Besides all this--what was considered even more
powerful in warding off harm from the revived monastery--the
bones of Christian martyrs were brought from the Roman catacombs
and laid beneath the altars.[371]
All was thus conformed to the medieval view; nothing was to be
left which could remind one of the nineteenth century; the
"ages of faith" were to be restored in their simplicity. Pope
Leo XIII commended to the brethren the writings of St. Thomas
Aquinas as their one great object of study, and works published
at the monastery dwelt upon the miracles of St. Honorat as the
most precious refutation of modern science.
High in the cupola, above the altars and relics, were placed the
bells. Sent by pious donors, they were solemnly baptized and
consecrated in 1871, four bishops officiating, a multitude of
the faithful being present from all parts of Europe, and the
sponsors of the great tenor bell being the Bourbon claimant to
the ducal throne of Parma and his duchess. The good bishop who
baptized the bells consecrated them with a formula announcing
their efficacy in driving away the "Prince of the Power of the
Air" and the lightning and tempests he provokes.
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