Saint Servulus of Rome
Confessor
A paralytic beggar living under the portico of the Church of Saint Clement in Rome, Servulus dedicated his life to prayer and charity despite his total infirmity. Although illiterate, he learned the Scriptures by having them read to him and died in 570 surrounded by celestial chants and a sweet fragrance. His example is cited by Saint Gregory the Great as a model of patience and holiness in adversity.
Guided reading
3 reading sections
SAINT SERVULUS OF ROME, CONFESSOR (570).
The Life of Servulus
Servulus, a paralyzed beggar living under the portico of Saint Clement in Rome, dedicated his life to charity and the oral study of the Scriptures despite his total infirmity.
Saint Gregory the Great, for the consolation of those afflicted by poverty and sickness, speaks thus of Saint Servulus: "We saw, u Servule Roman beggar who was paralyzed, a model of patience and piety. nder the portico leading to the church of Saint Clement, a man named Servulus, whom all of Rome knew as we did. He Rome Birthplace of Maximian. was poor in worldly goods, but rich in merits. A long illness had reduced him to a pitiful state; for, from his youth until the end of his life, he had always been afflicted with paralysis. It is not enough to say that he could not stand; for he could not even lift himself from the bed where he lay, nor sit up, nor bring his hand to his mouth, nor turn from one side to the other. His mother and brother assisted him, and, as he received many alms, he used their hands to distribute to other poor people everything that remained, after having taken very modestly what was necessary for his subsistence. He did not know how to read; but, having had books of the Holy Scripture bought for him, he would ask the religious who came to see him, an d to whom he re sainte Écriture Sacred texts that Servulus had read to him. ndered the duties of hospitality, to read some of it to him; so that he finally learned it all by heart. He occupied himself incessantly, amidst his discomforts and pains, in thanking God for the state to which He had reduced him, and he spent his days and nights singing hymns and canticles of praise in His honor."
A miraculous death
As his passing approached, Servulus heard celestial melodies and died in an odor of miraculous sanctity that permeated the place.
When the time arrived for God to reward his patience, the illness, already spread throughout all the members of his body, attacked his vital parts in particular; which led him to judge that his death was near. He then asked all the pilgrims to whom he offered hospitality to rise and recite psalms around him, while waiting for God to dispose of his soul, and, dying as he was, he did not cease to join his voice to that of the others; but, during this psalmody, he suddenly cried out and asked that silence be kept, saying: 'Do you not hear this melody resounding in heaven?' And, while he applied with all his strength the ear of his heart to listen to these divine chants, his soul was happily delivered from the prison of his body. At the moment he expired, the place was embalmed with an incomparable odor and all those who were present felt filled with a sweetness that the most exquisite perfumes could not spread. They judged from this that his blessed spirit had been led to heaven by that troop of angels whose harmony he had heard. One of our religious still living was a witness to this wonder, and he was so touched by it that he could only speak of it while shedding torrents of tears. All those who were present continued to smell this miraculous odor until his body had been given burial.
Sources and moral lesson
Saint Gregory the Great recounts this narrative in his Dialogues and his Homilies to exhort the faithful to patience and the practice of good works.
This is how Saint Greg ory speaks, in saint Grégoire Pope and author of the Dialogues, primary narrator of the life of Servulus. Book IV of his Dialo gues, cha Dialogues Hagiographical work by Gregory the Great containing the life of Servulus. pter XIV; but, in Homily XV on the Gospels, where he recou Homélie XV sur les Évangiles Sermon by Gregory the Great mentioning Servulus. nts the same facts, he adds: "This is how he died who suffered poverty and sickness with constancy. The good earth, according to the word of the Lord, has produced good fruit, and patience faithfully exercised has merited a just reward. Tell me, I pray you, my dear brothers, what excuse will we bring to the judgment of God, we who have received from His Providence goods to distribute and hands to act, if we are lazy in doing good works, after a poor man who had none"
Annexes & related entities
Structured data for exploration: events, miracles, quotes, places, attributes, patronages, and important entities cited in the text.
Key Events
- Total paralysis since youth
- Life of begging and almsgiving under the portico of the Church of Saint Clement
- Oral learning of the Holy Scriptures
- Distribution of his surplus to other poor people
- Celestial vision and hearing at the moment of death
Miracles
- Hearing of celestial melodies at the moment of death
- Sweet and incomparable fragrance emanating from the body at the moment of death
Quotes
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Do you not hear that melody resounding in the sky?
Saint Servulus (words reported by Saint Gregory)