SURA
343
SURPLICE
ia transferred to the following Sunday. Liturgical
questions, to which the above changes gave rise,
were settled bv a Decree of the Sacred Congregation
of Rites, 28 July, 1911.
The present Motu Proprio institutes another im- portant change in legislation. As feasting and f.ost- ing are incompatible Pius X has abolished the obli- gation of f:isting as well as that of abstinence for the Universal Church, .should such obligation coincide with any of the eight feasts, as above. According to the "Nouvelle Revue Theologique", November, 1911, by decree of the 8, Cong, of the Council, 'JS .Vugust, 1911, this dispensation is not for feasts ah-eady .supiiressod, like the Epiphany in the United .States. The same general dispensation from the laws of abstinence and fasting Ls granted by the Holy Father on patronal feasts, abolished by the present Constitution, should they be celebrated solemnly and with a large con- course of the faithful.
Andrew B. Meehan.
Sura, titular see in Augusta Euphratensis, suf- fragan of Hicrapolis. Sura, situated on the banks of the Euphrates, at the intersection of the roads from PalmvTa and Beroea or Chalcis, W!is a military station, and at the beginning of the fifth century was the residence of the prefect of the Icgio XVI Flavin Firma. In his second Syrian campaign Chosroes assaulted the town; the Armenian, Arsaces, the magister militum, directed the 'defence; when he fell the inhabitants sent their bishop to Chosroes as an envoy; but the latter, incensed by the resistance he had met with, ordered the destruction of the town, which had held out only half an hour. Justinian erected powerful fortifications there. Its ruins, of little importance, are near the present military post of El Hamman, not far from Rekka in the vilayet of Aleppo. Le Quien, Oriens christianus", II, 949, mentions three bishops of Sura: Uranius, represented by his metropolitan at Chalcedon, 451; Marion, exiled as a Monophysite in 518; and the one who was envoy to Chosroes, whose name is imknown. The see is mentioned in the " Notitia; episcopatuum " of the Patri- archate of Antioch in the sixth and tenth centuries.
VailhA in Echoa d'Orieul. X (Paris, 1907), 94. 145; Smith, Did. of Greek and Roman Geog., s. v.; \IuLLEn. Notes d Ptolemy, ed. Didot, I, 985; Chapot, La frontier e de VEuphrale d la con- quite arabe (Paris, 1907), 285-88 and passim.
S. P^TRIDfes.
Surin, Jean-.Ioseph, b. 1600; d. at Bordeaux, 1665. He belonged to the Society of Jesus, and enjoyed great celebrity for his admirable virtues, his trials, and his talents as a spiritual director. Bossuet declared him "consumed with spirituality". At the suggestion of the Fathers of the Province of Aquitaine, assembled in provincial congregation (1755), the father general ordered his name inscribed in the " Menologe de I'assistance de France". At the age of eight he took a vow of chastity, at ten he was taught to meditate by a Carmelite. Having been sent to Loudun to exorcize certain Ursulines tormented by the evil one, he was so horrified at the terrible sacrileges intended for three desecrated hosts that he immediately made an offering of his own spirit to be possessed by demons in expiation for this frightful crime. His prayer was granted, and for more than twenty years he was harassed by evil spirits, plunged in the depths of despair over his eternal damnation. At times he was unable to u.se his hands, his feet, his eyes, his tongue, or was impelled to commit a thou- sand extravagances, which even the most charitably inclined deemed foolish. The wrong impression under which he laboured at such times caused him the greatest joy. At no time, however, did this state of ob.session prevent his devoting himself to preaching. If is true he was un.ahle to prepare him- self for this by any reading or study, but on entering the pulpit and making the sign of the cross a wonder-
ful transformation was manifest. His vigorous
mind instantly gained the ascendancy; his powerful
voice and facile oratory won univers.al attention and
admiration. His physician declared it miraculous.
Even in writing or dictating his works he seemed
gifted with Divine inspiration. He was healed eight
years before his death and was thenceforth absorbed
in the abundance of Divine communications. His
principal works are: "Cat^chisme spirituel" (Paris,
1659), published by the Prince de Conti, anony-
mously; "Fondements de la vie spirituelle" (Paris,
1667); "Cantiques spirituels" (Paris, 1660); "Dia-
logues spirituels " (Paris, 1704); " Lettres spirituelles "
(Paris, 1695). His "Cati?chisme spirituel" is on the
Index, but with certain modifications soon to be
made, it will be taken from the list.
Bouix, Vie du Pire Surin (Paris. 1876), an abridgment of the life published by Boudon (Paris, 1689); de Guilhermy, Minologe de la C. de J., Assistance de France (Paris. 1S92).
A. POULAIN.
Surius, Laurentius, hagiologist, b. at the Han- seatic city of Liibeck, 1522; d. at Cologne, 23 May, 1578. It is not certain whether his parents were Catholics or Lutherans. According to a remark made by Peter Canisius ("Epistolce", ed. Braun.sberger, I, 36), he was born a heretic and was brought into the Church by Canisius. Surius studied at the univer- sities of Frankfort-on-the-Oder and Cologne. In the latter university Peter Canisius was a fellow-student. Surius also met there Johannes Ju.stus Lansperger, who induced him to enter the Carthusian monastery at Cologne, in 1542. The greater part of his life after this was spent in his monastery, where he was a model of piety, of rigid observance of the rules of the order, and of earnest work as a scholar; for these reasons he was held in high esteem by St. Pius V. He devoted himself chiefly to the domains of church history and hagiography, and wrote a large number of works on these subjects. He also translated into Latin many works, mainly ascetical and theological. Among these translations should be mentioned writ- ingsby Tauler, Heinrich Sense, Ruysbrocck, Cropper's work on tlie reality of Christ's Flesh and Blood, the sermons of Michael Sidonius, the apologies of Fried- rich Staphylus, and an oration by Martin Eisengrein. He completed the "In.stitutiones" of Florentius of Haarlem, prior of the Carthusians of Louvain, and edited a new edition of the " Homiliarium " of Charle- magne. He wrote against Sleidanus his "Commen- tarius brevis rerum in orbe gestarum ab a. 1500 ad a. 1504" (Cologne, 1566), which was continued by others. He was also the author of a collection of the Acts of the councils: "Conciha omnia turn generalia turn provinciaha" (4 vols., Cologne, 1567).
His most important and .still valuable work is his collection of the Uves of the saints, "De probatis Sanctorum historiis ab AI. Lipomano ohm conscriptis nunc primum a Laur. Surio emendatis et auctis", the first edition of which appeared in six volumes at Cologne in 1570-77. He began a second edition which was finished after his death by his colleague in the monivstery, Mosander, who added a seventh volume (Cologne, 1582). A third edition with an improved text appeared at Cologne in 1618; a new and revised edition was published (1875-80) at Turin in thirteen volumes. Notwithstanding the liberties taken by Surius with the text of the manuscripts he used, his work has rendered great service and has furnished many narr.atives concerning the lives of the saints that have been published in various languages.
HuRTER, Nomenrlator. Ill (.Ird ed.), Ill-ll.'>: Hartzheih, Bibliotheca Coloniensis (Cologne, 1747), 218sq.; Altgemeine deutsche Biograpkie, s. v.
J. P. KiRSCH.
Surplice, a large-sleeved tunic of half length, made of fine linen or cotton, .and worn by all the clergy. The wide sleeves distinguish it from the rochet and
