a lead coffin, donated by the Duke, Antonio Boncompagni. ,The Archpriest of the aforementioned Church, Don Antonio Nardone of Arce, filled the lead coffin with a lining of cottonwool, on which the body would rest and placed the whole inside another wooden coffin . Meanwhile, the new Altar was completed and the coffin was placed in its centre, which was surrounded by iron on all sides and the construction of the entire Chapel was completed in the aforementioned year 1698, in the month of August, with an expense of 886 ducats.
In Roccadarce, they have several celebrations of their Patron Saint. On 13 September, the translation of Bernhard’s Relics is celebrated and this is the Town’s main festival. His Relics have been identified several times – in 1585 (assumed) and in 1698 and in 1901 (documented). The last time the Relics were identified was in 2001, when they were placed in a new casket with reinforced glass and laid to rest under the Altar in the Chapel of St Bernard.
On 14 October, Bernhard’s death is celebrated in Arpino on the border of Roccadarce and there is a religious festival combined with a market for goods and cattle. On 26 June, the recovery of the Relics in 1698, is celebrated with a new religious festival.
AnaStpaul 