Blasius the Herdsman

CONCERNING SAINT BLASIUS THE HERDSMAN, MARTYR, AT CAESAREA IN CAPPADOCIA.

Blasius the herdsman, Martyr at Caesarea in Cappadocia (Saint)

By I. B.

[1] That there were several persons named Blasius we have stated above. The most celebrated is the one whose Acts we have now related, the Bishop of Sebastia. The Greeks celebrate another from the same Cappadocia on this day. One who is called a Cappadocian, and a herdsman, and who was seized in a forest; one might perhaps suspect him to be the same Bishop, This one is different from the Sebastene, seized on Mount Argaeus (at whose base Caesarea is situated) among herds of wild beasts, as it were; were it not that the end of life and the torments inflicted were different for each. Concerning this one, therefore, the Menaea have the following:

[2] Once the stalls of oxen had Blasius: But now the court of heaven holds him.

This man, born at Caesarea of Cappadocia, had parents who were exceedingly wealthy, born at Caesarea, who from their abundant herds generously distributed their increased riches to the poor. When persecution then arose, of pious parents, Blasius was sought as a Christian, but could not be found, although the enemy scoured the very forests and solitudes. When the noble youth learned this, he voluntarily presents himself to the persecutors, as if invited to a royal banquet, he voluntarily offered himself to his persecutors, and received them hospitably as persons who had done him a good service.

[3] When he stood before the tribunal of the Judge, being questioned, he set forth his name, religion, and entire manner of life. Immediately therefore, lifted up by his hands and feet, he was stretched out and beaten for a long time with raw sinews. he is suspended and beaten with sinews: God nevertheless both alleviated the pain and healed the wounds. The Judge, attributing this to magic arts, cast him into a very large cauldron full of boiling water. But a miracle occurred, and a spectacle altogether worthy of amazement. The man, surrounded by fire as if by a garment, he remains unharmed in boiling water for five days, preserved by Angels: even sang from within it. What then? The Saint is ordered to be kept in the cauldron for five days. But the Angels commanded him to be of confident spirit, and ensured that the fire would cause no harm or injury to his body. Therefore the soldiers ordered to pull him from the cauldron, when they heard that he was both alive and singing praises to God with the Angels, themselves also professed to be Christians. When the Governor learned this, he sent other soldiers: but these too, when they approached, proclaimed themselves Christians. the converted lictors, Finally the Governor himself approached, and seeing the Saint in the boiling cauldron, and supposing the water had cooled, ordered his own eyes to be bathed with it: having done this, he lost both his eyes and his life. the Judge being destroyed,

[4] But the holy Martyr of Christ, taking water from that same cauldron and sprinkling the believers, he baptizes: baptized them in the name of the Holy Trinity. Then, having drawn near to the stable of his cattle, when he had given his mother and household the instructions that were fitting, he rendered his spirit to God. Those who were present at his death beheld something like a white and shining dove flying from his mouth to heaven. [he dies; his soul is seen departing in the form of a dove. His shepherd's staff sprouts leaves.] And so his holy body was buried in that very place. His pastoral staff, sprouting and putting forth leaves beside the altar, overshadowed the altar itself.

[5] Thus the Menaea. None of this appears in the Acts of Blasius of Sebastia. That shepherd's staff indicates that he himself was a herdsman, and the Menaea expressly state: The commemoration of Saint Blasius the cowherd, or herdsman. Called a herdsman.

CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS PAUL AND SIMON.

Paul, Martyr (Saint) Simon, Martyr (Saint)

By I. B.

There are several Pauls and Simons as Martyrs in various Martyrologies, but nowhere joined together. Nor have we found anything concerning them except this in the Menaea: On the same day Paul and Simon completed their martyrdom by the sword:

Here one ought to record Paul and Simon, Lest perhaps they escape notice with their heads cut off.

CONCERNING SAINT CLAUDIUS, CONFESSOR.

Claudius, Confessor (Saint)

By I. B.

There are also Martyrs named Claudius. This one ended his life in peace, as the Menaea state; and so he exulted at the sight of the end of life, as one who finds excellent spoils. The rest of his history is unknown to us.