ON STS. PORCARIUS THE ABBOT,
AND FIVE HUNDRED MONKS, MARTYRS OF LÉRINS.
About the year DCCXXX.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Porcarius, Abbot and Martyr (S.)
Five hundred monks of Lérins. BHL Number: 6901
BY THE AUTHOR J. P.
§ I. A notice of the monastery of Lérins; the cult of the Martyrs, a metrical hymn, the time of the martyrdom; St. Porcarius wrongly confounded with another.
Lerina, which is also called Lerinus or Lerinum, a most well-known island in the Mediterranean sea where it washes the Province of Gaul, The monastery of Lérins, once most flourishing, now almost reduced to solitude. once a most famous training-ground of the ascetic life, and a fruitful nurse of great men, trained in monastic disciplines this excellent and numerous band of the present Martyrs, and then, crowned with the illustrious laurel of the contest for the glory of Christ, transferred them to heaven. It would be long to bring hither the praises of the monastery founded there by St. Honoratus, bishop of Arles; concerning which may be seen Vincenzo Barrali Salerno in his Chronology of the saints and other illustrious men and abbots of that same sacred island of Lérins; Sainte-Marthe, volume 4 of Gallia Christiana, from page 559; and Denis de Sainte-Marthe in the latest edition of Gallia Christiana, volume 3, column [ ]; in whom the curious reader will find many more things pertaining to that most flourishing ascetery. But to the island, out of reverence for its chief inhabitant Honoratus of whom I was speaking, the name of St. Honoratus was commonly given (l'isle de saint Honoré de Lérins): concerning which Saint and his island treatment was made in volume II of January, page 15. Further — such is the vicissitude of human affairs — the present state of this monastery, on the testimony of Denis de Sainte-Marthe, column 1191, is so pitiable that besides a very aged Regular abbot only five monks dwell there, of whom one has reached the LXX year of his age, another the LXIII, three others about the thirtieth. But that it was first subject to Cluny, then to the abbey of St. Victor of Marseilles, and at length passed to the Cassinese congregation, you will find in the same place. Let it suffice to have noted these things briefly about it to our purpose: to which we subjoin the following concerning the public cult of our Martyrs.
[2] Baronius in his Notes on the Roman Martyrology says at this day, the XII of August: The cult of the Martyrs, both from elsewhere, In the Life of St. Honoratus, book 3, chapters 20 and 24, these things are found: The history of the passion of these, namely of Porcarius and his Companions, is publicly read in the holy Church of God on their birthday, which is kept famous on the day before the Ides of August. But what next follows there — There is treatment of the same also in the Life of St. Cæsarius, bishop of Arles, which Surius recites, volume 4, at the day XXVII of August: for Porcarius the abbot imbued St. Cæsarius with monastic disciplines — is far removed from the truth, because they confound two Porcarii, as will afterward be said. Barrali, praised above, in the Description of the island of Lérins which he prefixes to his work, thus testifies concerning the place there sacred to them: Around the circuit of the island are paved ways for the solace of pilgrims visiting the oratories, among which is placed one of St. Porcarius the abbot, and of the five hundred and more monk Martyrs, who consecrated this island by shedding their own blood. And indeed that the yearly memory of the Martyrs was held in the highest esteem among posterity this clause seems to persuade, which is noted at the end of their Acts in these words: Let us therefore also today, most beloved, venerate these Martyrs our fathers, who by fastings, vigils, and prayers, and by the saving sacrifice, exalted and sanctified the sacred island .. and, following the Lord with holy works, made it famous throughout the whole world where the Christian religion is practiced: let us celebrate this day with pure heart in hymns and voices of gladness, etc. Besides these, I have in hand a very brief compendium of the sacred contest of the Athletes, which is divided into eight lessons, and was sent by Father Chifflet. Perhaps those lessons were in use somewhere in the diocese of Lyons; because in them he is said to have come to the place which is called Mont-Verdun,
in the country of Forez, and of the diocese of Lyons; and to have built a cell in that very place; where he was slain by the pagans, and afterward buried there. But whether this is true we shall inquire below.
[3] and also from the sacred Calendars. To these things which have been set forth concerning the public veneration of our Champions, add the sacred Calendars. Greven at the day XII of August records them thus: On the same day, of Porcarius, abbot of the monastery of Lérins and martyr, with his Companions, five hundred monks, crowned for the truth of the faith under Geiseric king of the Vandals. But that it is said to have happened under Geiseric will be corrected in another place below. Molanus in his Usuardine Martyrology published in the year 1573 added these words: On the same day, of Porcarius, abbot of the monastery of Lérins, and martyr; and in his Annotations he adds, with five hundred monks, under Genseric king of the Vandals. Menard and Bucelinus in their sacred records of the Order of St. Benedict also mark them; not to mention Saussay and the Paris Martyrology published in the year 1727. Tamayo, in the manner otherwise usual with him, here again playing the fool, wove into his Spanish Martyrology at this day, the XII of August, these words: In the monastery of Lérins, of St. Pontius Porcarius, a Spanish abbot, who with others, etc. Then on page 461 he is said to have been sprung from the most noble family of the Porcelli at Murcia, a most ancient city. But this most well-known fabulist, with his sordid pottery, we send far from here, as being worthy rather of laughter than of refutation. And what of this, that the memory of our holy Athletes is marked to be read yearly in the Roman Martyrology? For today there stands there this announcement concerning them: On the same day, of the holy martyrs Porcarius, abbot of the monastery of Lérins, and of five hundred monks, who, slain by the barbarians for the Catholic faith, were crowned with martyrdom.
[4] But now it will not, as I think, be foreign to our purpose, A sacred hymn is brought forward if, their public cult having now been abundantly declared, we sing a sacred poem which Barrali in his Chronology, part 1, page 228, published under this title: Hymns in praise of the martyrdom of St. Porcarius the abbot and his Companions, by the Reverend lord Maximus of Collomartium, a monk of Lérins. It is composed in Sapphic meter, and runs thus, being here corrected of some errors:
Let hymns resound; the festal light flashes, Glowing red, on which are celebrated those witnesses Who consecrated this island With their own blood poured out.
Behold the light on which it is fitting That the brethren rejoice; hence is celebrated the feast Of the Martyrs who dedicated the land as sacred With their own blood.
Already the barbarian enemy, carried over by a numerous fleet From the south, had laid waste all the coasts of the sea, Surpassing tigers In much ferocity.
One place only remained To be violated by the profane sword, Keeping five hundred Monks, Lights of the world.
Behold, flying from highest heaven, An angel said: Hail, venerable Porcarius; I come bearing you tidings From above.
Call together your household, and tell them in brief words That, wishing to be made martyrs of Christ, They prepare themselves to endure a dread death In the name of Jesus.
Then the holy legion, glad at the Father's report, Answers that it is ready willingly to bear Every kind of death, if only Christ be the reward.
Steadfast as an unmoved column They await the destruction to come in a short space Of time, and rejoice to become Victims of Christ.
Behold, the tyrant, gnashing, enters the island. A noise arises: the impious throng, Coming forth from their ships, profanes the holy ground With bloodstained feet.
They run to meet them; and on bended knees, Their hands drawn back in the sign of the cross, They await the strokes of the smiting sword With steadfast breast.
As a wolf in the middle of the night, secretly Entering the sheepfold, rages upon the flock: So against these the barbarian band Shrieks, rages, and revels.
From the head of one the sword hangs; through the breast Of another the iron, violently driven, goes; As a sow soaked with mire, so these Rejoice in blood.
The body lies unburied on the ground; The spirit seeks heaven by the hands Of angels, there to be joined to them In a perpetual seat.
Let us therefore as suppliants entreat these, that By their chaste prayers they may mightily obtain for us To overcome the flesh and the world, and also The strokes of the demon.
With praises let us celebrate the kindly Father, And his Offspring, and likewise the Holy Spirit, who, refreshing us, may endow us With a heavenly gift. Amen.
[5] That the martyrdom happened in the VIII century, and that it must not be deferred beyond that interval of time which is contained between the years 729 and 730 or 739 of the vulgar era, Authors disagree in determining the year of the martyrdom; is agreed among the authors, yet in such a way that different ones assign a different year to the event. In the historical narrative of the martyrdom, which we are about to give after this Commentary, these words are read: And these holy Martyrs suffered about the year of the Lord seven hundred and thirty, on the day before the Nones of August. You see here, reader, that by the word "about" a certain latitude of time is signified; but if we take pains to find something more determinate from elsewhere, the result will not answer to the labor, as will become clear from what follows. For since various irruptions of the Saracens into those tracts of Gaul of which we here treat occurred; and since the profanation of the island of Lérins and the butchery of our Martyrs had to be determined from one of them, and since it does not seem sufficiently ascertained to which of them above all the tragedy of the said barbarians among the people of Lérins should be assigned; hence it comes about that men go off into different notations of years, and that there are almost as many opinions in marking the year of that event as there are heads of writers. For what? Barrali from page 225, from Aimoin, On the Deeds of the Franks, book 4, chapters 55 and 57, and also from Baronius, volume 9 of the Annals, at the years 725, 729, and 738, various irruptions of the barbarians into Gaul being reported, says at page 227: From these things adduced, and from what is found below in St. Cæsarius archbishop of Arles, at the XXVII of August, from Baronius, concerning the breaking open and restoration of his sepulcher by the wicked and savage Saracens, it will not be unfitting to affirm that within the spaces of these times, namely from the year of the Lord seven hundred and twenty-nine or thirty, or at most seven hundred and thirty-eight, St. Porcarius abbot of Lérins and his five hundred Companions were endowed with the victorious palm of martyrdom, and the monastery of Lérins was leveled with the ground at the same time when all Narbonese Gaul succumbed to the flame and sword and fury of the nefarious nation of the Ishmaelites.
[6] [from which it is plain that it cannot be fixed to a certain year, but happened about 730.] Honoré Bouche in the Chronological History of Provence, volume 1, book 5, refers this mournful scene to the year 730; Le Cointe in the Ecclesiastical Annals of the Franks, volume 5, number 14, to the year 739; Mabillon in the Benedictine Annals, volume 2, to the year 732; but in the Acts of the Saints of the Order of St. Benedict, century 3, part 1, to the year 731, and in Castellanus in his universal Martyrology at the day XII of August; which year Longueval also marks in the History of the Gallican Church, volume 4, page 250: but in the Paris Martyrology most recently published there is set down 732 or 739. Finally Pagi in the Baronian Criticism at the year 729, number 4, against Le Cointe judges that the overthrow of the monastery of Lérins far more probably belongs to that year; but it were to be wished that, in so various a dissension of writers, he had subjoined some reason by which he might have persuaded us that what he calls far more probable is such. We meanwhile, so long as in a matter so obscure and uncertain the authors do not hold out to us a clearer light by force of which we may fix the landing of the Saracens on the island of Lérins, and the barbarity exercised on the Ascetics there, to one certain year out of the several disputed above — we, I say, judging that we must stand by the Acts, place the time of the martyrdom with them about the year of the Lord seven hundred and thirty.
[7] From what has been said it follows that they wander as far as possible from the true reckoning of time, first, who place this event under Genseric king of the Vandals; That our Porcarius was unskillfully confounded with another, secondly, who make St. Cæsarius, prelate of Arles, the disciple of our St. Porcarius, confounding the one with the other by a gross hallucination. Menard, cited above, refuting both these hallucinations, says in his observations, page 663: There are not wanting those who say that this slaughter of the holy Monks was carried out by Genseric king of the Vandals, and that St. Porcarius lived long before the times of Charles Martel; since he was the instructor and abbot of St. Cæsarius archbishop of Arles, as is plain from Cyprian in the Life of that same holy Cæsarius. To whom I think satisfaction must be given thus. First, it is certain that Genseric never laid waste Gaul, but only Africa and Italy. Secondly, that it is not absurd that there were two Porcarii, abbots of Lérins at different times, especially since that Porcarius who was the instructor of St. Cæsarius is called martyr neither by Cyprian nor by the author of the Life of St. Siffredus bishop of Carpentras, where mention is made of him: and it is likewise certain that he could not have been slain by Genseric king of the Vandals himself, whom he survived. For Genseric himself died in the year four hundred and seventy-six or seven, when St. Porcarius the teacher of St. Cæsarius was still living, who was still living when Cæsarius was advanced to the priesthood, and who succeeded St. Faustus in the government of the abbey about the year four hundred and seventy-two, and was abbot of Lérins many more years than four; as may easily be gathered from the Life of St. Cæsarius.
[8] Le Cointe at the year 739, number 14, says: is shown. In the catalogue of the abbots of Lérins distinguish two Porcarii: one, who admitted St. Cæsarius, afterward bishop of Arles, into the fellowship of the monks, as was said in volume 1 (at the year 536, number 169); the other, who was contemporary with Charles Martel. And indeed in Gallia Christiana most recently published, volume 3, column [ ], among the abbots of Lérins Porcarius I is set down as the sixth; and then, at column [ ], among the same abbots there occurs as the twenty-second St. Porcarius II. These two abbots of the same name Mabillon also acknowledges, Acts of the Benedictines, century 3, part 1, page 526. Barrali too may be seen in the Chronology of Lérins, part 1, pages 225 and 230. Care must therefore be taken lest those two Porcarii of the same name be melted into one, the reckoning of the times, which is different for each, being most unskillfully confounded. For the rest, of St. Cæsarius of Arles treatment must be made, God favoring, at the day XXVII of August, on which he is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology.
§ II. Whether the Martyr of the same name who is venerated among the people of Mont-Verdun is the same as or different from our St. Porcarius; the Acts of ours and their compendium; a difficulty in the same weighed.
From what is related of St. Porcarius of Mont-Verdun, Although according to what the Acts and the Martyrologies alleged above report, St. Porcarius is separated from his Monk martyrs neither by the arena of the contest, nor by the time of the passion, nor by the day of public veneration, there are nevertheless those who would have it that the holy Abbot betook himself elsewhere, and, his Companions having been slain before, was afterward crowned there with the laurel of martyrdom. And Le Cointe indeed at the year 732, number 30, here distinguishes two Porcarii. For in the same place
treating of the Saint of the same name who is venerated at Mont-Verdun in the tract of Forez, among certain documents on the history of that same country of Forez which the said author affirms came into his hands, collected by Jean de la Mure, he narrates the Life and martyrdom of that St. Porcarius, which agree with our manuscript lessons, of which I made mention above at number 2. These few things therefore I cull thence to our purpose: But the ministers of Satan came, and, that he might grieve the more, before blessed Porcarius they cut the throats of the Athletes of Christ, holy Magnus and the others, with their swords .. The said crime being accomplished, they deprived St. Porcarius of his eyes. But St. Porcarius, reckoning this to himself as a gift of glory, was made stronger in the love of God, and resolved to depart from that country and to seek out secret woods; and he came to the place which is called Mont-Verdun in the country of Forez, of the diocese of Lyons, and in that very place built a cell, teaching by word and example the Christians who came to him; but the most impious pagans came, and, entering his cell, rage against the man of God, and pierce his throat with a lance: and he, calling upon the Lord and fortifying himself with the sign of the cross, sent forth his holy spirit; and there he was buried; by whose intercession the divine majesty works many miracles there.
[10] These things being there set forth, Le Cointe admits two Porcarii; Le Cointe continues: In this text there are many things which pertain to Porcarius the abbot of Lérins .. Distinguish therefore two Porcarii, martyrs: one, who was slain by the Saracens at Mont-Verdun in this year (732), when they were devastating the diocese of Lyons with fire and sword; the other, who after seven years was destroyed at the island of Lérins by the same enemies of the Christian name, when they were laying waste the maritime coast of Gaul from the Rhone to the Var. This distinction will become clearer also from what we shall say concerning Porcarius, abbot of Lérins and martyr, at the year of Christ seven hundred and thirty-nine. At Mont-Verdun, together with St. Porcarius of whom we now treat, St. Magnus also is venerated; and there the relics of both are kept, and a prayer common to both is recited, as these words show: By the intercession of your blessed martyrs Magnus (S. Grand) and Porcarius (Procaire *). They would have Magnus placed before Porcarius in this prayer because he consummated his martyrdom first. The patron of the church of Mont-Verdun today is St. Porcarius; formerly the patron was the prince of the Apostles, as at the church of Lérins; and the inhabitants of Mont-Verdun do not omit this observation, though it may seem to make little for them, in order to confirm that the present patron of their church was once abbot of Lérins.
[11] but others more probably do not distinguish them, Saussay in the Supplement to his Gallican Martyrology at the day XIX of August does not distinguish the Martyr of Mont-Verdun from the one of Lérins, when he there has these words: At Mont-Verdun in Forez near Lyons, the passion of St. Porcarius, abbot of Lérins, and of his Companions, whose birthday is celebrated at Lérins on the day XII of this month. But although I should not dare to reprehend that Martyrologist for not doubling St. Porcarius, I should nevertheless wish the reader to observe in passing that that announcement has something inelegant about it, as being contrary to the Acts of St. Porcarius and his Companions, since it ascribes their passion to the people of Forez, but the celebration of their birthday to those of Lérins. Mabillon, Acts of the Benedictines, century 3, part 1, page 526, after he had treated of the sacred contest and burial of our present Martyrs, subjoins the following: The inhabitants of Mont-Verdun, which is a town in the diocese of Lyons in the province of the Segusiani, report as received by tradition that Porcarius the abbot, being withdrawn from slaughter, betook himself from Lérins to Mont-Verdun; and that there, being intercepted by the Saracens coming thither a little after, he perished pierced by a lance on the XIV of the Calends of August: on which day he is there honorably venerated in his own church, which is today adorned with the title of a priory, and depends on La Chaise-Dieu, a famous monastery of the diocese of Clermont among the Arverni. But I should more probably believe that St. Porcarius fell at Lérins, and that his relics were afterward translated to Mont-Verdun.
[12] Let us here plant our foot a little, and weigh what in this controversy seems to us should be determined. and for what reason. First, to that tradition of the people of Mont-Verdun, such as it is, insofar as it would have our holy Abbot withdrawn from slaughter and departed from Lérins to Mont-Verdun, and there, after his companion Martyrs had been slain at Lérins, to have consummated the course of his sacred triumph, we can by no means assent, because the Acts cry out against it; to which we defer more than to that tradition, such as it is: for so long as it is not proved from suitable documents, and indeed of such authority as to weaken the credit of the Acts, it is to us nothing but an ownerless and merely popular tradition. Secondly, if some other Porcarius obtained martyrdom among the people of Mont-Verdun (which nevertheless it rests with them to prove from suitable testimonies), then our suspicion is that the Martyrdom of the present Porcarius was summarily applied to that other of the same name. For indeed the document cited at the beginning of this paragraph, concerning which Le Cointe observed that many things are contained in it which pertain to Porcarius abbot of Lérins, thus begins: St. Porcarius the monk was shepherd and abbot of five hundred monks in the island of Lérins. I pass over the rest. Thirdly, the conjecture is not displeasing that St. Porcarius, abbot of Lérins, is venerated among the people of Mont-Verdun, not because he was slain there, but because his relics perhaps afterward came thither.
[13] The Passion of St. Porcarius and his Companions we have in a manuscript Their Acts; which is noted as received from the parchment manuscript codex of lord Giovanni Bisaiga, Canon of Sts. Celsus and Julian in Rome, prefect of the Vatican archive. It begins: At that time indeed the holy abbot Porcarius presided over the monastery of Lérins, a man praiseworthy in all things. The narrative of the martyrdom is like the Surian one, which is read in him at the day XII of August, and is noted as drawn from most faithful and very ancient manuscripts of the monastery of Lérins, as also in Barrali, page 220, where it is exhibited. Baronius in his notes on the Roman Martyrology at this day says: The martyrdom of this man and of his companions is read in a Commentary which is circulated under the name of Faustus; Margarin recites it in volume 9 of his Library; but it is recognized as the work of some other author rather than of Faustus. In the second edition of the Library of the Fathers, which Margarin de la Bigne published, volume 7, column [ ], there is a compendium of the Martyrdom without the author's name; which was also long since inserted into our Work at the day XI of May, volume 2 of that month, page 669, and stands after the Prologue of the Life of St. Maiolus, abbot of Cluny, who flourished in the X century, by the contemporary authors Syrus and Aldebald, as you will find in the same place. Mabillon, Acts of the Benedictines, century V, subjoins it to the Life of the praised abbot in an appendix, page 810, from Aldebald the monk, who augmented Syrus's work with verses. But because it is brief and ancient, and by its authority those things are confirmed which are reported in Surius, therefore it is not irksome to insert here the above-said compendium from Mabillon's edition. Thus therefore it runs:
[14] Therefore in the parts of Gaul, when for weighty causes the Lord had determined that the race of men should be afflicted by the savagery of the pagans, of these, the army of the nefarious nation of the Saracens, going forth from the sheath of its dwelling, and traversing all the maritime places beyond and on this side, and in traversing destroying them, came into Provence for the sake of assailing the Christian name and of subjecting it to their own dominion: whose inhabitants God by a hidden judgment gave over to be smitten by its sword. Which nation, extending far and wide the cruelty of its slaughter, so reduced almost the whole region to a solitude that places formerly desirable seemed turned into the waste of a desert. Whence, among its other crimes, laying waste the island of Lérins, flourishing in religion, it made it uninhabitable in all respects: slaying with the sword the servants of God, who there among the rest and above the rest held the first place in holiness and in vigils, offering themselves up a thousand times, nearly five hundred and more. For it is related (which I by no means think should be passed over) that before the Saracen fleet arrived there, an angel of the Lord, appearing in a vision to St. Porcarius the abbot, clearly foretold both the time and the day and the hour, and that a certain destruction hung over all at the dawning of the seventh day from then. Wherefore he admonishes them with mature counsel to choose one of two things: either to consult for flight, or without delay to seize the palm of martyrdom: that the Lord had placed in their judgment and power this gift, so good, so best, and so excellent — whether they would or would not acquire by a brief exchange of blood this immortal gain. And so, when morning came, blessed Porcarius, the Brethren being called together, relates all that he had seen and heard. Of whom some were afraid, some did not believe, but all were troubled by the unlooked-for matter and by the doubtful peril.
[15] is here given, While they thus differed among themselves in various ways, the expected day had come, divided only by the interval of night. And now, the watch drawing on, in the clear light of morning, directing their gaze far off from the watchtowers, they see the hostile column approaching, with sails spread, the front made even, the wings drawn out obliquely, and the whole sea gliding on with their fleets. Straightway their minds were troubled and shaken from their purpose. And although they desired to escape the evil, no place of flight lay open anywhere: for blessed Porcarius, foreseeing this too by the spirit, had secretly led all the ships far away from the harbor, forbidding the sailors to return in any way within the time appointed to them. Therefore, when he had seen the Athletes of God wearied by the immense weight of the contest, that most valiant hero groaned at so sad a wrong, seeing his companions led off on the right wing, and an unconquered band perishing without slaughter. Then, setting up the standard of the holy cross, which as a good leader he had been wont to bear in the front rank, its point fixed in the ground, he restores their spirits with biting words. O, he said, most valiant soldiers! O most well-equipped warriors of the divine battle! Whither do you rush? To whom do you give your necks? What madness drives your maddened minds with darkness? Stand, I pray, stand; and do not, holding the plow-handle in your hand, wish to look back. For shame! we are overcome, alas, sluggish, and our power does not put forth its wonted strength. Nay rather, O most beloved youth, I exhort and admonish you to raise up your slothful spirits, lest they overtake us as unprepared. Let us at once, of our own accord hastening, submit our devoted souls to a most precious passion. By experience you shall now know how great a fear comes to them from our constancy, how great a glory to us.
[16] a compendium, Such things the Elder pleaded, calling each by name; and at the same time displaying by the dignity of his brow the keenness which he bore in his heart. At which words their courage grew warm: and, fear being gradually driven off, their lukewarm hearts grew moist, suffused with the sudden dew of the Holy Spirit: their faces return clear, as though you should see a purple light growing bright with a cloudless day. The holy bands felt above them the countenance of the Thunderer, and rejoice, glad that Christ opens to his conquerors the citadels of heaven and to his servants the paternal deep. And so, eager and secure of victory, they go forth from the camp with the gates open, all adorned, all clothed in white, as immaculate and undefiled lambs of Jesus Christ, foreknown before the foundation of the world. O with what joy did that angelic company then dance, meeting so great throngs of blessed Martyrs! To none is it doubtful that all the heavenly Jerusalem then leapt up with unspeakable gladness, then was made joyful with inestimable love, and then with all congratulation came forth to meet them, and shone round about them with a mighty light, and even to the throne,
prepared for them of old even before the foundation of the world, led them with praises and hymns.
[17] If anyone shall compare this compendium of the martyrdom with the Acts presently to be given, it differs greatly from them. he will see that these differ much from it; whence a question may arise, whether in both documents the same Martyrs of ours are treated of, or whether on the contrary a twofold band must be admitted, of whom one was slain in the eighth century, the other in the tenth. This Porcarius, says Mabillon at page 810 cited, I think is no other than he whom we said suffered in the VII century, at the year DCCXXXI. But our Henschen, volume 2 of May, page 673, judges that this cannot stand with this account, according to which they seem to have been slain about the year CMXC, deferring a more accurate discussion of them elsewhere. But the same Mabillon, from those things which follow immediately after the compendium adduced — This slaughter therefore being accomplished, and a devastation likewise following, and MANY COURSES OF YEARS FLOWING BY, Maiolus of venerable life was begotten of most splendid parents of the Avennici — rightly observes at page 811 that from this too it is plain that this inroad of the Saracens into Provence seemed ancient to Adalbald, and therefore is not different from that which happened in the VIII century, as one which preceded the birth of Maiolus by many years. Thus therefore those things cohere neatly and agree with the same Martyrs, being related by the writer not as though they happened in the time of St. Maiolus, but as recalled from further back on his occasion, and contracted into a synopsis in a style savoring of poetry.
Annotata* perhaps: Porcaire
THE MARTYRDOM
By an anonymous author,
from what was published in Surius at the day XII of August.
Porcarius, Abbot and Martyr (S.)
Five hundred monks of Lérins. BHL Number: 6899
By an Anonymous author.
The barbarians dreadfully laying waste Gaul, In the time of Charles, who, as is found in the Chronicles, on account of the victories which he had won was called Martel a, when, the filth of sins requiring it, the Lord had determined that the human race should be afflicted by the savagery of the pagans, in order that he might recall some, terrified by fear of punishment, and others by horror, from their errors, the army of the nefarious nation of the Agarenes b, going forth from the places of its dwelling as from fish-ponds, came into the parts of Gaul. Which most cruel nation indeed, all humanity being set aside, ranges everywhere on earth, destroying by traversing all the maritime places beyond and on this side, and at length came to the province of Narbonne; where, laying all things waste, it purposed to subject it to its own rule, the name of Christ being abolished: but the Christians, because they were girt by the sea and the Alps, being terrified, their cities and towns being forsaken (pitiable to see!), fled to the mountains, that they might be able to escape the hands of the barbarians. And when the barbarous nation extended far and wide the cruelty of its slaughter, it so reduced almost the whole region to a solitude that places formerly desirable seemed turned into the waste of a desert, leveling even most noble cities with the earth and the ground, laying waste fortresses, overthrowing towns, and, overturning the sheepfolds of the Lord, it made no small slaughters of Christians. For the Christian leaders of the frontier and most noble men powerful in arms, wishing to resist their ferocity, all fell beneath the Saracen sword.
[2] St. Porcarius is forewarned by an angel of the impending disaster; And when now almost no place remained on land or on sea which the madness of those nefarious men had not laid waste, they hasten to invade the holy island of Lérins: for there was in that island, from times far back, a house of Religion, which, containing a very great swarm of monks, shone round about beyond the others spread far and wide in all holiness and most famous repute. For at that time there presided over the monastery of Lérins a man praiseworthy in all things, the holy abbot Porcarius, who instructed that holy congregation in the divine work by words and formed it by examples; which congregation profited so greatly in holiness under the blessed Man's discipline that all the provinces of Gaul, the clerics demanded a bishop, the monks an abbot for themselves, from the island of Lérins. When therefore the raging nation of the Agarenes had laid waste the whole Province, and very many had been slain for the name of Christ, an angel of the Lord, coming ten days beforehand, appeared in sleep to St. Porcarius, saying: Rise quickly, and hide the venerable relics which the Lord decreed should be kept in this sacred island for many ages. For it is to come to pass that this place shall be violated by the wild barbarians, and shall be consecrated with the blood of the monks who sanctified it by their prayers, vigils, abstinences, and the sacrosanct saving Sacrifice. Strengthen therefore and confirm your brethren, lest, being terrified, they fail from the faith and lose the eternal life which is prepared for those who lawfully contend even unto death for the confession of his name. But blessed Porcarius, awaking, saw a bright and shining flame of fire ascending even to heaven; from which, considering that the vision which he had seen was true, filled with joy, prostrating himself before the altar of blessed Peter the Apostle, protector of the inhabitants of Lérins, with prayers and tears he implored his patronage, that he would deign to succor his company, and that he might not be cheated of his trusted patronage and promise. And having said this, he fell to the ground.
[3] [he teaches his people of the impending martyrdom, and tests them; but sends some away into Italy.] And so the monks, seeing the Man of God set in bitterness and weeping, raise him up as he lay prostrate, and inquire the cause of so great a grief. But St. Porcarius, a Mass of the Holy Spirit having been most devoutly celebrated, the brethren being called together in chapter, said: I announce to you, most beloved, everlasting joy: this island indeed God has chosen as a special possession, which he sanctified, and propagated with a chosen offshoot, cultivated and protected, and from the true vine rooted there he has extended abundant branches throughout the world, and, its tents being multiplied, has made its cords longer than those of other monasteries. But now, like a kindly householder visiting his vineyard which he wonderfully planted, he calls his laborers, that they may wash their robes in his blood, being girded to minister, that he may make them sit down at the nuptials of the Lamb the bridegroom. When he had uttered these things, presently a bright cloud appeared over all who were present and heard, and each one heard from the cloud a clear voice saying: Come, you blessed, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning. And so, the brethren standing by, blessed Porcarius said to them: Men, brethren, and blessed fathers, the gentle Lord Jesus Christ, who out of his mercy deigned to suffer for us, freely receiving the service, the purity, and the confession which you have offered him for long times, that he may bless you with a threefold gift, and that, undefiled, you may freely follow the Lamb without spot, immolated for our crimes, invites you to his unfading glory through the palm of martyrdom. Do not therefore fear, but rather let your hearts be strengthened in the Lord to undergo martyrdom, that you may be able to come to eternal blessedness, there to abide without end. For after ten days the enemies of the Christian faith will surround us, who, as you have heard, have slain very many innocent people here and there. Therefore shake off from your hearts the defilements of the flesh, that you may offer yourselves undefiled to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then indeed each began to weep for joy, aspiring most fervently to martyrdom; to whom St. Porcarius says: Let us hide the venerable relics, lest they be touched by the sacrilegious. Which when it had been done, he said to them again: There are among us, as you are not ignorant, sixteen boys and thirty-six youths, who, if they be carried off by the profane, I fear may be seduced by blandishments or by terrors; whom I counsel that we send to Italy, that, this raging calamity ceasing, they may return and rebuild this sacred monastery of Lérins, and reverently venerate the hidden relics. Which when it had been approved by all, exhorting them again he said to them: Examine yourselves diligently, and if you shall know that any of you dreads martyrdom, let him depart with the boys, lest he fail at the last; for great indeed is the difference between flesh and soul.
[4] And when they had searched themselves diligently for two days, there were found five hundred and five The butchery of the holy Martyrs is set forth, who with steadfast mind were girded to undergo martyrdom for the name of Christ. Who, preparing themselves with frequent prayers, panted with fervent mind for martyrdom. But while they were fortifying themselves with the ecclesiastical Sacraments, they learned that two young men among them greatly feared; of whom one was called Columbus and the other Eleutherius; who, departing from the rest, hid in a certain cave near the shore of the island. And so the profane nation, seizing the shores of the island of Lérins, gnashes and mutters, roaring against the Saints. Meanwhile the churches are destroyed, the crosses broken, the altars and all sacred things profaned, and they wickedly seize the innocent monks. Upon whom also they inflicted very many torments, that they might disclose whatever precious things they had hidden. And when they had found nothing from the Saints except the cheap garments with which they had covered themselves, they separated the young men from the elders, promising them very many things if they would consent to their rites; and, if they refused, that they would kill them with divers torments. Then there was grief and dread to the elders, who with pious invocations and sighs besought the Lord whom they served that he would deign to bestow on the younger a spirit of constancy and fortitude of mind, lest they should fail. But the barbarians, raging like mad dogs against the elders with most bitter torments, exhorted the young men not to suffer themselves to fall by a like punishment, but to enjoy with them the glory of the world; whom also, together with the elders, when after blandishments and harsh arguments they had found them constant, they slew all at once with various tortures. But the sacrilegious enemies, keeping from that holy band four young men robust in body and comely in face, shut them up in their leader's ship, and, insulting all the rest with reproaches, afflicting them with blows, piercing them with lances, mangling them with swords, at last transfixed them with redoubled wounds.
[5] whose souls are beheld shining in the air. But Columbus and Eleutherius, who, as we said above, had hidden themselves in a rocky cavern, seeing through a slanting opening the souls of their companions shining in the air like stars, glorying with the angels and awaiting one another, Columbus said to Eleutherius: Do you not see with how great glory our brethren, who have just now suffered, ascend to heaven awaiting us? Let us go therefore also, that we may ascend crowned with them to the Lord. Eleutherius being unwilling to go out, Columbus leapt forth from the cave, and was straightway beheaded, to be joined to the throng of martyrs. And when the profane nation had slain the monks, innocent men, and their fury still burned toward evil, they overthrew from the foundations and leveled with the ground the churches and all the sacred buildings of the island of Lérins, and, breaking up the stones and columns of the sanctuary wonderfully wrought, cast them into the sea in contempt of Christ and of the Catholic faith. Who, after their rage had grown quiet, all things being left behind, sailing thence came to the place whose name is Agathon d, where those four captive monks obtained leave to go down from the ship to land to satisfy nature; who, entering the hiding places of a dense wood, fled away through shady valleys not without a divine prompting, and, walking all night through secret woods, came to the place which is called Ara Lucis e. In which place, finding a small boat near the shore of the sea and going aboard, they entered the sacred island of Lérins about dawn. But beholding the venerable bodies of so great fathers, pierced with so many and so great wounds and greatly mangled, who could relate what groans, what tears, what sighs they sent forth from their inmost bowels?
For they grieved in their hearts that they had not deserved to be crowned together with those most Blessed ones with the glory of martyrdom: whence they did not cease to utter mournful voices and bitter groans one to another and to call them back again. But Eleutherius, perceiving the voices of those mourning, leapt forth from the cave, and, the brethren being recognized, again tears, again groans (incredible to say) are renewed over the cruel death of the slain Monks: for he repented that he had not, as he might have, come with them and with Columbus to the palm of glory. But divine providence willed him to be kept surviving, so that, he surviving and knowing and revealing it to posterity, the passion of the Saints might always be celebrated as is fitting, and be kept as a festival for ever.
[6] [Sea birds, as if wishing to celebrate their obsequies in a wondrous manner, overshadow the island of Lérins.] But when light was restored to the earth at the rising of the sun, behold, an innumerable multitude of "bavinæ" f, that is, of sea birds, flew in the air above the island, overshadowing it with outspread wings: which, uttering as it were mournful cries, persisted over the slaughter of so great fathers, as though they had wished to perform the obsequies, until the bodies of the Saints were entombed. The wretched surviving monks, together with the man of God Eleutherius, after tears and groans performing the obsequies, in what manner and with what honor they could rendering the last rites over so pious and lamentable a destruction of their brethren, laid their consecrated bodies in tombs in the island. Then, leaving the sacred island, guardian of venerable talents, solitary, not without tears, as may be believed, they made for Italy to seek out their companions: where at Rome they made known to the Supreme Pontiff the slaughter of the holy Monks and the ruin of the monastery of Lérins. And these holy Martyrs suffered about the year of the Lord seven hundred and thirty, on the day before the Nones of August g. But when after this destruction some courses of years had passed, and the barbarians had been driven from the province by the power of the Franks, the man of the Lord Eleutherius, with the other monks coming from Italy, procured that the overthrown monastery of Lérins should be restored and brought back to its former state. Let us therefore also today, most beloved, venerate these Martyrs our fathers, who by fastings, vigils, and prayers, and by the saving sacrifice, exalted and sanctified the sacred island, so that of it may be said: O how glorious things are said of you, city of God! and who by holy works, following the Lord, made it famous throughout the whole world where the Christian religion is practiced; let us celebrate this day with pure heart in hymns and voices of gladness, entreating the Lord that, their merits supporting us, we may happily obtain the eternal rewards in their fellowship. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.