ON ST. LUCIUS THE SENATOR, MARTYR,
IN CYPRUS,
In the time of the persecution of Diocletian.
SYLLOGE.
His cultus, burial, and the time of his martyrdom.
Lucius the senator, M., in Cyprus (St.)
BY J. P.
How true is that which is commonly wont to be said — words move, examples draw — the example of St. Lucius proves, who, having beheld the constancy of St. Theodore of Cyrene contending for the confession of Christ, Commemorations in the Greek Calendars, was converted from the worship of idols to the orthodox faith, and shed his blood for it. The Greek Calendars treat of him on this day. The great Menaea printed in type have thus: Of the holy martyr Lucius the senator, in Greek τοῦ βουλευτοῦ; to which title allusion is made in these little verses which are there subjoined:
Βουλὰς ὅλας προῆλθε τὰς Ἀχιτόφελ Βουλῇ μιᾷ Λούκιος ἀθλήσας ξίψει
All thy counsels, Achitophel, he forestalled By one counsel of Lucius, when contending with the sword he falls.
What does the poet mean? All the wiles, all the counsels of Achitophel — that is, of the demon or of the tyrant — Lucius the counselor or senator forestalls and eludes by this one counsel of his, whereby he chose to contend for the faith of Christ and to pour out his blood for it by the sword. Unless perhaps the poet rather used the literal than the allegorical sense, hinting that Lucius the senator or counselor took better counsel for himself by one counsel, whereby he gave his life for Christ, than Achitophel, who was the counselor of King David, and afterwards followed the party of the rebel Absalom: but when he observed that his last counsel, which he had given to Absalom, was not carried into execution, he perished by hanging out of despair. See book 2 of Kings, chapters 15, 16, and 17. The Menology of Sirleto and the Synaxarium of the emperor Basil also record St. Lucius; to which add our Greek transcript from a codex of the Cæsarean library of Vienna (concerning which Lambeck in his Commentaries on that library, book 8, page 206); but there he is announced on the XXII day of August; and in the Basilian, on the XXI.
[2] The Roman Martyrology prescribes these things concerning the same Martyr to be read today: and in the Roman Martyrology: his eulogy, On the same day, holy Lucius the senator, who, having beheld the constancy of Theodore, bishop of Cyrene, set in martyrdom, was converted to the faith of Christ, and drew to it also Dignianus the governor: with whom, having set out for Cyprus, when he saw others there crowned for the confession of the Lord, he offered himself of his own accord, and merited the same crown of martyrdom by the cutting off of his head. The eulogy or narrative of the martyrdom has been published in Greek from the Basilian Synaxarium at the end of volume 1 of our month of August; but in Latin it runs thus, those things which are enclosed by this sign [ ] being taken from the Cæsarean manuscript codex of Vienna: Lucius, the martyr of Christ, sprung from the city of Cyrene which is in Libya, was the chief man of that same city and assessor of the governor, surpassing all others in greatness of body as it were by one great palm and in the power of riches. And he was a worshiper of idols, and hitherto much addicted to the superstition of the Gentiles and to their error: but from the time that he saw the holy martyr, the great Theodore, and bishop of the same city, contending for Christ and carrying off the crown of victory, being pricked by the grace of Christ he received the divine baptism. And after he had induced the governor Diognianus to receive baptism, he took him with him and sailed to Cyprus: where, when he learned that the Christians were being seized and slain for Christ, without the knowledge of the governor Diognianus he joined himself to the Martyrs and delivered himself to the torturers; and being compelled to sacrifice to the idols, he did not obey, but attacking the altar with his heels overturned it, and, the governor being exasperated, he was beheaded.
[3] his burial, Similar things concerning his conversion and martyrdom exist in the Menology of Sirleto, in the great printed Menaea, and in our Cæsarean-Vienna transcript; from which nevertheless I note some things for the greater elucidation of what precedes. And concerning his burial these things are narrated in the same place after the martyrdom: Γνοὺς δὲ ὁ Διογνιανὸς, συνεκόμισεν αὐτὸν τῇ ταφῇ, μύροις ἀλείψας, καὶ σινδόνι καθαρᾷ ἐνειλίσας. Μετὰ χρόνον τοίνυν ἀνοίξαντε, τὸν τάφον αὐτοῦ, εὗρον τρία ῥόδα ἀναφυέντα παρὰ τὸ στέρνον αὐτοῦ· καὶ θελόντων τινῶν ἆραι αὐτὰ ἕνεκεν ἴασεων, εὐθὺς ἀφανῆ γεγὸνασιν. Ὁ δὲ συγτραφεὺς ἰερεὺς ὢν, μετά τινας χρόνους συγτράψας τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ ἁγίου Λουκίου, καὶ ναὸν αὐτῷ οἰκοδομήσας, ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ τὸν Ἅγιον πᾶσι καταφανῆ ποιήσας, τετίμηκεν εἰς δόξαν τοῦ πάντων Θεοῦ· αὐτῷ γὰρ πρέπει δόξα, τιμὴ, κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμὴν. Which in Latin run thus: But Diognianus, being aware of the matter, committed him to burial, embalmed with spices and wrapped in a clean linen cloth. But afterwards, his sepulchre having been opened, they found three roses had sprung up at his breast: which, when some wished to take away for the sake of healings, straightway disappeared. And the writer, who was a priest, and who after some years composed the martyrdom of holy Lucius and built a temple to him, by work and by word made the Saint illustrious among all and honored him to the glory of the God of all things: for to him befit honor, glory, and power for ever and ever. Amen.
[4] the solemnity at Constantinople, Of St. Theodore, bishop and martyr of Cyrene, I treated at the IV day of July, volume 2 of the same month, from page 19. But the things which were then adduced there for the sake of that same prelate suggest matter for considering and noting these points. First, that a solemn cultus was rendered to St. Lucius at Constantinople, I dig out from the narrative of the martyrdom of each of the said champions: for this clause is there set down: And their solemnity is celebrated in their most holy martyrium, or place sacred to them, in Rhegium. There may be seen what Du Cange has in book 1 of Christian Constantinople, page 53, concerning the gate called of Rhegium or Rhesius or Rhusius. Secondly, to the governor who was said above to have been converted by St. Lucius to the faith of Christ these things pertain. St. Theodore of Cyrene suffered under him, as you have in the place just now cited among us, where together with the Roman Martyrology he is called not Diognianus but Dignianus. Lambeck, assigned above, observes that the governor who in the Roman Martyrology is called Dignianus is in the Greek Acts themselves called Διογνιανὸν, or rather Διογενιανὸν: and he adds that he judges that reading to be true and genuine.
[5] But what of the time of the martyrdom? I confess in the first place that it is not at all ascertained by me the time of the martyrdom. in what precise year it happened: but the things which have just been premised concerning St. Theodore, bishop of Cyrene, since they cohere with the conversion of St. Lucius to the faith of Christ, furnish a handle for defining the martyrdom of the latter approximately, in the reckoning of time, from the laurel of the former. From those things therefore which in the cited volume 11 of July were adduced concerning the time of the passion of St. Theodore of Cyrene, it seems it can be laid down that the martyrdom of St. Lucius was consummated at that time when that most famous persecution which is called the Diocletian was still playing its part. Besides, since Baronius reckons the sacred triumphs of Theodore of Cyrene to the year of Christ 310, as was said in the same volume, from that reckoning of time indicated in Baronius it would follow that the martyrdom of St. Lucius cannot be placed before that year, since he survived Theodore, as we have from the documents alleged above. We therefore have fixed the martyrdom of St. Lucius above to the time of the Diocletian persecution, in whatever year of the same persecution, or even some while after it, it may have occurred.