ON SS. SERAPIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, AND SABINA, MARTYR,
AT ROME,
About the year 126.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The cultus and relics of both Saints: the Acts common to both: the time and place of the martyrdom.
Serapia, V. and M., at Rome (St.)
Sabina, M., at Rome (St.)
By J. S.
The sacred calendars announce St. Serapia — or, as others write, Seraphia — virgin and martyr, on various days, Serapia in various Martyrologies on the XXIX of July, on which she died: because she died on one day and is honored in the Church on another. Our predecessors, among the things passed over on the XXIX of July, noted the following: St. Serapia is marked on this day in various Martyrologies, some of which wrongly write Seraphia. She is a well-known Roman saint, and it is known that she underwent martyrdom on this day; but her festival, for reasons to be explained in their time, has been deferred in the Roman Martyrology to the III of September. There are here indicated various enlarged Usuardine codices, which Sollier cited in his Usuard on the XXIX of July, and in which Serapia or Seraphia is announced at Rome. Most martyrologists of better stamp, however, record St. Serapia on the III of September, though they add that she suffered on the XXIX of July. In the Old Roman Martyrology which Rosweyde published, on the III of September it is read thus: At Rome, Seraphia the virgin, who suffered on the IV Kalends of August, was buried on the II Kalends, and whose memory is more celebrated on the III Nones of September.
[2] but her festival is celebrated on the III of September, In these footsteps Ado trod, but added a lengthy eulogy from her Acts, which I pass over. Take, however, his first and last words: At Rome, the passion and birthday of blessed Seraphia the virgin, under the emperor Hadrian, Berillus being judge … And she suffered on the fourth of the Kalends of August, and was buried beside the plot of Vindicianus in the monument of the illustrious martyr Sabina, on the II Kalends of August. But the venerable sarcophagus of both was set in order and adorned, and the place of prayer worthily dedicated, on the third of the Nones of September, when also the memory of her passion is more celebrated. Usuard on the same day has thus: At Rome, the passion of blessed Serapia the virgin, under the prince Hadrian, who, when she had been handed over to two lascivious men and could by no means be outraged, nor afterwards be set on fire with burning lamps, was by order of the governor beaten with cudgels and so beheaded with the sword. The day of her passion is the fourth of the Kalends of August, but that of her burial falls on the present day, when also the memory of her martyrdom is more celebrated. Usuard does not distinguish the burial from the adorning of the tomb, as Ado distinguished, and, agreeing with Ado, our manuscript Florarium.
[3] The Roman Martyrology of Baronius has a eulogy woven partly from Ado, on which the chief martyrologists announce her: her body preserved at Rome. partly from Usuard, of this kind: At Rome, St. Serapia the virgin, who under the prince Hadrian, when she had been handed over to two lascivious young men and could by no means be outraged, nor afterwards be set on fire with burning torches, was by order of the judge Berillus beaten with cudgels and thereafter beheaded with the sword. And she suffered on the fourth of the Kalends of August, and was buried by blessed Sabina in her own monument beside the plot of Vindicianus; but the memory of her martyrdom is more celebrated on this day, when the sarcophagus of both was there set in order and adorned, and the place of prayer worthily dedicated. That the Saint's festival is celebrated in the church of St. Sabina, and that her body rests there, Piazza affirms in the Sacred Hemerology of Christian Rome on the III of September. But Gelenius, in his work On the Greatness of Cologne, page 571, says that in that same city, among the Capuchin nuns, the head of St. Seraphia is kept. These things concerning the cultus of St. Serapia abundantly suffice, and the same will help in assigning the place and day of her martyrdom. For the rest, although this Saint is honored on the III of September, we have judged that we must treat of her here, because her Acts are mingled with the Acts of St. Sabina.
[4] The cultus of St. Sabina is very celebrated and ancient on this very XXIX day of August, The name of St. Sabina in the ancient calendars: on which she is marked in most Martyrologies. In Florentinius, on the day mentioned, she is announced in the Annotations from two Hieronymian transcripts. But there, in the manuscripts of the Queen of Sweden, the title of Virgin is wrongly added, as also happens in the published Bede. In the old Roman it is thus: At Rome, at the Arch of Faustinus, Sabina the martyr. More fully Ado gives a eulogy from the Acts, of which I subjoin the beginning and the end: At Rome on the Aventine, in the town of Vindinum, at the Arch of Faustinus, the birthday of the most blessed and most illustrious Sabina, martyr … And the blessed handmaid of Christ Sabina suffered on the fourth of the Kalends of September; and her body, taken up by the Christians, was buried in the monument where she herself had venerably laid the virgin Seraphia, the mistress of her faith, at the Arch of Faustinus, beside the plot of Vindicianus, in the town of Vindinum. Usuard likewise announces Sabina at Rome, and others of earlier date everywhere.
[5] Concerning the title of Virgin added in Bede and Wandelbert, Sollier observes this in his Usuard on the XXIX of August: by some she is by error called a virgin: Bede sets her today in the first place: "At Rome, St. Sabina, virgin and martyr"; Rabanus only, "Sabina, martyr" — as it is likely was first written by Bede, since from the Acts it is established that she was the wife of the once most illustrious Valentinus. In the old Kalendars of Allatius and Fronto, as also in the Sacramentary of Gregory, she is marked with the name alone. Nor did the Little Roman add anything beyond the title of Martyr, save that it adds the place. Besides, the collect which is in the Sacramentary of Gregory, and the Gospel which is prescribed in Fronto's Kalendar, are of widows. The ancient documents, therefore, in this matter agree with the Acts, so that it must needs be affirmed that it is only by error that she is called a Virgin by some, since it is established that she was married and was a widow when she was crowned with martyrdom.
[6] her ancient church at Rome, Baronius in his notes to the Martyrology records the following concerning St. Sabina: There exists at Rome an old title (Cardinalitial) of St. Sabina on the Aventine, of which there is mention in the first Roman Council under Symmachus, and in Gregory, Register, book IX, chapter 22, and book XI, chapter 2; which church indeed Pope Eugene II adorned and enlarged, as is established from the book On the Roman Pontiffs in Eugene. There are countless other ancient monuments of it. That the said church of St. Sabina was founded in the time of Sixtus III, Anastasius the Librarian writes in Sixtus. But Platina in Sixtus III and Baronius in the Annals at the year 432, number 37, refer its building to the times of Celestine I, and prove the matter from an old inscription which consists of these verses:
When Celestine held the apostolic summit, And shone as first bishop in the whole City, This, which thou admirest, was founded by Peter, a priest of the City, Of the Illyrian race, a man worthy of so great a name, And from his birth nourished in the hall of Christ. A poverty rich, poor to himself, who, fleeing the goods Of this present life, deserved to hope for those to come.
In Fronto's Kalendar, page 33, there is noted on Ash Wednesday the solemn station at Saint Savina, that is, Sabina.
[7] concerning which some things are narrated: Martinelli in Roma sacra, page 296, describes this church thus: St. Sabina's on the Aventine hill, above the Tiber toward the west, formerly a temple of Diana (which others more rightly deny), a fairly splendid building, having thirteen columns in one row and ten in the other, once the seat of the Pontiffs; it had a noble library which, when the city was taken, was burned by a barbarian soldier. It was built by Peter the Illyrian, cardinal, in the year 425, renewed by Leo III, brought by Eugene II to a better state and adorned everywhere with paintings, and with the bodies of the martyrs Alexander, Theodulus, and Eventius, as these verses will indicate, which stand in the pavement beneath an iron grating:
Eugene, set on the highest citadel of the Papacy, The body of Alexander, the excellent bishop, And Theodulus likewise, and thee, O martyr Eventius, Beside Sabina and the pious Serapia, Laid beneath this shrine, which Peter, priest of the shrine, Under thy Celestine, O Rome, built. For them and for all washed in the sacred baptism, Do ye, O Saints, pray the Lord to be merciful.
Restored by Julian Cardinal de Cesarini, Fazio Cardinal Santorio girded it with the pleasantness of an elegant garden, the buildings being renewed. Lastly it was brought by Sixtus V to its present appearance; beneath whose high altar several bodies of Saints rest. It is a Cardinal's title, under the care of the friars of the Order of Preachers.
[8] [in this she is honored, and her body is preserved: certain relics in other places.] Piazza, praised before, says on the XXIX of August that the Saint's festival is solemnly celebrated in the said church, and that her body is preserved beneath the high altar, but her arm is exposed for veneration, and that on the same day there are plenary indulgences. He adds that the feast is celebrated also in the church of St. Laurence in Damaso, where there are relics from the Saint's shoulder. Moreover the sacred remains of St. Sabina are assigned to other places also. In Ughelli, in the Italia sacra of the later edition, vol. 7, column 324, two bones of St. Sabina are said to be preserved in the church of Scala. It is not, however, here added whether these bones are of St. Sabina the martyr of whom we now treat. Laurence Beyerlinck, in the Theatrum vitæ humanæ, vol. 6, at the word Reliquiæ, page 304, expresses it no more clearly when he says that at Naples in the church of St. Catherine of Siena half the head of St. Sabina is preserved. But Raissius clearly designates our Sabina when at page 212 he asserts that in the Benedictine monastery of Echternach there is preserved the head of St. Sabina, widow, who under the emperor Hadrian, being struck with the sword, obtained the palm of martyrdom on the IV of the Kalends of September. The same writer records relics of St. Sabina elsewhere also, as does Gelenius in his work On the Greatness of Cologne in various places; but since it is not clear whether they designate this Sabina or another,
it has seemed good to pass them over.
[9] The Acts of St. Serapia and St. Sabina, embracing the martyrdoms of both, are extant in manuscript and in print. Copies of the Acts, manuscript and printed: Mombritius and Surius published the same, but drawn apart into two portions, such as we also have in manuscript; yet there is no doubt that it is one work, which some one divided, so that what pertains to St. Sabina should be placed on the XXIX of August, but what pertains to St. Serapia on the III of September — on which days they are so read as published in Surius. The Acts of St. Serapia thus separated we have in manuscript in two very ancient codices, which are marked Q Ms. 6 and Q Ms. 7, and besides copied from a Fulda codex. But as for that part which concerns St. Sabina, it is transcribed among us from three codices, namely from the most ancient Rebdorf and Saint-Omer ones and from the Böddeken with some alteration; and the same are in our manuscript P. Ms. 6, which is less ancient. But Baluze published the Acts entire in vol. 2 of his Miscellanea, from page 106, and these were once transmitted to us from a Trier codex of St. Maximin. When I compared all these manuscripts among themselves and with the editions of Mombritius and Baluze, I found that all the copies whatever agree well enough, if we regard only the history of the Saints; but that in words they differ not a little. Nay rather, all those copies, manuscript and printed, having been not carelessly considered, no doubt remains to me that all are here and there faulty or slightly altered in words.
[10] Baluze in his notes to these Acts, page 490 of his edition, gives these reasons: [The Baluzian edition is not better than the Mombritian: we shall give an edition from all collated.] The last part of these Acts Boninus Mombritius published, and Surius the first (nay rather, each published both separately), but greatly altered from those old ones. We, when we had found them entire and sincere in codex 316 of the Colbertine library, judged that they must be joined with the ancient Acts of the martyrs, &c. I have sufficiently observed from the comparison of both that Baluze's edition is not only different from the edition of Surius, who corrected the style, but also differs here and there from the edition of Mombritius, even though the latter seems to have faithfully followed his own codex. But I do not see that the Baluzian edition is better than the Mombritian: nay rather I judge that Baluze's codex was less pure than the Mombritian was, as will sufficiently appear from our annotations. For this cause I shall follow no one edition among them all, and no one codex; but from all compared together I shall take those things which shall seem more genuine, or preferable by the consent of the greater number; yet in such wise that I shall chiefly follow our own codices, and shall indicate in the annotations where certain things occur in the other copies worthy of note.
[11] Concerning the sincerity of these Acts the judgment of all is not the same. Baronius in his observations on the Martyrology on the XXIX day of August pronounces thus concerning that part which regards St. Sabina: We have the same (Acts) most sincere, which were taken from the public Acts. The various judgments of various men concerning the sincerity of the Acts; Moreover he designates no other Acts than ours, both here and on the III of September, where he affirms that he also has the Acts of St. Serapia; but he had those Acts separately, as is clear from the beginning of either part, assigned in the places cited. Nay, our Papebroch also once, while he was in Italy, compared the edition of Mombritius with the Baronian Acts; nor did these much differ from that. Tillemont, vol. 2 of his Monuments, note 1 on St. Sabina, acknowledges that the Acts are certainly ancient; yet nevertheless he finds in them certain difficulties by which he contends that their authority is lessened and it is rendered doubtful whether they are altogether ancient and not interpolated. And so he neither dares to give full credit to those Acts, nor again to take away all credit. Baillet in his Critical Table on the III of September thinks them interpolated and composed by an author more remote from the age of the Saints; and that, he says, on account of somewhat harsher expressions and certain prodigies not sufficiently coherent. But this censure is more severe than exact: for if the Acts are of an author more remote from the age of the Saints, why does he besides think them interpolated? Why could not those things which he thinks blameworthy have been inserted into the Acts by the first author as well as by an interpolator? Moreover, to prove his censure, Baillet refers to the objections of Tillemont, which we shall examine one by one in the Annotations to the Acts, where we shall show that those difficulties are not of such weight that credit must be taken from the Acts, and that most of the objections are either feeble or ill twisted.
[12] [to us they do not seem unworthy of credit, though they are not free from every blemish.] Baluze judged otherwise concerning these Acts, when at page 490 he observed the following of them: A great argument of sincerity and antiquity is that Sabina is said to have been the daughter of Herod, "who under Vespasian Augustus thrice at the city of Rome gave the candida to the Romans." For the most learned man Henry Valesius writes that the Acts of St. Boniface the martyr, which were published by Holstenius, have this as a great indication of antiquity, that there it is said of Aglaë: "She therefore had thrice given the candida at the city of Rome from the prefecture." Now the candida is the giving of games, which was done by prætors or quæstors who were candidates, at their own cost and not from the public chest, as the same Valesius observed on book XXVII of Ammianus Marcellinus, page 332, and in the preface to the Acts of St. Perpetua and St. Felicitas. This judgment seems preferable to Baillet's exaggerated censure, and Tillemont himself preferred to follow it, not being ignorant that in Acts most sincere certain difficulties are found which cannot be removed on every side, because the attendant circumstances are unknown to us. It must, however, be confessed that the Acts are not altogether primitive, nor entirely free from every blemish.
[13] They are said to have suffered in the reign of Hadrian, It remains that we discourse briefly of the time and place in which these martyrs suffered, since these are not sufficiently clearly set forth in the Acts. Ado and the other martyrologists adduced above affirm that they suffered under the emperor Hadrian; and our manuscript Florarium adds: In the year of Salvation 126, in the 18th year of the third persecution. But I judge that this epoch was set down from the author's conjecture, and therefore it has no great authority. Tillemont in Sabina, or vol. 2, page 246, says that Hadrian's persecution blazed most fiercely in the year 125, which agrees well enough with the chronological arrangement just adduced. But this persecution of Hadrian was by some called the fourth, by others held for a continuation of the third, as may be seen in the praised Tillemont, in the persecution of Hadrian, article 1, or page 224. Moreover from the Acts, number 1, it is sufficiently gathered that the martyrdom of these Saints ought not to be placed later than under the reign of Hadrian. But from them it cannot be gathered why they did not suffer earlier. For thus it is there read of Sabina: Who was the wife of Valentinus and daughter of Herod, formerly Metallarius, who under Vespasian Augustus thrice at the city of Rome gave the candida to the Romans. Vespasian died in the year 79; and so, if we believe that Sabina, at his death, was about thirty years old, or even some years younger, she was more than seventy in the year 125, so that it does not at all seem that St. Sabina suffered later, although she might have suffered earlier, either under Domitian or under Trajan, or even in the earlier years of Hadrian. Yet nevertheless, since Ado writes that these martyrs were crowned with martyrdom under Hadrian, and perhaps had monuments unknown to us, we subscribe to his opinion until some one shall bring forward more certain things.
[14] Concerning the day of the martyrdom there seems to be no doubt, although in assigning it Tillemont wonderfully blundered, Serapia on the XXIX of July, Sabina on the XXIX of August. and after him Baillet and the author of the new Parisian Martyrology. All the martyrologists assert that St. Serapia was crowned on the fourth of the Kalends of August, that is, the XXIX of July. With these agree all the copies of the Acts, both manuscript and printed, if we except only the Baluzian edition, in which is read: But St. Seraphia suffered on the III of the Nones of September. Which is a manifest sign that Baluze's codex was corrupt, as we shall also prove from another source in the annotations.
Tillemont in Sabina and Serapia writes that St. Serapia suffered on the XXIX of August, and in note 2 on Sabina strives to confirm this by the authority of Surius and Ado, both of whom with the others have the fourth of the Kalends of August. From this gross blunder he fell into another error, when he wrote at page 250 in Sabina that this Saint likely suffered in the following year, that is, one year after Serapia. Baillet on the III of September, in Serapia and Sabina, undauntedly embraces these errors, affirming that both Saints suffered on the same day, the XXIX of August, but Sabina one year after Serapia. Yet nevertheless from Ado and from the Acts there seems to be no doubt that the Saints were crowned in the same year, namely Serapia on the XXIX of July, but Sabina on the XXIX of August.
[15] Concerning the place again the martyrologists agree, asserting with one voice that the Saints suffered at Rome. The ancient martyrologists write that the martyrdom befell at Rome; But the Acts render the place doubtful; and from them Tillemont in note 1 on Sabina concludes that she underwent martyrdom not at Rome but in a town of Umbria, which Baillet boldly affirms in the place just assigned. Take what the Acts have concerning the place. At number 1: The holy virgin Serapia was at the town of the Vendinenses … in the house of Sabina. And at number 11: The head of the holy virgin of Christ Serapia was cut off beyond the Arch of Faustinus, beside the plot of Vindicianus, the duke of dukes. Lastly, of Sabina's burial, at number 15, it is thus: The Christians … laid her body … in her own monument in the town of Vendinum, at the Arch of Faustinus, where she herself had venerably laid the mistress of her faith, the virgin of Christ Serapia. Ferrari in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, page 566, says that the town of Vindinum was formerly on the Aventine hill, which is now included within the city of Rome. Ado agrees, who announces St. Sabina at Rome on the Aventine, in the town of Vindinum, at the Arch of Faustinus; and the author of the old Roman Martyrology, more ancient than Ado, who records Sabina at Rome, at the Arch of Faustinus; and the other martyrologists cited before agree.
[16] others assign Umbria, led by a slight little reason: But Tillemont in the place just indicated contends that the town of Vindinum on the Aventine hill was unknown to all geographers and historians, and prefers to agree with Baluze, who in his notes to the Acts, page 490, speaks thus of the town Vendinum or Vindinum: There was moreover a town of Umbria whose inhabitants were called Vindenates, as Cluverius shows in book two of his Ancient Italy, chapter 8. To these likewise subscribe Baillet and the author of the new Parisian Martyrology on the XXIX of August, where he commemorates Serapia as well as Sabina, blundering
as he blindly followed Tillemont in the day of Serapia's death. But neither is it certain in what place the Vindinates or Vindenates dwelt, as the praised Cluverius confesses; and it seems to me no more certain whether the town Vendinum or of the Vendinenses, in which our martyrs are said to have been crowned, is the town of the Vindenates which Cluverius places in Umbria. And so I do not see that Baluze's conjecture, which others have eagerly followed, is firm enough against the authority of the Old Roman Martyrology and of Ado and of the others who followed it. Certainly the author of the said Martyrology, who likely flourished in Italy and at Rome in the seventh or eighth century, does not seem likely to have placed the martyrdom of St. Sabina at Rome at the Arch of Faustinus, unless he had known that there was some place, whether in the city or in the Roman suburb, which was so called. But if the Arch of Faustinus was there, so also was the town Vendinum; for the Acts join the two.
[17] but we think we must cleave to the authority of the more ancient. There is added another reason also, which persuades that these martyrs suffered at Rome. For it is established that their bodies rested there for many centuries, nor is any mention of a translation made in the Acts or in the Martyrologies. But on the contrary Ado sufficiently hints that the bodies were not translated, but that over the burial of both an oratory or church was raised, when on the III of September he writes this: But the venerable sarcophagus of both was set in order and adorned, and the place of prayer worthily dedicated on the third of the Nones of September. And so, on account of a slight conjecture concerning the town Vendinum, I should not think we must depart from the authority of the ancients. For although I willingly acknowledge that in the time of the emperor Hadrian there was no town on the Aventine hill distinct from the city of Rome, yet I do not see why some quarter of the city on the Aventine hill might not have been so called. The Aventine was enclosed within the walls of the city by Ancus Martius, the fourth king of the Romans; but it was received within the pomerium only by the emperor Claudius, as Alexander Donatus proves in Rome Old and New, book 1, chapter 5. Livy in Ancus says that the Aventine was given to the new multitude, namely to the conquered peoples transferred thither. If therefore we suspect that some part was given to the Vendinenses, there is no reason why that quarter in which they dwelt might not be called the town of the Vendinenses. I confess indeed that this conjecture is uncertain; but I see that what is brought forward concerning Umbria is no more certain. Wherefore I judge that we must cleave to the authority of the ancients, and I subjoin the Acts divided into three parts.
Annotationsread præsule.*
THE PASSION
By an anonymous author,
From four manuscripts, collated with the editions of Mombritius and Baluze.
Serapia, V. and M., at Rome (St.)
Sabina, M., at Rome (St.)
BHL Number: 7586, 7407
By an Anonymous author.
CHAPTER I.
The dwelling together of both Saints: Serapia is led to the governor, Sabina accompanying her; and then she is handed over to two young men to be violated; but she is delivered from heaven.
St. Serapia, dwelling with St. Sabina, is summoned to the governor: When, therefore a, the dreadful day of persecution had become known to the Christians, and many throughout the world were undergoing martyrdom in the name of Christ, the holy virgin Serapia, a citizen of Antioch, was at the town of the Vendinenses b in the house of Sabina c, who was the wife of Valentinus and daughter of Herod, formerly d Metallarius, who e under Vespasian Augustus thrice f at the city of Rome gave the candida g to the Romans. Since, then, his daughter was a Christian, the said holy Serapia dwelt with her h, persuading her also to have the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so holy Sabina, believing in the Lord Jesus, grew in faith i and in good conversation; to whom then the governor Berillus k sent to seize the holy virgin of God l to the tribunal. First indeed that most illustrious lady, holy Sabina, calling in her men-servants and maid-servants, resisted m them. And after a little while holy Serapia said to her: My lady and mother, permit me to go; do thou only pray, and be confident in the Lord Jesus Christ; for I believe, though I am unworthy and a sinner, that my Lord Jesus Christ will make me, His handmaid, worthy of His Saints n. Sabina says to her: My daughter and my lady, virgin Serapia, either to live with thee or to die with thee I must o; I will not leave thee.
[2] And when they pressed her hard, she bade a litter be prepared for her, [Sabina leads her thither, and with the governor's permission brings her home again:] and went to the prætorium. And when it had been announced to the governor that the most illustrious Sabina was standing before the doors of the prætorium, having [p] with her also that Christian Serapia, the governor rose and went out [q] into the porch of the prætorium, honoring [r] her and saying: Why dost thou disparage thyself? or why dost thou render thyself worthless? or why dost thou not consider who thou art, or whose daughter thou art? For thou hast joined thyself to the Christians, and hast forgotten thy birth and the memory of so great a man whose wife thou wast [s], and the gods, whose wrath I fear thou mayest incur. Return rather to thy house, and dismiss that wicked woman who by her sorceries has turned thee and many others [t] from the worship of the gods. Sabina answered: Would that thou too wert persuaded by the sorceries of that holy maiden, as I too was justly persuaded by her to depart from unclean idols and to acknowledge the true and most certain God, who calls the good to eternal life and leaves the evil to perpetual punishment. Then indeed the governor, out of reverence for her, withdrew into the prætorium. But she with the holy virgin of God returned to her house.
[3] [Serapia is again led to the governor, whom Sabina threatens with God's vengeance:] But the governor after the third day made ready a place of games [u] across the bridge above the Arch of Binus [x], where the themela [y] was wont to be held, and ordered his officers that Serapia be brought. And when the officers had seized her, holy Sabina followed her on foot and came to the place of games; and when she saw that she could not help her, she cried out, saying to the governor: Thou raging Asiatic dog [z], seek not thy own destruction by grieving with injuries the holy virgin of God and thy lady; for near at hand — nay, present — is Christ our Lord, who shall torment thee and thy emperors [aa] with everlasting torments, who have devised such great evils against those who serve the living God. And she withdrew to her house with great weeping.
[4] Serapia constantly answering the governor, But the governor ordered holy Serapia to be set before him, saying to her: Sacrifice to the immortal gods, to whom our lords the emperors sacrifice. Serapia said: I fear and worship the almighty God, who made heaven and earth and the things that are in them: for the gods whom thou biddest me adore I do not adore [bb]. They are not gods, but demons, and therefore it is not lawful for me to adore them, because I am a Christian. The governor said: Come then and sacrifice to thy Christ. Serapia answered: I offer Him sacrifices daily, adoring Him and beseeching Him day and night. The governor said: And where is the temple of thy Christ? or what sacrifice dost thou offer Him? Serapia answered: That I show myself clean by chaste conversation, and that I bring others to that profession through His mercy. The governor said: Is this the temple of God and the sacrifice of thy Christ? Serapia said: There is nothing greater than to know the true God and to live piously and to serve Him. The governor said: Then thou thyself art the temple of thy God, as thou sayest? Serapia answered: If by His help I remain clean, I am His temple; for so says the divine Scripture: You are the temple of the living God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. The governor said: If then thou shalt be violated, thou ceasest to be the temple of thy God. Serapia answered: The divine Scripture says: If any man violate the temple of God, him shall God destroy.
[5] [is handed over to two young men to be violated; but is preserved by divine power.] But the governor, not knowing sin, ordered her to be handed over to two lascivious Egyptian youths, that they might use her the whole night through; and the horrible youths, taking her, led her into a secret place where there was a very dark chamber. Then holy Serapia in the said chamber prayed, saying: Holy, holy, holy, I call upon Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, who art the true guardian and preserver. I call upon Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, who art light and everlasting joy. I call upon Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, who didst visit and comfort the holy Apostles, held in the custody of prison, the doors being shut. Be present now, I pray, and have mercy on me, Thy handmaid Serapia, a stranger, and free me from the foul thought of these youths. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not be able to touch me, Thy handmaid, trusting in Thee; and let them not defile Thy seal, marked with Thy consecration. Confound their shamelessness, and cleanse me from the defilement of the flesh, and bid me pass over to Thee; and be present, Lord Jesus Christ, with Thy handmaid Sabina. Strengthen her in Thy greatness, Lord Jesus Christ, that the enemy the devil may not exult over her, who has endured many things for Thy holy name on my account, Thy handmaid. Lord Jesus Christ, hear me, who art the blessed and glorious and exceedingly praiseworthy Son, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. And when the said youths about the first hour of the night had begun to approach against the purpose of the virgin of Christ, suddenly a great noise was made and a horrible earthquake, so that it was felt throughout the whole town. And those youths, trembling and struck blind, fall lifeless to the ground, all their limbs unstrung [cc]: but the holy and unspotted handmaid of God, seeing heavenly help at hand, with pure hands stretched out to heaven passed the night entreating the Lord.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. Again this period is variously expressed in the various copies, and in most faultily: for in three manuscripts is read habens, and then quo audito præses. But since the sense is everywhere the same, I have expressed the edition of Baluze, which is more Latin.
q. In Baluze alone, entered.
r. Two manuscripts, praying.
s. Mombritius, with only one codex, whose thou wast. Baluze, to whom thou wast joined.
t. So all the manuscripts. Mombritius, alienated. Baluze, expelled and changed, faultily.
u. Lusorium, says Baluze on chapter 21 of Lactantius On the Deaths of the Persecutors, is a theater or amphitheater where public games were exhibited.
x. So in all the manuscripts and in Mombritius: Baluze alone has Albinus, adding at page 490 this observation: His, namely, as I think, who held the commonwealth with Severus and was afterwards conquered by him and perished. And this arch was across the Tiber. But first I do not see by what consistency Baluze sought the town Vendinum in Umbria, if he thought these things done at Rome at the Arch of Albinus. Then with what likelihood is it believed to have been the arch of that Albinus at which these things befell under Hadrian or earlier, since that Albinus is more than fifty years later than Hadrian? Let us therefore keep the common reading, and confess that we do not know whose that arch was, or in what place.
y. The word is obscure enough. In the enlarged Glossary of Du Cange, at this word themela, these words are cited, and by way of exposition it is said: Where themela is from the Greek θυμέλη: an altar in theaters, as Suidas interprets, or a platform in the orchestra where the musicians sang on the stage. Suidas indeed explains the word θυμέλη in both ways, but a difficulty arises in that it ought thus to be written in Latin thymela, not themela.
z. These words displease Tillemont, because they do not seem to befit an illustrious matron or a Saint. Nor do I judge words of this kind to be imitated, but rather to be wondered at, if they were spoken. But that the credit of the Acts does not waver on account of such harsher words, since they occur also in Acts of the highest approval, has already been frequently shown in this work. Let the same be said of the other things which follow afterwards and are at the same time objected by Tillemont, namely these: I do not do the will of thy father Satan, and I do not sacrifice, thou mad devil. Yet I think it uncertain whether those very words were uttered by our martyrs, since the writer of the Acts may have expressed them more harshly than they were spoken. Nay, it is likely that most of the sayings are rather the writer's than the martyrs'.
aa. These things displease Tillemont for a twofold cause. First, because there seems to have been no reason for threatening divine vengeance upon the emperors. Secondly, because at that time there was only one emperor. But the governor may before have alleged the laws of the emperors by which Christians were commanded to sacrifice or be punished; and this may have been the occasion for threatening divine vengeance not upon one only but upon several emperors, although those were already dead. Certainly several emperors had passed laws against the Christians. Yet I confess it seems more probable that these things proceeded from an author who wrote when there were several emperors; and this appears more clearly when at number 4 the governor says: To whom our lords the emperors sacrifice.
bb. So the Trier manuscript. In all the others there is a solecism, because the words I do not adore are omitted.
cc. In Baluze alone, resolutis. In the rest all the copies agree well enough.
elsewhere illi.*
elsewhere inlustrissima.*
CHAPTER II.
St. Serapia, being brought back to the governor, by her prayers restores the youths to their senses: then, being assailed in various ways to no purpose, she is crowned with martyrdom.
Serapia, brought back, asserts to the mocking governor that she is untouched, But at daybreak those sent by the most profane governor hastened to call the young men, and that, if they had fulfilled his commands, the malefactors might be questioned. And entering, they found the holy virgin of God praying, but the youths cast upon the ground like dead men, having no power at all of raising themselves; nor could they even speak: only their eyes were open in body a. And no small concourse was made. But the governor, when he had heard, ordered the tribunal to be prepared and the holy handmaid of God to be brought. And when she had been led thither, the governor said: What is it, girl? Did those youths satisfy thy desire? Or dost thou still take delight? Holy Serapia answered: Thou indeed speakest mockingly according to thy perverse mind, which the enemy the devil has perverted and possessed; but I neither perceived the youths of whom thou speakest, nor were they with me. The governor said: What then? Were they not with thee this night? Serapia answered: With me was He whose I am and to whom I belong. The governor said: Who is He? Serapia answered: My guardian and b preserver, the Lord Jesus Christ. The governor said: Why dost thou put off so great a multitude? Tell me how, or by what sorceries, thou hast unnerved the youths. Serapia answered: It is not lawful for us Christians to be sorcerers; for those whom you have slain by your sorceries our Lord and the Lord of all, Jesus Christ, being invoked, makes alive c.
[7] The governor said: If then thy Christ surpasses all the art of sorcery d, call upon Him for those youths, that their former health be restored to them, but to those youths, deprived of all sense, and they will say whether they sported with thee through the night or not. I know most certainly that thou hast made them senseless by certain e sorceries, lest they should discover thy shame. Serapia said: The God whose handmaid I am is almighty, and with Him nothing is impossible. The governor said: Therefore, if with that God of thine nothing is impossible, cause those youths to come to themselves and to speak. Serapia answered: Sorceries, such as thou suspectest, I know not; but I have prayer to my God, through which He grants not to me only but to all who call upon Him with the whole heart. The governor said: Do as thou wilt, only make the youths speak, and then we shall see thy integrity. Serapia answered: I have already told thee that I know not how to work sorceries, but to pray and entreat God that He may grant it. The governor said: Go then to the place where the youths are, and pray thy God over them. Serapia answered: That others be not cheated of the miracle or think ill, as thou dost, what need is there for me to go thither? Bid them be brought hither in the sight of all these. And the governor ordered the youths to be brought; and, carrying them in their hands, they brought them to the tribunal. And they were as though they had never had tongue, nor feet to walk, nor hands to feel with: for they were utterly unstrung in all their limbs.
[8] she restores the use of their limbs: Therefore, all marveling, the governor said: Serapia, pray now to thy Christ for their healing. But holy Serapia, stretching out her hands to heaven, said: Lord almighty God, who didst make heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them; who through Thy holy Apostles didst raise the dead, cleanse lepers, put demons to flight, give a tongue to the dumb, and grant hearing to the deaf: now, I pray, hear me Thy handmaid, trusting in Thee, and dissemble not on account of this unhappy and unbelieving man; but raise up these youths in the sight of all who await Thee through my prayer, to the confusion of this fool who rages against those who believe in Thee. Hasten, Lord, that they may know that Thou art the only God, who workest wonders, and there is none other beside Thee. And drawing near, she touched those youths, saying: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, raise yourselves to your former state. And they, as soon as they heard, leaped up and stood upon their feet and began to speak.
[9] the governor, attributing these things to the magic art, And when the people had seen this and were marveling, the governor said: You see that she did not accomplish the art of her sorcery unless she had felt them over with her hands. And the governor said to the young men: By doing what did this woman make you senseless and unstrung f? The young men said: Lord governor, according to the command of thy sublimity, as soon as we drew near to her, there entered a certain comely youth g of exceedingly wondrous size; and he was all shining like the sun, and stood between us and this girl; and from his brightness trembling and darkness and failing seized us; and from that time until now we have had no sense. But know, lord governor, that this girl is either a sorceress h or truly her God is great. The governor said to the girl: Tell me, Serapia, the kind of thy sorceries, by what arts thou doest these things, and I will presently let thee go.
Serapia answered: I hate sorceries; and all who are Christians, naming Christ, shall reduce sorceries to nothing, and they shall not be able to hurt them.
[10] orders her to be burned with lamps, which are quenched, The governor said: Behold, now let me see whether thy art shall avail. And if thou wilt not sacrifice, I will have thy head cut off. Serapia answered: Do what thou wilt; I do not sacrifice to demons, nor do I do the will of thy father Satan, because I am a Christian. And the governor ordered two burning lamps to be set to her; and when the lamps had been applied, they were presently quenched i, and those who held the lamps fell backward. But holy Serapia, lifting her eyes to heaven, said: Lord Jesus Christ, let all my enemies blush and be exceedingly troubled; let them be turned back and be confounded very speedily. The governor said: Sacrifice to the gods, that thou die not. Serapia answered: For this cause I do not sacrifice to your demons, that I may not die your death k. The governor said: Thou self-slayer l and sorceress, hear the imperial command, and sacrifice to the immortal gods and free thyself from torments and from death. Serapia answered: Self-slayers and sorcerers are you, who deny the living and true God, and by adoring m demons are about to die together with them. But to the immortal God I offer myself as a sacrifice, if He deigns to receive me, a sinner though I be, yet a Christian n.
[11] But the governor ordered her to be beaten with cudgels. And while she was being beaten, then, having been beaten with cudgels, to be beheaded. suddenly a great earthquake was made; and as it were a splinter o from the cudgels with which the holy virgin of God was being beaten struck the governor's right eye, which eye he lost after three days [p]. Then the governor, filled with fury, gave capital sentence against the holy maiden of God, saying: Whereas Serapia is not only a despiser of the imperial commands, but has also been detected in such great sorceries, I have ordered her to be struck with the sword. And the head of the holy virgin of Christ Serapia was cut off beyond the Arch of Faustinus, beside the plot [q] of Vindicianus, the duke of dukes [r]. And holy Serapia suffered on the fourth [s] of the Kalends of August: our Lord Jesus Christ reigning [t], who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit through the immortal ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
p. Mombritius, which he lost the next day.
q. Faultily in Mombritius, arcam Vindiciam. Baronius in his notes on the 3rd of September has thus: By area understand here the very place where dead Christians were buried. And that area is elsewhere taken in this sense he proves from Tertullian and from the Acts of St. Cyprian. But Baluze in his notes on this passage does not agree with Baronius, although he otherwise confesses that area is sometimes taken for a cemetery. Yet, since he substitutes no other explanation, and since area is not seldom taken in the sense given, I do not see why we may not embrace Baronius's exposition as probable; but other significations also of the same word may suit this passage — namely if it designated an open place, a forum, or the courtyard of a house.
r. Tillemont says that this title is not understood by him. I confess it was little used. But I suspect it must be understood in no other sense than that in which Seneca said in the Agamemnon: That king of kings, Agamemnon, leader of leaders — namely for a commander under whose rule leaders of lower rank served.
s. All the manuscripts and printed copies agree, except the edition of Baluze, in which is read: the III of the Nones of September, but faultily, as the martyrologists cited in the Commentary also make clear.
t. This conclusion is not read in Baluze. But it is found not only in all the copies in which the Acts are separated, but also in the Trier manuscript, in which they are joined together.
CHAPTER III.
The burial of St. Serapia: the pious works and martyrdom of St. Sabina.
Sabina buries Serapia and presses on in good works: And so a the most illustrious lady Sabina, gathering the remains of the holy and untouched virgin of Christ Serapia, and the body being embalmed with spices after the custom b, and venerable obsequies being celebrated, laid it, as an everlasting treasure or a precious pearl, in her own monument, which she had made for herself with the utmost care and adornment c. And from that day she ceased not to give many alms, trusting in the name of Christ Jesus and abiding in the faith which the holy virgin Serapia had handed on to her. And she was zealous daily to visit the sick and those shut up in prisons, supplying them abundantly with all things that were necessary.
[13] being brought before the prefect and answering him constantly, When therefore the prefect Helpidius came, that most ravening dog, the governor — blind in mind and in bodily eyes d — disclosed to him concerning the most religious lady Sabina all that had been done. And when he had produced her, they brought her into the prætorium; and the prefect e, seeing her, questioned her, saying: Art thou Sabina, wife of the late Valentinus of most illustrious memory, and daughter of Herod? Sabina answered: I am. The prefect said: Why hast thou forgotten thyself and joined thyself to the Christians, whose life is death; and dost thou not rather adore the gods whom our lords the emperors and augusti adore? Sabina answered: I give thanks to Jesus Christ our Lord, who freed me, a sinner, through His holy handmaid Serapia from many defilements and from the power of demons, that I might err no longer f, as I see you erring by adoring demons. The prefect said: As thou sayest, then, not only we, but also our lords and augusti, adore demons and not gods [g]. Sabina answered: Would that you adored God, who made all things, by whose nod all things visible and invisible are ruled and governed, and did not adore the foolish or senseless images of demons; for together with them you and your emperors shall burn in the Gehenna of fire.
[14] and despising his threats, she is condemned to death, The prefect said: By all the gods I swear that if thou wilt not sacrifice, I will not put off thy undergoing of the capital sentence h, but will presently have thee deprived of life by the sword. Sabina answered: I will not sacrifice, thou mad devil, to thy demons i, because I am a Christian and have Christ as God, and am His handmaid and worshiper, and to Him alone must I sacrifice. Then the prefect, minister of the devil, pronounced sentence against her, saying: Sabina, disobedient to the gods and blaspheming also our lords and augusti, we have decreed to be struck with the sword, and all her goods to be marked down under the public titles k.
[15] The head therefore of the holy and venerable handmaid of Christ Sabina being struck off, her martyrdom and burial. the Christians l with great joy took up her body and laid it in her own monument in the town of the Vendinenses m at the Arch of Faustinus, where she herself had venerably laid the mistress of her faith, the virgin of Christ Serapia. And holy Sabina suffered on the IV of the Kalends of September, and was crowned together n with the most valiant virgin of Christ Serapia, by Him who gives to all who believe in Him strength and everlasting rewards: to Him be honor and glory together with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, through the immortal ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
g. Baluze alone, God.