ON THE HOLY SMYRNAEAN MARTYRS, PIONIUS THE PRIEST, DIONYSIUS, ANOTHER PIONIUS, AND 13 OTHERS.
Year of Christ 251
PrefacePionius the Priest, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Dionysius, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Pionius the Other, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Others, 13 in number, Martyrs, at Smyrna in Asia
By I. B.
Section I. The Feast Day of St. Pionius.
[1] Just as St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, is venerated by the Greeks and Latins on different days — the latter on January 26, the former on February 23 — The feast day of St. Pionius assigned to different days; without sufficiently clear evidence as to which day, or indeed whether on either one, he underwent martyrdom; so too St. Pionius, a Priest of the same Church, and his companions, are celebrated by the Greeks on March 11, with the Acts providing some support, while the Latins celebrate them on February 1. "For this discrepancy many causes could be adduced, as in other cases," says Baronius in his Notes to the Martyrology, "namely the finding of relics, or a translation, deposition, or the dedication of a church in honor of the Martyrs themselves." Constantius Felix, whose words we shall give below when we treat of the companions of St. Pionius, says that these suffered on the Kalends of February, and that he met his death on March 12.
[2] Since, however, if anyone thinks he can establish the certain day and year of martyrdom (which for us, as we shall presently confess, is not so straightforward), the various Martyrologies will perhaps carry some weight, we shall here set forth the words of most of them one by one. The Old Roman, thus far cited by us under the name of St. Jerome, reads as follows: "On the Kalends of February, in the city of Smyrna, the birthday of Polycarp the Bishop, of Poenae, of Dionysius, and of 6 others. Likewise of Poenae and of 5 others." Another Roman, published by Rosweyde: February 1 in the old Martyrologies "At Smyrna, of Pionius the Martyr and 15 others." The same is in the manuscript of Centula, bearing the name of Bede. More briefly also the manuscript of the Louvain College of the Society of Jesus: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius, Martyr." The very ancient edition of the Martyrology of the Order of St. Benedict adds: "and of 15 others crowned with him." The manuscript of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp, bearing the name of Bede: "At Smyrna, the birthday of St. Pionius, Martyr. There suffered with him also 15 others."
[3] Usuardus: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius the Martyr, who after the filth of prison, and of Usuardus, Ado, Notker, and the Roman, where he strengthened many of the brethren by his exhortations to endure martyrdom, being tormented with many tortures, pierced with nails, and placed upon a burning pyre, obtained a blessed end of life for Christ. There suffered with him also 15 others." Ado, Notker, the Vulgate Bede, and others: "At Smyrna, the birthday of St. Pionius the Martyr, who in the persecution of Antoninus Verus, after the unconquerable constancy of his responses, and after the filth of prison, where he strengthened many of the brethren by his exhortations to the constancy of martyrdom, was at last tormented with many tortures," etc., as in Usuardus. The modern Roman, as revised by Baronius: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius, Priest and Martyr, who after composing apologies for the Christian faith, after the filth of prison" — the rest likewise as in Usuardus. More briefly, Bellinus of Padua: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius the Martyr, who, tormented with many tortures and placed upon a burning pyre, obtained a blessed end of life for Christ. There suffered with him 15 others." The manuscript of the Church of St. Gudula at Brussels: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius the Martyr, who in the persecution of the Emperor Antoninus Verus, being placed upon a burning pyre, rested in Christ: and with him suffered 15 others, whom he himself strengthened to endure martyrdom." The old manuscript of the Church of St. Mary at Utrecht: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius the Martyr, who in the persecution of Antoninus, after the unconquerable constancy of his responses, was at last placed upon a burning pyre and rested with a blessed end."
[4] The manuscript Florarium of the Saints: "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius the Martyr, otherwise Pionius, under Antoninus Verus. There suffered with him also 15 others, in the year of salvation 162, and in the 54th year of the third persecution." The author of the Florarium places the death of St. Pionius in the eleventh year of Marcus Aurelius, and the beginning of the third persecution in the eleventh year of Trajan, AD 108, while the Chronicle of Eusebius marks it in the preceding year, the tenth of Trajan. The fourth persecution, in which St. Polycarp was killed, falls in the seventh year of Marcus Aurelius. Franciscus Maurolycus briefly commemorates the martyrdom of St. Pionius thus: "At Smyrna, of Paeonius the Martyr, who, tormented with tortures and placed upon a burning pyre, fell for Christ with 15 others." Galesinius: and other more recent authorities. "At Smyrna, of St. Pionius and 15 companions, Martyrs. He, almost worn out by the wretchedness and filth of prison, where he confirmed many for martyrdom, tortured with various torments and pierced with nails, finally endured that punishment in fire bravely for the glory of Christ under the Emperor Antoninus, and departed to heaven." Canisius, in both editions, has the same as Usuardus, except that he expressly asserts that the 15 companions were killed by the same punishment, which neither Usuardus nor the Acts state.
[5] The old manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of St. Martin at Trier records him on February 2 in these words: in others, February 2. "At Smyrna, of Pionius the Martyr, who after the filth of prison, was consumed by a burning pyre." But the Greeks, as we noted, celebrate him on March 11, on which day the Menologion published by Canisius has: March 11 in the Greek sources: "Of St. Pionius, Priest of the Church of Smyrna. He, under the Emperor Decius, was nailed to wood and cast into a burning pyre, and was perfected in martyrdom." More fully, the Menaea: "On the same day, the memory of our Holy Father Pionius, Priest of the holy Church of Smyrna.
Like an ash-covered loaf thoroughly baked, Toasted Pionius was offered to the Lord.
He was a Priest of the holy Church of God at Smyrna, in the times of the Emperor Decius. Captured with others, he was first led before Polemon the Aedile: before whom he disputed concerning religion, with arguments drawn from Scripture and histories, confirming future events from those which had already occurred — namely, that God would test the deeds of men through fire, who also had formerly reduced the region of the Sodomites to ashes with a rain of fire, and had opened springs of flame in many places. Then the holy man was led before Elpidius the Prefect, the colleague of the Aedile. At last he was brought before Quintilianus the Proconsul, and was condemned to the punishment of fire. His feast is celebrated in the Lithostroton — that is, a certain building at Constantinople, situated in a place which was so called because it was paved with stones."
[6] Finally, on March 12, on which day the Acts report that he consummated his martyrdom, in others, March 12. he is again recorded in the Martyrology of St. Jerome, or the Old Roman: "At Smyrna, of Pionius the Priest." In the manuscript of Liessies and of St. Martin of Tournai: "At Nicomedia, the Passion of Pionius the Priest, who suffered under the Proconsul of Asia, Julius Proclus Quintilianus; who after prison and the laceration of his body was nailed to wood, and together with Metrodorus his fellow-priest, was delivered to fire." Here two things must be corrected; for he did not suffer martyrdom at Nicomedia, nor should Metrodorus, who was suspected of heresy, be called simply his fellow-priest. On the same day, Hermann Greven, a Carthusian of Cologne, records in his Additions to Usuardus: "Of Pionius the Martyr."
Section II. The Acts of St. Pionius.
[7] Eusebius of Caesarea, book 4 of his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 14, after narrating from the letter of the Church of Smyrna the glorious contest of St. Polycarp (which letter we recited in full on January 26), briefly adds some things concerning Pionius, which Rufinus, chapter 15, translated as follows: "But in the same letter there was contained also a narrative interwoven concerning very many other Martyrs of the same period. In which it is reported, after Polycarp, that a certain Metrodorus, a Priest of the heresy of Marcion, was also delivered to fire. Among the rest, however, who became Martyrs at the same time, a certain one named Pionius is there reported as most famous. Acts cited by Eusebius. His constancy of responses through each interrogation, and his orations to the people in defense of our faith, and how he always stood undaunted before the judges, teaching and disputing even upon the tribunals themselves; and how he gave a helping hand by his exhortations to those who had wavered during the persecution, encouraging them to rise again; and how, placed in prison, he strengthened the spirits of the brethren who came to him for the endurance of martyrdom; and what tortures he himself endured for his martyrdom; and how he was pierced with nails and placed upon a burning pyre; and how in these things he made a blessed end of life — if anyone wishes to know more fully, he will learn it more fully from that collection which was composed by us concerning the ancient Martyrs." We treated of this work of Eusebius in the General Preface to the Lives of the Saints, chapter 1, section 3, where we cited this very passage.
[8] Those Acts of St. Pionius, cited here by Eusebius as they had been written by the brethren of the Church of Smyrna, were incorporated into his work by Simeon Metaphrastes; rendered into Latin by Francesco Zino of Verona and published by Aloysius Lipomanus in volume 7 of the Lives of the Holy Fathers, and from him by Surius. Concerning these Acts, Molanus writes thus in Annotation 2 to February 1: "These were preserved for us by Simeon Metaphrastes, published from Metaphrastes, not so much from Eusebius of Caesarea as from the letter of the brethren of Smyrna, who were present. This is clear from chapter 1, number 1, where it is said: 'He was an Apostolic man in our times.' And chapter 2, number 11: 'He was referring to Asclepiades, who was with us.' And chapter 5, number 22: 'We who were present saw him in such a state.'"
[9] These Acts Baronius, in his Notes to the Martyrology, testifies to have been found, upon more careful examination by him, to be legitimate and genuine. described by eyewitnesses, praised by Baronius: And in volume 2 of the Annals, year 169, number 22, he judges them to be genuine and legitimate, and says they were taken partly from the public Proconsular Acts, and partly written simply and without artifice by those who were present. In the year 254, number 1, he writes thus concerning them: "The most genuine Acts of his survive, most faithfully written by a Christian man who was then present, and those very same which Eusebius reports he incorporated into that commentary on the Martyrs composed by himself. For that they are the very same legitimate Acts, both the summary of them collected and recited by the same Eusebius demonstrates, and also very many other things contained in those same Acts, which shine with the candor of the simplest truth, as the learned and prudent reader will perceive... I had despised them, I confess... and thus (to speak frankly) I first read them with a hostile mind, and examined them with an averted countenance, and weighed them on the scales of an Aristarchus, so that I might disprove rather than approve them. But since during the reading certain rays of simple and entirely unfeigned truth shone forth from them, I applied all my effort to examining them more carefully. But so far was I from finding them fabricated, and therefore thinking they should be rejected, that I recognized them to shine with the bright light of truth, and to be sound in every respect." Thus and more says that man of the highest judgment.
[10] The same Acts of St. Pionius already existed among the Latins in ancient times, perhaps even before the age of Metaphrastes himself: we present them here from a codex of the imperial monastery of St. Maximin near Trier, written at least five hundred years ago: though perhaps abbreviated in certain places. others from Latin manuscripts. Vincent of Beauvais treats of St. Pionius in book 10, chapter 27; Zacharias Lippelous in the Select Lives of Saints, volume 1; Bartholomaeus Riccius in his Images of Crucified Martyrs; Petrus Biverus in the Sanctuary of the Cross.
Section III. The Time of the Martyrdom.
[11] Concerning the date of the death of Pionius, the Acts and very many Latin writers disagree to a remarkable degree. The former assert that he was crowned with martyrdom under Decius, who, having killed both the Philips, father and son, seized the empire in the year 249 and held it for more than two years. Many Martyrologies cited above in numbers 3 and 4, and other weighty authors, it is doubtful whether he was killed under Marcus Aurelius; together with our Petavius, place it under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. These follow the Chronicle of Eusebius, in which under the seventh year of Marcus Aurelius, which was the year of Christ 167, the following is found in the Latin copies: "When a persecution arose in Asia, Polycarp and Pionius underwent martyrdom; whose written passions are also extant." He seems to assert the same in book 4, chapter 14 of his Ecclesiastical History, as we reported in number 7. Nicephorus Callistus, book 3, chapter 36, concurs in nearly the same words.
[12] Both sets of Acts report that he was killed during the persecution of the Emperor Decius. And indeed the longer Acts, taken from Metaphrastes, in chapter 2, number 10, relate that Sabina, or under Decius: who was captured together with Pionius, had previously, under the Emperor Gordian, been bound by her mistress and banished to the mountains: and Gordian reigned from the year 238 to 244. In the same Acts, chapter 3, number 12, a certain Eutychianus is mentioned, from the heresy of the Phrygians, who had already been shut up in prison before Pionius was brought into it. This therefore did not occur in the seventh year of Marcus Aurelius, in which Polycarp underwent martyrdom; since in the eleventh year of the same Marcus Aurelius, as the same Chronicle of Eusebius reports, this seems more probable, the Pseudo-prophecy, which is called that of the Cataphrygians, had its beginning, under the authorship of Montanus and the prophetesses Priscilla and Maximilla. What is more, Euctemon, Bishop of Smyrna, had sacrificed to idols before Pionius was arrested. Therefore Pionius was not captured at the very same time that Polycarp was crowned, as they claim. For how is it probable that a new Bishop was elected during that tumult, and suddenly fell from the faith? Finally, in the Acts of St. Polycarp, the Smyrnaeans speak thus in number 15: "When we are at some time gathered together, God will grant us to celebrate the day of his martyrdom with joy and exultation." But he was arrested when the solemnity of St. Polycarp was already being celebrated; therefore not in the same year at least: and not even in the same persecution, if the Acts are legitimate.
[13] Baronius confesses that he has been led to the opinion that there is an error in the writings of Eusebius, rather than that the Acts should be imperiled in their truthfulness. also by Baronius: He sets forth whence he suspects the error crept in as follows: "Since (as the same Eusebius says) in the same document of the Church of Smyrna, after the description of Polycarp's martyrdom, the Acts of other Martyrs and of Pionius were appended, in which it was said that Pionius suffered at the same time as Polycarp; it was supposed (not by Eusebius, I think, who had examined those same Acts sufficiently, but by others) that Pionius too was crowned with martyrdom while fighting for the faith under the same Emperors as Polycarp." He recites the words of Eusebius, which we cited above from the translation of Rufinus, and says they are to be understood in this sense: that Pionius underwent martyrdom in that same place, and also at the same season of the year, as his fellow-citizen Polycarp. He had written the same thing earlier under the year 169, number 22. He repeats the same in his Notes to the Martyrology.
[14] The Greeks thus understood Eusebius, as is clear from the Menaea and Menologion cited above. The words of Eusebius are: "In the same writing concerning him, other martyrdoms also were appended, accomplished in the same city of Smyrna during the same period of time as the martyrdom of Polycarp." nor does Eusebius in his History plainly contradict this, These words seem to have been somewhat inaptly translated by Christophorsonus: "Other martyrdoms of others also, carried out at Smyrna at the very same moment of time in which Polycarp was undergoing his martyrdom, were gathered into that letter composed about him." Nor is the translation of Rufinus perhaps entirely to be approved: "But in the same letter there was also contained an interwoven narrative concerning very many other Martyrs of the same time." More correctly, those words can be rendered into Latin thus: "In the same commentary on the affairs of Polycarp, other connected martyrdoms were included, of those who were crowned in that city when the anniversary of Polycarp's martyrdom recurred." Nicephorus at the cited passage has: "During the same revolution of the times." Langus translates: "In this same age." Better perhaps: "At the same season of the year, or revolution of time." Moreover, those whom Eusebius and Nicephorus at the cited passages mention as having undergone martyrdom after Pionius at Pergamum, a city of Asia — Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonike — the Acts which we shall give on April 13, and the Menaea on October 13, report as having suffered in the times of Decius, not, as Eusebius at first glance seems to indicate, under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
[15] Baronius either did not notice, or certainly (which it is not proper to suspect of his candor) concealed, that in the Chronicle of Eusebius the contrary of what he was defending is asserted. or in the Chronicle. But in the Greek edition of the Chronicle no mention of Pionius is made, for it reads thus under the consulship of Lucius Verus and Quadratus: "Polycarp, the most holy Bishop of Smyrna, was perfected by martyrdom for Christ, a persecution having arisen throughout Asia." Whether St. Jerome added the name of Pionius, or someone else afterwards, is not worth investigating.
[16] But if the martyrdom of Pionius truly occurred under Decius, in which year of his reign, in which month, and on which day, can be debated. To us it is not sufficiently clear. We do not believe, the year and day of death are not certainly established. as Peter of Natalibus writes in book 3, chapter 68, that it was accomplished on the Kalends of February. The Alexandrian Chronicle, Indiction 14, under the consuls Decius Caesar and Decius his son, which was the year of Christ 250, has the following: "At Smyrna, an Asiatic city, Pionius with not a few others fell for the cause of Christ: he was a learned man, and well imbued with the more sacred knowledge of Christian disciplines: under Proclus, Proconsul of Asia, on the fourth day before the Ides of March, that is, by the Asiatic reckoning, in the sixth month, the twelfth, on the Sabbath, at the tenth hour, he completed his course." The Latin Acts, chapter 1, number 2, have: "On the second day of the sixth month, which day is the fourth before the Ides of March, on the greater Sabbath, the violence of the persecution found the twin Pionius, Sabina," etc. And chapter 3, number 15: "These things were done under the Proconsul Julius Proculus Quintilianus, in the consulship of Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius and Vicius Gratus — as the Romans say, the fourth before the Ides of March; as the Asians reckon, in the sixth month, on the Sabbath day, at the tenth hour of the day." The other Acts distinguish the day on which he was captured and the day on which he was killed. he was captured on February 23, 250, a Saturday: For they read thus in chapter 1, number 2: "On the twenty-third day of the month of February, when the Great Sabbath was at hand — namely, the birthday of the blessed Martyr Polycarp — during the raging persecution of the Emperor Decius, the Priest Pionius, and Sabina," etc., "were arrested." And chapter 5, number 22: "These things were done under Julius, Proconsul of Asia, with Proclus and Quintilianus holding the magistracy, in the third consulship of Quintus Trajanus, and the second of Deltius Gratus, under Trajan Decius Augustus, on the fourth day before the Ides of March according to the Roman custom, but according to the Asiatic custom, on the eleventh of the seventh month, on the Sabbath day, at the tenth hour."
[17] But these dates do not at all agree with one another, namely that February 23, and then in the same year March 12 or even March 11, should have been a Saturday. Unless one supposes the writer to have erred in two ways — namely, that he designated the Ides of March as the thirteenth day, and called the day before the Ides "the first before the Ides" and the eleventh "the second before the Ides." For thus in the first year of Decius, AD 250, on which day he was killed is uncertain: in the consulship of Messius Decius Augustus and Annius Gratus, with the Dominical letter F, the 23rd of February falls on a Saturday before Quinquagesima Sunday, which is here called "Great"; and March 9 falls on a Saturday before Oculi Sunday, according to that erroneous reckoning. But since he is said to have been almost worn out by the filth and wretchedness of prison, he seems to have been detained in it longer than fourteen days: and he could scarcely have accomplished in so brief a space all the things that Eusebius commemorates. It is probable, therefore, that in the year of Christ 250, on February 23, when the annual solemnity of St. Polycarp was being celebrated, he was cast into chains: and in the following year, on March 11 or 12, or on some other day, he completed his contest, but probably in the year 251 in the consulship of Decius III and Gratus II. Certainly in the booklet on the Roman Pontiffs, which our Aegidius Bucherius, having received it from us, published in his Commentaries on the Canon of Victorius, it is said that Pope St. Fabianus suffered martyrdom under Decius II and Gratus, which we showed on January 20 occurred in the year of Christ 250. In the preceding year, therefore, AD 249, Decius had seized the consulship together with the empire. In the same booklet it is said that St. Cornelius occupied the see "from the consulship of Decius IV and Decius II," so that according to the opinion of that author, Decius must be said to have fallen in the year of Christ 252, in which the elder Decius had already entered upon his fourth consulship. His third he had held in AD 251, with Quintus Herennius Etruscus Decius, his son, as Caesar, who was either substituted for Annius Gratus, or had substituted him for himself as he set out for the war with his father. Others assign Rusticus as the colleague of the elder Decius in that year: an anonymous author cited by Cuspinianus gives "Decius III and Decius Caesar." Perhaps someone who examines the Asiatic paschal canons with more careful study will discover more certain facts in the third consulship of Decius. about the day of the martyrdom of Pionius and his companions, as we have also said elsewhere concerning the martyrdom of St. Polycarp.
Section IV. The Companions and Writings of St. Pionius.
[18] Most Martyrologies, as we reported above, join fifteen companions to Pionius in his glorious martyrdom. Not a few, bearing chiefly the name of Usuardus, count only twelve. The Old Roman, cited in number 2, His companions were Dionysius and Pionius, and 13 others. names two of them, Dionysius with 6 others, and another Pionius with five companions: as if not all were killed at the same time, but on different days or in different places, and perhaps by different modes of martyrdom. Nowhere else is any mention made of this second Pionius, or Pionis, or (as the manuscript has it) Poenis. The Carthusians of Cologne mention Dionysius in these words: "Likewise of Saints Dionysius and Publius." We shall treat separately of Publius and his companions who suffered in Africa. On January 26, in the Life of St. Polycarp, section 1, number 2, we said that it could be doubted whether these were companions of St. Polycarp, or rather — as we are more inclined to think — of St. Pionius, since only 12 are joined to Polycarp, while here there are 13.
[19] Whether those who are listed in the Acts as having been arrested together with St. Pionius — Asclepiades, whether Asclepiades, Sabina, Macedonia, and Linus? Macedonia, Sabina or Theodota, and Linus the Priest — also underwent martyrdom and should be counted among his 15 companions, is not easy for us to determine. The Latin Acts call them Martyrs in chapter 2, number 4: "Then, with the Martyrs placed in the midst." We have nowhere read their names in the Martyrologies, except in Felicius, who nevertheless seems to reckon 15 others besides them: "Peonius the Priest," he says, "with 15 companion Martyrs: who together with Sabina, Macedonia, Asclepiades, and Linus the Priest, and others, suffered martyrdom at Smyrna under the Emperor Decius, afflicted with various tortures by Quintilianus, and at last nailed to crosses. The others are said to have fallen on February 1, and Peonius on March 12; but today the commemoration of all is made together." This one whom Felicius here calls Peonius, Maurolycus above calls Paeonius, and many manuscripts call Pion.
[20] The modern Roman Martyrology, cited above in number 3, reports that apologies for the Christian faith were composed by St. Pionius. He was indeed, as the Alexandrian Chronicle has in number 16, "a learned man, and well imbued with the more sacred knowledge of Christian disciplines." he does not seem to have written apologies for the faith; But we have read no ancient writer who testified that he published anything. Eusebius, book 4 of his History, chapter 14, records his "apologies for the faith before the people
and the magistrates." Rufinus translates this as "orations to the people in defense of our faith," etc., as above in section 2, number 7. Christophorsonus renders it "apologies for the faith recited before the people and the magistrates." Nothing else seems to be meant than the disputations held concerning the truth of our religion, which are found in the Acts.
[21] We showed on January 26, section 2, that the Life and martyrdom of St. Polycarp were composed by a certain Pionius, perhaps after the Council of Nicaea. It is not improbable, however, that that author was this same holy Martyr of ours. At the end of the martyrdom account in the Latin copies, the following is found: "Gaius wrote these copies from the teaching of Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, who lived together with Irenaeus. And I, Socrates, wrote from these copies of Gaius. but the Acts of St. Polycarp, prompted by a revelation. And I, Pionius, sought out and wrote the aforementioned copies, from the revelation which was made to me concerning Blessed Polycarp, as I declared in the assembly to the rest, from the time when I labored with the elect, and that the Lord Jesus Christ might gather me into the kingdom of heaven." In the Greek copy, Pionius speaks thus: "And I, Pionius, in turn transcribed from the copies already mentioned, and searched according to the revelation of Blessed Polycarp appearing to me, so as to show, gathering them together, those things which had already been almost obliterated by time." Indeed the holy Martyr both labored with the elect, and was admonished by a heavenly revelation of his impending martyrdom, and was endowed with such candor that he even dared freely to declare in the assembly of the brethren what he had received from God, just as he also placed chains upon their necks. Read what was said in the Life of Polycarp.
ACTS
from the manuscript of the monastery of St. Maximin.
Pionius the Priest, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Dionysius, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Pionius the Other, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Others, 13 in number, Martyrs, at Smyrna in Asia
BHL Number: 6852
By an Anonymous Author, from Latin Manuscripts.
CHAPTER I.
The Arrest of St. Pionius and His Companions.
[1] That the merits of the Saints ought to be recounted and should be commemorated, the Apostle has taught, The deeds of the Saints should be narrated: because he knew that the memory of things accomplished causes fame to grow in the breasts of distinguished men — especially for those who either most eagerly strive to imitate such men, or contend with the utmost emulation. Whence the Passion of the Martyr Pionius ought not to be passed over in silence, because while he was in the light, he dispelled the error of ignorance for many brethren, and afterwards, having become a Martyr, he showed by his suffering an example to those to whom he had less fully imparted his teaching.
[2] Therefore on the second day of the sixth month, which is the fourth day before the Ides of March, on the Greater Sabbath, the violence of persecution found Geminus Pionius, Sabina, Asclepiades, Macedonia also, and Leninus the Priest of the Catholic Church. St. Pionius is captured with others: But because the Lord revealed the full gift of faith, Pionius, because the punishments which he did not fear were imminent, foresaw the future things that were approaching. but forewarned in dreams, Therefore when, on the day before the birthday of Polycarp arrived, together with Sabina and Asclepiades, he was devoutly engaged in fasting, he saw in his dreams that he was to be captured on the following day. When he recognized these things openly and without doubt, because the vision revealed everything so clearly, he placed chains of rope around his own neck and those of Asclepiades and Sabina: he had already put chains on himself and his companions: so that when they were found already bound by those who would come to bind them, those who had come would know that they were doing nothing new; and they would understand that these were not to be led away like the others who were tasting the sacrifices; since the chains had been placed upon them before they were ordered, both as a testimony of faith and as a judgment of their will.
[3] After the customary prayer had been offered, and on the Sabbath day they had tasted the holy bread and water, Polemon, or the Temple Warden, arrived with his retinue. When he saw Pionius, he poured forth these words from his profane mouth: "You know that the command of the Emperor is clear, which orders you to celebrate the sacrifices." Pionius said: "We know the commands indeed; but only those which bid us to worship Christ." The Temple Warden said: "Come to the forum, that you may learn that what I have said is true." But Sabina and Asclepiades said with a clear voice: he is led to the forum, "We obey God." And when they were being led to the forum and presented, the crowd suddenly saw the chains placed upon their necks: and, as the desire of seeing a spectacle is wont to grip a crowd, so they stood amazed, marveling among themselves, so that while some pushed others, they were themselves pushed by others in turn. Therefore, when they had come to the forum, the immense multitude suddenly filled whatever space was in the middle, and the rooftops placed above the little pagan buildings were filled: with an innumerable crowd gathering: and countless throngs of women were also present, because it was the Sabbath day, and the festivity freed the women of the Jews from their work. People of every age, impelled by eagerness to see, rushed in from every side: and those whom shortness of stature deprived of seeing, either by climbing on chests or by mounting high seats, made up by ingenuity what nature had denied them, so that they might not be cheated of the spectacle.
NOTES
CHAPTER II.
The First Interrogation before Polemon the Temple Warden.
[4] Then, with the Martyrs placed in the midst, Polemon said: "It is good, Pionius, for you as for the rest to obey; and by carrying out what is commanded, to avoid punishment." The blessed Martyr, before which he delivers a speech, having heard the words of Polemon, stretched out his hand and with a glad and eager countenance answered in the following manner: "You who exult in the beauty of the walls and rejoice in the splendor of the city of Smyrna, and glory in Homer the poet, and if any among you are present from the Jews — hear me, and rebukes those who mock the Christians because some have lapsed, I address you in a few words. For I hear that you mock those who either leap forward voluntarily to sacrifice, or do not refuse when compelled by another; and that in both cases you condemn the fickleness of heart, as though it were a spontaneous error: when you ought to obey Homer, your teacher and master, who asserts that it is wrong to insult the dead, and that there should be no contest with those bereft of light, nor any struggle with the dead. But you who are Jews ought to have obeyed the commands of Moses, who says: 'If your enemy's animal has fallen, you ought to raise it up before you pass by.' Deut. 22:4 With a like sentiment and similar reasoning Solomon also marked it out: 'Do not exult when your enemy falls, nor rejoice in the misfortune of others.' Prov. 14:17 Whence I prefer to die and endure all punishments, and to feel immense tortures though reduced to every kind of distress, rather than to pervert either what I have learned or what I have taught. Now therefore, since the Jews dissolve in mocking laughter, ridiculing those who sacrifice either under compulsion or willingly; and since they do not restrain their laughter even at our expense, and proclaim with insulting voice that we have long had a time of license — granted: we are enemies, then, but still we are human beings. For what loss have they suffered from us, or what punishments have they experienced through us? Whom have we persecuted with unjust hatred? Whom have we injured with our tongue? Whom have we dragged to punishment, raging with bestial cruelty? especially the Jews, Their sins are not like those which are now committed out of fear of men. There is a great distinction between one who sins unwillingly and one who sins willingly: and this is the difference between one who is compelled and one whom no one forces — that in the one case the mind is at fault, in the other, the circumstances. For who compelled the Jews to be initiated into the mysteries of Beelphegor, or to take part in funeral rites and taste the sacrifices of the dead? Who compelled them to engage in shameful intercourse with the daughters of foreigners [whose ancestors, not like ours under compulsion, but of their own free will, committed foul deeds.] and to practice harlot-like pleasure? Who compelled them to burn their own sons? Who compelled them to murmur against God, or to speak evil of Moses in secret? Who made them ungrateful, forgetful of so many benefits? Who compelled them to return in their heart to Egypt, or, when Moses had ascended to receive the law, to say to Aaron: 'Make us gods, and a calf to go before us,' and the rest of the things they did? But you, pagans, they can perhaps deceive, beguiling your ears with some ambiguity; upon us none of them will be able to impose. Let them recite the book of Judges, of Kings, of Exodus, and the rest, by which they are convicted — let them show them. But you ask why many descend willingly to sacrifice, and on account of a few, you mock the rest. Form for yourselves the image of a threshing: is the pile of chaff greater or that of wheat? For when the farmer turns the wheat with a two-pronged fork, the weightless chaff is carried off by the removing wind, but the heavy and solid wheat remains in the place where it stood.
[5] I shall now repeat what the Jews used to discuss when I was in my early age, which I shall prove to be a lie by refuting it in the following discourse. For it is written thus: 'Saul consulted the woman who had a familiar spirit, and said to her: Raise up for me Samuel the Prophet.' 1 Sam. 28 'And the woman saw a man ascending with a robe: Saul believed it was Samuel, and asked him what he wished to hear.' What then? Could that sorceress raise up Samuel? If they agree that she could, they have confessed that iniquity is more powerful than justice, and they are execrable and accursed: if they deny that the woman brought him back in this way, it necessarily follows that they cannot prove that the Lord Jesus Christ did not return in the same manner: [he teaches that Christ was not raised by magical art; nor Samuel by the sorceress:] thus it will happen that in this contention they must either be condemned or yield. The reasoning of this argument is as follows: how could the woman raise up the soul of the holy Prophet, already long placed in the bosom of Abraham, since the weaker is always overcome by the stronger? Therefore, as they think, Samuel was brought back to the light? By no means. What then? Just as angels hasten to minister to all who receive God with a pure mind, so demons obey sorcerers, or enchanters, or diviners, or those who sell madness under the guise of prophecy through remote countrysides. 2 Cor. 11:14 For the Apostle said: 'If Satan is transformed into an angel of light, it is no great thing if his ministers are transfigured.' But we ought to believe him who ordained the seas that flow around the earth, and marked them with the established law of boundaries and shores.
[6] The Temple Warden said: "Do you mean him who was crucified?" And Pionius: "I mean him whom the Father sent for the salvation of the world." And the judges said among themselves: "Let us compel them to speak, so that Pionius might hear." To which he replied: "Be ashamed, and show at least some little reverence for the worship of God and justice. He boldly confesses Christ: But if it pleases your laws, why do you blame your own laws by not carrying out what has been commanded? For you have been commanded not to use force against those who contradict you, but death."
NOTES
CHAPTER III.
The Examination before the Proconsul. The Death of Pionius.
[7] He silences the orator Rufinus: After these words, a certain Rufinus, powerful in eloquence and fluency and excelling in the art of oratory, said: "Be quiet, Pionius. Why do you presume upon empty glory with vain boasting?" To whom Pionius replied: "Is this what the volume of your histories has taught you? Is this what your books demonstrate?" Rufinus, having received such a response from the blessed Martyr, fell silent as if struck by lightning.
[8] A certain man placed in high honor in this world said: "Do not shout, Pionius." To which he replied: he is carried with his companions to the altar, "Do not be violent, but set up the pyre, so that we may go willingly into the flames." Seizing Pionius, therefore, they carried him with great joy and exultation, and placed him beside the altar, like a victim, in that place where they said someone had just sacrificed. Then the judges said with a stern voice: "Why do you not sacrifice?" They answered: "Because we are Christians." he abominates the sacrifices, The judges said again: "What god do you worship?" Pionius said: "Him who made heaven and earth, and adorned the heaven with stars, who established the earth and adorned it with flowers."
[9] Again the Proconsul said: "You were a teacher of foolishness." He replied: "Of piety." Again the Proconsul: "Of what piety?" He replied: "Of that piety which pertains to God — him who made heaven and earth and the sea." Again the Proconsul replied: "Sacrifice therefore." He replied: "I have learned to worship the living and true God." Then the Proconsul: "We worship all the gods, and the Heaven, and those who are in it. Why do you look at the air? Sacrifice." He replied: "I do not look at the air, but at him who made the air." Again the Proconsul: despite the vain persuasion of the Proconsul: "Who made it?" He replied: "It is not permitted to reveal." Again the Proconsul: "It must be Jupiter you mean, who is in heaven, with whom are all the gods and goddesses. Sacrifice therefore to him who is ruler of all the gods and of heaven."
[10] And when he had been silent, the Proconsul ordered him to be suspended, and what he could not accomplish with words, he wished to extort by torments. Therefore, after he had begun to subject him to torments, he is suspended and tortured: the Proconsul said: "Sacrifice." He replied: "By no means." Again the Proconsul: "Many have sacrificed, and avoiding torments, enjoy the light: why, so puffed up, do you hasten to death with I know not what eagerness? Do what you are commanded." He replied: "I am not puffed up; but I fear the eternal God."
[11] After this firm and fixed resolution of the blessed Martyr, the Proconsul, having conferred at length with his counselor, he is ordered to be burned alive, again turned his words to Pionius and said: "Do you persist in your purpose, and do you not repent even at this late hour?" He replied: "By no means." Again the Proconsul: "You have free power to measure with greater deliberation and long reflection what it is expedient for you to do." the sentence is read from the tablet: He replied: "By no means." Then the Proconsul said: "Since you hasten to death, you shall suffer burning alive"; and he ordered to be read from the tablet: "We command that Pionius, a sacrilegious man who has confessed himself a Christian, be burned with avenging flames; that he may strike fear into men, and render vengeance to the gods."
[12] And so that great man went forth, destined to be an example for Christians, a pleasure for the sacrilegious: nor, as is usual for those going to death, he goes nobly to his death: did his footsteps falter, his knees tremble, his limbs grow numb; nor did a mind foreseeing evil and the other signs of death impede his progress with stumbling steps: swift of foot, vigorous in body, serene in mind, he was borne with a liberated soul to his death. And when he had arrived at the stadium, before the executioner could give the order, he strips himself voluntarily, he himself bared his body. And when he had looked upon his whole and unblemished limbs, he raised his eyes toward heaven, giving thanks to God ever a virgin: that he had been so preserved by God's piety. Placed therefore upon the pyre which pagan hands had built, so that he might be fixed with great nails, he is fastened to the stake: he himself composed his own limbs. When the people saw him nailed fast, moved either by compassion or anxiety, they said: "Repent, Pionius; the nails will be removed from you if you promise to do what is commanded." Then he said: "I feel the wounds; but whether I have been pierced with nails I do not perceive." And after an interval he said: "This is the reason that leads me, this is the consideration that most of all compels me to death: that all the people may understand that there will be a resurrection after death."
[13] After this, they raised Pionius and the Priest Metrodorus, together with the stakes to which they were fastened; and it happened that Pionius stood on the right, and Metrodorus on the left, with their eyes and minds turned toward the East. But when wood was brought and fuel placed beneath, and the fire gathered strength, and the devastating flame crackled fiercely through the burning pyre, he prays: Pionius, with eyes closed, entreated his God in silent prayer. Not long after, with an exceedingly glad countenance, he dies happily and piously: he looked upon the fire and, saying "Amen," breathed out his soul as if belching it forth, commending his spirit to him who would render recompense, and who promised to require an accounting for the souls of those unjustly condemned, saying: "Lord, receive my soul."
[14] This was the end of the blessed Pionius, this was his passion — destined for a life forever incorruptible and free, innocent of all fault: a pure simplicity, a tenacious faith, a persevering innocence. His breast excluded all vices, because it was open to God. Thus he hastened through darkness to the light, and walking through the narrow gate, pressed on to the full and spacious way. Almighty God therefore showed a sign of his crown: for suddenly, in the fire, those whom either compassion or curiosity to see had brought there, beheld the body of Pionius such that it could surpass those of added limbs. He had upright ears, moderate hair, a flourishing beard; and he was so composed in all the mass of his limbs His form was not harmed by the fire. that he would be thought a young man: and his body, as if reduced to a younger age, displayed both his merit and an example of the resurrection. Moreover, a wonderful grace smiled from his face, and many signs of angelic beauty shone forth from the Lord, so that confidence was added to the Christians, and fear to the pagans.
[15] These things were done under the Proconsul Julius Proculus Quintilianus, in the consulship of Gaius Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius and Vicius Gratus, on the fourth day before the Ides of March according to the Roman reckoning, and according to the Asiatic reckoning in the sixth month, on the Sabbath day, at the tenth hour of the day. All things were done as we have described, under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory, unto the ages of ages, Amen.
NOTES
OTHER ACTS
From Simeon Metaphrastes, Published by Lipomanus and Surius.
Pionius the Priest, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Dionysius, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Pionius the Other, Martyr, at Smyrna in Asia (Saint) Others, 13 in number, Martyrs, at Smyrna in Asia
From Metaphrastes.
CHAPTER I.
The Arrest of St. Pionius and Others: His Oration to the Gentiles and the Jews.
[1] The Apostle admonishes us to celebrate the memory of the Saints, knowing full well that when we celebrate those who remained with their whole heart in the sound faith, we are stirred to imitate what is more excellent. This being so, the memory of Pionius the Martyr must be especially cherished by us, who even while he sojourned in the world St. Pionius, Teacher of the Smyrnaeans. recalled many from error, and was an Apostolic man in our times. And when, crowned with martyrdom, he was called to the Lord, he left us this example of virtue as an admonition, so that we might have even now the memorials of his teaching.
[2] On the twenty-third day of the month of February, when the Great Sabbath was at hand — divinely warned that he was to be captured, that is, the birthday of the blessed Martyr Polycarp — during the raging persecution of the Emperor Decius, the Priest Pionius, and Sabina, a woman devoted to true piety, and Asclepiades, and Macedonia, and Linus, a Priest of the Catholic Church, were arrested. Pionius therefore, on the day before the birthday of St. Polycarp, foresaw that on that very day they would be captured. he voluntarily places chains on himself and his companions. And so, while fasting together with Sabina and Asclepiades, having foreseen that he would be arrested the next day, he took three connected chains, threw them around his own neck and those of Sabina and Asclepiades, and waited at home. He did this both so that they would not be carried off by friends, and so that no one could suspect that they, like the rest, were willing to be led away to eat things sacrificed to idols: and so that all would understand that they had resolved to go straight to prison.
[3] When therefore they had devoted themselves to prayers, and on the Sabbath had taken the holy bread and water, Captured on February 23, 250 Polemon the Temple Warden arrived with his attendants, to seek out the Christians and lead them to sacrifice to idols and eat of the things that had been sacrificed. And the Temple Warden said: "You know plainly the decree of the Emperor, by which you are commanded to sacrifice to the gods." To which Pionius replied: "We know the commandments of God, by which he orders us to worship him alone." "Come to the forum then," said Polemon, "and there you will comply." But Sabina and Asclepiades said: "We obey the living God." He was therefore leading them, but without violence. And as they continued on their way, all saw them wearing chains. Whereupon the people, stirred by the novelty of the thing, he is led to the forum: quickly gathered together, and were pressing upon one another on account of the multitude. And when they had come to the forum and had taken their stand in the eastern portico, at the Double Gate, the entire forum was filled, and the upper porticoes, with Greek men and Jews, as well as women. For since it was the Great Sabbath, they were at leisure. They had even climbed upon foundations and arches to watch.
[4] When therefore they had stood in the midst, Polemon said: "It is better, O Pionius, that you too, as all others do, obey the Emperor he delivers an oration to the Gentiles and the Jews: and sacrifice to the images, lest you be punished." But Pionius, extending his hand and with a cheerful countenance, defended his cause, saying: "Men of Smyrna, who glory both in the beauty of your city and in the honey of Homer, as you say, and if there are any Jews among you — hear me as I plead in brief. I hear that you receive with laughter and joy those who desert, as though what they do in willingly offering sacrifice to idols were something ridiculous and trivial. Yet it would have been fitting, O Greeks, that you should listen to your teacher Homer, who declares that it is not pious to rejoice in the destruction of men. Deut. 22:4 And you, O Jews, Moses commands thus: 'If you see the beast of your enemy fallen and lying under its burden, do not pass by: but raise it up.' It would likewise have been fitting for you to hear Solomon, who says: 'If your enemy falls, do not rejoice, nor be exalted in his calamity.' Prov. 14:17 For I, heeding my teacher, prefer to die rather than depart from his precepts. And I strive with all my strength not to depart from those things which I first learned, and then also taught. What reason is there, then, for the Jews to mock us cruelly? Even if, as they themselves say, we were their enemies, still we are human beings. Moreover, they say, having been wronged, that there is freedom to speak about us. But whom have we wronged? Whom have we killed? Whom have we persecuted? Whom have we compelled to worship idols? Do they think their sins are similar to the sins of those who now transgress, driven by human fear? he restrains those who mock because some of ours have lapsed: Yet they differ as much as the difference between things done by force and things done by free will. For who compelled the Jews to offer sacrifice to Beelphegor? To eat the sacrifices of the dead? To commit fornication with the daughters of foreigners? To burn their sons and daughters for idols? To murmur against God? To curse Moses? To be ungrateful toward those who had deserved well of them? To return in their heart to Egypt? To say to Aaron, when Moses had ascended to receive the law: 'Make us gods,' and to worship the calf? To say nothing of the rest of the things they committed. For they can deceive you: but let them read to you Exodus and the book of Judges, let them read the books of Kings and all the rest, in which they are convicted. They object to us that certain ones, not compelled by force, but sought out voluntarily, came forward to sacrifice. And you, on account of a few deserters, judge that all Christians ought to be reproached and condemned? Consider that the present life is like a threshing floor. Which heap is greater, that of the chaff or of the wheat? When the farmer comes to purge the floor with a winnowing fan, the chaff, being light, is easily carried away and cast out by the wind: but the wheat will remain in its place. Consider also a net cast into the sea. Are all the things it gathers good? By no means. So too is the state of the present life. How then do you wish us to suffer these things? As guilty, or as innocent? If as guilty, how is it possible that you, who are found by your very deeds to be guilty, should not suffer the same things? But if as innocent, what hope have you, when the righteous suffer? For if the righteous man is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Pet. 4:18 For judgment is at hand for the world: the signs of which are manifest."
[5] "Indeed, when I traveled abroad and traversed all of Judaea and crossed the river Jordan, I beheld that region which to this day bears witness to the divine indignation against it, in his youth he had traversed Judaea, and the Dead Sea: on account of the sins which its inhabitants committed — killing strangers, or driving them out, or doing them violence. I saw the smoke still rising from it, and the fields reduced to ashes by fires, devoid of all fruit and moisture. I saw also the Dead Sea, and its water changed, and departing through divine terror beyond its natural bounds, which can sustain no living creatures, and if anything is thrown in, it casts it back up, nor can it retain a human body within itself. For it refuses to admit a man, lest it be punished again on account of a man. These things which are far distant I recall. You see the Decapolis, the region of Lydia, burned by fire, as an example to the impious down to the present day: and likewise the conflagration of Etna, and of Sicily, and of Lycia, and of the islands. But if these things too seem to you to be too far away, [he proves by various examples of divine justice that judgment by fire is to come:] think of the use of hot water springing from the earth. From where, if not from fire situated in the innermost parts of the earth, does it derive its heat? Moreover, it has been recorded that certain parts of the world were devastated both by fire and also by water, either in the time of Deucalion, as you say, or in the time of Noah, as we assert. Wherefore from particular events, universal ones can be known. Therefore we testify to you and declare that judgment by fire will be carried out by God through his Word, Jesus Christ. And for this reason we refuse to worship your gods and the golden statue."
NOTES
"It is not pious to exult over slain men."
CHAPTER II.
The Public Interrogation in the Forum.
[6] While Pionius was speaking these and many other things without any interruption, he was listened to with remarkable attention and silence both by the Temple Warden and his attendants he is tempted with blandishments, and by the whole people. But when Pionius repeated those words — "We refuse to worship your gods and the golden statue" — they led them into the middle, under the open sky. Certain men of the forum gathered around, together with Polemon, entreating and saying: "Obey us, Pionius, and comply, for we love you and deem you worthy of life, on account of the probity and modesty of your character. It is sweet and pleasant to live, and to behold the light." "I too," said Pionius, "think life lovely: but that which we Christians desire is far lovelier. I consider this light pleasant and sweet: but far more pleasant and sweeter is that which is the true light, which we long to behold. All these things indeed are beautiful, and we do not condemn or hate the works of God. which he aptly refutes. But there are other things far more beautiful and excellent, which we place above these."
[7] A certain fellow of the forum, named Alexander, a wicked man, said: "Listen to us, Pionius." To whom Pionius replied: "You rather listen to me. For the things that you know are known to me: but the things that I know, of those you are ignorant." Alexander wished to mock him. And so with irony he said: "What is the meaning of those chains?" Pionius answered: "So that while making our way through your city, we may not be thought to be going to sacrifice to idols or to eat things sacrificed to them: and indeed, so that you may understand that we do not even wish to be interrogated, he explains why he voluntarily assumed the chains: but have resolved to go not to the forum, but straight to prison: and so that you may not seize and drag us by force, as you do the rest; but rather let us go, since we are wearing chains. For perhaps you will not lead us bound in chains into the presence of your idols." Thus Alexander mocked him. And when they again urged Pionius with many words, and he replied that this was his fixed and settled resolve, and rebuked them, and discoursed about the things that are to come, Alexander said: "What need is there for many words, when you cannot live?"
[8] But when the people wished the assembly to be held in the theater, so that they might hear more there, certain partisans of the Governor approached the Temple Warden Polemon and persuaded him not to allow the people to assemble in the theater, lest there should be a tumult and bread be demanded. Upon hearing this, Polemon said: he refuses to enter the temple of idols: "If you will not sacrifice, Pionius, at least enter the temple." But Pionius said: "It is not expedient for the idols that we enter there." Polemon then said: "Persuade us of this, Pionius." And he replied: "Would that I could persuade you to become Christians." Then they, breaking into laughter, said: Sabina gives the reason for her laughter: "Do not do that, lest we be burned alive." "It is more grievous and bitter," said Pionius, "to be burned after death in everlasting fire." And when Sabina smiled, the Temple Warden and his attendants said: "Do you laugh?" "It pleases God," she replied; "for we are Christians: and those who are firm and constant in faith in Christ will laugh with perpetual laughter." "You," they said, "will suffer what you do not wish. For women who refuse to sacrifice to the gods are thrown into a brothel." But she said: "The holy God will take care of that."
[9] Polemon again addressed Pionius thus: "Obey us, Pionius." Pionius boldly professes the faith; Pionius answered: "You have commanded that I should either obey or be punished. I do not obey; therefore command me to be punished." Then the Temple Warden Polemon said: "Sacrifice, Pionius." And he: "I am a Christian." "What god do you worship?" asked Polemon. and his responses are written down: Pionius answered: "That almighty God who made heaven and earth, and all things that are contained beneath heaven and earth, and all of us: who abundantly supplies us with all things, whom we have come to know through his Word, Christ." "Sacrifice at least to the Emperor, then," said Polemon. "I," said Pionius, "do not sacrifice to a man: for I am a Christian." Then, with the notary writing everything down, he asked: "What is your name?" And he answered: "Pionius." Then Polemon said: "Are you a Christian?" He answered: "I am indeed." "Of what Church are you?" asked Polemon. Pionius answered: "Of the Catholic Church. For there is no other with Christ."
[10] Then he approached Sabina. Now Pionius had warned her, Sabina, called Theodota, and had called her Theodota; lest being recognized by her name she should fall again into the hands of her impious former mistress, who under the Emperor Gordian, wishing to draw Sabina away from the faith, had bound her and banished her to the mountains, where provisions necessary for her sustenance were secretly supplied by the brethren. Afterwards, diligent care was taken she had already suffered much, to free her from the servitude and the bonds of her mistress: and she lived largely in the company of Pionius. She too was captured in this persecution. she boldly confesses the faith: Polemon therefore said to her also: "By what name are you called?" And when she answered, "Theodota," he added: "Are you a Christian?" "Certainly," she said, "I am a Christian." "Of what Church?" asked Polemon. Sabina answered: "Of the Catholic Church." Then Polemon said: "Whom do you worship and venerate?" "Almighty God," she said, "who made heaven and earth, and all of us; whom we know through his Word, Jesus Christ." Then he questioned Asclepiades, as does Asclepiades: asking: "What is your name?" "Asclepiades," he replied. Then Polemon: "Are you a Christian?" He answered: "I am." "Whom do you venerate?" asked Polemon. And when he answered, "Christ Jesus," Polemon said: "Is there another?" "By no means," said Asclepiades; "but the very same one whom these have spoken of."
[11] When these things had been said, they were led to prison, with so great a multitude following that the forum was filled. all are led to prison: And certain ones said of Pionius: "How is it that he who was always pale is now fiery and ruddy of face?" And when Sabina was holding on to his garment because of the press of the crowd, certain ones mocking her said: "How she fears to be torn from his breast!" But a certain one cried out, saying: "If they will not obey, let them be punished." To whom Polemon replied: "We have neither rods nor axes to have such power." Another said: "Behold, he is sneaking the little fellow away to sacrifice" (he was referring to Asclepiades, who was with us). Pionius said: "You speak a lie; for he does not do so." Pionius aptly answers those who mock them. Others said: "So-and-so sacrificed to the gods." But Pionius said: "Each one acts according to his own judgment. What is that to me? My name is Pionius." Others said: "What good does his teaching do him, when this is his condition?" Pionius replied: "This is the teaching you have learned, through which you have experienced both famine and slaughter and other calamities." "But you yourself," someone answered, "suffered hunger together with us." "Indeed," said Pionius; "but with the hope which I have placed in God." While he was saying these things, they were so jostled by the crowd that they were nearly crushed.
NOTES
CHAPTER III.
Events in Prison, Especially with the Lapsed.
[12] they find other captives there: They were therefore cast into prison and handed over to the guards. Upon entering, they found there Linus, a Priest of the Catholic Church, and a woman from the village of Carina named Macedonia, and a certain Eutychianus from the heresy of the Phrygians, who had already been shut up there. Since they were in the same place, the guards noticed Pionius refuses what is offered: that the things brought by the faithful were not accepted by Pionius. For he said: "If, when we had greater need, they are visited by Christians, we were burdensome to no one, how much less ought we to accept anything now?" The guards, therefore, who were accustomed to receive gifts from visitors, cast them into the inner part of the prison, so that they could receive no comfort or consolation. But they, praising God, were at peace, and offered to the guards what used to be given to them: so that the Prefect of the prison marveled, and wished to restore them to their former place. But they chose to remain, saying: "Glory to the Lord: for this has turned out well for us. For we can freely philosophize, and devote ourselves to prayers night and day." by pagans, Many of the pagans, however, visited them even in prison, and tried to move them from their purpose, but marveled at their responses.
[13] by the lapsed, Those also entered who had been dragged by force to sacrifice, and they raised great weeping: so that they were immersed in mourning and wretchedness at every hour, especially on account of those whose manner of life had been upright and honorable. And so, upon seeing them, Pionius mourned, saying: "I am afflicted with a new kind of punishment. I am cut to pieces limb by limb, Pionius mourns their fall, while I see the pearls of the Church trampled by swine, and the stars of heaven drawn down to earth by the tail of the dragon. The vineyard which the right hand of God planted has been devastated by the son of the wild boar: all who pass along the way despoil it. My little children, whom I am in travail with again until Christ be formed in you. My delicate nurslings have walked in rough and difficult paths. Now the impious elders have laid snares for Susanna. Now they strip the delicate and beautiful one bare, that they may be filled with her beauty and bear false witness against her. Now Haman exults: but Esther and the whole city are thrown into confusion. Amos 8:11 Now it is not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water; but a famine and thirst for hearing the word of the Lord that presses upon us. Have all the Virgins indeed slumbered and slept? Matt. 25:5 That saying is fulfilled: 'When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?' Luke 18:8 What is more, each one, as I hear, betrays his neighbor, Matt. 10:21 that it may be fulfilled: 'Brother shall betray brother to death.' Luke 22:31 Truly Satan has sought us out, to sift us as wheat. For the fiery winnowing fan is in the hand of God the Word, to purge the threshing floor. Perhaps the salt has lost its savor, and has been cast out and is trodden under foot by men. Isa. 50:2 and 59:2 Let none of you, little children, think that the Lord is weakened, but rather we ourselves. and the Church, on account of sins that have given rise to the persecution: 'Is my hand shortened,' he says, 'that it cannot grasp? Or has my ear become heavy, that it cannot hear? Your sins have divided you from your God.' For we have sinned; some even contemptuously. We have acted unjustly, biting and accusing one another. We have consumed each other. Yet it was necessary that we should surpass the Scribes and Pharisees in righteousness."
[14] "What is more, the Jews, as I hear, are calling some of you into their Synagogues. Wherefore beware, lest you bind yourselves with a greater and voluntary crime: and lest any one of you commit the sin against the Holy Spirit which is not forgiven; and lest you too, together with them, he warns them not to join the Jews: become rulers of Sodom and people of Gomorrah, whose hands are full of blood. Isa. 1 We have neither killed the Prophets, nor betrayed Christ, nor driven him to the cross. But why do I delay with many words? Call to mind what you have heard: since you are well aware that the Jews affirm Christ to have been a mere man, and killed him as a mortal. Let them tell us therefore: if he was a simple mortal man, how was it that the whole world was filled with the multitude of his disciples? Why did his disciples, and afterwards so many others, endure death for his name? How is it that in the name of a simple mortal man demons have been cast out for so many years, and are being cast out, and will continue to be cast out; and many other wonderful things are done in the Catholic Church? he refutes their fabrications concerning Christ, But they do not know that he was mortal in such a way that he laid down his soul by his own will. They say, moreover, that Christ practiced necromancy, and was raised by its power after the cross. What scripture, either theirs or ours, records such things about Christ? Or what just man ever said these things? Are not those who fabricate such absurdities wicked men? And this being so, why is credit given rather to wicked men than to upright and just ones?"
[15] "Indeed, when I was still a boy, I heard this fabrication of the Jews. It is recorded that Saul went to a woman with a spirit of divination, to receive a response from her, and asked her to raise up for him Samuel the Prophet. 1 Sam. 28 And the woman saw an upright man ascending, clothed in a mantle. And Saul recognized him to be Samuel, and asked what he wished. What then? Could that woman with the spirit of divination raise up Samuel, or not? If they say she could, they confess that injustice is more powerful than justice, and they are to be execrated. But if they deny it, then neither did Christ do what they fabricate. especially that he was not raised by magical art, The force of this argument is as follows: How could the impious demon, who spoke in that woman's belly, recall to this life the soul of the holy Prophet, resting in the bosom of Abraham? For what is inferior obeys the command of what is superior. Therefore, as these men suspect, Samuel was not called back to this life by that woman who had the spirit of divination. But the matter stands thus: Fallen angels follow those who desert God; and diabolical angels serve all sorcerers, and magicians, and impostors, and soothsayers. Nor is this to be wondered at, since Satan himself (as the Apostle says) transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Cor. 11:14 Wherefore it is consistent that his ministers too should assume the appearance of ministers of righteousness. Otherwise, how could Antichrist put on the person of Christ? Therefore that woman with the spirit of divination did not bring Samuel back to this light, but the demons of hell, putting on the person and likeness of Samuel, nor was Samuel raised by the sorceress: made themselves visible to the woman with the spirit of divination and to Saul, who had fallen away from God. This is indicated by the Scripture itself. For he who bore the form of Samuel says: 'And you today shall be with me.' For how can Saul, the enemy of God, be with Samuel? Would he not rather be with the impious demons who had come to meet him, and whom he himself served? Therefore it was not Samuel. But if it was not possible for the soul of the holy Prophet to be recalled at that time to this life, how do they dare affirm that Jesus Christ, whom the disciples beheld ascending into the heavens, and for whom they preferred to die rather than deny him, rose from the earth in this manner? But if you cannot persuade them of this, say against them: 'Are not we, who have neither committed fornication nor worshiped idols without any compulsion, better than you?' And do not assent to them or lose heart, but recover yourselves, brethren, he exhorts the lapsed to repentance: and do penance, and take refuge in Christ, who is kind, and will receive you again."
NOTES
CHAPTER IV.
The Second Interrogation in Prison, in the Forum, and in the Temple of Idols.
[16] When he had said these things and was asking them to leave the prison, the Temple Warden Polemon and Theophilus the Master of the Horse came with their attendants and a great crowd, and said: He is urged to sacrifice by the example of a lapsed Bishop: "Behold, Eudaemon your Bishop has sacrificed: you too obey. Lepidus and Eudaemon will interrogate you in the temple." Pionius answered: "Those who have been cast into prison have the right to await the arrival of the Proconsul. Why do you arrogate his role to yourselves?" he refuses that one as his judge: After they had said many things, they departed. But again they returned with attendants and a crowd. And Hipparchus said deceitfully: "The Proconsul has sent word that you should be taken to Ephesus." "Let the one who was sent come," answered Pionius, "and take us." "But surely," said the Master of the Horse, "the Magistrate is worthy of trust." "But I am the Magistrate," he said. he is dragged by force into the temple: And seizing him, and throwing a noose around his neck, he pressed him so tightly that he nearly suffocated him. He therefore handed him over to the attendants, and thus together with Sabina and the rest of his companions he was led to the forum. And when they cried out with a loud voice that they were Christians, and threw themselves upon the ground so that they would not be led into the temple of idols, six attendants seized Pionius, resisting so strongly that, pressing his sides with their knees and striking him with hands and feet, they could scarcely push him forward. They therefore lifted him up while he was crying out, and carried him, and deposited him on the ground before the altar, where Eudaemon, who had sacrificed to the idols, was still standing.
[17] And Lepidus said: "Why do you not sacrifice, O Pionius?" Pionius answered: "Because we are Christians." Lepidus added: "What god do you worship?" there he professes his faith: Pionius said: "Him who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all things that are in them." "Who then," said Lepidus, "was crucified?" Pionius answered: "He whom God the Father sent for the salvation of the world." At this the magistrates laughed with loud cries, and Lepidus cursed him. But Pionius cried out, saying: "Cultivate piety, observe justice, acknowledge the likeness of affection, obey your own laws. You judge that we should be punished because we do not obey: and you yourselves also depart from the prescription of your own laws. For they command you not to compel us, but to punish us." Then a certain Rufinus, distinguished above all for his fame in eloquence, said: "Stop, Pionius, seeking after vain glory." And he answered: "Is this your power of speech? he answers the orator Rufinus: Are these your books? Did not Socrates suffer these same things from the Athenians? Now all are imperfect, and idle and lazy and slow and slothful. Socrates, then, and Aristides, and Anaxarchus, and others like them, were they, in your opinion, led by the pursuit of vain glory, because they cultivated philosophy and justice and fortitude?" Rufinus, hearing these things, was silent. But a certain other man, distinguished in worldly glory, and Lepidus, said: "Do not shout, Pionius." He answered: "Light the fire and we will enter it."
[18] A certain Terentius from the crowd cried out in a loud voice: [The Saints tear apart the crowns placed on them by the pagans; they abominate food sacrificed to idols:] "You see how this man persuades others too to be impious and not to sacrifice to the gods!" Then they placed crowns upon them, which they tore apart and threw away. And the public minister took what had been sacrificed to idols, but did not dare to approach any of them; instead he ate it in the sight of all. But when they cried out again, "We are Christians," not finding what to do with them, they are led back to prison: they took them back to prison. The crowd, however, mocked and struck them. And someone said to Sabina: "Could you not die in your own country?" To which she answered: "What is my country? I am the sister of Pionius." Terentius, who was then in charge of the wild-beast shows, said to Asclepiades: "I will accuse you, that you may be condemned to the beasts in the gladiatorial games of my son." To which Asclepiades replied: "You will not terrify me with that." And so they were led to prison. The one who struck Pionius is punished by God: As Pionius was entering, one of the attendants struck him violently on the head and wounded him. He himself bore it with a patient spirit. But the hand and sides of the one who struck him became so inflamed and swollen that he could scarcely breathe. Upon entering, they praised God because they had remained strong and constant against the enemy and pretender Eudaemon, and they strengthened themselves with psalms and prayers.
NOTE
CHAPTER V.
The Third Interrogation. Torments. Death.
[19] After these things, the Proconsul came to Smyrna, and Pionius, having been brought to trial, was crowned with martyrdom. We shall now recount how the matter was conducted. On the fourth day before the Ides of March, the Proconsul Quintilianus, sitting on the tribunal, interrogated him thus: "What is your name?" he is examined by the Proconsul: He answered: "Pionius." The Proconsul said: "Do you sacrifice to the gods?" He answered: "No." The Proconsul said: "What religion or sect do you follow?" He answered: "That of the Catholics." "Of which Catholics?" said the Proconsul. He answered: "I am a Priest of the Catholic Church." The Proconsul: "Are you their teacher?" He answered: "I have indeed taught." He asked: "Of what school are you the master?" He answered: "Of piety." "Of what piety?" he asked. He answered: "In God the Father, who made all things." "Sacrifice," said the Proconsul. He answered: "I will not: for God must be worshiped." "We all," said the Proconsul, "worship the heaven and the gods who are in heaven. Why do you pour out prayers to the air? Sacrifice to it." He answered: "I do not pour out prayers to the air, but to him by whom the air and the heaven and all things in them were made." "Tell me," said the Proconsul, "who made these things?" He answered: "It is not expedient to say." The Proconsul said: "It is surely God — that is, Jupiter — who is in heaven: for he is the king of all the gods."
[20] When Pionius remained silent and was suspended, it was said to him: "Do you sacrifice, suspended and scraped with hooks: or not?" He answered: "No." And again, when he was being tortured with hooks, it was said to him: "Come to your senses; why are you mad?" He answered: "I am not mad, but I fear the living God." The Proconsul said: "The rest have sacrificed and live and are of sound mind." He answered: "I do not sacrifice." The Proconsul said: "Collect yourself and change your mind." He answered: "I will not." It was said to him: "Why do you hasten to death?" "I do not hasten to death," he said, "but to life." The Proconsul Quintilianus said: "You do nothing remarkable in hastening to death. For even those who enlist and are enrolled, for the sake of a trifling gain, despising death, fight with beasts. And you are one of their number. sentence of fire is pronounced against him from the tablet; Since therefore you rush to death, you shall be burned alive." And from the tablet the following sentence, written in Roman words, was read: "We have judged that Pionius, who confesses himself to be a Christian, shall be burned alive by fire."
[21] When therefore he had come with eager zeal of faith to the stadium, he voluntarily stripped himself of his garments. Then, recognizing the chastity and beauty of his body, he was filled with immense joy, and looking up to heaven and giving thanks to God he is fastened to wood with nails: who had preserved him such, he stretched himself out upon the wood and gave himself over to the soldier to be fastened with nails. And when he had already been nailed fast, the attendant said to him again: "Come to your senses and change your mind, and the nails shall be removed." But he answered: "I have felt them to be there." And after remaining briefly in thought, he said: "For this reason I hasten to sleep, that I may rise more quickly" — signifying the resurrection from the dead. They therefore raised him, fixed to the wood. Then also a certain Metrodorus, a priest of the sect of the Marcionists, was likewise raised. Pionius was placed on the right and Metrodorus on the left: both, however, looked toward the East. And when a heap of wood and timber had been piled up on every side, and Pionius had closed his eyes, the crowd suspected that he had breathed his last; but he was praying in secret. And when he had finished praying, he prays in the fire: he opened his eyes. And now the flame was rising high, when with a cheerful countenance, pronouncing a final "Amen" and saying, "Lord, receive my soul," he dies piously: he breathed out his spirit as if belching it forth, quietly and without pain: and he delivered his spirit to the Father, who promised to preserve and require an account for every drop of blood unjustly shed and every soul unjustly condemned.
[22] Worthy of such an end was the blessed Pionius, who kept his life free and whole from all crime and reproach: and always had his mind inclined and directed toward almighty God, and Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and men. And being victorious in the great contest, he passed through the narrow gate into the ample and great light. And indeed his crown was confirmed even in his body. For when the fire had been extinguished, his body was unharmed amid the flames. we who were present saw him in such a state as the body of a vigorous and well-adorned athlete. For his ears were soft, and his hair clung to the skin of his head, and his beard bloomed with the comeliness of young men just beginning to grow beards, and his face shone with an admirable grace, so that the Christians were more confirmed in the faith, and those who were strangers to the faith departed stricken and terrified by the stings of conscience.
[23] These things were done under Julius, Proconsul of Asia, with Proclus and Quintilianus holding the magistracy, when the martyrdom was suffered. in the third consulship of Messius Quintus Trajanus, and the second of Deltius Gratus, under Trajan Decius Augustus, on the fourth day before the Ides of March according to the Roman custom, but according to the Asiatic custom, on the eleventh of the seventh month, on the Sabbath day, at the tenth hour: or, as we express it, under the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory unto the ages of ages, Amen.