Pancratius

ON SAINT PANCRATIUS, BISHOP,

MARTYR OF TAUROMENIUM IN SICILY,

In the First Century.

Pancratius, Bishop and Martyr of Tauromenium, in Sicily (Saint)

BY G. H.

The sacred memory of Saint Pancratius at Tauromenium in Sicily is inscribed without further elogium in the ancient Martyrologies of Saint Jerome, Usuard, Ado, Notker, and others drawn up for the use of very many Churches. Peter de Natalibus, book 11, chapter 130, number 109, calls him a Confessor, but Maurolycus calls him Bishop and Martyr, whom others follow, His name in the sacred calendars: and Galesinius adds these words: "This disciple of Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Bishop of that city, an outstanding soldier of Christ in the noble contest of faith, is rewarded with a heavenly crown." The present-day Roman Martyrology begins this day thus: "At Tauromenium in Sicily, Saint Pancratius, Bishop, who sealed with the blood of martyrdom the Gospel of Christ which, having been sent there by Saint Peter the Apostle, he had preached." Tauromenium was once a most renowned city, founded between Messina and Catania by the Sicilian sea upon steep mountains, His relics honored up to the coming of the Saracens. seized and overthrown by the Saracens during the reign of Leo the Wise; until which time the sacred body of Saint Pancratius was preserved and venerated at Tauromenium, and was visited by the pilgrimages of pious men. Both facts we read in the Life of Saint Elias the Younger, the monk, to be illustrated on the XVII day of August, in which these things are found: "After some time, the holy Fathers Elias and his companions were eager to cross over to Tauromenium, to venerate piously the most sacred relics of Saint Pancratius. When they were there, Elias learned by divine revelation of the deadly arrival from Africa of Ibrahim, a most hostile enemy, and of the devastation and destruction of the city." The rest may be seen in Octavius Cajetanus, volume 2 of the Lives of the Sicilian Saints, page 73; and in the History of the translation of Saint Severinus, Apostle of the Noricans, described by John the Deacon of Naples, and published by us on January VIII in the Appendix, page 1099, where the slaughter of Saint Procopius, the last Bishop of Tauromenium, and of others, whose bodies were consumed by fire at the tyrant's command, is described; and we believe that the same then befell the sacred relics of Saint Pancratius.

[2] The predecessor of the aforesaid Saint Procopius was Theophanes Cerameus, Bishop of Tauromenium in the time of Basil the Macedonian and the said Leo the Wise, whose homilies are extant in Greek and Latin, published in the year 1644 by the labor of Francis Scorsus. Among these, Homily LVII was delivered on the feast of Saint Pancratius; and as the author declares at the outset, at the Saint's tomb—in Greek ἐν τῇ ἁγίᾳ τούτου σόρᾳ—that is, at the shrine or urn of the relics. The theme is taken from the Gospel of Saint John, chapter 10, which was read in the Sacrifice of the Mass on that day: "I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." When Theophanes had interpreted this sentence as gravely as piously, he inserts these words: "Let us imitate Pancratius, this true shepherd and imitator of the Lord, whose most holy life, after I have briefly set it forth, A summary of the Life from the homily of Theophanes Cerameus, I shall show is not difficult to imitate. Saint Pancratius therefore (as the man who wrote the history of his deeds, Euagrius, has handed down to memory), setting out from the East and, being made Bishop by the hands of the Prince of the disciples, who had the power to consecrate with sacred rites, was sent into this our island. And when he had come to this city of Tauromenium, first of all he purged it of the abominations of demons, and crushed the profane idols—among which Phalcon and Lyssus and Scamandrus were worshipped with special honor. Afterwards he brought Bonifacius, the Prefect of the city, over to the true religion, and built up temples and sacred edifices for the worship of God. At last, when he had converted many to the true faith, he sealed the end of his life by martyrdom; and in this too imitating his Lord, and having adorned the dignity of the Pontificate with the purple of his own blood, he was borne up to heaven by the hands of angels."

[3] Thus Theophanes. The Euagrius cited by him is said to have been a disciple and companion of Saint Pancratius, and to have written the history of his Master; which, having been lost, under the assumed name of this Euagrius, and perhaps after the Saracens had been driven out of Sicily, certain Acts of Saint Pancratius were composed, stuffed with mere fables and most mendacious accounts: which Jacobus Sirmondus had once translated into Latin at the request of Octavius Cajetanus, but they were judged unworthy of the press, and their enormous faults are pointed out and exploded at length by Cajetanus in volume 1 of the Lives of the Sicilian Saints, pages 9 and 10, in the Life which the said Cajetanus compiled concerning Saint Pancratius. A fragment of the truer history which Euagrius wrote may be reckoned what we have given from Theophanes Cerameus; another is cited by Saint Theodore the Studite, book 2, letter 8, addressed "to all the brethren dispersed for Christ's sake, some matters cited by Saint Theodore the Studite and to those who are detained in prisons and exiles for the worship of sacred images." That letter is reported by Baronius at the year 814, where, in number 49, these things are found: "The voice of Peter the Apostle is in the history of Saint Pancratius: 'Son Joseph, bring the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, and impress it upon a little tablet, that the people may see what form the Son of God took upon Himself, so that seeing they may believe more, beholding the type of the form, and remembering the things which through us have been announced to them.'" Thus Saint Theodore the Studite; to whom could be added the authority of Simeon Metaphrastes in the commentary on Saints Peter and Paul published by Lipomanus and Surius, if, as they pretend, it were a work of Metaphrastes; but Leo Allatius rightly denies this in his Diatribe on the writings of the Simeons, and from an anonymous oration on Saints Peter and Paul: since he does not include it among them. In the said commentary, by whatever Greek it was written, it is said that Saint Peter the Apostle of the Lord, after having performed many cures at Antioch, ordained as bishops Marcianus at Syracuse in Sicily, and Pancratius at Tauromenium. Then, with various matters interposed, it is related that he sailed to Sicily, and when he came to Tauromenium, lodged with Pancratius, a most wise man. When in that place he had catechized a certain Maximus, baptized him, and ordained him Bishop, he made for Rome. Saint Marcianus is venerated on June 14, and on January 12 Saint Maximus, considered Bishop of Tauromenium and successor of Saint Pancratius; among these, however, Rocco Pirro places the above-mentioned Euagrius. Whether this is rightly done and not from fabulous Acts, let the Sicilians inquire.

[4] Acts are given with Gregory of Pagurium as author, Gregory, a Byzantine monk of the monastery of Pagurium, flourished at the beginning of the ninth century; who, having set out for Sicily, delivered an encomiastic oration to the people of Tauromenium concerning Saint Pancratius, which was drawn from two Messinese manuscripts and a third from Sinopoli, rendered into Latin by Augustine Floritus, and published by Octavius Cajetanus. The latter judges that Leo the Armenian Emperor is meant when the author at the end asks that heresies be exterminated and the new Goliath be laid low. We shall give below the Life of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, also rendered into Latin by the same Augustine Floritus; which, because it had to be corrected in more than one place when we compared it with the Greek text, we fear that this oration too may need similar care, and therefore we could wish here too to have the Greek at hand. We then subjoin the Canon composed by the said Saint Joseph the Sicilian Hymnographer toward the end of the ninth century, and the odes of Saint Joseph the Hymnographer, and recited by the Greeks in honor of Saint Pancratius in Sicily up to the present time, since it is not found in the printed Menaia. And if we had been able to have it in Greek, we would have made it Latin in a new version: for we scarcely doubt that here too the author kept his own style, and bound together the whole Canon by an acrostic to be found through the openings of the individual strophes, with the letters of his name added at the end.

[5] After the Saracens had been driven from Sicily, the Church of Tauromenium remained without its own Bishop, and was first subjected or united to the Church of Troina, then to that of Messina. The latter at the same time took up the veneration of Saint Pancratius, Bishop and Martyr, whose feast it celebrates under the Semidouble rite on this April 3, Ecclesiastical Office: with the office taken from the Common of One Martyr, as is indicated in the proper Offices, printed at Messina in the year 1624. This same Pancratius, Bishop and Martyr of Tauromenium, Patron of Tortorici: is the Patron of the town of Tortorici, situated in the Val Demone or Denionese, and is commonly called Brancatus, whom Cajetanus in the Idea of his work, page 31, hands down as being famous for miracles there. Francis Scorsus observes, in the Notes on the Homily of Theophanes concerning Saint Pancratius, that in this age his solemn day is celebrated by the people of Tauromenium on July 9, cult on July 9 and that the fair begins on that day: which he conjectures has been brought into custom from ancient times, from the beginning of the following Homily, delivered on the feast of Saint Pantaleon on July 27 of the same month, up to which day the said fair was continued. On the said July 9 the same Saint Pancratius is commemorated in their Martyrologies by Maurolycus, Felicius, Galesinius, Cajetanus, and Ferrarius; and they have some encomia of his martyrdom from the Acts. Cajetanus on the 9th day of February celebrates the commemoration of Saints Marcianus and Pancratius, and February 9 Bishops and Martyrs.

[6] The Greeks celebrate the sacred memory of Saint Pancratius on both days already assigned: chiefly by the Greeks, and first on February 9 in the Menaia, as well as in Maximus of Cythera and in the Parisian manuscript Synaxary, from which we give these things: "The memory of Saints Marcellus Bishop of Sicily, Pancratius of Tauromenium, and Philagrius of Cyprus. These were disciples of the holy Apostle Peter. For the father of Saint Pancratius, Saw Christ, having set out for Jerusalem, when he had heard the miracles of Christ still dwelling bodily on the earth, in order to see Him, set out from Antioch to Jerusalem with Pancratius; from which time Pancratius came to the notice of Saint Peter, whom after Christ's ascension

he followed, and was ordained by him Bishop of Tauromenium: where for the name of Christ and the faith he taught, he was killed secretly by the pagans. Marcellus, likewise created Bishop of Sicily, after converting many unbelievers to Christ, completed the course of his life. So also Philagrius, made Bishop of Cyprus, after many had been converted to the faith of Christ, and after having undergone many torments for it, passed over to the Lord." Thus from the manuscript Synaxary. In the Menaia it is not the father of Saint Pancratius, but Marcellus, who is said to have gone with Saint Pancratius to Jerusalem. And the one who is everywhere here written as Marcellus seems to be Marcianus, the first Bishop of the city of Syracuse, who is venerated on June 14. We gave the elogium from the Menaia on February 9, on which day we treated of Saint Philagrius. But the most solemn celebration of Saint Pancratius is on July 9, in all the Menaia and Menologies of the Greeks: on which day in the Parisian Synaxary cited above that encomium is recited more accurately.

[7] "On the same month of July, and on the ninth day, the Contest of our holy Father and hallowed Martyr Pancratius, Bishop of Tauromenium. This saint lived in the times of the holy Apostles, drawing his origin from the borders of Antioch. He received sacred baptism together with his father and mother in holy Sion. He leads a solitary life in a cave: But after their death, having left behind all the inheritance belonging to him, he set out for the borders of Pontus, and having entered a certain cave, he lived as a solitary, and intent on himself alone, conversed with God alone. But the Prince of the Apostles, Peter, passing through the surrounding cities and teaching, found this man in Pontus; and having taken him, came to Antioch, and then into the region of Cilicia, where he joined the great Apostle Paul. consecrated Bishop by Saints Peter and Paul, These two, with hands laid on, consecrated as bishops Crescens of Galatia, Marcianus of Syracuse, and Saint Pancratius of Tauromenium. When Pancratius had boarded a ship, over which Lycaonides and Romylus presided, he came to the region to which he was being sent. These ship-captains, on account of the many miracles by which the Saint confirmed the faith of Christ, casts down the idols, were made the firstfruits of believers, and the idols of Phalco and Lysson and of the other demons in that region vanished away. But the Prefect of the place, named Bonifacius, beholding the wonders that were done, and seized with amazement, received the faith of Christ, and with great haste built a church within the space of thirty days. He works miracles: But Pancratius, through the grace of Christ, healed every infirmity and every disease, and day by day gathered unto Christ and God a great multitude of the inhabitants, whom he baptized. He baptizes very many: But only the mountain-dwellers persisted obstinately in their perfidy. These, with their chief Artagatus, were hostilely offended at the holy man; and having found an opportunity, and ensnaring him by a trick, they killed him, He dies a Martyr. and sent him on to the God long desired by him, who by this means found the reward of all his labors."

[8] Thus far the manuscript Synaxary, with which agrees, but very much abbreviated, what is read in the Menologies of the Emperor Basil and of Cardinal Sirleto, in the new Anthology published with the approval of Clement VIII, and in Maximus of Cythera ἐν βίοις ἁγίων ("in lives of the saints"). In the printed and manuscript Menaia, where an older Canon is placed at July 9, with this opening: Υπέρτιμον λίθον σε ἡ ἐκκλησία γνωρίζει ἑδρρασμῶν τῶν λόγων σου στηριζομένη ἀεὶ: "The Church knows thee as a most precious stone, being ever strengthened by the foundations of thy words." And the author of the distich placed, as is customary, before the encomium seems to have alluded to this beginning, which is as follows:

Προθείς ἑαυτὸν Παγκράτιος εἰς βόθρον, Ἀθλήσεως ἤγειρεν οἶκον ἐκ λίθων.

Pancratius, placing himself as a foundation, Built up a solid house of contests from stones.

The Contest of the holy Martyr Pancratius, Bishop, is celebrated on the same July 9 in the Arabo-Egyptian Martyrology, which Gratia Simonius, then a student of the Maronite College at Rome, translated for us from the Arabic language. Finally, Nicephorus Callistus, book 2 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 35, hands down that Pancratius was appointed by Saint Peter the Apostle as Bishop of the Church of the Sicilians. Relics. It is said in the Bononia illustrata that some relics of Saint Pancratius, Bishop and Martyr, are preserved at Bologna in the Church of Saint Dominic. Also at Tricarico, the Episcopal city of Lucania, in the Cathedral church, together with other Relics of the Saints, certain bones of Saint Pancratius Martyr are preserved, according to Ferdinando Ughelli, volume 7 of Italia Sacra, column 192: which I would rather believe to be those of this Bishop from Sicily than of another who suffered at Rome, since they are placed with the Relics of Saint Potitus the Martyr brought from Sardinia.

* or of Abracheni.

ENCOMIASTIC SERMON

By Gregory, monk of Pagurium.

Translated by Augustine Floritus, S. J.

Pancratius, Bishop and Martyr of Tauromenium, in Sicily (Saint)

BY Gregory

CHAPTER I.

Introduction on the Veneration of the Saints. A collection of the virtues of Saint Pancratius.

[1] Since we have come together, with the highest faith, to this spiritual festival, in order to procure precious wares for the soul, let us offer to its author and merchant divine gifts—not such as are adorned with gold, gems, or pearls, nor wrought by the hand of a distinguished craftsman, nor woven of fine linen, purple, and silk (ornaments which display a brief splendor, but shortly afterward perish, inasmuch as they are made of fleeting and corruptible matter, with a borrowed artistic grace, which they must at last lose and return to their pristine baseness), Gifts to be offered to the Saints. but rather let our gifts be such as flow down from heaven and remain for all eternity, fashioned by the craftsmanship of divine grace and illumined with the splendors of the Holy Spirit. For he of whom we treat is not made up of the dregs of matter, such that he would be delighted with gifts of this kind; but is wholly alien and removed from every transient and fleeting composition; and therefore a spiritual ornament was fitting to prepare for him. Nor indeed do we judge that we have undertaken this task without reason. For although we are wholly unskilled in arts and disciplines of this sort—mere foreign and despicable little men—yet the same, leaning upon faith, shall attain the pinnacle of spiritual work. For if Pancratius, a wholly divine man, had loved fleeting things which are beneath the sphere of the moon, spiritual rather than corporeal gifts; most rightly should we take the matter of his praise from no other source than from these. But since he shrank wonderfully from all such things, burning with desire for eternal beatitude, and, having conquered and subdued the perverse motions of the mind, emulated the life of the heavenly beings—let us now offer him a more excellent and nobler gift. Not that he has need of our things, or that any addition can be made to his incorruptible and eternal riches; but that he, most opulent, may bestow upon us some reward of our labors, illumining the darkness of our mind with his splendor; inasmuch as he has procured for himself heavenly riches, being already numbered among the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, already declared Priest of the divine sanctuary, already made a dweller in paradise, already received with the highest congratulation of the heavenly minds, with whom he abides gloriously in the same court, illumined with the most pure light of beauty. For according to the saying of the divine Paul, he had put on Christ through the sacred laver: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." Gal. 3:27. But if, as has just been said, he had already put on Christ, surely it is plain that he had also put on the Holy Spirit, and even the Father Himself. And if he received such and so great an ornament from heaven, who shall ever be able worthily to adorn him, chiefly to Saint Pancratius who far transcends every kind of praise, and is more than sufficiently honored with eternal praises in heaven?

[2] But who indeed, pray, is he to whom so great a splendor of glory has come from the Holy Spirit, and who is flooded with so great a light of divinity? I shall point him out to you by name, that from the very nomenclature and meaning of the word you may plainly understand and even marvel that his deeds and the course of his life do not at all disagree with his name. And he at last is Pancratius—he, I say, who πᾶν κράτος, that is, all the strength and all the power of the common enemy has conquered and routed; who dashed all his weapons against the whetstone of grace and broke them to pieces; who, receiving rays from the heavenly watchtower into his mind, like the nocturnal Lucifer, shone upon those who, as in darkness, dwelt in the deepest ignorance of the truth; who forsook earthly things to earth, as a useless burden, set ablaze with the love and desire of heavenly things, which alone he judged to be good; who, through the most ardent zeal of charity, multiplied the received talent of faith with much interest; who did not give himself over to be corrupted by sloth and idleness, but girded himself to labor indefatigably; who, sent as a worker into the new vineyard, bore himself in no way unworthy of that office; most worthy of every praise, who changed water, of its own nature suited for no use, beyond the powers of nature, into pleasant and beneficial wine (a draught which indeed, as pressed out with great toleration of labors, delighted the very Angelic Virtues themselves); who in speech as in deeds surpassed the most eminent rhetoricians, and instructed the rude in spiritual disciplines; who showed and proved himself a terrestrial angel and a heavenly man, and neither a sluggish runner and minister in the promulgation of the Gospel, nor a timid assailant in overturning the idols of the gods; because adorned with every virtue. who, most richly clothed with the garment of the sacred nuptials, enjoyed the taste of the heavenly banquets; who, planted like a rational tree in the spiritual paradise of the good, and watered by the vital perpetuity of the fountains, produced most abundant fruits of righteousness; who in the fold of Christ, like an outstanding and mighty ram, stood forth conspicuous above the rest, but now in the heavenly flock is numbered as a most innocent lamb; who on the spiritual cithara, furnished with a manifold apparatus of strings, like most loquacious faith, gave forth most sweet sounds, and as the most tuneful pipe on the divine flutes, never disturbed their harmony; who hangs from the true vine like a most ripe cluster, and rises up in the divine region like an ever-flourishing ear of corn; who, already granted the heavenly city, is in no way bound by the chains of mortality, is in no way held by the fetters of sin.

CHAPTER II.

The mission of Saint Pancratius to the Sicilians. His labors and hardships in the conversion of the people of Tauromenium. His Martyrdom.

[3] He, I say, endowed with so many virtues, and adorned with so many and so illustrious titles, initiated into the sacred rites by the divine Peter, the Leader of the Apostles, Made Bishop by Saint Peter and sent to Tauromenium, and having duly taken upon himself the venerable yoke of the priesthood, was sent to spread the Gospel, to increase the faith of Christ, and to govern the rational sheep. Inflamed with eagerness to obey the divine precepts, he boarded ship and sailed to the West; and being borne by favoring winds, he came to the city of the people of Tauromenium. And the ship indeed (O thing worthy of wonder!) bore its cargo, but the cargo rather kept the ship itself safe from every danger. For not so much did the ship protect its passenger from the injuries of the sea, as the passenger afforded tranquillity to the ship; inasmuch as he was in the ship like a most skilled helmsman, holding the tiller, and with the aid and support of the all-powerful God directing it on a prosperous course. When therefore the ship reached the shore, immediately to those who were tossed hither and thither by the insane frenzy of idols, he brought the peaceful serenity of the true religion; to which the inhabitants, running together, filled with heavenly grace, each according to his own zeal, began to inquire various things of the sailors: "What," they said, "are these wares, which with so great

utility are going to be for us, which you have imported to us? declare, and speak the price." Then they showed the value and virtue of their merchandise; and displaying to all Pancratius, as though he were a vessel of the greatest price, they said, "the sailors converted to the faith: Our wares are by no means for sale for gold; but that which we give can be obtained by faith; nor are vessels which are above all price sold here for gold; but to those who vehemently desire them, heavenly food is freely offered, which is employed not for the satisfying of the body, but for the nourishing of souls." And so the servant of God, when he had summoned from darkness to the light of faith all those who were travelling in the ship, now descended to the land, that he might bring all to the saving knowledge of the truth, and recall a perishing people to life. And at once from his mouth, as from the ether, the divine voice thundered, at which all the phalanxes of demons, struck with terror, trembled; the devil conquered and crushed, the eternal and flashing power and might of the divine Word seemed to flash through his tongue like lightning from the clouds, and to strike down the dragon endowed with mind; and like another Moses he routed the Egyptian impiety, most basely vanquished, by the germ of wisdom; nor did he show himself inferior to the same, when through the waves of the sea, as through a dry place, he made his way on foot. For he drove the enemies of the human race and the persecutors of souls with ease into the deepest places of the underworld; and most like to him who prevailed with a sling against the giant, he slew the demon elated with pride, with the sling of heavenly grace and the invocation of the Most Holy Trinity, as with three stones hurled forth.

[4] For by the might of the all-powerful Father, he pressed down the parent of all evils under the yoke of servitude; and by the aid of the Son, who with the Father holds the dominion of all things, he gave the sons of wrath and death to the Father in adoption, and made them partakers of the heavenly inheritance; and finally, by the help of the Holy Spirit, by his coming he brings divine goods: he drove off the malignant spirits, and exterminated them all. He spread out the nets of piety and diligence, and he fished for the race of mortals; he extended the pen of the divine tongue, and wisely cast the hook of faith into this sea of the world, and drew forth into the supernal light all who were plunged in the depths of errors; he brandished the rays of heavenly doctrine, and dispelled the foul darkness of impiety; he sent forth the most illustrious light of religion, and illumined the shadows of wicked superstition; from the divine well he drew the waters of piety, and when with the cup of faith he had given to drink to those who thirsted for the justice of God, he straightway stilled their thirst; the hearts of mortals, already parched from the failing water of divine knowledge, he watered like a barren field with saving streams; and when a most abundant harvest of virtues had been brought forth, he offered most acceptable bread to God most great and good. He saw the peoples stripped of heavenly grace, and covered them with a tunic woven by angelic hands. He found the city lying in the manifold worship of gods as in most filthy mire, and with the extended hand of divine doctrine he raised it up, and, with the filth purged away, made it bright and shining with the splendor of the divine light. He recognized men exhausted with hunger for lack of spiritual food, and by refreshing them with heavenly meats he called them back to life.

[5] He overthrows the idols and casts them into the sea. Therefore, when with the sweetest food of divine knowledge he had satisfied the citizens, and by the steps of evangelical preaching had raised them up to God Himself; kindled with wrath against the foulest serpent, with strong and constant soul he destroyed those two idols, plainly showing how weak and feeble his powers were. For Phalcon (that was the idol's name), together with his assessor, and Lyssio with the huge dragon with which as with a garment he was covered, and which devoured the libations set before it, he cast into the depths of the sea; and he rescued from servitude into liberty the wretches who were addicted to such a religion. Thus he brought over the city given to the worship of idols, from the dregs and mire of superstitions to the knowledge of the one God. Moreover, when he had stormed and utterly overthrown their temples, as being of no further use, he raised up a house of prayer, and consecrated altars to Christ: to which, whenever any who were about to embrace the faith of Christ flocked together, he builds a temple, baptizes the citizens, the most holy man washed them in the heavenly laver and anointed them with the sacred chrism; which, many years afterward, was called the temple of Saint Laurence.

[6] In order to bring sacred help to the rustics, When, therefore, Pancratius had cast these seeds and watched the increase of the true religion, he judged that it was by no means fitting to devote himself solely to the care of the salvation and discipline of the citizens, and neglect the rustics, who were to be left destitute of heavenly grace and aid: accordingly, choosing Epaphroditus, qualified by heavenly power for the promulgation of the divine word (for so he was regarded by all), he sends Epaphroditus as a Presbyter. with hands laid upon him, while the grace of the Holy Spirit flowed in, he ordained him a Presbyter, and soon sent him to spread the word of salvation among the rustic crowd, that he might at the same time lift from their necks the yoke of Stygian servitude.

[7] And indeed the Church of God was daily being propagated, and by the singular care and vigilance of Pancratius, innumerable people were passing over from vain superstitions to the worship of the true God. But the common enemy of the human race, who from the beginning had been inflamed with hatred and envy against men, observing many mortals fleeing over to the Christian camp, and being lifted from the fall of sins to salvation, enemies rushing against the Christian city, vehemently stirred up Aquilinus, as an instrument sufficiently suited for putting his plans into motion, against those who had been washed in sacred baptism by the divine Pancratius. For the tyrant, having mustered a great army, kindled by Stygian furies, hastened in a direct course to besiege Tauromenium, or to receive the citizens in surrender. But these attempts came to nought: for the most brave man reduced them to a more excellent and nobler servitude. And the citizens indeed, when they beheld the immense forces of the enemies, struck with fear, were thinking of making surrender; but Pancratius, conceiving great courage from his supreme confidence in the all-powerful God, already certain of the victory, kept affirming to all that without any engagement the enemies would be driven from the city. So, taking the sign of the venerable Cross, and the image of Christ our God and Savior, and of His immaculate Mother, he overthrows. and displaying these before the walls against the most perverse nation, and crying victory, he at once brought upon the enemy forces, as it were, a kind of darkness. For as soon as the ranks beheld the most holy man, turning their swords upon themselves, they slew each other with mutual wounds. Nor did so great and marvelous a thing stop there, but the wretches cut themselves to pieces with their own arms; as long as, by the divine power hindering them, and converts them to the faith. they scarcely perceived what they were doing. But after they began to come to themselves and to understand the gravity of so great a crime, straightway rolling themselves at the feet of the holy man, they were washed in the sacred font. Thus so impious an undertaking was concluded with a better issue than had been hoped for. Which being so, the citizens of Tauromenium, marveling at so sudden a change of the most cruel nation, strove more willingly and eagerly to obey the words of Pancratius and to acquiesce in his judgment; laughing at and reckoning as nothing the wicked attempts of the devil.

[8] the devil inciting him In this manner, therefore, when the multitude of the people had been founded upon the most solid rock of faith, and brought to the firmest pinnacle of divine knowledge, the architect of all evils is tormented in soul and gnashes with his teeth, goaded with rage against the leader of those who had resolved to walk along the safest path of virtue and piety. For bearing with hostile spirit the growth of the Christian fold, he bent all his forces and sinews to remove from the midst the most watchful Shepherd. Accordingly, invading the heart of Artagatus, with dire madness he drives the man to inflict death upon the most holy man with stones and rocks. assailed with stones by Artagatus, he died most bravely: The most savage tyrant, obedient to his counsels, effected that which he was commanded. Thus he joined Pancratius as a companion to Stephen, by the same manner of death; for Stephen was stoned by the Hebrews, this man by the Gentiles; and with Saint Stephen he is crowned in the heavens yet each was most closely joined to the corner-stone: both, made strong and courageous by the power of the Holy Spirit, treading the same path with their feet, came to the same city not made with hands; nor ever separated from each other, both are guests of the heavenly minds, enjoying together the same banquets of the divine table; both mingled in the same choirs of Angels, they are admitted to the divine and incomprehensible mysteries. For what, pray, is there that is not common to them both? The former was the first Deacon chosen by the Apostles, the latter was chosen Bishop of the chief See by the divine Peter; the former pressed down the mouths of the Jews, the latter imposed silence on the Gentiles boasting of their empty wisdom; the former drove away from God the unity of persons, the latter effaced from the souls of mortals the manifold worship of gods; the former gazed at the opened tracts of the heavenly spheres, like unto him in many ways. and beheld Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father, the latter, by the glorious kind of death he met, by most swift journeys set out to the Son of the almighty God, and now more closely beholds the splendor of so great majesty, now feasts the eyes of his mind with the sight of the divine beauty; now enjoys the fellowship of the heavenly powers; which, filled with incredible joy, coming forth to meet the most invincible servant of God, have recompensed him with a most equal reward for the labors undertaken—rendering eternal and immortal things for fleeting and perishable ones.

CHAPTER III.

The virtues of the Fathers of the Old Testament compared with those of Saint Pancratius. A peroration addressed to him.

[9] Come now, let us bring forward all those who, from the very beginnings of the world, have stood out as illustrious for deeds well performed; He is compared with illustrious men let us therefore consider their exploits, that we may for a little compare them with the holiness and splendor of our man. And to take our start from the first parent, Adam. Adam, fashioned by the very hands of God, fell from a most happy state of life into the vast sea of troubles and miseries, enticed by the craft and deceits of the most cunning serpent; but this man, begotten by the common contagion of depraved flesh, always ascended from a worse state to a better mode of living. And that man, having violated the law of his Creator, did not hesitate to eat of the deadly fruit; but our Pancratius, not departing from the divine precepts by so much as a nail's breadth, was so far from touching the tree of disobedience that he bent all his strength and effort to cultivating the tree of obedience, and to plucking from it the sweetest fruits with which to sustain his life. Abel, Abel, from the integrity of the sacrifices which he offered to God, was reckoned among the just; this man, because he sacrificed his five senses to Christ as victims. Seth, endowed with the most beautiful image of his parent, Seth, did not, as it is in the sacred scriptures, at all degenerate from it; but, pleasing and acceptable to God most great and good, honored his descendants with the name of sons of God; but Pancratius, regenerated in the most pure laver, preserved the image of God he had received whole and uncorrupted to the end of his life; and those whom he begot through the Gospel, he made sons of God and heirs of the heavenly kingdom. Gen. 4:26 Now let us see what Enoch did. Enoch, He, translated from the habitation of this world into Paradise, was exempted from these our troubles; this man, although he dwelt in the world in body, yet in soul he was borne to the heavenly fatherland, set far apart from the fellowship of human miseries. And Noah indeed, being just, Noah, appointed by heaven to the building and steering of a small ark, saved few men alive and safe for this mortal life; but this man, appointed overseer and governor of the ark fashioned by the divine hand, chosen by heavenly power, kept nearly infinite

peoples to heavenly immortality as a most faithful guide. But oh, how great a difference there is between the two! What did that man preserve for his own, except a brief and perishable use of this light? Our man has brought those mortals entrusted to him to a perpetual and most happy state of life. [Lot] Let us consider Lot also. He, living in Sodom, showing himself untouched and whole from all that filth of most base and foul men, alone escaped safely from the temporal disaster sent from heaven. What about Pancratius? When as a wholly divine man he spent his age among the pagan worshippers of impiety, not only did he contract no stain from the wicked association of debauched men, but, drawing a great part of them away from the most foul worship of idols, he freed them from the eternal burnings of flames, offering them the anchor of immortal life.

[10] Abraham, Is what we read of Abraham too little? Who, endowed with signal liberality toward guests, while with most generous banquet-apparatus he welcomed whoever came to him, deserved to have God Himself as his guest and to invite Him to a banquet, gaining the most excellent fruit of his services; but this man, marvelously kindled with desire for the salvation of souls, supplying to the famished souls of peoples eternal and more excellent banquets, with the heavenly power favoring him, affected the heavenly spirits with incredible joy. Isaac, Isaac, obedient to paternal precepts, did not refuse to be led to sacrifice by his own parent, although divine providence prevented the matter from being carried out; this man, earnestly striving to walk in the footsteps of Him who had begotten him through the most pure laver, offered and devoted himself as a pure victim to heaven. Jacob; Jacob in his sleep saw a ladder, by which the ascent to heaven lay open; this man, undertaking to ascend the arduous ladder of virtue laden with many dangers, could be retarded by no snares of adversaries from easily reaching the desired summit. Joseph is praised Joseph, because, when provoked to lust by the most shameless Egyptian woman, having withstood her most bravely, he in no way dared to violate the laws of chastity: shall we not admire Pancratius because, having encountered the most powerful adversary of all good men, he went down into the arena to contend strenuously with him, and in that fight, showing him to be unwarlike and cowardly, having gained the victory, bore away a glorious triumph? Moses received the laws shadowed forth by God, and by the obscure type of the Cross put Amalek to flight; this man proclaimed the laws of divine grace and truth to the peoples, and with the banner of the sacred Cross and the holy images unfurled before the eyes of the enemy, immediately routed them and called them back to a better way. Now let us look at Aaron: he slew a terrestrial lamb for the people with the sword, Aaron, and so by the shedding of blood duly reconciled the Hebrews to the friendship of God. There is nothing dissimilar in Pancratius; for when by the sword of his tongue he had sacrificed the heavenly Lamb, Joshua, he showed the Son of God as appeased and propitious to mortals. Joshua, when the land of promise had been distributed by lot to the peoples whom he himself led, heaped them with immense joy. Pancratius, as leader himself, led men initiated into the Christian mysteries to an immortal region subject to no miseries, and introduced them into the fellowship of the heavenly beings.

[11] Now what shall I say of Samuel? Who, as from his mother's womb he was dedicated to God, Samuel, so our man, from the very font of regeneration, was enrolled in the number of the just. What of King David, David, who is called by the Holy Spirit a man after God's own heart? Was not Pancratius also, by the power of divine grace, fitted into the members of Christ? What of Solomon, what of Elijah? Of whom one was eminent in wisdom, Elijah, the other kindled with divine zeal, striving to bring the obstinate hearts of the Hebrews to the knowledge of God, closed heaven, and by denying rain brought a most bitter and cruel famine upon the earth. But the servant of God, neither obscure in heavenly wisdom, and inflamed with charity, opened the heaven of the most holy faith to mortals, and with the rain of heavenly kindness made fruitful the barren souls, and rendered them fertile with life-giving wheat; and thus brought the greatest bounty of heavenly supply. What of the fact that Elisha is said to have given fruitfulness to barren waters? Elisha, It is not to be marveled at that Pancratius rendered barren souls fertile with virtues. We commend Jonah because by prophetic preaching he freed the Ninevites from the impending vengeance of divine wrath; Jonah, shall we be silent about Pancratius, that by his incredible virtue he rescued the people of Tauromenium from the coming wrath of God and the future torments of flames? Or did he not also show himself equal to the three youths, the three youths, who, cast into the Chaldean furnace, had the Son of God as companion exulting together with them—when in the furnace of temptations and troubles he deserved to have Christ the most good as a constant and faithful companion? Nor is he to be judged unlike Daniel; for as that man desired to be breathed upon from heaven by the prophetic spirit, Daniel, so this man burned wonderfully with desire to behold the Most Holy Trinity; wherefore, to conquer whatever stain he had contracted from the filth of this life, he did not hesitate to drink in the cup of Christ with willing and eager soul, and to be baptized with baptism. Most rightly, therefore, he enjoys the splendor of inaccessible light, standing before the throne of the all-powerful God.

[12] But although, crowned in heaven with a diadem of beauty by those most pure spirits, you are filled with immortal joy, most holy Martyr Pancratius, do not, I pray, disdain to receive the salutation imparted to you from us mortals; Peroration to Saint Pancratius. for it is most pious, for mortals, as we can, to emulate the supernal virtues. Hail, therefore, Pancratius, who like a most radiant star—the true work of the fingers of God—set in the firmament of heaven, pour out light upon the whole world. Hail, Pancratius, who walked immaculate in the way and the law of the Lord, and searched out the testimonies of Christ in your heart. Hail again, Pancratius, who rendered yourself holy in body as in mind, and who dwell in the heavenly tabernacles. Come, most blessed man of God, and diligent imitator of Christ, now endowed with the liberty of the sons of God, do not cease to pour out prayers for your fold to God most great and good, and transfix with the javelins of your intercessions the enemy, the waylayer of our souls. And you, having imitated with all zeal the supreme humility of our Lord, as the two mites of the poor widow, so do not despise this most neglected and slender encomium offered to you by us as a small gift, and keep us safe and sound. Pardon, I pray, our lack of skill; for we have not of our own accord undertaken to speak your praises, but have been compelled by those who most earnestly desired to hear them, and, trusting in your prayers, we could not refuse this task. Moreover, most holy man, obtain peace from the all-powerful God for all who are devoted to your name; be a consolation to those who are wretchedly afflicted with calamities and troubles; do not scorn to bring the help of heavenly medicine to the sick; free from the incursions of foreign nations those who piously honor you and your commemoration; and keep unharmed from civil wars all who with great love take refuge in you. Exterminate heresies far away, lay low the new Goliath, scatter the snares of the infernal enemies laid against us, make us enjoy the quiet and tranquillity of life, impart a blessing to the peoples gathered to you; grant, most holy Father, that by the aid of your prayers we may at length deserve to reach the heavenly kingdoms without any stumbling, where we may praise the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever, Amen.

ODES

By Saint Joseph the Hymnographer. From the Sicilian Menaia MSS.

Pancratius, Bishop and Martyr of Tauromenium, in Sicily (Saint)

[1] With the most sweet words of your honey-dropping tongue, illumined by the splendor of divine javelins, you led the whole region of the West, Pancratius, from darkness to light. Openly and without dissimulation preaching the faith of the Most Holy Trinity, Bishop, true emulator of the Apostles, scattering every cloud of idols, reconcile God to us by your prayers.

[2] Shining forth as a star in the region of the West, you led all through faith to the light of knowledge, holy Pancratius, Bishop and likewise Martyr of Christ, freeing them from the slavery of idols into true liberty by divine teachings, while the Most Holy Trinity furnished you with help and support. Therefore, celebrating your sacred memory as is fitting, we honor you with worthy praises.

[3] Like Elijah, you were borne up by your virtues to the height of supernal beatitude, holy Pancratius, wise and sacred preacher; since from the most blessed Peter you received grace together with wisdom, abounding in all riches. Hence you impart health of soul and body to all the sick, as many as come with faith to your temple.

[4] Look upon the sons whom through the sacred laver you begot, faithfully gathered together, holy Pancratius, wise and venerable father. Hear now those who with perpetual voices of praise bear you up to heaven; impart, I pray, joy and salvation of souls. For having you as our patron, we think ourselves gloriously treated; for thus with your prayers we shall easily elude the snares of the enemies.

[5] Holy Father Pancratius, true disciple of the divine Peter the Apostle, emulating the ardent zeal of his faith, you despised the allurements and pleasures of the world; wherefore you deserved to obtain the blessedness of eternal life. Therefore we all venerate you as a divine Bishop, athlete, honor, and ornament.

[6] O deeds gloriously done by you! Who shall ever worthily speak the force of your miracles? For you led on earth a life greater than man's; for to your city of Tauromenium you appeared like an Angel, both watering it with divine preachings and illumining the peoples, so that they plainly spent a life worthy of the Christian faith.

[7] Preaching God as three in persons, one in substance, Pancratius, you extinguished the multitude of gods, raging like fire, and with flashing precepts you brought light to the peoples.

[8] See, see, says God: I am he who by the mystic diffusions of lights have illumined the good shepherd of the sheep. By whose precepts also I have led to the true light those who were dwelling in the darkness of evils.

[9] Sprinkled with your own blood, Pancratius, you entered not indeed into an earthly temple, but into heaven itself, offering yourself, Martyr, to the divine gaze.

[10] To the pastures of divine knowledge, playing with the pipe of your preaching, you led your flock, Bishop and shepherd worthy of the highest admiration; and by the power of your prayers, as with a sling, you cast the fierce wolves far off.

[11] With light sent down from heaven upon Peter, Christ, the true rock, chose you that to the region of the West, like a ray, with the splendor of the Holy Spirit, you might dispel the darkness of ignorance.

[12] Well confirmed by the power of the Holy Spirit, you pursued profane spirits, and with the most valid club of your prayers you demolished the shrines of the idols from the foundations, and raised up most sacred churches to God most great and good, a truly admirable man.

[13] With the most keen edge of your words, you cut down the infamous thorns of errors, O most holy man, and sowing souls with the most wholesome precepts of the virtues, you cultivated them to bear most abundant fruits.

[14] When the Leader of the disciples had seen you to be a receptacle of the Holy Spirit, fitted to receive within yourself purer rays, he dispatched you to the Western peoples; namely, that from them you might dispel the night of impiety.

[15] With you breathing forth the fires of the Paraclete, all errors burned up in conflagration, most wise Pancratius. You, like a lighthouse shining afar, direct those overwhelmed by the waves of ignorance to the safest harbor of the divine will.

[16] Peter, gushing and overflowing from a steep rock, pours you forth as another stream, to water thirsty fields and to dry up the rivers of impiety, with the streams of divine preaching flowing on.

[17] Your manner of life, illumined with heavenly beauty, obscured all the assaults of demons; and, the darknesses of impieties being scattered, you led to the contemplation of the true light of day as many as eagerly obeyed your preachings.

[18] The sound of your words has been spread far abroad,

most wise Father, shining with the splendor of divine knowledge, at which the wisdom of the Greeks vanished, and the cunning sophist was conquered and routed.

[19] By the miracles you performed, most holy man, you captured the peoples; and with their shrines cast to the ground by your word, you skillfully built churches to renew the minds of men.

[20] Bloodied with the sacred stole by the shedding of your blood, and with the stains and filth of the demons wiped away, you passed over victorious into heaven, to receive the crown of victory.

[21] At your sight the temple of the idols collapsed, the door was thrown open to the nations, and heavenly grace was bestowed upon the hearts of Christians, most holy Father.

[22] When Jesus, both God and the true light of men, had generously adorned your mind and soul with His grace, by your exhortations He freed the peoples from ignorance of the truth.

[23] From the superstitious sprinklings of idols and the contaminated pouring of blood you purged the nations; while, like a slaughtered lamb, you offered yourself as a living victim to God.

[24] You were a minister of the sacred Gospel to God most great and good: for with your own blood you splendidly sealed the divine precepts, most holy Bishop Pancratius.

[25] You were baptized in your own blood, holy Pancratius, who before had dipped the peoples in sacred water. Hence to Christ, bathed in great joy, you ascended with the Angels; and mingled with them, you are fed by the divine vision, splendidly granted everlasting beatitude.

[26] Mortals plunged in the sea of evils, you fished out and drew forth with the sacred hook of your words; and with the most sacred rain of your prayers you dried up the miry stain and abyss of unbelief, sacred minister of Christ.

[27] A rock indeed unbroken and solid placed you as a firm and stable base and foundation of the most holy Church, venerable Bishop; upon which all the malice of the most foolish enemy was to be shattered, most wise Father.

[28] Refined by the fire of various temptations, you remained unconquered and ever the same; strengthening your mind by the most illustrious contemplations; and you showed yourself as a sword, cutting down the forest of many gods.

[29] That you might lead the peoples to the knowledge of Christ, you performed signs and wonders clearly; foretelling future things like a divine prophet, breathed upon by the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

[30] Showing to the peoples the image of our Creator, which you brought with you, under its guidance you performed signs and virtues to drive off the hateful religion of the multitude of gods.

[31] With the most splendid torches of Peter illumining your mind and soul, you hastened like a most brilliant star to the West; by your sermons drawing into the light those who before had miserably fallen headlong into the abyss of ignorance.

[52] (sic: apparently 32) Knowing well that the image of the soul ascends to its prototype, you kept it everywhere untouched and uncontaminated; you set up the image of our Jesus and God, to overthrow the idols of demons.

[33] Conspicuous with the splendors of Priests, and flashing with the splendors of Martyrs, holy Pancratius, ornament of Priests and Martyrs, now, rejoicing and exulting, you contemplate the glory of God.

[34] This most illustrious festival the whole city and people keep for you, bathed in great joy, admirable Pancratius, faithfully venerating you; whom do not disdain to bless as a Shepherd, offering prayers to God for all.