which we find in the Chronicon Casinense of Leo Ostiensis, L. ii. c. 33.
His diebus Monachi quidam ab Jerusolymis venientes particulam lintei, cum quo
pedes discipulorum Salvator extersit, secum detulerunt, et ob reverentiam sancti
hujus loci devotissimè hic obtulerunt, sexto scilicet Idus Decembris; sed, cum a
plurimis super hoc nulla fides adhiberetur, illi fide fidentes protinus prædictam particulam
in accensi turibuli igne desuper posuerunt, quæ mox quidem in ignis colorem
conversa, post paululùm vero, amotis carbonibus, ad pristinam speciem mirabiliter
est reversa. Cumque excogitarent qualiter, vel quanam in parte pignora
tanta locarent, contigit, dispositione divinâ, ut eodem ipso die, transmissus sit in
hunc locum loculus ille mirificus, ubi nunc recondita est ipsa lintei sancti particula,
argento et auro gemmisque Anglico opere subtiliter ac pulcherrimè decoratus. Ibi
ergò christallo superposito venerabiliter satis est collocata: morisque est singulis
annis, ipso die Cœnæ Dominicæ ad mandatum Fratrum eam a Mansionariis deferri
et in medium poni, duoque candelabra ante illam accendi et indesinenter per
totum mandati spatium ab Acolito incensari. Demum verò juxta finem mandati
a singulis per ordinem fratribus flexis genibus devotissimè adorari et reverentèr
exosculari.
There is no good reason to doubt the truth of this narrative
so far as respects the veracity and credit of the historian. Leo
Ostiensis became an inmate of the Abbey of Monte Casino a
few years after the event is said to have happened, and could
scarcely be misinformed respecting the circumstances, more especially
as he held during the latter part of his abode there the
office of Librarian. There is nothing improbable in the story.
Asbestine cloth, as we have learnt from Marco Polo, was manufactured
in Asia during the middle ages, and the reputed relic
was obtained at Jerusalem. That the pilgrims, who visited
Jerusalem, should be imposed upon in this manner, is in the
highest degree probable, since we are informed, that the very
same substance in its natural state was often sold to devotees
AS THE WOOD OF THE TRUE CROSS, and its incombustibility
was exhibited as the proof of its genuineness.
This we learn in the following passage from Tilingius, who
wrote "De lino vivo aut asbestino et incombustibili."
Antonius Musa Brassavolus Ferrariensis tradit, impostores lapidem Amiantum
simplicibus mulierculis ostendere vendereque sæpenumero pro ligno crusis Servatoris
nostri. Id quod facile credunt, cùm igne non comburatur, quodque ligni modo
plurimis constet lineis intercur santibus.—Miscellanea Curiosa Naturæ Curiosorum,
Decuriæ ii. Ann. ii. p. 111. Norembergæ, 1684.
