ON THE HOLY MARTYRS XXXVII AND SS. SEVERUS AND MEMNON THE CENTURION, MM.,
AT PHILIPPOPOLIS AND AT BIZYA IN THRACE,
Under Diocletian and Maximian.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Their cultus among the Greeks and the Latins; their Acts.
The XXXVII Martyrs at Philippopolis, and at Bizya in Thrace (SS.) — Severus, M., at Philippopolis, and at Bizya in Thrace (St.)
Memnon the centurion, M., at Philippopolis, and at Bizya in Thrace (St.)
BY J. P.
This distinguished band of Martyrs the Roman Martyrology, whose announcement we shall give below, marks in Thrace: They are marked in the Calendars but the Greek Calendars determine the place in Thrace as Byzia, which is also called Bizya, and is formed otherwise as well, as may be seen in volume III of this month, on the XIII day, in the Annotations on the Acts of St. Maximus, chapter 5, letter b; where many other things are observed of that city, and its situation is treated of. These things concerning the arena of the martyrdom being premised — whether nevertheless it be rightly enough so set down, we shall afterwards inquire — I subjoin the memory of the Saints from the Greek tables. The Menaeum of Chifflet most briefly thus: Μαρτύρων λξ᾽ ἐν Θράκῃ. Of thirty-seven Martyrs in Thrace. The great printed Menaea say a little more: On the same day (XX August), of the holy thirty-seven Martyrs, who accomplished their martyrdom at Byzia in Thrace. These little verses follow:
Τρεῖς ἐνδέουσι πρὸς τὸ τοὺς κεκαυμένους Χάριν, Τριάς, σου τετράκις τελεῖν δέκα.
Burnt in the fire, O Trinity, for thee, Three are wanting that four times ten Martyrs may triumph.
[2] The poet plays upon numbers, as is plain. There is subjoined in the said Menaea a short narrative of the martyrdom: with the Greeks but that which in volume 1 of August, page 666, was published by us in Greek from the Menology of the emperor Basil, and which after our custom we shall here exhibit in Latin, records more things one by one. Thus therefore it runs: In the same month (August, on the) XX day. The contest of the holy thirty-seven Martyrs, who accomplished their martyrdom at Byzia in Thrace. A certain Severus, a Christian, sprung from Side in Pamphylia, was passing through every city and place, teaching the word of Christ. But when he had come to Philippopolis in Thrace, he learned that the holy Martyrs, who were thirty-six, were being tortured by the governor Apellianus, and, having freely professed his religion, he is seized and violently scraped, and glowing iron hooks are applied to his fingers: likewise, being bound to four stakes and stretched with ropes, he was sawn with an iron saw. Then he was girt with an iron belt violently glowing, and thus was beheaded. But Memnon the centurion, being bound to two columns and stretched, was torn with three thongs from head to foot. Then, their hands and feet having been cut off, they were cast into a furnace, and all consummated their martyrdom beneath the earth. Some things concerning that narrative we shall presently observe, when we shall first have treated of the memory of the Martyrs among the Latins.
[3] and with the Latins. The announcement in the Roman Martyrology consists of these words: In Thrace, the holy thirty-seven Martyrs, who under the governor Apellianus, for the faith of Christ, their hands and feet being cut off, were cast into a burning furnace. Galesinius reports them at greater length, with things similar to those which are had in the great Menaea. Let his text be heard: In Thrace, the holy thirty-seven Martyrs, who, born partly at Constantinople, partly at Philippopolis, having openly and freely professed the religion of the Christian faith, were seized by the governor Apellianus, first tortured with various and unheard-of torments, and at last, the extremities of their feet and hands being cut off, cast into a wide furnace blazing in a pit dug in the ground, and depart to heaven with the illustrious praise of martyrdom.
[4] Our observations. These things being premised, I subjoin some observations. First. You have seen that in the title which is prefixed to the Basilian eulogy the Martyrs are expressed as thirty-seven; but in the text of the eulogy itself, thirty-six. If to these Severus be numbered, who is named in the same eulogy, they will then indeed be thirty-seven, in conformity with the other Greek tables indicated above; but if Memnon the centurion, likewise named in the same place, be also reckoned with the others, then they will together be thirty-eight. But the Acts set down forty, as will afterwards appear. Secondly. The same eulogy in its title announces that the XXXVI Martyrs consummated the course of their contest at Bizya in Thrace; but in the body of the same eulogy it is asserted that they were tortured at Philippopolis in the same Thrace, no mention being made of Bizya; and immediately it treats of the torture and sawing of St. Severus, and also of the flaying of St. Memnon, and presently all are said, their hands and feet being cut off, to have accomplished their martyrdom in a furnace. These things I do not sufficiently combine: I should combine them more easily if Bizya and Philippopolis were nearer one another than in fact they are: and Philippopolis indeed is marked toward Mount Hæmus, near the Bessi and the river Hebrus; but Bizya toward the Euxine sea in the Astican, or perhaps the Cænican, region, in the map of ancient Thrace in Cellarius, book 2, chapter 15, at page 838. But the reason why above I marked all these Martyrs not at Byzia, but at Philippopolis and at Bizya in Thrace, is this, that the Acts so place them. See them below. Thirdly. Concerning the two holy martyrs named a little before, receive these few things.
[5] The Roman Martyrology on this day subjoins them next to the preceding thirty-seven thus: Of SS. Severus and Memnon Likewise, of the holy martyrs Severus and Memnon the centurion, who, consummated by the same kind of death, departed victorious to heaven. From the Greek tables we have these things: the Menaeum of Chifflet on this day makes mention of Memnon the centurion alone, Μέμνονος τοῦ κεντουρίωνος. The Menology of Sirleto, after the announcement of the XXXVII Martyrs, subjoins the following concerning these two Champions: On the same day, the commemoration of the holy martyrs Severus and Memnon the centurion, who for the faith of Christ, beaten with stripes and thongs from head to foot, hung on wood, and cast into a furnace with their feet cut off, commending their spirit to God, received the crown of martyrdom. The great printed Menaea report them, and follow them with these verses:
Ξίφει παθῶν Σεβῆρος εὗρεν ἀξίους Ἔπαθλα λαμπρὰ τοῦ διὰ ξίφους πάθους. Ἔχει τὸ πῦρ σε πρὸς βραχὺν, Μέμνον, χρόνον, Μένει δέ σε στέφανος εἰς ἀεὶ μένων.
Severus, suffering by the sword, found by the sword Worthy and comely laurels of his contest. Thee, Memnon, the flame tortures for a brief time, But there awaits thee a crown which awaits for ever.
[6] In the first distich, which is on St. Severus, the poet alludes, from the Calendars. so far at least as I follow him, to the thirty-seven Martyrs whom he is said, in the eulogy of the said Menaea which is subjoined, to have found contending at Philippopolis for the faith of Christ. But in the second distich, on St. Memnon, the poet seems to have regard to the words falling out almost alike — Memnon, manet, and manens — which therefore I have so expressed in Latin as well. In the same eulogy St. Severus is not only reported as sprung from Side in Pamphylia, as we saw above also in the Basilian eulogy, but also to have been the son of a certain Petronius, a Thracian, and of Mygdonia. On which matter and others consult the Acts to be brought forward by us immediately. We meanwhile instruct the reader in the following things concerning them.
[7] The Acts. First. Our Greek Sirmond-Chifflet transcripts, which we are wont to allege under the name of the Supplement to the printed Greek Menaea, on the XXIV day of August, with the name of Sirmond noted beforehand — which is an indication to us that these Acts were transcribed from the Sirmondian Synaxarium — thus record: Ἄθλησις τῶν ἁγ. Σεβήρου καὶ Μέμνονος τῶν ἐν Θράκῃ μαρτυρησάντων σὺν ἑτέροις τριάκοντα ὀκτώ. That is: The contest of SS. Severus and Memnon, who accomplished their martyrdom in Thrace together with thirty-eight others. Where the Martyrs seem to be indicated as not thirty-seven or thirty-eight, of which number we treated above, but altogether forty: and this is confirmed from the Acts, number 1, where these things are said, rendered from the Greek: And the holy thirty and eight indeed were beheaded at Philippopolis under the proconsul Apellianus … on the XXIV day of the month of May. But holy Severus, etc. And then afterwards the martyrdom of St. Memnon is narrated separately as well. Secondly. Because the Acts there affirm that our Champions existed in the times of Diocletian and Maximian, therefore on the faith of the same Acts we have reported them above also with this note of time; not however expressed, as we have seen, in the other documents. Thirdly. In those same they are narrated to have consummated their martyrdom by fire; but here thirty and eight are said to have been beheaded: but Memnon, according to the same Acts, number 4, was cast into the furnace of fire and there died; while Severus was beheaded. Fourthly. Above also, at numbers 1 and 2, we have seen the arena of the martyrdom assigned as Bizya to our present Saints; but in the Acts Philippopolis is given to the thirty-eight unnamed, and Bizya to the two named, as may be seen in them at number 4. Away therefore with the trifles of Tamayo, who in his Spanish Martyrology announces these two Martyrs at Deobriga in Spain, playing the fool after his usual manner. Since the Acts are brief, and the Commentary also brief, if there be anything in them worthy of observation, it will easily be possible to consult this here, so that it be not necessary to subjoin Annotations to the Acts.
ACTS
By an anonymous author,
from the Synaxarium of Sirmond. Translated by J. P.
Memnon the centurion, M., at Philippopolis, and at Bizya in Thrace (St.)
By an Anonymous author.
Οὗτοι ἐν Θράκης ὑπῆρχον κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους Διοκλητιανοῦ καὶ Μαξιμιανοῦ· καὶ οἱ μὲν τριάκοντα ὀκτὼ Ἅγιοι ἐν Φιλιππουπόλει ὑπὸ Ἀπελλιανοῦ ἀνθυπάτου ὁμολογήσαντες παρρησίᾳ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὄνομα, τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀπετμήθησαν μηνὶ Μαίῳ τέσσαρες καὶ δεκάτῃ· Σεβῆρος δὲ ὁ ἅγιος πρὸς μὲν πατρὸς ἦν Θρὰξ, πρός δὲ μητρὸς Σιδίτης ἐν Παμφιλίας. Ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ ὁ μὲν πατὴρ αὑτοῦ Πετρώνιος, ἡ δὲ μητὴρ Μυγδωνία· οἱ πρὸς τὴν εἰς Χριςὸν ἐχειραγωγήθησαν πίστιν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου Ξενοφόντος μαθητοῦ τοῦ Ἰωάννου Εὐαγγέλιστοῦ ἠγαπημένῳ τοῦ Θεολόγου. Καὶ οὗτοι μὲν εἰσοικισθέντες ἐν Φιλιππουπόλει
αὖτις ἐξῳκίσθησαν διὰ τὸν ἐπικρατοῦσαν ἐν αὐτῇ εἰδωλολατρείαν.
[2] Ὁ δὲ μάρτυς Σεβῆρος ὁ τούτων υἱὸς κατέμεινον ἐν τῇ πόλει. Ὢν δὲ διὰ σώματος καὶ μέγετος δὲ δύναμιν ἀνυπέρβλητον περίβλεπτος καὶ μεγαλυνώμενος παρὰ πάντων, ὅμως μικρὰ ταῦτα ἡγεῖτο, εἰδὼς παρερχόμενα καὶ φθειρόμενα. Ἓν δὲ μόνον ἐθαύμαζε καὶ λίαν τούτων ἐπόθει, τυχεῖν τὸ παθεῖν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τὸ τῆς μαρτυρίας κοσμηθῆναι στεφάνῳ. Ὅθεν καὶ θεοφανείας ὄναρ ἠξιώθη καὶ προετράπη ἅμα πρωῒ ἐπὶ τῇ κατὰ ἀνατολὰς πύλῃ ἐλθεῖν, κᾀκεῖ τεύξεσθαι τοῦ σκοποῦ. Καὶ δὴ γενόμενος ἐν αὐτῇ, συναντᾷ τινι κεντουρίωνι, ὃς ἐκαλεῖτο Μέμνων. Τοῦτον οὖν κατ᾽ ἰδίαν λαβὼν, καὶ ἐν βραχεῖ τῆς καθ ἡμᾶς αὐτῷ τὴν οἰκονομίαν ἐκθέμενος πίστεως, καὶ ἀποστῆναι παραινέσας τῆς ματαιότητος τῶν εἰδώλων πείθει, καὶ τῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ πίστει προσάγει.
[3] Διαβληθεὶς δὲ καὶ προσαχθεὶς Ἀπελλιανῷ ἀνθυπάτῳ, καὶ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν ὁμολογήσας, παραδίδοται Μέμνονι τῷ κεντουρίωνι, τὴν τῆς πίστεως ἀγνοουμένῳ μεταβολὴν, οἰηθέντος τοῦ ἀνθυπάτου δυνηθῆναι τὸν Μέμνονα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀποστῆναι τὸν Ἅγιον. Οἱ δὲ καθ᾽ ἑαυτοὺς γενόμενοι παρέθηξαν ἀλλήλους, καὶ πρός τὴν ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ συνεστόμωσαν ἄθλησιν. Τῇδε ἑξῆς παραστάντες τῷ ἀντυπάτωaͅ Χριστιανοὺς ἑαυτοὺς ἀμφότεροι ἀνηγόρευσαν. Τύπτεται οὖν ὁ Μέμνων ἀφηλεῶς, καὶ ὁ Σεβῆρος τὰς σιαγόνας τιτρώσκετυι.
[4] Εἶτα ἐκ Φιλιππουπόλεως ἀπαίρονται τῷ ἀνθυπάτῳ εἰς Ἀδριανούπολιν, κᾀκεῖθεν εἰς Βιζύην σιδήρων βάρει πεφορτόμενοι ἀκολουθῆναι ἀναγκάζονται. Ἔνθα προσαχθέντες καὶ ἐρωτηθέντες ἀμετάθετον ἔχειν τὴν εἰς χριστὸν πίστιν ὁμολογήσαντες, ὡς τὸ στεῤῥὸν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀνένδοτον κατεῖδεν ὁ τύραννος, προσέταξε τὸν ἅγιον Μέμνονα ταθῆναι δυσὶ κίοσι προσδεθέντα, καὶ σιδηροῖς ὀγκίνοις τρεῖς λώρους ἐκδαρῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ διὰ τῆς ψύας διήκοντας μέχρι τῶν ποδῶν. Ὃ ἰδὼν ὁ μακάριος Μέμνων, ἡδὺν εἶπεν εἶναι τὸν πόνον ὃς προξενεῖ αἰώνιον ἀπόλαυσιν. ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο πάντως ἐμοὶ· καὶ γὰρ τῇ τριτμήτῳ δορᾷ τῆς σαρκός μου τὴν ἁγίαν δεξιοῦμαι Τριάδα. Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τμηθεὶς χεῖρας καὶ πόδας εἰς κάμινον πυρὸς ἐνεβλήθη, ἐν ᾗ καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα παρέδωκε τῷ Θεῷ. Ὁ δὲ ἅγιος Ζεβῆρος ἐξέσθη σιδηραῖς χερσὶ· εἶτα δακτυλήθρας πεπυρωμένας τοῖς δακτύλοις περιβάλλεται, καὶ ὑπὸ τεσσάρων στρατιωτῶν τανυσθεὶς πρίζεται. Τῆς δὲ τοιαύτης βασάνου παραδόξως ῥυσθεὶς, τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀτονισάντων καὶ ἐκλυθέντων, σιδηρὰν ζώνην περιζώννυται πυρωθεῖσαν, καὶ οὕτως τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτέμνεται.
The country of the Saints, the parents of St. Severus, These were sprung from Thrace in the times of Diocletian and Maximian. And the holy thirty and eight indeed, having freely confessed the name of Christ at Philippopolis under the proconsul Apellianus, were beheaded on the twenty-fourth day of the month of May. But St. Severus was on his father's side a Thracian, and on his mother's side a native of Side in Pamphylia. His father was called Petronius; his mother, Mygdonia. Who were brought to the faith of Christ by Xenophon the bishop, a disciple of holy John the Evangelist, the beloved Theologian: and after they had fixed their dwelling at Philippopolis, they again departed from it, because idolatry was growing strong there.
[2] his desire of martyrdom, the conversion of St. Memnon; But Severus the martyr, their son, remained in the city: and although on account of his exceptional greatness of body and his strength he was conspicuous and famous among all, he made small account of these things, not unaware that they are fleeting and perishable. But one thing he looked up to, and desired to obtain in preference to those, namely to suffer for Christ and to be adorned with the crown of martyrdom. Whence he was deemed worthy of a divine apparition in sleep, and was urged that, as soon as it should grow light, he should betake himself to the gate which lies to the east; and that it would then come to pass that he should obtain his purpose. And indeed after he had arrived there, he met a certain centurion who was called Memnon. To him therefore, taken aside, he briefly expounds the mysteries of our faith; and having exhorted him to desist from the mad worship of idols, he renders him obedient and leads him to the faith of Christ.
[3] But being accused and brought before the proconsul Apellianus, and having professed the faith of Christ, he is delivered to Memnon the centurion. And the proconsul, not knowing that he had embraced the faith of Christ, judged that it could come about that Memnon should separate the Saint from Christ. And so while they dealt with one another apart, each incited the other, and they whispered together concerning the contest for Christ. On the next day, standing before the proconsul, both declared themselves Christians. Memnon therefore is beaten unmercifully; but Severus is wounded in the jaws.
[4] the torments and death of both. Then they are transferred from Philippopolis with the proconsul to Adrianople, and thence toward Bizya, weighed down with the burden of iron, they are compelled to follow. When they had been brought thither and interrogated, they professed that they held an unchangeable faith in Christ: and when the tyrant perceived their firm and obstinate mind, he ordered holy Memnon to be stretched, bound to two columns, and to be flayed with iron hooks into three thongs, which passed from his head across the loins even to the feet. Which blessed Memnon beholding, said that the labor was sweet which procures eternal delight. And this, he said, shall altogether befall me. For with the skin of my flesh cut into three parts, I shall lay hold of the holy Trinity. But afterwards, his hands and feet being cut off, he was cast into a furnace of fire, in which also he delivered his spirit to God. But St. Severus was scraped with iron hands: then glowing iron hooks are applied to his fingers, and being stretched by four soldiers he is cleft with a saw. But being wondrously delivered from this torment, the soldiers growing numb and failing, he is girt with a glowing iron belt, and thus was beheaded.