Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/268

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CANA


226


CANA


tion of de Harlay in 1651, when Camus retired to the Hospice des Incurables, at Paris, less to be a patient than to be a sympathizer with patients. Louis XIV pressed the Bishopric of Arras upon him, but Camus, having at length reluctantly accepted the charge, died before the arrival of the papal confirmation. His remains were laid to rest in the nave of the hos- pice chapel, where, until 1904, an epitaph told the tale of his dis- interestednessand charity: Qui sibi pauper — Pauper- ibus dives — Inter pauperes — Vi- vere, mori et hu- man voluit (Poor for himself, rich for the poor, he washed to live, die, and be buried among the poor).

Kichelieu said of Camus that his acrimony against the mendicant orders was the only flaw in his char- acter. Owing, doubtless, to this well-known antip- athy, verging on hatred, some strange charges have been made against him: Voltaire makes him the author of a vile book, "Apocalypse de Meliton", which was really written by Claude Pit ois, an apostate monk, in 1668. Sauvage (Realite du projet de Bourg-Fontaine) accuses him of joining the Jansen- ists in a plot against the Church, basing his accusa- tion on the fact that, in the alleged plot, the work of defaming the religious orders had been assigned to one "P. C. " (Pierre Camus). Sainte-Beuve (Port- Royal, I, 241) probably comes nearer the truth when he describes Camus as naively eager for public notice. and led by this foible to consort with the Jansenists of Port-Royal, though he did not escape their ridi- cule. His literary activity was prodigious. Leclerc and Niceron enumerate over two hundred books written by him. His sermons and religious novels have been completely forgotten, in spite of the efforts of H. Rigault (preface to his edition of "Palombe", 1853) and St.-Marc-Girardin (Cours de literature, IV) to rescue them from oblivion. Of his theological and controversial works, such as "Introduction a la theologie" (1645); "Du chef de l'eglise" (1630); "De la Primaute" (1630); "Enseignements cate- chetdques" (1642); " Correspondance de l'ecriture sacree et de la sainte eglise" (1683); "Antitheses protestantes" (163S), only one survives, " L'avoisine- ment des protestants vers l'eglise romaine" (Paris, 1640, re-edited by Richard Simon (1703), and trans- lated into Latin by Zaccaria, in Migne, "Theol. cursus compl.", V. On the other hand, his ascetical books, e. g. "L'usagede la penitence et communion" (1644), "Du rare ou frequent usage dc l'Eucharistie" (1644), " Pratique de la communion frequente" (1644), have had a great influence. One of them. "I. 'esprit de Saint Francois de Sales" (Paris, Kill), a minute and loving portrayal of the saint, lias gone through many editions (Collot, Paris, 1727: Depery, Pans, 1840), and two English translations of it haveappeared, that of Sidney Lear (London, s. d.) and O'Shea (New York, 1869). To the same class of writings, at least in the mind of Camus, belong several pamphlets against the mendicants: " Le vovageur inconnu" (1630); "Le directeur spirituel" (1631); "L'anti- moine "( 1032) ;" Pan v ret e evangel i. | ue" ( I ii.: 1 ) :' ' l: a bat-joie du tnomphe monacal (1634), and so on —


sometimes quoted under the general head, "Des moines". Of these it may be said that they only detract from the otherwise good fame of their author. The Spanish translation by Cabillas of a treatise by Camus on the love of God has been on the Spanish Index since 1747.

Boulas, Un ami de S. Francois de Saks, Camus (Lons-le- Saunier, 1S7S); Niceron, M (moires, XXXVI, 132; Intro- durlions of Depery, Lear, and 0'She\ to their editions of The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales; Feller in Biographie universelle (Paris, 1851); Man'genot in Diet, de theol. ea'th., s. v.

J. F. SoLLIER.

Cana, a city of Galilee, Palestine, famous through- out all ages as the scene of our Lord's first miracle, when He turned water into wine at the Marriage Feast (John. ii). It is mentioned by the same Evan- gelist in two other passages, once (iv, 46) in connexion with another miracle, when He cured the ruler's son at a distance, and once (xxi, 2) as the birthplace of Nathaniel, or St. Bartholomew. No direct indica- tion can be gathered of its locality, except that it was not far from either Nazareth or Capharnaum, and higher than the latter city, as indeed all the land west of the plain of Genesareth is; and that an ordinary traveller from Jerusalem to Nazareth would pass through or near it. It is not mentioned by either of the Synoptists, nor indeed anywhere else in the Scrip- tures. An old tradition identifies the site of Cana with the modern Kefr' Kenna, a village of about 600 inhabitants. This lies some four or five miles north- east of Nazareth, on the road from thence to Tiberias, at the foot of a short, steep hill. The tradition dates back at least to the eighth century, and probably a good deal earlier, while the site fulfils all the requisite conditions mentioned above. At the time of the Crusades, or betore, there was a church which was be- lieved to be on the spot where the miracle of Our Lord was worked. This site is now in the hands of the Franciscans, who have built, a large new church. In recent years some interesting excavations have been carried out within its walls, discovering parts of the old church beneath. The Greeks also have a church close by, inside which are two large jars, said to be the original "waterpots of stone" in which the water was turned into wine; but the probability of their be- ing genuine is not great. The fountain still existing in the village, however, must have been the actual source from which the water was drawn. The in- habitants of the village are very rough and uncivil- ized. About one-third of them are Christians, the ma- jority belonging to the Greek Church.

Towards the far end of the town, there is a church dedicated to St. Bartholomew, said to be on the site of his house, though this tradition cannot be traced back very far. A curious light is thrown on the ease with which such traditions used to originate by the exist- ence of a similar church on the supposed site of the house of Simon the Cananean. The name Cananean must have deceived some, who consequently sought for the site of his house, and the demand created the supply. In reality, however, the Chanaanites were a strict national sect among the Jews, and the name is wholly unconnected with Cana. The site at Kefr' Kenna held almost undisputed possession for many centuries. It is only in recent years that its authen- ticity has been seriously questioned. There are now two other claimants for the site. One of these, Kanet-el-.Telil, is some six miles farther north, on the slope- of a hill. There is nothing there now but ruins. Seine remains of cisterns have been discovered, but there is no fount or spring. It seems to have been known in quite early times as possibly the site of ( ana. and lias in its favour that the name is said to be a closer equivalent than that of Kefr' Kenna. Re- cently a third site has been put forward by Dr. Rob- inson, Ain Kana. which is somewhat nearer to Naza- reth. This site is accepted by Dr Conder; but, al-