Innocentius

ON SAINT INNOCENTIUS,

BISHOP OF TORTONA IN LIGURIA.

AROUND THE YEAR 350.

Innocentius, Bishop of Tortona, in Liguria (St.)

G. H.

Tortona, an ancient city of Liguria, under the Archbishop and today's Duchy of the Metropolis of Milan, venerates as its chief Patron St. Marcianus, its first Bishop, who, under the Emperor Hadrian and the Prefect Sapricius, was adorned with the laurel of martyrdom: solemnity of St. Innocentius April 17 whose Acts we illustrated on March 6, and we added the history of the body, found by St. Innocentius, established as Bishop there in the time of Constantine the Great, of whom on this 17th day of April, his heavenly birthday, the ecclesiastical office is celebrated under a double rite throughout the whole city, as of some secondary Patron.

[2] Life written by Celsus the Deacon The Life of this Saint was written by his deacon Celsus, but the chief autograph of this book perished through pagan incursions, to the great detriment of those things which pertained to this Saint. Another author then collected a few things from fragments of the said book and from other sources, collected by another which, from ancient manuscript papers, Jonino Mombritius published about two hundred years ago in volume 2 of his Lives of the Saints which he had collected. There is still preserved in the choir of the Cathedral Church an ancient Antiphonary book, published by Mombritius written on parchment, in which are contained the proper Antiphons and Responsories of St. Innocentius, confirmed in the Antiphonary and they correspond to the history of the Life, which from Mombritius, illustrated by us, we give. In the tablet of the Bishops of the sacred Church of Tortona, which is at the end of the Tortonese Synod held in the year 1659, there is contained a certain epitome of the Life of St. Innocentius, and the Acts of the Tortonese Synod from which in the Annotations we observe some things. The Acts of St. Marcianus collected by us may be inspected, in which we gave a double epitome of him, one appended to the said Acts of the Synod, the other drawn from the manuscript Antiphonary; both of which we could publish here, but since most things are in the Life which we give, for brevity's sake we omit them. sent to us from Tortona Meanwhile here we acknowledge the most humane benevolence of the Most Illustrious Lord Charles Septala, Bishop of Tortona, and of the distinguished man Lord Giovanni Battista Chapuis, Canon Theologian of the Cathedral of Tortona, who have sent us the documents just indicated.

[3] memory in the sacred calendars Some compendia of the Life of St. Innocentius have been published by Ferdinand Ughelli in the Bishops of Tortona, and by Philip Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, on this April 17; on which day the same is referred to in the Kalendars of the old Missal and the Ambrosian Breviary, likewise by Grevenus and Molanus in the Additions to Usuard, by Galesinius, Canisius, Ghinius, with the Notes to the Roman Martyrology. The same Masini in Bologna Perlustrata recalls, Relics and image because some of his Relics are preserved there among the Canons Regular of the Lateran. But the people of Tortona, having examined in the year 1595 the sacred Relics of their city, numbered among them the body of St. Innocentius Bishop of Tortona, of which indeed a significant part of the body is honored in the Cathedral, the rest in the church of St. Stephen. In the great hall of the Episcopal palace, among the painted images of the Bishops of Tortona, is also seen that of this St. Innocentius. Some feast of the translation of the body of St. Innocentius is noted in the ancient Kalendars of the Church of Tortona, Feast of the translation and ordination and is still celebrated with an ecclesiastical office under a double rite, as also the feast of his Ordination on September 24, and on both days the said solemnities are mentioned by Ferrarius in his general Catalogue.

[4] time of his See, and of his whole life In what year of Christ St. Innocentius died is not indicated in the documents; it is only indicated that he sat twenty-eight years in the episcopate. Ughelli asserts that he departed to the heavens in the year 353, and thus he would be said to have been ordained around the year 325, and to have died older than seventy, born around the year 280, as one who in the year 302 had completed twenty-two years, in the most atrocious persecution of Diocletian and Maximian. If anyone should prove that he departed this life somewhat earlier, it will not displease us.

LIFE

published by Jonino Mombritius from manuscripts.

Innocentius, Bishop of Tortona, in Liguria (St.)

BHL Number: 4281

FROM Mombritius.

CHAPTER I.

Encomium of his father Quintius. Captivity and torments inflicted on St. Innocentius, and his being led out of prison.

[1] To the praise and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ we have taken care to relate those things which we see done through him: lest by the forgetfulness of the future people there perish the grace which he has granted to his faithful. There was in the city of Tortona an illustrious Quintius, who descended from Roman stock, Father of St. Innocentius, Quintius a prudent man, and one to whom were many riches and possessions: and this man had a wife, by name Innocentia, a citizen of Lucania. Moreover, they had authority ^a from Valerian and Gallienus and the other ^b Emperors, to be worshippers of the Christian law without any persecution: Christian and free in persecution so that none of the Emperors had been troublesome to his family. He lived near the temple of Jupiter, but because of the worship of idols he frequently remained with all his household in the country house called ^c Jata, not far from the city of Tortona, near the river Golubus, under the jurisdiction of Adrian, which ^d is now called the Valley of St. Innocentius. When therefore persecution had been raised in the times of ^e Diocletian and Maximian the Emperors, was he alone without persecution? For they had commanded that all churches be closed or

destroyed. And so, ^f Marcellinus the Presbyter having been arrested, they ordered him to be executed with the sword; other priests he buries the bodies of St. Marcellinus and other Martyrs were sent into exile, others ended their lives after various tortures; their bodies Quintius would snatch away in hiding and bury at night, and sitting down he would write the contests of each one. The divine Scriptures which had belonged to the church he kept hidden with himself; but all the churches and books the persecutors burned with fire. There remained alone ^g Julianus the Presbyter and Maliodorus the Deacon, who lay hidden with Quintius in secret, and in his house outside the city secretly celebrated the holy mysteries. and of St. Julianus the Martyr After six months, however, it was reported to the Governor Leo that Julianus the Presbyter was in hiding with Quintius. He therefore ordered him to be sought out, and having arrested him in hiding he ordered ^h him to be led outside the ⁱ Pavian gate, and had him beheaded. At night Quintius snatched up his body, and buried it far from his own house, not far from the river Golubus. But Maliodorus the Deacon remained in hiding, and was not found. And the bishopric ceased for ^k fifteen years.

[2] St. Innocentius Now Quintius, the most Christian man, had one only son fifteen years old, who, from a name derived from his father, was called Quintius; but by his proper name, which he had received in the grace of baptism, St. Innocentius he was called Innocentius; and a small daughter was named Innocentia, as was also her mother. At that very time, stirred up by the excessive zeal of the enemy, Quintius was called to the Lord, after the death of his parents was taken from life, and buried outside the land ^l of Marinea. On the seventh day his wife Innocentia died, and was placed with him in one tomb; at that time Innocentius was twenty-two years old. aged 22 years After the death of his parents, Leo presumed to arrest Innocentius, surrounding his house. arrested And when he had been arrested, they led him to the praetorium, and the priests of the idols raised their voice, saying: "Unless you burn the house of Quintius and his seed perishes; all Tortona, which was the daughter of Rome, has become the daughter of perdition because of the house of Quintius, and the gods are angry with us." Then Leo ordered Blessed Innocentius to be stretched out and beaten with clubs, saying: "Long have you and all your house lived in a sacrilegious manner: sacrifice to the gods." he is shut in prison After being beaten, he ordered him to be sent into prison, saying: "Tell me, where are the treasures of your father and the writings which you used to write by night?" But he answered that he did not know. Then the impious Leo ordered all their substance to go into the Emperor's treasury, and the records of all the Christians which were found with him, to be burned. Further, the most wicked Governor ordered Blessed Innocentius to be shut again in the prison at the gate called ^m Vercellina. He sent his questor, saying: "Consider your nobility and your possession: offer sacrifice to the gods, and show the treasures of your father, and you shall live; if you do not show them, you shall die." But Blessed Innocentius answered, steadfast in the faith saying: "I have the precepts of the Emperors, that I should serve my God: your gods I do not adore, nor do I show the treasures." Then the impious Governor ordered him to be beaten with clubs, beaten with clubs and after being beaten, to be taken back into prison, and he reported to the Emperor Maximian all that had been done. The Emperor Maximian ordered: "Take the substance of Quintius into the praetorium; but if his son does not sacrifice, consume him with fire; let his nobility be sold at auction, he is adjudged to fire as a reproach to all the Christians."

[3] On that same night his father appeared to him, saying in dreams: with Quintius his father appearing "Son, go forth from here, and go to Rome: there you shall be safe among your own; for Diocletian has not yet felt our case. And know this, that in this year both ⁿ shall die, and peace shall be restored to the Church." Awakened from sleep, he saw the doors of the prison open, and went out, saying: "Lead me, O Lord, in thy way, freed from prison that I may walk in thy truth." But the guards of the prison were sleeping and snoring. Then Blessed Innocentius went to his house in Floriaca, and taking up his three servants, set out for Rome. He entrusted his sister to her guardians, he goes to Rome to St. Melchiades saying: "It is near that this tempest should pass: do not fear." But he himself, coming to St. Melchiades the ^o Bishop, was honorably received. In the same year Diocletian and Maximian ended their lives.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

The episcopate of St. Innocentius: various churches built: the finding of the body of St. Marcianus.

[4] Afterwards Maliodorus the Deacon was created Bishop by St. ^a Maternus the Archbishop of Milan; and he remained in the episcopate until the conversion of the Emperor Constantine. When St. Melchiades the Bishop went to the Lord, ^b Silvester was made Bishop, and he ordained Innocentius a Deacon. under St. Silvester the Pope Now Constantine began to persecute Christians throughout the whole world, for which opinion he was struck with leprosy; and after he had been baptized by Bishop Silvester, he ordered privileges to be restored to Christians. and Constantine the Emperor becoming Christian Pious Silvester asked of the most Christian Emperor that believers be baptized throughout the whole world, that churches be restored, that priests be appointed. This request pleased the Emperor, and he ordered by imperial authority, with a public hand, that churches be restored throughout the whole world. At the same time Bishop Maliodorus migrated to the Lord; and when this was heard, it was disclosed to the most clement Constantine by St. Silvester. when Maliodorus the Bishop had died, St. Innocentius succeeds And when all things had been announced to him in order concerning St. Innocentius, the nobility of his family and the abundance of his riches, Constantine ordered everything that had been hidden to be restored. And he ordained him Bishop, and gave him a document which should restore all things to him, and that all Gentiles or Jews should adore Christ the Lord, and that those who scorned should be sent into exile, and that all their substance should remain with the Catholic Church. And so Blessed Innocentius, receiving the message or precept of the Emperor, came to the city of Tortona, and found his house, as well within as without, overthrown, along with the churches; and he took his seat in the episcopate, on the ^c eighth day before the Kalends of October. He began to gather the Christians, and to baptize believers, and to seek out moneys both of the Church and of his own.

[5] he took the see on September 24 Then St. Innocentius confirmed all his substance to the holy Church by writing. The priests of the temples, who were baptized with their wives and all their substances, came into the Church; but those who refused to be baptized were sent into exile, and the Church took all their substance. The Jews, however, who dwelt near the Pavian gate, and the goods of the obstinate pagan priests and Jews refusing to be baptized, were scattered through the several provinces. The Christians, together with their Pope, overthrew the synagogue and built a church, where the Bishops take their abode; and they made a baptistery and founded another church beside the baptistery, he builds churches in which place Marcianus or his parents had resided. ^d They overthrew the temples of Mars and Jupiter, and with every hand built the basilica of the holy Martyr Stephen, and the church of the ^e Apostles. On the summit of the old castle they established the basilica of ^f Sts. Sixtus and Laurence. For his sister, and a monastery for his sister who had been brought up by the guardians, he founded ^g a monastery on either side of the mountain, in the middle of the ascent of the city, with her guardians. He made wells, and led water from an ancient cistern through sewers and aqueducts, through every cell of the monastery; below and above he made sewers, into which the water should fall, lest it should flood the city. He began to do many signs in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he shines with miracles to give light to the blind, hearing to the deaf, walking to the lame, to put demons to flight. He overthrew altars and sacred groves, and destroyed all the places of idols; and all the people of the city were made Christian, because the first and sturdy soldiers lived in it; they fought against the ^h Marcomanni, so that these could by no means raise their heads against the Roman Empire. he establishes the Christian religion Thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ, who through a holy Priest renewed the world, and illuminated and raised up the Church: he set priests and clergy in their state: he made the tonsure in the clergy, as he had learned from holy Silvester. And it came about that half of the city of Tortona, together with all its suburbs, remained with the Church, because both the ancient goods of the Church were restored, and the money of the Jews and of the pagan priests, which seems to have been very ample—all of it was secured to the rights of the Church.

[6] He searches out the body of St. Marcianus And when he was reading daily the Acts and contests

of St. Marcianus the Martyr or of his predecessors, Blessed Innocentius earnestly prayed day and night, that the Lord would deign to show him his tomb. And when he had completed all public things by the strength and hand of the people, in the seventeenth year of his episcopate all the buildings were completed. But while at one time Blessed Jacobus the Presbyter was keeping his turn in the ⁱ church of St. Mary, it was said to him in a ^k vision: "Come, I will show you where the tomb of St. Marcianus is." And leading him outside the gate of the city, he showed him the place, saying: he finds it by a heavenly vision "Go, say to Innocentius the Bishop: Behold where the body of Marcianus the Bishop is laid." Awakened from sleep, he immediately informed the Bishop; and when the Bishop went to the place, he showed it to him: and above his tomb was an elder tree thickly grown. When Celsus and Gaudentius the Deacons had been summoned, they began to dig; and pulling up the thickness of the tree about three feet, they found the tomb covered with a brick; and these things were written on the brick: "Here rests the body of St. Marcianus the Bishop." Then Blessed Innocentius summoned the priests and clergy together with the people, and going to the place chanting psalms and opening the tomb, they found his body, together with a glass vessel full of his blood, and the sponge ^l with which his blood had been collected. And taking him, with all joy they brought him forth, and secured the tomb, and placed a stone; and the words which were on the brick they wrote on the stone. he builds a basilica for him They built a basilica in the space of a whole year. Blessed Innocentius the Bishop consecrated it on that very day of his finding, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of November. In which place and on which day many sick were healed; and they continue daily by the merit of his sanctity.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

Journey to Rome: miracles: death.

[7] He sets out for Rome, Ravenna The peace of the Churches of God was established; for wherever the Bishop came, he blessed. Then at last it was decreed that the Bishop should go to Rome. Blessed Innocentius, having completed all things, set out for Rome for the sake of prayer and the care of his money, which he had in the city of Rome, or through the individual cities, whether at Lucca or in ^a Liguria (because, as we read, the substance of the Church of Tortona is great), and also through all Tuscany, because the Roman nobleman had had a Lucanian wife; but at Ravenna and in all ^b Pentapolis were the various moneys of Quintius. When therefore Blessed Innocentius set out for Rome, Etruria or Pentapolis, a certain noble widow, for many years devoted to good works, attentive to almsgiving and prayer, sick for a long time, having her hope in the Lord, prayed daily saying: "Lord, do not permit me to die until I see St. Innocentius." When she had said this, a messenger drawing near said: "Lord Innocentius is now at Ravenna." But she cried out the more: "Lord, have mercy on me, do not permit me to die until I see your servant Innocentius." And when he had drawn near the city of Piacenza, at Piacenza it was announced to him: "Hasten, because ^c Perpetua your daughter awaits you, greatly panting and anxiously desiring to see you." Rising therefore at dawn, he set out. But when he entered the city, he found her dead: at once he went to her house, which was before the church of the Lord. He went to the bier and wept, because he loved her, since indeed she was a handmaid of God. And bending down he said: "Daughter, why have you departed without a greeting? Why have you gone without leave? he raises her there from the dead Or why have you not asked viaticum from me?" Immediately she opened her eyes, as if awakened from sleep; and forthwith leaping up she fell at his feet, saying: "I give thanks to my God, that I have merited to see you." Then all marveled, and wept for joy, and blessed God; and they themselves recounted all that they had known.

[8] He performs other miracles These and many other wonders the Lord worked through him; for he was vigilant and frequently praying; he practiced many almsdeeds, as did his father. In him the whole people and the neighborhoods of the cities rejoiced, because not only preaching but also signs of virtues proceeded from him. The few things which we have learned for the sake of memory from the book of Celsus his deacon, we have taken care to write, which perished through the pagans, whom the Lord, with sin working in us, brought upon us; written by the Deacon which book was accessible to all.

[9] There was therefore a certain woman ^d Senatrix, the daughter of Prosper, the wife of Sabinus the Scribe, who had been only two years with her husband. But when her husband died, she remained in such great chastity that she seemed to be Anna, whom the Evangelist commemorates, spending her life in vigils, in fastings, in chastity, and in almsgiving. She lived before the atrium of Blessed Mary, so watchful that no one entered the church before her; she is freed from slander only the holy Pontiff did she sometimes find entering before her; she, however, refilled the lamps; she offered the care of sweeping not only in the church but also in the porticoes. And while she did this for many years, she also offered service to the Pontiff with her own hands. And when the ^e clerics had often seen the Bishop with her at night, they began to say to one another: "What is it that a young woman, and a widow without children, attends on his offices?" because he had made a habit of remaining in the baptistery on account of the warmth which was usually there in winter. But they, when they had daily seen them persevering in this work, did not believe in the power of divine virtue, but reckoned it only the concupiscence of the flesh. And when they had brought this rumor about him to the people, they themselves also began daily to cast evil talk among themselves about him. Then the Pontiff, thinking about the matter, wished by silence to lessen the slander of this affair. On a certain Sunday, however, when the Pontiff was sitting in the church of St. Mary, before the people he beckoned to the handmaid of God, that she should bring coals to him to warm his feet. She went most swiftly, she carrying burning coals in her clothes unharmed and brought the burning coals in her garment unharmed, and offered them before the Pontiff for warming. And he, stretching out his feet to the coals, for one hour remained with the garment unharmed; at which sight the whole Clergy and all the people marveled greatly. "O how glorious and admirable is your name, almighty God, who do not permit even your Saints to be overcome by the lips of the wicked and by their deceitful tongue: because neither does falsehood prevail in your sight, nor will the deceitful tongue be directed before you. Blessed be your name, O God, unto the ages." and the slandering Clerics struck with death Whence it came to pass that a sudden destruction laid waste those who had raised this infamy; and within the same year the clerics who had committed this, ^f struck with the disease of elephantiasis, died; and fear grew upon all, and they glorified God; and all with bowed neck asked the Pontiff to pray for those who had escaped, that a like destruction might not befall them.

[10] At the same time the Lord worked through him many virtues and miracles before the people, famous for miracles he dies April 17 which are not written in this little book. That same most blessed man Innocentius the Bishop passed away on ^g the fifteenth day before the Kalends of May; and he was buried by the Christians with all diligence, with our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns God unto the ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.