ON STS. EPIPHANIUS AND ISIDORE, MARTYRS,
AT BESANÇON IN GAUL.
A Collection concerning their cult.
Epiphanius, Martyr, at Besançon (St.)
Isidore, Martyr, at Besançon (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.
Both these Saints are found noted on this day in our ancient indexes, Their names and cult are certain; with Ferrarius alone as guarantor, who in his general Catalogue wrote thus on this day: At Besançon, of Sts. Epiphanius and Isidorum (he meant to say Isidore), martyrs. And he adduces the Kalendar of the church of Besançon, where their bodies are kept. There could have been added Saussay in the supplement to his Gallican Martyrology, page 1154, where also at this day he handed down a good deal about them, in these words: At Besançon, the reception of the bodies of blessed Epiphanius and Isidore, martyrs, which long ago were sent by Theodosius the younger to that city, with some bones of the holy Innocents, and preserved there, and at last bishop Vitalis placed them in a silver casket for a richer honor. Add to these what is found in John James Chifflet in his Besançon, part 2, page 114, that those sacred bodies arrived there under bishop Celidonius about the year 444; and further that they were more becomingly adorned by Vitalis in the year 1320, and you will have whatever concerning those holy men Epiphanius and Isidore can here safely be reported by us; namely that two sacred bodies distinguished by the names already mentioned are venerated at Besançon, as is also given to be understood from the ancient Breviaries, both Manuscript and printed.
[2] If anyone should further ask of me whether those Saints were truly so called, all the rest unknown. or whether the names are perhaps adventitious; in what part of the East, or in what century they lived; what they suffered, and under what tyrant, and whether together or separately; what they did in their whole life; whether they were laymen or clerics, monks or soldiers; and whatever finally concerning their age or deeds, virtues or miracles is wont to be diligently investigated by us; I will confess frankly and candidly that I have thus far sought in vain for anything that could bring even a whit of light to all these questions. What the praised Chifflet hands down concerning the translation of a great sacred treasure under bishop Celidonius pertains much more to the arm of St. Stephen and other relics than to today's Saints, as will be shown by the hymn which we are about to give from him, rather than by a most verbose Legend, distributed into various lessons, and by Father Peter Francis
Chifflet, sent hither; out of which, besides commonplaces predicable of all Saints, and idle etymologies, you would hammer out nothing conducive to our purpose which the History of Besançon does not better explain in its account of Vitalis II, the LXIXth bishop, page 283. Here is the whole text itself:
[3] Vitalis, a Basque by nation, a man of great authority as well as prudence in the conduct of affairs, successor to Hugh, Concerning the elevation or revelation in the year 1320 most honorably placed the sacred bones of Sts. Epiphanius and Isidore, once sent to Besançon by Theodosius the Younger, together with some bones of the holy Innocents, in a silver casket, well weighty and skillfully wrought, which Joanna queen of France, daughter of the Count of Burgundy, sent as a gift — from the legendary of St. John, the IV of August, to which day the office of Sts. Epiphanius and Isidore is transferred, although their sacred bones were received at Besançon on the III of August, as we noted above in the account of Celedonius. But we think they were laid in that casket by archbishop Vitalis on the V of the Nones of October; on which day it is noted in the Martyrology of St. John: "The revelation of Sts. Epiphanius and Isidore in the mother church of St. John the Evangelist." Everywhere in the Martyrologies of Besançon you may find REVELATION for RELEVATION i.e., raising up: is it an error of the copyists? or is even the raising up of holy bones a certain revelation and manifestation of them, when they are transferred from a more obscure place to a more adorned one?
[4] But that the Historian of Besançon here seems to play upon "relevation" and "revelation" the testimonies do not agree: is not without some difficulty of its own, and two different things seem to be indicated, which were done on different days, as at least the two announcements of the same Martyrology of the church of St. John the Evangelist hint, which Father Peter Francis once sent hither, and of which the former, on this day, that is, the Day before the Nones of August, runs thus: At Besançon, the finding of the holy martyrs Epiphanius and Isidore, in the church of St. John the Evangelist, whose bodies are read to have been sent by the emperor Theodosius to the aforesaid city. The latter reads, not on the V of the Nones of October, but on the V of the Ides of November, in these express terms: The raising up of Sts. Epiphanius and Isidore, in the mother church of St. John the Evangelist. One or the other of the Chifflets must here have read badly; whether John James or Peter Francis, it is not easy for me to decide. The knot that remains seems able to be conveniently untied, if those sacred bodies of Sts. Epiphanius and Isidore be said to have been found by Vitalis II on this day, the IV of August, but raised up or exalted on the day IX of November.
[5] The matter seems to be explained in the Gallia Christiana. The Sainte-Marthe brothers in the Gallia Christiana explain the matter quite conveniently, when they so join both the finding and the raising up that it may be conveniently understood in what respect it ought to be called a finding or revelation, and in what respect a raising up or exaltation. Thus it is read there, which it is a wonder is not found in the most recent edition: Thus, I say, it is read there: Vitalis, a Basque by nation, sprung of a noble lineage, presided for twenty-two years. Mention is made of him in an old parchment of St. Paul's of 1312; and in his presence, in 1319, in the 2nd Indiction, on the day XV of September, there were unexpectedly found by a certain mason the relics of the holy Innocents and of the holy martyrs Epiphanius and Isidore, in a certain altar in the confession beneath the high altar of the basilica of St. John. Which relics were in the following year laid in a precious silver casket, sent as a gift by Joanna, queen of the Franks, daughter of Otto count of Burgundy. Hence it is plain that all those sacred relics were found in the year 1319, but that the silver shrine in which they were honorably enclosed came in the next following year 1320, so that the finding and revelation and likewise the raising up can be understood; whatever the appointed days of the festivals may seem to have been, selected at pleasure. Here now is the hymn of which we made mention above.
[6] Let us praise Epiphanius, Let us give pure proclamation, Let our Choir strike up a melody Whose sweetness may touch the heavens: To Isidore, for a like cause, Praise must be given by the choir, Not with a funeral tragedy But with a festive melody.
These men, devoutly all your own, O Christ, have died for you. This indeed is shown to be The fullest love, When for the beloved a soul Is laid down in martyrdom.
So must be sung the excellent Martyrdom of Stephen; The forerunner of Christ's soldiers Has a loftier merit: The broad bone of his arm Adorns the estate of Besançon.
Let us magnify the Virgin, Whose comb we possess, Her hair, and the girdle of her Son, The crown of her joy; and in a hymn. She surpasses the order of things, Who gave us God made man.
The relics of the Innocents Are an increase of gladness; These, baptized in their blood, Are blessed without end.
These aforesaid things were given together To the inhabitants of Chrysopolis By the pious Theodosius.
O how good was the gift, How great is this present church, Having such jewels: May the holiness of those Whose solemnity is here aid us, That we may obtain grace; In which are true riches And true delights, Heights of concord, And everlasting praises. Amen.