Martyrs

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS

ZENO, EUSEBIUS, NEON, VITALIUS,

AT CORCYRA IN THE IONIAN SEA.

AROUND THE YEAR 100.

Zeno, Martyr, at Corcyra in the Ionian Sea (Saint) Eusebius, Martyr, at Corcyra in the Ionian Sea (Saint) Neon, Martyr, at Corcyra in the Ionian Sea (Saint) Vitalius, Martyr, at Corcyra in the Ionian Sea (Saint)

By G. H.

Corcyra is an island in the Ionian Sea, and on it a city of the same name, archiepiscopal, under the dominion of the Republic of Venice, commonly Corfu. It is also called Cercyra by Dionysius in his Periegesis. But Eustathius observes that the spelling of this island's name is doubtful, At Corcyra namely it is called both Κέρκυραν and Κόρκυραν. That it received the first light of the Gospel from Saints Sosipater and Jason, disciples of the Apostles, the Greeks commonly report—indeed, that they were put to death there by a certain one of their Kings (more truly a petty king or viceroy or governor). Slain under a petty king or governor Saint Sosipater is venerated by the Latins on June 25, and Jason on July 12, when those matters will be more accurately discussed. Both are mentioned by the Greeks in the Menaia on April 29; but in the Menology of the Emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus, on the 27th of the same month April, and on the 28th, these four Martyrs converted by them are reported with this encomium: Encomium from the Menology of Emperor Basil "The contest of the holy Martyr Zeno and his companions. Zeno, Martyr of Christ, and together with him the holy Eusebius, Neon, and Vitalius, from the island of Cercyra, instructed by the holy Apostles Jason and Sosipater, believed in Christ; and accordingly, being accused before Cercilinus, the petty king of the island, were by his order seized, and by the worshippers of idols bound with heavy chains and brought before him. When, being interrogated by him, they had confessed Christ, they were first stripped of their clothes and stretched on the ground; then, bound hand and foot, they were cruelly beaten for many hours with rods made of ropes, that they might be forced to deny Christ and sacrifice to idols. When they had steadfastly refused this, and had not even by a word consented to adore demons, they were again thrust back into prison nearly dead; and afterwards, a huge furnace having been kindled, they were led out of prison and cast into the fire, and consummated their martyrdom."

Thus far the Menology of Emperor Basil. These same are venerated on this day in the manuscript Chifletian Menaia, which are preserved at Dijon; and concerning Saint Neon these things are handed down: "On the same day the holy Martyr Neon ended his life by fire"; and this distich is added:

"Refusing to serve the gods of the Greeks, Burned, Neon overthrew the faith of the Greeks."

Of the other three the same things are read in the said Menaia, which on the following day, April 29, are found in the printed Menaia and in Maximus of Cythera; And on April 29 in other writings Saints Zeno and Vitalius and of the two this is said jointly: "On the same day of the holy Martyrs Zeno and Vitalius, consumed by fire," as Sirletus rendered in his Menology; but the one who is Vitalius to others is called Vitalis to him—by which same name Galesinius also uses, with this encomium added: "In Greece, of the holy Martyrs Zeno and Vitalius, who bore clear witness to the faith of Christ which they had embraced, being burned with fire." In the Menaia are added these verses, in which Saint Vitalius is encouraged by Saint Zeno in these words:

"Do not fear the flame, Vitalius; For I, Zeno, will lead the way and enter before you."

And Saint Eusebius The fourth remaining is Saint Eusebius, concerning whom in the Menaia and in Maximus Bishop of Cythera the Greeks report: "On the same day the holy Martyr Eusebius is consumed by fire." Which Sirletus in his Menology expounded thus: "On the same day the holy Martyr Eusebius, consummated by martyrdom for the Christian confession"—omitting, namely, the torment of fire, into which, having been cast with the rest, he gained the palm of martyrdom; which these verses in the Menaia confirm:

"Since the flame wiped away every stain from you, You are found, Eusebius, gold proved unto Christ."

ON SAINTS VITALIS AND VALERIA,

MARRIED MARTYRS AT RAVENNA AND MILAN.

Vitalis, Married Martyr at Ravenna (Saint) Valeria, Married Martyr at Milan (Saint)

By D. P.

That the name of the Martyr Vitalis is most celebrated throughout all Italy is proved by the temples erected to him in the chief cities: at Rome, Faenza, Rimini, Various temples of his through Italy Como, Ferrara, Venice, Verona, and Zadar in Dalmatia, and in many other places of lesser note which glory in the same patronage. The Roman temple, most worthy of memory among the rest outside Ravenna, situated in that most beautiful valley which separates the Viminal and Quirinal hills, founded by the testament of the most noble matron Vestina, was dedicated by Saint Innocent the Pope and erected into a titular church. It is indicated under the names of the sons Saints Gervasius and Protasius by Anastasius the Librarian in the Lives of the Pontiffs; One famous at Rome but now known only by the name of the father, and among the Roman Stations it is wont to be visited on the Friday before the third Sunday of Lent. It is under the care of our Society, which, occupying the nearby church of Saint Andrew on the Quirinal, obtained this church of Saint Vitalis also (restored in the year 1475) one hundred and twenty years later, by the gift of Clement VIII, together with adjoining gardens and lands; and aided by the signal munificence of Isabella Rovere, Princess of Bisignano, restored it to its ancient splendor; in which condition, in a place otherwise remote from frequent habitation, we admired it in the year 1661, on this very present feast of Saint Vitalis, when all Rome flocks thither, celebrating the sacred rites there.

[2] Before we reached Rome we had been at Ravenna; The chief one at Ravenna and on November 19, having been led around the chief temples of that most ancient city, we had visited the most beautiful and sumptuous church of Saint Vitalis, on the very spot where the Saint suffered martyrdom, and where, until the city was recovered from the power of the Goths, a small church had stood, built in the early times of Christian peace. Whoever wishes to read an accurate description of that most august church, which sets its form and majesty before the very eyes, should consult Girolamo Rubeus, book 3 of the Ravennate History, and Girolamo Fabri, who treated of the sacred memorials of ancient Ravenna in Italian, Most augustly built and who from p. 355 to p. 383 explains single matters in detail and notes many things passed over by Rubeus. Take from them this ancient inscription of one portico: "The Basilica of the Blessed Vitalis, at the command of Bishop Ecclesius, Julianus Argentarius built, adorned, and dedicated: with the most reverend Maximian consecrating, on the 14th day before the Kalends of May, in the sixth year after the consulship of Basilius Junior, a most illustrious man, in the 10th indiction."

[3] And consecrated in the year 547 This is noted as the year 547; in which year, with all Italy trembling under the arms of Totila, it is not only improbable that the Emperor Justinian was present at Ravenna with the Augusta Theodora and honored the dedication by his own presence and that of the whole court; but it is altogether proved false from the fact that Pope Vigilius, invited to Constantinople by Justinian, arrived there on the 8th day before the Kalends of February, and there, with the Emperor present, conducted important business for a notable time, whose gravity sufficiently indicates that not only at the time when the church was dedicated at Ravenna, but throughout that whole year and the following, until the ecumenical council of Constantinople, But without Justinian being present with his own Justinian scarcely set foot out of the royal city, much less crossed into Italy. What then does the mosaic work mean, expressed in the vault of the greater chapel more than a thousand years ago, where the Emperor and Empress are seen with a retinue of noble men and women? Nothing else indeed than that the building arose by the gifts or work of those who are there depicted; which had been begun under Ecclesius six years earlier, and was afterwards consecrated under Maximian; whose likenesses are also seen inserted in the same mosaic. That Justinian, as a boy, was brought to Ravenna by his nurse, and hidden in the house of the said Julianus Argentarius vowed to build a temple to Saint Vitalis if he should ever come to the Empire, is a popular belief, but perhaps no more solid than the former.

[4] The pit of Saint Vitalis Moreover, in this temple, in the place where the holy body of Lord Vitalis was buried, they excavated a pit, whose pavement is ornamented with equal art to that of the temple. Water flows from it to the present times, as Rubeus says; and Fabri adds that this water is daily drawn with great devotion by the citizens, especially on the feast day of the Martyr; and beneath the pavement of the pit, in a marble ark, the venerable body is believed to be laid. But while I consider what the tyrant ordered: "Make a pit so that water is reached; there lay him supine; and covering him over with earth likewise and stones, leave him without human care," I cannot at all be persuaded that the Christians, the authors of the first little shrine, wished to bury more deeply the bones, which it was fitting to carry off from a damp place; nor that Julianus Argentarius afterwards took care to do so. Under the altar Rather I believe they brought them out thence and placed them within the altar itself; in which, if they no longer remain, I shall believe they have been carried away and removed elsewhere. For the same Julianus, as Rubeus and Fabri write from him, placed an altar over the pit, covered with a vault supported by four most precious columns, which columns and the whole altar and vault he covered with thin silver plate. The silver has now been removed, but the marbles remain, and among them an excellent painting representing the martyrdom of the Saint, the work of Federico Barocci of Urbino. All these things we surveyed with great pleasure of soul.

[5] The monastery We also saw a very spacious monastery joined to that church; in which same place, even before that royal mass was built, Rubeus would persuade us that there had been a community of religious men, when he asserts that Severus, the Bishop Ecclesius's brother's son, was handed over to its Prefect, Cornelius, a most religious man, to be instructed in letters and good morals: he would persuade us, I say, if he had an older authority for so ancient a matter. As it is, we see him to have too easily believed Petrus de Natalibus, that this is the one and the same Severus, of whom, born at Ravenna and raised in a monastery, there is some memory as a Saint; with the one praised by Saint Gregory in the Dialogues and proposed by us on February 15. Or is it older than the temple itself? So we fear that both this Cornelius and the nephew of Ecclesius are named here without solid authority. Meanwhile it seems beyond doubt that, together with the new temple, in the age of Justinian, there arose buildings for the ministers of the temple itself; whether they were clerics or monks, and if monks, whether Benedictines from the very beginning, is not easy to determine. Rubeus, under the years 1115 and 1226, cites privileges granted by the Emperors Henry IV and Frederick II in favor of that monastery. Ughelli, in vol. 2 of Italia Sacra, col. 353 and following, sets forth an important letter of the Bishop of Ravenna written to the monk Durant and the other hermits with him, around the year 1000, It is Benedictine and has been so for a long time filled with many and great encomiums of the Benedictine Rule, and conceived in such terms that from them it can easily be gathered that the Bishop speaks as of the only known rule there. But it will be difficult to prove that Durant was of the monastery of Saint Vitalis. This is certain, that in the year 1415 Petrus Silbarius was sent from the Roman monastery of Saint Gregory, with the title of Abbot, to restore discipline at Ravenna at Saint Vitalis; and in the year 1460, the Abbey of Saint Vitalis, with all its goods, was associated to the Congregation of Saint Justina of Padua.

[6] The memory of Saint Vitalis is found in many Martyrologies, even in the genuine Bede, to which Florus attached a long encomium from the Acts; to some is added his wife Valeria. Rabanus and Wandelbert mention Saint Vitalis alone; Notker mentions both. Both are also read in various copies of Usuard, Ado, and others more recent. In the Roman Martyrology they are entered thus: "At Ravenna, the birthday of Saint Vitalis, Martyr, father of Saints Gervasius and Protasius. He, when he had buried the body of Blessed Ursicinus, removed, with due decency, was seized by Paulinus the consular, and after the torments of the rack, was ordered to be placed in a deep pit, and covered with earth and stones, and by such a martyrdom passed to Christ. At Milan, Saint Valeria, Martyr, wife of Saint Vitalis." The time of his passion is uncertain. The Breviary of Warmia, printed in 1516, records that Saint Vitalis suffered in the time of Nero; Time of passion uncertain and the Bodecense MS. refers the martyrdom of Saint Ursicinus to the same time. All the MSS. say he was crowned under Paulinus the consular; Whether namely under Nero if this Paulinus is C. Suetonius Paulinus, as Rubeus thinks, who was consul in the year of Christ 66 and the 12th of Nero, and who, as appears from Tacitus, was leader of many troops in the war which Otho waged against Vitellius after the deaths of Nero and Galba, then the martyrdom of Saint Vitalis would not have to be removed much from Nero's reign.

[7] But if that letter, which is reported as the first of the seventh book among the letters of Saint Ambrose, is truly Saint Ambrose's—in which he signifies to the Bishops and Christians of Italy that by divine admonition he has found the bodies of Saints Gervasius and Protasius—his martyrdom must be referred to the year 161. For in the booklet found at their head, they are said to have survived their parents for ten years, and to have been slain for Christ in the Marcomannic war. Or in the second century This war was waged in the year 171, under the Emperors Aurelius and Verus, no other war of this name before these times being anywhere mentioned. Meanwhile, the said letter may perhaps seem spurious to someone, from the fact that Saint Ambrose, in the second letter of the same book, which he writes on the same subject to his sister Marcellina, mentions not a word of the booklet found, nor of the apparition to him and the revelation made by Saint Paul, where, namely, the said bodies of the Saints were to be found. But he prefaces thus: "Since I am not accustomed to conceal from your holiness anything of what is done here in your absence, know also, most beloved sister, that holy Martyrs have been found by us. For when I wished to dedicate a basilica, many as though with one mouth began to interject, saying: 'Dedicate the basilica as in the Roman one.' I answered, 'I will do so, if I find relics of Martyrs.' And immediately as it were the ardor of a certain presage came upon me. What more? The Lord gave grace; with even the clerics fearing, I ordered the earth to be cleared in that place which is before the enclosures of Saints Felix and Nabor. I found suitable signs: those being brought forward on whom our hands were to be laid, the holy Martyrs began thus to appear, so that even while we were still silent, the urn was seized," etc. These things Saint Ambrose at the beginning of the said letter.

[8] To be examined more carefully in Saints Gervasius and Protasius A more accurate examination of these times can be given on June 19 in the Martyrdom of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, whom Rubeus, on the testimony of the same Saint Ambrose and Peter Damian, writes to have been disciples of Saint Paul the Apostle; so that from this the martyrdom of the father should not be again referred to the year 161. Saints Vitalis and Valeria were baptized, as Ripamonti and Ughelli write, by Saint Gaius, the third Bishop of Milan, whom Ughelli says to have been a disciple of Saint Barnabas, and first the assistant of his predecessor Saint Anatolian, and then his successor in the year of Christ 64. Besides Saints Gervasius and Protasius, they are said to have had two other sons, Saints Aurelius and Diogenes, of whom Ripamonti, book 1, says: What of their two sons Aurelius and Diogenes "But I scarcely accept the belief of that twin birth, which Valeria is said to have delivered with an immature womb amidst those torments and pains. The names of the infants are reported as Diogenes and Aurelius, and as sharers, as it were, of the maternal palm, they have obtained their own cult in the Church of Milan; though otherwise of these Aurelius and Diogenes no memory exists in the annals of the ancients." Rubeus adds in book 1 of the History of the Ravennatians that these infants were baptized by the said Saint Gaius, and confirms their nativity from an old picture in these words: "Witness of this matter was a very ancient picture in the church of Saint Vitalis, in which, when the funeral of Saint Valeria is led, two infants wrapped in swaddling clothes are borne with her on the same bier; and the monks themselves, by a tradition handed down by continual succession from earlier monks who take the habit of their Order in this monastery, for this reason call most of them by the names of Diogenes and Aurelius."

[9] The signal cult of Saint Vitalis, not only among the people of Ravenna,

but also among the inhabitants of Monte San Savino, is maintained—by whom, and how he was adopted as their patron protector, Rubeus narrates thus: "The inhabitants of Monte San Savino, Saint Vitalis preserves Monte San Savino from assault which is a town in Tuscany not far from Arezzo, adopted this most happy Martyr as their patron and protector with God, being moved by this: that on the night immediately preceding the feast day of Lord Vitalis, when their enemies, attacking the town unexpectedly, were assaulting it fiercely and had placed ladders against the walls, suddenly throughout the whole town a great sound of sacred church bells, moved by no one, and a din of weapons in the air both roused the citizens from sleep and deterred the enemies from their undertaking, for they thought there was a very great multitude in arms. Thus, the citizens immediately going out of the town and making an onslaught against the enemies, routed them and put them to flight with almost no trouble. Hence, the following morning, having held a procession, And therefore is chosen as patron protector by the citizens they rendered the highest thanks to God, and by common consent decreed that Lord Vitalis should be joined as a third to their patrons Saints Sabinus and Giles, and his feast day should be kept as an annual and perpetually solemn celebration. By which perhaps it came about that Cardinal Antonio Montes, born from this town, and adopted by Pope Julius II into the college of the Purpled Fathers at Ravenna, Several Cardinals assume the title of Saint Vitalis strove to be distinguished with the most ancient Roman title of Lord Vitalis. The same was done by Gianmaria, his brother's son, who afterwards was Pope Julius III. This we now see also in the Cardinal Pietro Donato Cesi, since he understands that the ancient Cesi drew their origin from Ravenna, and he is held as a citizen, senator, and father of this city." Thus Rubeus.

[10] That Saint Vitalis is venerated in Flanders by the people of Lille, Saussaye is author on April 28 in these words: "At Lille in the Tournai region, His head at Lille under the ancient metropolitan of Rheims, the veneration of the most holy head of Blessed Vitalis the Martyr, whose glorious merits and trophies, crowned today at Ravenna, the Catholic Church celebrates everywhere." Arnoldus Rayssius, in his Hierogazophylacium Belgicum, writes that only a part of the head is kept there, Relics of both at Bologna and some at Prague enclosed in a very elegant casket, in a chapel which some call of the castle, others of Saint Vitalis. In the Breviary of Lille, printed in 1555, Saint Vitalis has nothing proper. So that one may doubt whether the said portion of the head is of this Saint Vitalis or another, since it is known that there were several Martyrs of this name. That notable relics of both spouses are also preserved at Bologna, John Paul Masini is the author in his Bononia Illustrata on April 28: namely, that in the church of Saint Blaise is an entire shinbone of his; other parts at Saint Mary's and Saint Martin's; while the relics of Saint Valeria are venerated there in the church of Saint Barbatianus, among the Hieronymite monks. At Prague finally a particle of the cranium of Saint Valeria is kept; and some pieces, larger and smaller, brought by the Emperor Charles IV from Ravenna in the year 1355, is read in the Diary of the Metropolitan church already often praised. We give the Passion from a MS. of the monastery of Bodecensi of the Order of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, omitting the others, Passion from the Bodecense MS. because they are shorter and like a compendium of this one. There also exists a panegyric of Blessed Peter Damian on their martyrdom, drawn from the aforesaid Passion; whose author we judge to have been one of the monks of the monastery of Saint Vitalis himself, long before Blessed Peter Damian.

PASSION

From a MS. of the Monastery of Bodecensi of the Order of the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine in the diocese of Paderborn.

Vitalis, Married Martyr at Ravenna and Milan (Saint) Valeria, Married Martyr at Ravenna and Milan (Saint)

BHL Number: 8703

FROM THE MS.

[1] Serving under Paulinus, he encourages Christians in their torments The glorious wrestler of the Lord, Saint Vitalis, a most Christian native of the city of Milan, a man of great lineage and not the last in rank among its chief citizens, having been bound in intimate friendship with Paulinus, a consular and tyrant, and at that time a most bitter enemy of Christians, for the sake of military service, under the guise of a soldier took care with all industry of the Catholic Faith that by evangelical admonitions he might strengthen the minds of the bound Christians, lest, wearied by the savagery of punishments, they should fall away from the Faith. And when he was striving to press on longer in a task so pious and so laborious without growing weary, one day, having entered the city of Ravenna together with the aforesaid consular Paulinus, he saw in a tyrannical trial a certain Christian named ^a Ursicinus, a physician by profession, a Ligurian by nation, who after horrific torments had received a capital sentence. The place where Christians were beheaded had the name Palma; for a tree of an ancient palm was there.

[2] And encouraging Saint Ursicinus, who was wavering, to constancy Therefore, as has been said, when after excessive and dreadful tortures Ursicinus was being led to Palma to be beheaded, acting from natural human weakness, he suddenly feared. When he wished to surrender himself to the final condemnation and by a wretched yielding to evade imminent death, the soldier of Christ, Blessed Vitalis, despising the tyrant and spurning secular dominion, as a lender of sacred souls, recalled him in this way from the abyss of eternal chaos to the palace of the supernal kingdom: "Do not," he said, "do not, Ursicinus, you who have been accustomed to heal others, wound yourself with the javelin of eternal death; and you who have come through so many sufferings to the palm, do not lose the crown of martyrdom prepared for you by the Lord." Hearing this, Ursicinus, falling to his knees, urged the executioner to hasten the completion of the judge's commands, spontaneous and prodigal of his own blood, doing penance because he had earlier feared the pain of martyrdom. When, therefore, the holy victim of the Lord had received decapitation, After his martyrdom he buries his body at once the athlete of Christ, Vitalis, caused the body of the precious Martyr to be carried off and most devoutly buried within the city of Ravenna, dedicating his martyrdom, as the time dictated, with a most celebrated and ^b solemn rite.

[3] After the burial of the blessed and glorious triumphator of Christ Ursicinus had been accomplished, Blessed Vitalis alienated himself from the judge Paulinus and refused to come any more into his presence. For which reasons he is arrested When this had been discovered by the diabolical man, moved by the most insane fury, he had him seized with all haste by the officers; not only because he had scorned to approach him, but also because he was so marked a Christian that he had even reproved Ursicinus, who was willing to sacrifice, lest he perish. For thus it pleased the Divinity, that by the exhortation of so great a monitor Ursicinus should return to the crown of martyrdom, and a precious gem be rendered to God, And in vain seeking to recall Paulinus from the worship of idols which the ancient enemy of the human race was striving to claim for his malignity. The most valiant soldier of Christ, Vitalis, therefore, when he stood led by the hands of the unjust before the sight of the judge, and began to strike at him more freely with Catholic darts ^c, the judge, like a deaf asp, which does not hear the voice of the charmers, with hardened heart closed his ears from the good hearing, lest the arrows of the Lord might be able to reach the interior of his heart. And when the warrior of the Lord was acting uselessly with the tyrant, and finding no reason in the empty vessel, he was silent for a time, remembering that ancient proverb: that he undoubtedly wastes labor and expense who sends oxen to the ^d anointing-arena.

[4] Then that diabolical and execrable to God and men Paulinus, raging without quiet like a madman, surpassing the frenzied and lethargic with a madness hitherto unseen, Stretched on the rack ordered Saint Vitalis to be raised on the rack, that through the fear of torments he might change the consent of so great a man to sacrifice to demons. But the holy Martyr, placed on the rack, turning his venerable eyes to the judge, addressed him with these words: "An infinite foolishness rules you, Consular Paulinus, that you think I can be conquered by torments, and that I should wish to inflict the death of perdition upon myself—I who so often and so often have striven, God helping, to free other faithful ones from the danger of deception." At these words the judge of iniquity, vehemently moved, said to ^e his Officer: "Lead this rebel to Palma, that he may there offer libations to the gods; but if he scorns to sacrifice, do not behead him like Ursicinus the physician; but making a pit in the ground, until water is reached, lay him there supine; and covering him over with earth likewise and stones, He is cast into a pit and covered with earth and stones leave him without human care." When this command of the most impious judge had been fulfilled, the pious and merciful King of Martyrs, Christ, both consecrated a crowned soldier for himself, and placed a Martyr—and no ordinary one—in a higher dignity in the heavenly court of the poles. For there he shines among the white-clad fellow-soldiers of the purpled ones; there in the service of the eternal King with the citizens of Jerusalem he perpetually cries Alleluia; there with the Psalmist he gratefully proclaims: "We are filled in the morning with your mercy." Ps. 89:14-15 And again: "We rejoiced for the days in which you humbled us; for the years in which we saw evils."

[5] The priestling who advised this punishment was afterwards seized by a demon Now it happened afterwards that the priest of Apollo who had given this counsel to Consular Paulinus, being seized by the ancient enemy, for seven days cried out in the place where the Martyr of Christ, Saint Vitalis, lay buried, saying: "You burn me, Martyr of Christ Vitalis, you burn me and torment me vehemently." This we believe was done to the honor of Christ and his distinguished Martyr, that Christians might be emboldened with confidence, when they saw that he had not gone unpunished, nor passed unavenged, who had first devised this kind of torment, through which, against his own hope and wish, he rendered the Martyr of Christ more glorious. After seven years the same wretch was cast by the devil into the river ^f which flows past the city of Ravenna, He drowns in the waters in which he wretchedly, as he deserved, expired. Then was fulfilled in him the prophecy of the Psalmographer, which was imprecated against the persecutors of the Church: "Avenge, O Lord, the blood of your Saints which has been shed." Ps. 78:10

[6] The most blessed Martyr of Christ Vitalis, therefore, triumphs in this manner in the city of Ravenna, Diverse lot of Martyrs and persecutors showing there a wonderful and notable victory, whose eminence seems to surpass the folly of the common people, because in the eyes of the foolish he seemed to die, but he is in peace, to which those who slew him may in no way aspire. For he who then seemed to the foolish to be conquered for a time by a momentary death stood forth a glorious victor; but those who seemed to carry off victory from the living corpses are known to be captives of the ancient enemy, and to be subject to the laws of eternal death without any regard of mercy. Rejoice and be glad, happy Ravenna, supported by so great a Martyr; again and again I beg, rejoice and clap your hands to the Lord, you who have deserved to be distinguished with the sepulchral companionship of Blessed Vitalis, who besides the rest whom you equally cherish, was alone able to be an honor to your turreted loftiness. Rejoice, I say. For if the citizens of Milan had received your patron Saint Vitalis, together with his most holy sons Gervasius and Protasius, special Martyrs of Christ, they would in no way reckon themselves inferior to the Roman Senators, who by the blood of the blessed Martyrs

surrounding, can purchase the whole world at a vital price.

[7] How the wife of this Blessed Martyr, Valeria by name, made herself a victim to God not without a martyrial ^g contest, the truthful pen of this history thus reveals. "When," he says, "the wife of the holy Martyr, Blessed Valeria, ^h had learned at Milan of her elder's victory which he had earned at Ravenna under God's gaze, Saint Valeria having set out to bring back the body with all devotion and spiritual alacrity, with no small preparation, she came to his sepulcher, that she might carry off the most holy body with her. But because it pleased the Divinity that Ravenna should not be deprived of the patron granted to it, she was prevented by the citizens in Christian fervent zeal. Then by the Blessed Martyr himself she was often admonished in visions not in any way to violate the holy body, which had been well placed, even if by an evil man. Now the most blessed Valeria, as she was returning to the city of Milan, fell in with men, idolaters, sacrificing to Silvanus. They, taking her down from her pack-horse ⁱ, urged her to feast with them on those things which had been immolated to Silvanus. And refusing to eat things sacrificed to idols, is killed by beatings To this, the most blessed Valeria said: 'I am a Christian, and it is not lawful for me to eat of the sacrifices of your Silvanus; for the Apostle Paul forbids all of us not only to eat things offered to idols, but also teaches that we should not even touch them.' But they, hearing these things, moved with great fury, slew her with such blows that her men could scarcely bring her half-dead to the city of Milan. So, worn out for the truth which is Christ, within three days she passed to the Lord; and was buried in the city of Milan with her sons, the most holy Martyrs of Christ, Gervasius and Protasius."

[8] But Blessed Vitalis was martyred in the city of Ravenna, under the Consular Paulinus, Milan and Ravenna renowned for the relics of both on the 4th day before the Kalends of May. Behold what a father of a household Blessed Vitalis, who subjected all Italy to himself and his loftiness: for he himself, by his patronage, possesses ^k the metropolitan chief monastery at Ravenna; and Milan, than which Latinity has nothing more illustrious, holding it with a progeny festive enough and a crowned wife, triumphs in both places, rules in both places. Indeed, the matter stands best thus: that what seems to be lacking to the Milanese in the father, they possess in full as the heap of the dowry in the sons likewise and the wife; and on the contrary, if anything seems to the people of Ravenna to be less in the offspring and wife, they rejoice to gain all in the father. Wherefore the citizens of both metropolises ought to be inextricably bound together by a charitable fellowship and social charity, as they are known to be connected by the indissoluble communion of so great Martyrs. Praise therefore and thanksgiving to him who chose those blessed Martyrs, took them up, and made them citizens of the eternal Jerusalem: who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

ON SAINTS EUSEBIUS THE BISHOP, POLLIO THE LECTOR, AND TIBALLUS,

MARTYRS AT CIBALAE IN PANNONIA.

UNDER Diocletian

Eusebius, Bishop, Martyr at Cibalae in Pannonia (Saint) Pollio, Lector, Martyr at Cibalae in Pannonia (Saint) Tiballus, Martyr at Cibalae in Pannonia (Saint)

By G. H.

The most ancient copy of the Hieronymian Martyrology, written about a thousand years ago, which we have used from the beginning of this work, Memory in the ancient annals introduces this 28th day of April thus: "On the 4th day before the Kalends of May, In Pannonia, of Eusebius the Bishop, Pollio, Tiballus." Another copy of the said Martyrology is held by Henry Julius Blumius, recently ambassador of His Imperial Majesty to the Duke and Elector of Saxony, in which they are listed in this order: "In Pannonia, of Eusebius the Bishop, Tiballus, Pollio." Notker in his Martyrology lists them in the same order. To these three a fourth, Saint Vitalis, is added, in the first place in the Lucca copy, Should Saint Vitalis be joined? and in the second place in the Corbie copy printed at Paris. But since we think that this may be Saint Vitalis the Martyr, father of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, whose cult is most celebrated on this day, we omit in the title to add Saint Vitalis to these among the Martyrs of Pannonia. If, however, it should appear from elsewhere that he should be joined, so be it for us.

[2] In the Martyrology manuscript of the Queen of Sweden published by Holstenius, and the Roman of Cardinal Barberini, Saint Pollio to others Apollio is reported: "In Pannonia, Saint Eusebius the Bishop." In another Corbie MS. these are read: "In Pannonia, of Eusebius the Bishop, Tiballus." But omitting these, Usuard reports: "In Pannonia, Saint Pollio the Martyr." Ado has the same, as does the Spurious Bede's author, with the ancient MSS. Richenau, Rhinau, Centula, and others, in some of which it is written Pallio and Pullio, in others Apollio and Appollio, also referred to the 27th and 29th of April; to whom in the Trier MS. of Saint Maximin is joined Saint Eusebius the Bishop. On the former day Galesinius published from manuscripts this encomium: "In Pannonia, Saint Pollio the Martyr, who under the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, Suffering with companions under Diocletian having striven in the stadium of Christ in enduring severe contests gloriously, gave a signal testimony of faith by the pouring out of his blood." To the same day it is attributed in the Acts and in Petrus de Natalibus, as will be said below. Maurolicus has this on this 28th: "In Pannonia, Saint Pollio the Martyr, under the Emperor Diocletian and the prefect Probus, And the Governor Probus in the city of Cibalae." Which nearly the same are read in Felicius and Canisius, and more briefly in today's Roman Martyrology, to which Baronius annotates: "The Acts of this man, briefly summarized, Petrus recites in his Catalog, book 4, chapter 94, though in a faulty codex there is read for Pollio 'Pullio,' for Cibalae 'Civalis,' and for Sirmium 'Firmus.'" These, emended, we produce thus, leaving "Pullio," because it is also so written in the Acts, though we altogether think it should be written "Pollio."

[3] "Pullio the Martyr, in the city of Cibalae, was Chief of the Lectors; After the Martyrs of Sirmium from which city the Emperor Valentinian came. In it this Martyr himself, under the persecution of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, suffered martyrdom, with Probus the governor acting. For this governor, after he had caused Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of the said city, with Saint Montanus, priest of Singidunum, corrected from 'Smeruleum', to be drowned in the river at Sirmium; and had also beheaded Saint Demetrius, Deacon of the same Church; came to the city of Cibalae, in which Saint Eusebius, the Bishop of that city, had suffered some time before, and caused Pullio the Lector to be arrested. Steadfastly confessing Christ and refusing to sacrifice, and saying that he wished to imitate the footsteps of his Fathers who had suffered for Christ, he ordered him to be burned with flames. He suffered on the 5th day before the Kalends of May." Thus far Petrus de Natalibus. A somewhat fuller Acts, and almost word for word taken from the Proconsular Acts, we subjoin from a very ancient Bertinian MS.

[4] We treated on March 25 of Saint Irenaeus or Hyrenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, Saints Irenaeus, at Sirmium in Pannonia, beheaded under the Emperor Diocletian and the Governor Probus, and cast into the river Sava. Then we treated on March 26 of Saint Montanus the Presbyter, cast into the river at Sirmium in Pannonia; Montanus, to whom on the said day is joined Saint Demetrius the Deacon, in the Martyrologies of Maurolicus, Felicius, Galesinius, and Canisius. Demetrius But on April 9, Saint Demetrius the Deacon, Martyr at Sirmium, is reported in the Richenau and Rhinau Martyrologies. Indeed it seems that the Martyrology of Saint Jerome and others referred there can be so explained. These martyrdoms completed, the Governor Probus departed to Cibalae, a chief city of Pannonia between the rivers Drava and Sava, In the city of Cibalae whence that region was once called Pannonia Cibalensis. There, therefore, suffered Saints Eusebius the Bishop, Pollio the Lector, and Tiballus, whom on this 28th day of April the ancient Martyrologies join. Petrus de Natalibus with the Acts hands down that Saint Eusebius suffered some time before; but it is said in the Acts on the same day; Saint Pollio May 29 and so in the Index of Petrus subjoined, he is referred to this day. Ghinius celebrates Saint Pollio the Lector among the Canonical Saints. But on May 29, in four copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology, the Nativity of Saint Pollio the Lector at Cibalae is again recorded, so that it could be said that here he is reported on the occasion of Saint Eusebius the Bishop, but that he suffered martyrdom then.

* Rather, "of Singidunum," in the Acts.

ACTS OF THE PASSION

From a MS. codex of the monastery of Saint-Bertin.

Eusebius, Bishop, Martyr at Cibalae in Pannonia (Saint) Pollio, Lector, Martyr at Cibalae in Pannonia (Saint) Tiballus, Martyr at Cibalae in Pannonia (Saint)

BHL Number: 6869

FROM THE MSS.

[1] By the edict of Diocletian Diocletian and Maximian, reigning, decreed that at the start of their persecution they should either destroy all Christians or make them deviate from the faith. When this command had come to the city of Sirmium, Probus the governor, taking up the persecution imposed on him, began with the clergy, and ordered to be put to death the arrested Saint Montanus, Presbyter of the church of Singidunum, long conversant in the virtues of the Christian faith. After the slain Martyrs of Sirmium He also compelled Saint Hireneus, Bishop of the church of Sirmium, bravely fighting for the faith and the constancy of the people entrusted to him, by a similar sentence to the heavenly palm; and, as he renounced idols and despised the impious commands, having been afflicted with various kinds of torments, he delivered him to temporal death, to live in eternity. But when his cruelty had not been satiated in these, he believed he must travel to nearby cities; and when under the pretext of public necessity he had come to the city of Cibalae, Probus the Governor proceeds to Cibalae from which the most Christian Emperor Valentinian is known to have come, and in which in the previous persecution Eusebius, the venerable Bishop of the same church, is known to have triumphed over death and the devil by dying for the name of Christ, Where after Saint Eusebius the Bishop was slain

it happened, by the providence of the Lord's mercy, that on the same day Pullio, chief of the Lectors, most noted for his ardor of faith, was brought to the examination of his cruelty by his ministers, saying: Saint Pollio is seized "This one has burst forth into such arrogance that he does not cease to blaspheme the gods and Princes."

[2] Standing before him, Probus the Governor said: "What are you called?" He replied: "Pullio." Probus the Governor said: Examined, he steadfastly professes the faith "Are you a Christian?" Pullio answered: "A Christian." Probus the Governor said: "What office do you hold?" Pullio answered: "Chief of the Lectors." Probus the Governor said: "Of what Lectors?" Pullio answered: "Those who are accustomed to read the divine eloquence to the people." Probus the Governor said: "Those who, while they forbid frivolous little women to marry, are said to pervert them and persuade them to one chastity?" Pullio answered: "You will be able today to prove our frivolity and vanity." Probus said: "How?" Pullio answered: "Frivolous and vain are those who, having abandoned their Creator, acquiesce in your superstitions; but those are proved devout and constant in the faith of the eternal King, who strive to fulfill the commands which they have read, even when tortures forbid." Probus the Governor said: "What commands, by reading, and of what King?" Pullio answered: "The pious and holy commands of Christ the King." Probus the Governor said: "Which?" Pullio answered: "Those which show one God in the heavens thundering, And he explains the precepts of the faith which by a saving admonition testify that one who is made of wood and stone cannot be called God; which correct and amend faults; which strengthen the innocent in the perseverance and observance of their purpose; which teach virgins to obtain the summits of their integrity; the chaste wife to preserve continence in the bearing of children; which persuade masters to rule over their slaves more with piety than with rage, under the contemplation of one condition; which teach slaves to render service more from love than from fear; which teach to obey Kings commanding just things, to comply with higher powers when they command good things; which command honor for parents, reciprocation for friends, pardon for enemies, affection for fellow citizens, humanity for strangers, mercy for the poor, charity for all, to do evil to none; to bear injuries inflicted patiently, to inflict none at all; to yield to others in one's own goods, not to covet the goods of others even with the delight of the eyes; to live forever—whoever for the faith shall have despised that momentary death which you can inflict. If these things displease you, well known as they are, you may detract from them by your judgment."

[3] Probus the Governor said: "And what good will it do if a man, being killed, lacks this light and loses all the goods of his body?" He spurns the threats Pullio answered: "Because better than this brief light is that perpetual light, and sweeter are those goods which remain than those which perish; nor is it the part of prudence to postpone eternal things to fleeting ones." Probus the Governor said: "What of these things? Do what the Emperors have ordered." Pullio answered: He is burned with fire "What is this?" Probus said: "That you sacrifice." Pullio answered: "Do what has been commanded you; I am not going to do this, because it is written: 'He that sacrifices to demons and not to God shall be rooted out.'" Probus said: "You shall be struck with the sword if you do not sacrifice." Pullio answered: "Do what has been commanded you; as for me, it behooves me to follow in all truth the footsteps of the Bishops, Presbyters, and all the Fathers by whose teachings I have been imbued; whence also I receive with all exultation whatever you wish to inflict." Probus the Governor, sentence having been given, ordered him to be burned by flames. And immediately, seized by the ministers of the devil, and led a mile away from the city, the Martyr, undaunted, fulfilled his contest, ^b praising, blessing, and glorifying God; who already knew the venerable passion of his saint, On the same day as Saint Eusebius and also the martyrdom of the holy Bishop Eusebius of the same city, who many years before had ended his life on the same day, to the heavenly glory. Celebrating this today with joy, we beseech the divine power that he would deign to grant us to be partakers in their merits. These things were done in the city of Cibalae on the fifth ^c day before the Kalends of May, by the command of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning for ever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS

CYRIL, AQUILA, PETER, DOMITIANA, AND RUFUS.

Cyril, Martyr (Saint) Aquila, Martyr (Saint) Peter, Martyr (Saint) Domitiana, Martyr (Saint) Rufus, Martyr (Saint)

By G. H.

These five Martyrs we give from a very ancient Martyrology, which we found at Monte Cassino, written in Lombardic character, and which we had transcribed: in which these are found: "On the 4th day before the Kalends of May, the Nativity of the holy Martyrs Cyril, Aquila, Peter, Domitiana, Rufus." We have not hitherto found in any fasti Saint Domitiana the Martyr, nor a similar combination of others. Hence, because of the antiquity of the Martyrology, we propose them. Perhaps there will be someone who will bring light to this, or at least receive it from here.

ON SAINTS DIDYMUS AND THEODORA,

MARTYRS AT ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT.

A.D. 303.

Theodora, Martyr at Alexandria (Saint) Didymus, Martyr at Alexandria (Saint)

By D. P.

[1] We gave the glorious band of Alexandrian Martyrs, from the agreeing copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology, on the 5th day of April, They are venerated among the Greeks on April 5 under Saint Didymus the Presbyter, their leader and head of all; on whose occasion, I think, it happened that the Greeks, in their printed Menaia and various MS. Synaxaria, and, following these, Sirletus in the Menology, and Maximus, Bishop of Cythera, ἐν βίοις Ἁγίων, have reported another Didymus, the liberator of Saint Theodora, whom the Latin Martyrologies remember on this day. The relics of both, being brought on this day to some one of the Constantinopolitan churches, could also have given a reason for setting forth their encomium then. For that the Didymus who is praised together with Theodora With another Saint Didymus the Presbyter was a Presbyter cannot even by a shadow be gathered from the most accurate Acts, which, taken almost verbatim from the Proconsular records, but once translated from Greek into Latin, James Ussher found in manuscript in a certain library of England, and sent them to us thirty years ago. But neither in the Acts, which Allatius judges to have been wrongly attributed to Metaphrastes, The ancient Acts though they exist under his name in Lipomanus and Surius, will you find anything on which the suspicion of the presbyterate is founded: only he is said to be "a certain most religious Brother." It is added, however, which the older Latin texts are silent about, that he suffered martyrdom on the Nones of April. But we are little moved by this, taught by experience that in such less-ancient Acts the day of the cult is often taken for the day of the passion; and below we shall show that the day of passion which the Latins observe cannot be notably anticipated.

[2] Bede in his genuine Martyrology makes no mention of either one, Used by Florus I believe because he had not yet received the Acts; but someone had them before Ado and Usuard, whose words Ado transcribed more fully in his manner, Usuard in a contracted form. Who else but Florus, whom each proposed to himself to follow after Bede? Even if we have not found them in those MSS. from which we gave the Supplement of the same Florus to Bede. The words of Ado, which Notker in his manner transcribed, are these: "At Alexandria, of Saint Theodora the Virgin, This Ado transcribed who, refusing to sacrifice, delivered to a brothel, was by the wonderful favor of God rescued. For when a multitude of impudent youths was already standing at the door of the cell, suddenly one of the Brothers, Didymus by name, full of faith, divinely inspired, taking up a soldier's garb, first rushed into the brothel; and explaining to the holy Virgin why he had come, he put his military spoils on her, and himself was clothed in the virginal garment. So the Virgin going out and recognized by none, fled to the city and escaped. Didymus, brought before the Governor, and constantly explaining the whole deed, confessed that he was a Christian, and with his head cut off was delivered to the fire. The blessed Virgin also, who had fled from the brothel to preserve her virginity, for love of the crown returned at once to the stadium, and together with Didymus was struck and together crowned."

[3] And Usuard Usuard uses fewer words in this manner: "At Alexandria, of Saint Theodora the Virgin, who, refusing to sacrifice, when she had been delivered to a brothel, suddenly one of the Brothers, Didymus by name, by the wonderful favor of God, rescued her, and afterwards was struck and together crowned with her." Which clearly is taken not immediately from the Acts, but from the same author that Ado used: for Usuard seems to have known nothing of his Martyrology when he composed his own, as has been observed elsewhere. But why on this day, since no day is expressed in the Acts? Or was the day expressed in the title of the Acts? [Where she is said to have been beheaded together with Didymus: she is called Theodora] So we believe: for we know that this custom was frequent, and we have seen it observed passim in the ancient Passionals. But of the martyrdom of Saint Theodora nothing is found, either in our Latin or in the Greek texts. Only the Synaxarium of the Clermont College at Paris, whose MS. we use, on May 27, on which day no other is found, concludes the encomium of both thus: "Saint Didymus, brought to the sword and fire, is condemned, and being struck and burned, is added to the company of Martyrs. After this, Saint Theodora, being arrested and struck with the sword, was cast into a nearby river; and thus both consummated their martyrdom." Certainly it is not in any way credible that either the Virgin would have further given herself into the hands of a Judge whom she had experienced as wishing to take from her not life but modesty; or that the first author of the Acts would have omitted so noble an appendix to the prior martyrdom, if truly Theodora, taught by the inner instinct of the spirit that no outrage should be inflicted on her body, hastened to become a partaker of the crown with Didymus, and received it either on the same or on the following day.

[4] Whom others follow Maurolicus and Bellinus, and almost also Molanus, transcribed Usuard; Galesinius changed the phrase, not the substance: "At Alexandria, of Saint Theodora the Virgin. She, having despised the worship of idols, and on that account delivered to a brothel, was thence by the work of Didymus, God helping, rescued, and thus her virginal chastity preserved, together with him was struck with the sword, and passed to the heavenly double palm of virginity and martyrdom." But the Roman Martyrology thus changed and augmented both the sense and the words of Usuard: "Who afterwards in the persecution of Diocletian, under the Governor Eustratius, was struck and crowned with her." But better a whole month interposed The reviser of the Martyrology took the persecution of Diocletian and the Governor Eustratius from the Acts which we said exist in Surius: neither is noted in our ancient Latin texts—indeed, in these at the very beginning the Judge is called Proculus (this however can be suspected of having crept in for the word Proconsul by the fault of copyists). That he suffered with her no one of the Greeks has said; and the collector of the Synaxarium, who remembers the martyrdom of Theodora, establishes some interval between their deaths. And thus we think it can be held that on the said May 27 the Virgin was seized and struck with the sword; and her body, recovered from the waters, was entombed with the body of Saint Didymus, and therefore the cult of both is kept united.

[5] The Martyrology which, transcribed for the greater part from Ado, long imposed on the world under the name of Bede, It is falsely said that Ambrose treats of these led Molanus, Surius, and Baronius into error; while it produces the words of Ado interpolated with an inept gloss thus: "At Alexandria, of Saint Theodora the Virgin, of whom Blessed Ambrose writes"—which words, also added by others to Usuard, Molanus found in some copy; but they are better absent from the older copies. For that Virgin of whom, with her name and that of her liberator suppressed, the holy Doctor writes in book 2 On Virgins, But he must be corrected in the name of the city was Antiochene; and although the aforementioned authors suspect that "Antioch" was written for "Alexandria" by the fault of copyists, they do not persuade, because Ambrose seems to narrate a history closer to his own age, and perhaps enacted under Julian, when he thus begins: "Recently at Antioch there was a certain Virgin"; and the contest between the Soldier and the Virgin about undergoing the capital sentence which he describes is so illustrious that it could not have been passed over by the authors of the Acts. Yet I confess that I think Florus, or whoever else persuaded Ado and Usuard that Saints Theodora and Didymus suffered together, understood the said passage of Ambrose as being about them.

[6] Moreover, it is clear that such wantonness of profane Judges against Christian Virgins was most common; For similar history has happened many times why then should we delay to believe that she was more than once deluded by a similar fraud by Christian young men, since there was scarcely any quicker or more certain way to place their modesty in safety—even at the liberator's own peril—than the exchange of clothes? Why should not Antioch also have seen a spectacle similar to that of Alexandria, differing only in that the Antiochene did not endure that a young man should die in her stead, but must at least die together with him? We shall give a similar history on May 3, when we shall treat of Saints Alexander and Antonina: who have their feast at Constantinople on June 10, and seem to have suffered under Maximinus not far thence, In various times and places being natives of the town Cardanium, which Ortelius, following the author of the Miscellaneous History, places near Thrace: but these, after the happy success of their beautiful ruse, are said not to have come forth of their own accord to the contest, but to have been sought out and apprehended. Palladius also in the Lausiac History, chapters 148 and 149, narrates a similar stratagem of a certain Magistrianus, who at Corinth thus freed another most chaste virgin, and as the reward of the deed obtained the crown of martyrdom, probably under Domitian: for Hippolytus, a most ancient writer and familiar of the Apostles, is cited as author.

[7] As to the time of this contest, we seem to be able to establish it as the year 303, when on the very day of Easter, which was then April 18, edicts were posted against the Christians. This happened in the year 303 after Easter For the more recent Acts in Lipomanus and Surius (which is enough to have them printed in Latin, and to be given in Greek at the end of this volume from a Vatican MS.) expressly mention a decree promulgated by Diocletian and Maximian, by which Christians were ordered "either to sacrifice or to be punished": not, indeed, with death (for the impiety proceeded by degrees through three successive edicts), but with ignominy if noble, with slavery if plebeian; so that by the force of the first decree, though not yet most cruel, Theodora sent to a brothel to most shameful slavery may be said to have been sent on the tenth day after the decree was promulgated, and yet does not seem to have been able to be punished with death until the second or third decree, at the end of May. Concerning Didymus, as also Georgius, it was another matter: since in these not so much the profession of the Christian faith as contempt of the impious law was punished.

PASSION

Once translated from the Greek from the Proconsular Acts, and supplied from a MS. codex by James Ussher.

Theodora, Martyr at Alexandria (Saint) Didymus, Martyr at Alexandria (Saint)

BHL Number: 8072

FROM THE MS.

[1] In the city of Alexandria, ^a when Proculus had sat before the tribunal, he said: "Summon Theodora the Virgin." From the office it was said: "Theodora stands." The Judge said: "Of what condition are you?" Theodora answered: "I am a Christian." Summoned to the judge The Judge said: "Are you freeborn or a slave?" Theodora answered: "I have already told you: I am a Christian, and Christ coming has freed me; for in this world I was born of freeborn parents." The Judge said: "Summon the Curator of the city." When he was present, he said to him: "Tell me, what do you know about Theodora the Virgin?" Constantly she professes the faith Lucius the Curator said: "By your Clarity, she is freeborn and honorable, and of the best stock." The Judge said: "Since she is freeborn, why did she not wish to marry?" Theodora answered: "For the sake of Christ. For coming in the flesh into this world he drew us away from corruption, and promised us eternal life. Whence, while I remain in his faith, I believe I shall remain untouched."

[2] The Judge said: "The Emperors have ordered you who are virgins either to sacrifice to the gods or to be handed over to the injury of a brothel ^b." Theodora answered: "I think you are not unaware that the Lord is the inspector of the will; And of her purpose of virginity for God regards the will of chastity. But if you compel me to do this, it is not merit but violence." The Judge said: "Knowing you to be freeborn, and sparing your beauty, I have mercy on you; I warn you, do not despise me; To him who threatens rape for by all the gods you profit nothing. The Emperors have decreed that you who are virgins should either sacrifice to the gods or be given to the injury of a brothel." Theodora answered: "I already told you before that God is the inspector of the will. For he is foreknowing and the inspector of thoughts: whence, if I am compelled to do this, I do not reckon it fornication. But if you wish to cut off my head, or hand, or foot, or to scatter my whole body, these are the works of violence, She answers that violence will be a crown to her not of will. For I too wish to remain in God: for God's is the promise, as far as my vow is concerned; to him belong virginity and confession. He is the Lord, and as he wills, he saves his gift."

[3] She hopes that she will be preserved by Christ The Judge said: "Do not wish to bring shame upon your lineage and to be in reproach forever; as the Curator has testified for you, you are freeborn and worthy of honor, and first in lineage." Theodora answered: "I first confess Christ the Lord, who has given me free birth and honor, and he knows how to guard his dove." The Judge said: "Why do you err, believing in a crucified man? Do not think that, when you have been delivered into a brothel, you will be kept without stain. Therefore you will be made mad by all." Theodora answered: "I believe in Christ, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, for he will free me from the hands of these enemies, and will keep me without stain persevering in his faith, and I do not deny."

[4] Therefore she spurns him threatening a brothel and blows The Judge said: "I am putting up with your wordiness, and I have not yet subjected you to tortures; but if you persist contradicting, I shall cause you to be degraded like a slave, and the order of our lords the Emperors to be fulfilled, according to the example of other women." To whom Theodora answered: "I am ready to yield my body to him who has power over it, but of the soul God has power." The Judge said: "Slap her harder ^c, and tell her: 'Do not be foolish, but come forward and sacrifice to the gods.'" Theodora answered: "By the Lord, I do not sacrifice, nor do I adore demons, while I have the Lord as my helper." The Judge said: "Fool, you have compelled me to do you injury, a freeborn woman, that you might fall into such a crowd, which awaits your sentence." Theodora answered: "I am not a fool, confessing the Lord. And what you say is an injury will be for me honor and glory for ever."

[5] The Judge said: "I shall no longer bear with you, but I shall carry out the precepts of our lords the Emperors. She refuses the three-day respite offered Reckoning that you could be persuaded, I bore with you; but if now I spare you longer, I shall be found contrary to the imperial command." Theodora answered: "As you fear and hasten to carry out what has been commanded you, so also I hasten not to deny my Lord: for I fear to despise the true King." The Judge said: "Resisting, you despise the order of the eternal Kings, and you regard me as foolish. See," he said, "that you do not begin to feel it. I therefore grant you a space of three days; and by the gods, unless you consent, I shall place you in the brothel, that all the women may see, and seeing may be warned by your injury." Theodora answered: "And now it is the same God who always was, When these had passed who will not permit me to forsake him: wherefore I am prepared to yield my body to you, for to me these three days have already passed; do therefore whatever you will. But I beg you to order me to be kept inviolate until you give sentence." The Judge said: "I order Theodora to be kept under fit custody until three days, if by chance led by penitence ^d she may persuade herself to recede from such great contradiction: but in no way inflict any violence upon her, because she is of the best stock."

[6] Again she is brought before the Judge After three days, when the Judge had sat, he ordered Theodora to be summoned. The Judge said: "If you have now amended yourself, sacrifice and go. But I tell you, that if you remain in this purpose, you shall not be chaste." Theodora answered: "I have already told you, and I do not refuse to tell you again, that the promise of chastity is through Christ; the proclamation of incorruptibility and confession is through Christ the Lord; and he himself knows how to guard ^e his lamb, his handmaid." The Judge said: "By the gods, fearing the order of the Emperors, I intend to give sentence; lest if I do not, I myself be found a criminal. And placing her trust in Christ she is condemned to the brothel And because you yourself have handed yourself over to the brothel, now at last you shall learn, because you would not sacrifice to idols. Let us see whether Christ will keep you, for whom you have thus persisted contradicting." Theodora answered: "God, who is the knower of hidden things, who knows all things before they come to pass, who to this day has kept me without stain on account of his promise; he will also keep me from the unclean and wicked men, who are ready to outrage the handmaid of God ^f."

[7] The handmaid of God, therefore, was led to the brothel. When she entered, she lifted her eyes to heaven and said: "Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Where she prays to God to keep her help me, and free me from this brothel; you who helped Peter when he was in prison, who brought him out without dishonor, bring me out from here without stain, that all may see that I am your handmaid." The crowds were looking around like wolves, each wanting to enter first to the lamb of God, or certainly like a hawk around a dove. But the Lord Jesus Christ was not absent even then, but at once sent one who freed her. Saint Didymus entering after her in military garb For of the Brothers who feared the Lord, one, taught the way that leads to heaven, put on military dress and completed in himself a double martyrdom. He entered to her first, as one of the wicked. But she, when she saw him, troubled by the strange garb, fled about through the corners.

[8] To whom the Brother began to say: "I am not the one you see; outside," he said, "I am a wolf, within I am a lamb. He consoles her troubled by his appearance Do not look at my hostile clothing: for being your Brother in intent, I have entered in diabolical clothing, that I may be able to free you hence. I have entered to explore and to save the treasure of my God, since you are the handmaid and dove of my God. Come therefore, let us exchange clothing, for nature betrays you, but the just consideration has made me fit ^g. Go out to God, And having exchanged clothes clothed in these very garments which you feared, and let us fulfill the apostolic saying: 'Be as I am.'" Gal. 4:12 And when he had said these things, Theodora consented to him: for she recognized that he who sent his angel to stop the mouths of lions, now also had sent in the habit of a soldier one to free his lamb.

[9] Taking therefore the habit of the soldier, to her head

he put on a low hat. For he had provided beforehand that she might appear to fear the crowd, He sends her forth because he had dared to enter first. And he commanded her to look down and to speak to no one at the door, But in silence but to hasten to him who is truly the door and the gate. But when she went out, she lifted her wings to heaven, freed from the mouth of the hawk and snatched from the mouth of the lion. But the Brother sat, having love for his sister, covered as to his head and girded, already ^h crowned.

[10] And when an hour had passed, one of those entered in, While he himself remaining for her and found a man instead of the virgin; and stupefied at entering, he said: "Does Jesus change virgins into men?" He who had entered went out and said: "Who is sitting there? Where is the virgin who was shut in? I heard that he changed water into wine, and considered that—which was the easier thing—a fable; but now I see what is greater, for he has changed a virgin into a man, and I fear lest he change me into a woman." ⁱ But he who had dismissed his sister with grace did not hide his action, but with a great voice said: "The Lord has not changed me, but has crowned both me and her: for her whom you had, you do not have; but him whom you have, take. A double good palm is mine: a virgin and a soldier-athlete of Christ."

[11] He therefore who had entered went out, and the judge, hearing what had been done, And brought to the judge ordered him to be led in. When he had been brought in, he asked him: "What are you called?" And he said: "Didymus." The Proconsul said: "Who put you up to do this?" Didymus answered: "God sent me to do this." The Judge said: "Confess before the tortures, where is Theodora?" Didymus answered: "By Jesus Christ the Son of God, I do not know where she is. But I know and am certain, that she is the handmaid of God, and having confessed Christ always remained unharmed, and God kept her immaculate; whence I ascribe what was done not to myself but to the Lord. For according to her faith God did for her, And vainly asked about Theodora as you yourself know, if you are willing to confess." The Judge said: "Didymus, of what condition are you?" Didymus answered: "I am a Christian, freed by Christ." The Judge said: "Torment him doubly because of his purpose." Didymus answered: "I beseech you to do quickly what has been commanded you by your Emperors." The Judge said: "By the gods, double tortures are in store for you unless you sacrifice to the gods, that you may also be pardoned for what you have rashly presumed."

[12] Didymus answered: "I for my part show you by the very act, that I am an athlete of my God, He cheerfully receives the sentence of death for the faith which is stored up for me. And therefore I undertook to do this, that both the virgin may remain, and I may make my confession to God manifest. But remaining in the faith of my God I shall not die by your torments. Wherefore do more swiftly what pleases you; for I do not sacrifice to demons, even if you order me to be delivered to the fire." The Judge said: "On account of your great audacity, your head shall be cut off, and because you have not obeyed the orders of our lords the Emperors, the rest of your body shall be delivered to the fire." Didymus answered: "Blessed are you, God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did not despise my purpose, who both saved your handmaid Theodora and crowned me with two sentences." ^k The sentence therefore having been accepted, his head was cut off, and the rest of his body they burned with fire. And he consummated his martyrdom through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honor and glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS

ALEXANDER, FIRMIANUS, PRIMIANUS, TELLURIUS,

AT LESINA IN APULIA.

Alexander, Martyr, at Lesina in Apulia (Saint) Firmianus, Martyr, at Lesina in Apulia (Saint) Primianus, Martyr, at Lesina in Apulia (Saint) Tellurius, Martyr, at Lesina in Apulia (Saint)

Lesina, once a flourishing ancient city of Apulia, now destroyed, was described by us on February 9, in Saints Sabinus and Eunomius, from Leander Alberti. Here lay buried the bodies of the holy Martyrs Alexander, Firmianus, Primianus, and Tellurius until the year 1597, in the cathedral church, The bodies are buried at Lesina in the church of Saint Primianus which, dedicated to one of them, namely Saint Primianus, was supported by a crypt of elegant form and ancient workmanship, held up by marble columns. It was adorned with its own altars and sculpted images of the individual Saints, beside whose sides letters contracted in abbreviation expressed the names of the Martyrs; and from the vault, darkened by smoke, an iron hook hung to support a lamp, the upper temple having long since collapsed into ruins, and retaining almost nothing but a trace of itself. This church, together with another which is called of the Annunciation, by the gift of Margaret of Durazzo, widow of Charles III, King of Naples, came to the possessions of the house of the Annunciation of Naples, whose administrators in the year 1597 sent from Naples the priest Aurelius Marra, a nobleman, to Lesina, to attend to the repairs of the ruinous church and other things there. When the state or rather the destruction of the building seemed greater to him than would admit any interpolation or renovation, he turned himself to the task of investigating the bodies of the Saints buried there, soon to be brought to Naples for due veneration.

[2] In the month of November of that year, having entered the said crypt, They are dug up partly in the year 1597 whose door removed, opened, breathed the sweetest fragrance to those standing outside, he first found a wooden box on the middle altar, in which was seen an image of the same material representing Saint Primianus, clothed in a long robe and carrying a palm branch in his hand. Digging then into the ground, after he had done so at the altar there, on the 24th of the same month he found the body of Saint Paschasius; and on the 25th, those of Saints Sabinus and Eunomius; and removing the earth again, under the altar under which the Relics of Saint Paschasius had been found, on the 26th he came upon a marble box containing the bones of Saints Alexander and Ursula, whose lid removed, he saw these words engraved on the lower part: "S. Alex. et S. Urs. Virg. et Mart." which words were also read engraved in a lead tablet placed over the sacred bones. On the 27th of the same month, digging toward the right corner under the same altar, in a marble box likewise he found the body of Saint Tellurius; on the lid, in old characters, was engraved "S. Tellurius." And these things are taken from the account of Aurelius Marra himself, which we published on February 9 in Saints Sabinus and Eunomius.

[3] The bodies of Saints Primianus and Firmianus were found in the year 1598, Partly in 1598 and at last with the others were borne with solemn pomp to Naples to the church of the Annunciation: of which event the same Marra narrates the series in the cited place in these words: "On the 2nd day of March 1598, about the 16th hour, one of the governors of the said Neapolitan house arrived at Lesina, with the orders of the Apostolic Nuncio, which it behooved him and me to execute. When I had shown him the Relics described above, laid exactly in the same manner in which they had been found, in the presence of many witnesses and those very ones who had been present at the first discovery, the rest of the middle altar, as had been begun by me, was broken up. And the earth being dug to four palms, a marble box was found, three palms long, two wide, of a different form from the others, similar to a chest, They are taken to Naples in which the bones of Saints Primianus and Firmianus were found, and on the lower part of the lid were engraved these words: 'S. Primianus, S. Firmianus'; and likewise on a lead tablet 'SS. Primianus et Firmianus.' With signs of religious alacrity and joy being shown, as with the other Relics, for the same reason, these also were covered and hidden again."

[4] Where they are placed in the church of the Annunciation "On the 4th of March all the Relics were taken up, yet leaving in the same confession or crypt some part of each; and with many of the Capuchin family and others singing together, and carrying lighted candles in their hands, with as great solemnity as could be performed in that place, they were placed in three cases distinguished by an arched lid, lined within with white linen, brought from Naples for this purpose; and being taken to Naples, they were deposited in the church of Pietà at the steps of San Giovanni in Carbonara, until a supplication should be instituted with greater preparation, so that to the church of the Annunciation, with the Roman Pontiff consenting,

they might be transferred; and also, in public testimony of the matter now narrated, the very marble boxes in which the Relics had been found were brought to Naples." So he writes.

[5] They are venerated with a semidouble rite They are venerated at Naples with a semidouble Office: so the Catalog of Saints to be celebrated in the Church and diocese of Naples, published in 1619 by order of the most illustrious and reverend Decius, Cardinal Caraffa, Archbishop of Naples, in which in the month of April these are read: "April 28, Saints Alexander, Firmianus, Primianus, and Tellurius, Martyrs. Semidouble. All from the Common of many Martyrs in Paschal time. Mass from the Common without Credo. Prayer: O God, who grantest that we should observe the natal day of your holy Martyrs Alexander, Firmianus, Primianus, and Tellurius, grant that we may rejoice in their fellowship in eternal blessedness. Through our Lord, etc." To these the following in smaller characters is added: "The Acts and natal day of these holy Martyrs are not held, and so they are to be celebrated on the day of translation. Their sacred Relics are preserved in the church of the most holy Annunciation, thither transferred on this day, with the city of Lesina destroyed, by permission of the Apostolic See; and the Acts of the finding and translation of them exist."

ON SAINTS PATRICIUS THE BISHOP, AND ACACIUS, MENANDER, AND POLYAENUS, PRESBYTERS,

MARTYRS AT PRUSA IN BITHYNIA.

Patricius, Bishop, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint) Acacius, Presbyter, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint) Menander, Presbyter, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint) Polyaenus, Presbyter, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint)

By D. P.

The fasts of the Saints have Saint Patricius the Martyr and Bishop of Prusa in Bithynia inscribed on a double day: for in the Menaia, the Greek Menology, the Martyrology of Galesinius, Canisius, and the Roman, he is referred to April 28; Double mention in the Martyrologies on this day in the same, except the Martyrology of Canisius and the Roman, he is repeated with Acacius, Menander, and Polyaenus, companions of the palm, on May 19, And May 19 where this encomium of theirs is placed: "Our holy Father Patricius was Bishop of the city of Prusa; and when he was teaching the faith of Christ to those who came to him, having been seized by the worshippers of idols, Epitome from the Menology of Emperor Basil he was brought to the Governor of Bithynia; and being interrogated with the utmost confidence of soul, he professed Christ. When the Governor asserted that the gods should be worshipped, namely Jupiter, Apollo, Bacchus, and the rest, by whose providence hot waters burst forth for the benefit of men, the holy man replied that hot waters burst forth by the power of Christ, not of idols, which are lifeless wood and senseless stones. Cast then into the very hot baths vehemently boiling, he came out unharmed, with all the attendants burned by the fire. And having been subjected first to many torments, afterwards, his head being cut off by the sword, he received the crown of martyrdom, together with Acacius, Menander, and Polyaenus, his disciples." The Clermont Synaxarium calls them Presbyters, and adds: "Their synaxis is celebrated in the church of our most holy Lady which is at Cyrus, that is, in the home or palace founded at that time by Patricius himself, then Prefect of the City," as George Codinus is author in the Origins of Constantinople, n. 113 of the Louvre edition: who indeed Cyrus, as he himself adds, was so beloved by the people that when once they cried out that he should be promoted to a greater dignity, Theodosius the Younger took care to have him created Metropolitan of Smyrna. The Acts of Saint Patricius, making no mention of the companions, we found and transcribed in the Medicean Library of San Lorenzo at Florence, whence we give them here in Latin.

ACTS

From the Greek MS. of the Florentine Library. Translated by Fr. John Ravesteyn, S.J.

Patricius, Bishop, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint) Acacius, Presbyter, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint) Menander, Presbyter, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint) Polyaenus, Presbyter, Martyr at Prusa in Bithynia (Saint)

FROM THE GREEK MS.

[1] Julius the Proconsul, who was administering the province in those times, raging with the frenzy of idolatry, having entered the baths, performed the sacrifices to Asclepius and Salus; and, refreshed, coming out, had ordered a tribunal to be set up and Saint Patricius to be brought before him. To the Governor ascribing the virtue of the baths to his gods He said: "See how great is the power of our gods, you who, clinging to vain fables, madly invoke Christ. See how freely our gods are salutary to us by the granted power of the baths, which is the virtue of Father Asclepius above all, what grace; and if you wish to escape tortures and chains, if you wish to lead a tranquil life in your homeland, adore him with suppliant prayer." But Patricius said: "Into how many evils, Proconsul, have you loosed your tongue in a very brief speech?" And the Proconsul: "Into what evils, wretch, do I loose my tongue, that you thus accuse me? You must confess certainly that there is no pretense in what we see with our eyes." But Patricius said: "Most illustrious Proconsul, as regards the origin and sources of these baths, I will teach you, if you will patiently hear me." To whom the Proconsul: "Although I expect here nothing from you but a specious fable, go ahead, Patricius contradicts tell it nonetheless, that I may hear what you will bring forth." "I shall bring forth no fable," said Patricius. And the Proconsul: "What other disquisition then on the origin of the baths?"

[2] "I am a Christian," said Patricius; "and whoever, having professed these sacred things, adores the true and unique Divinity of the universe, has a mind imbued with the understanding of divine matters and such mysteries: wherefore I also, who, though a sinner, yet profess myself a servant of Christ, know how to explain the truth concerning these things." "But who," said the Proconsul, "is so confident and And promising to tell truer things about their origin rash as to wish to seem wise above the Philosophers?" "The wisdom of this world," said Patricius, "is foolishness before God; for it is written: 'Apprehending the wise in their craftiness.' And again Christ, giving thanks to his Father, says: 'I thank you, Father, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them to little ones; even so, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before you.' 1 Cor. 3:19; Matt. 11:25 And again the Apostle: 'They did not know the truth; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.'" 1 Cor. 2 Then the Proconsul said: "You speak great but perplexed things: yet come, explain, by what author these baths well up, and by whose virtue this boiling water bubbles up so. I indeed attribute it to the providence of the Gods, desiring to consult the health of men with such a gift."

[3] He explains how the Creator of the universe To which Patricius: "Before I begin to speak, Proconsul, order these fences to be removed, that I may be heard by all." And with the Proconsul ordering them removed, and the place being filled with a crowd of men, raising his voice in these words, he thus began: "Fire and water the same one, who is the author of the human race, created out of nothing through his only-begotten Son, the omnipotent and eternal God. And from fire by his word he formed light and the sun and the other luminaries, ordering them to give light partly to night, partly to day; for his power of effecting extended to where his faculty of willing. But from the waters he compacted the firmament of heaven, and solidified the earth above them, and effected in them by his provident and prescient power all those things which he knew that man, soon to be formed by him, could not lack.

[4] Made heaven for the pious, hell for the wicked "Foreknowing, however, that men would offend him, their creator and Lord, and, having cast off the true Divinity, would pay worship to feigned idols, he prepared besides these two abodes: one of which, making it bright with eternal light, he filled with all, and those the most exquisite goods; the other, with perpetual darkness and the fire of never-ending castigation, as with an eternal punishment: so that those who should please him and be obedient to his word, after their return to life, obtaining the seat of the good, might dwell in perpetual light; but those who, by the license of their living, should have merited his wrath, might be cast down into darkness to all punishment and eternal torments. And separating fire from water and light from darkness, he distinguished them by their abodes, as he had created each.

[5] And underground receptacles of waters and fires "There is also both above the firmament of heaven and beneath the earth fire and water; and the water which is above the earth, gathered together into one, received the name of seas; but that which is below, the name of abysses; from which, for the use of the human race, are sent forth into the earth like siphons, and well up. From these also thermae exist, of which those which are farther from the fire flow cooler, by the provident mind of good God toward us; but those which are nearer, flow quite boiling. In some places also tepid waters are found, as they are separated by a greater interval from the fire. But the subterranean fire is destined to torture the souls of the impious; and the water lowest of all and most icy, hardening into ice, is called Tartarus; in which never-ending punishment is exacted from your gods and their worshippers. As also one of your poets sang, saying: 'The ends of earth and sea are nothing but their outer limits, in which sitting Iapetus and Saturn'—for these are the names of your gods—'are refreshed neither by the splendor of the clear sun nor by the winds; but Tartarus is as much lower than the others as heaven is raised above.' Persuade yourself that these things are so even from the fire which boils up in Sicily."

[6] At this the Proconsul said: "So Christ is the author of these, and not the gods?" "Christ," said Patricius: "for it is written: 'Because all things were made by him.' And: 'The gods of the gentiles are devils, but the Lord made the heavens.'" John 1:3 The Proconsul again: "Do you say that Christ made the heavens?" "I do say so," said Patricius, "according to that which is written: 'For I will behold the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have founded.' Ps. 95:5" To which the Proconsul said: "Where then, when I order you to be cast headlong into these baths, because, having spurned the gods, you make Christ the author of them, To him threatening death in the baths he offers himself ready he will by no means let you be burned." Ps. 8:4 "The gods indeed, not existing," said Patricius, "I do not despise, since no one is accustomed to blame what does not exist; but know that with Christ (for he can when he wills) is the power of saving me, and likewise the power, when he shall wish, of loosing this bond by which I am bound to this mortal life, through these baths. Know that whatever concerns and awaits me is known and explored by him; indeed, that he is so present in all things that without his will and decree not even one hair from anyone's head falls, nor does a bird entangle itself in a snare. And may all be persuaded that what I say is an oracle of truth itself; and those who adore stones with you, I have delivered, bound to perpetual Tartarus, to eternal punishment in it."

[7] Julius, having heard these things, being moved beyond what can be said,

ordered him to be stripped of his clothing and cast into the boiling waters. And as he was being cast in, he prayed: "Lord Jesus Christ, And thence being led out safe he is beheaded be present to me your servant." And drops escaping from the baths by inevitable destruction were scorching the soldiers standing around. But Saint Patricius himself, entering the bath as if into a refreshing place, having long lain in it unharmed, was ordered by the angry Proconsul to be led out by the soldiers and struck with the axe. Wherefore, with hands stretched to heaven, "God, King of all," he prayed, "O Lord, who by your own power hold together the visible and invisible creation together, hearer of those who invoke you in truth; who have established these baths for the salvation of the just but for the punishment of the wicked; stand by me going forth to meet death in the confession of your faith." When he had finished these words, with his knees placed on the ground, he was beheaded; and the Christians who were present, having attended to the burial of the holy Martyr, laid his remains in a public road. Saint Patricius was struck on the 19th day of the month of May, through the grace of Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

ON SAINTS PROBA THE VIRGIN MARTYR, AND GERMANA THE VIRGIN.

AT HENNIACUM IN BELGIUM NEAR DOUAI.

Proba, Virgin and Martyr, in Belgium (Saint) Germana, Virgin, in Belgium (Saint)

By G. H.

[1] Arnoldus Rayssius, in his Supplement to the Nativities of the Saints of Belgium, produces the notice of these Saints, from those things, he says, which George Coluenerius, Doctor and Professor of Sacred Theology and Chancellor of the University of Douai, kindly communicated, and from the Belgian History of Gazaeus; narrating thus the matter received under this preface:

[2] Their bodies "In Gaul, the nativity of Saints Proba, Virgin and Martyr, and Germana the Virgin. The bodies of these Saints, in the time of the French wars, were transferred from the village which is called Sale, situated between Guise and Laon, to the monastery of Saint Augustine at Henniacum, about the third mile from Douai, Translated to Henniacum in 1540 in the year 1540; by the gift and liberality of the illustrious hero Lord Adrian de Croy, Count of Roeux, Governor of Flanders and Artois. As appears from the ancient documents found with their bodies in the year 1603 of this century: in which was signified the time of the elevation made by Anselm, Bishop of Laon, whose tenor we shall append.

[3] [The body of Saint Proba elevated at Scalae in the territory of Laon in the year 1231] "The body of the most blessed Proba, Virgin and Martyr, elevated by Anselm of Laon in the year of the Lord 1231, in the month of September, was shown in the presence of the Most Reverend Father in Christ Lord Baldwin de Mol, Abbot of the monastery of Blessed Mary of Boheriis, Professor of Sacred Theology; the honorable man Lord Nicholas de Cervay, Bailiff of the forests of the Duchy of Guise; and the learned man Lord Anthony Despinay, Bachelor in civil law, Fiscal Procurator of the same Duchy; Lord Claude Fricquet, Squire; John de Bossu, Mayor of Scalae; and John de Queulx, William Guyo, Aldermen of Scalae. In the year of the Lord 1533, on the 18th of May. Signed below, Le Febre.

[4] And inspected in 1389 "Another inspection of the Virgins in the year 1389, with a crowd of illustrious men attending, was made: to which I will add another document sewn between the two bodies. On the third feria after Pentecost, in the year of the Lord 1389, the bodies of Saint Germana and Saint Proba were shown in the church of Scalae, in the presence of the Dean of Christianity of Guise, who was called Lord Philip Grumelli, Curate of Scalae, Lord Wiard de Humblemus, and many others; namely Lord Prior of Scalae, Master in faculty disp., and Master John de Gavet; and Lord Gribertus, Chaplain of the Leprosarium of Guise and Scalae; and many other trustworthy men.

[5] "Of their life the Religious of Henniacum know nothing, nor do they perform an office for them. Cult on September 5" Thus far Rayssius, who found the same in Hierogazophylacium Belgicum, p. 244. William Gazet in his Ecclesiastical History of Belgium describes the same in a summary on p. 166, and adds that Molanus mentions this Saint Proba in his Additions to Usuard on April 25 and September 5, who on the said September 5 has these words: "At Laon, of Saint Genebaldus, Bishop and Confessor, and of Saint Proba, Virgin": perhaps because on the said feast of Saint Genebaldus, first Bishop of Laon, the aforesaid showing had been made in the year 1231 in the month of September under Bishop Anselm. And especially on April 28 But on April 28, Molanus has these words: "At Laon, the translation of Saint Proba, Virgin." Canisius, Ferrarius, and with some verbal addition Saussaye, transcribed Molanus on both days. We have a Missal of the Church of Laon printed in 1506, in which on September 5 is prescribed a whole Office of Saint Genebaldus, and on April 28 of Saint Proba the Virgin, with Commemoration of Saint Vitalis the Martyr. Where in the title she is called Virgin and Martyr, the Introit of the Mass "I spoke of your testimonies"; and the Collect: "Hear us, O God our Savior, that as we rejoice in the feast of your Blessed Virgin Proba, etc." without the dignity of Martyr being added. Meanwhile we think that of one and the same Proba are to be understood the authors hitherto reported.

[6] Again Saussaye with repeated zeal in his Supplement to his Martyrology on this April 28 has these words: "On this very day at Herford in Westphalia Saint Proba the Virgin is celebrated, whose body thence translated to Gaul Was the body of Saint Proba formerly at Herford? rests at Laon." Following Saussaye, Gelenius in the Fasti of Agrippina writes thus: "Of Saint Proba the Virgin translated from Herford in Westphalia into Gaul at Laon." Whence Saussaye drew these things he does not indicate, nor do we attain it even by conjecture. Herford is a free Imperial city, joined to the County of Ravensberg; to which the body of Saint Pusinna the Virgin was brought from Gaul in the 9th century of Christ, as is clear from the Life and Acts of the Translation elucidated on April 23.