ON ST. APOLLONIA, VIRGIN MARTYR, AT ALEXANDRIA IN EGYPT
Year 249 of Christ.
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Apollonia, Virgin Martyr, at Alexandria in Egypt (St.)
BHL Number: 0640, 0643, 0645
By I. B.
Section I. The martyrdom and feast day of St. Apollonia.
[1] We have related, on January 31 when we treated of St. Metranus, and on February 8 regarding St. Cointa, that a demon gave a prelude to the persecution soon to be stirred up by Decius, through a most grievous riot of the Alexandrian populace against the Christians. For a full year before any edict was issued, The riot of the Alexandrian populace against Christians in the year 249, that tempest was set in motion, as St. Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, who had been present, attests in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, book 6, chapter 34. This therefore took place while the two Philips, father and son, were still reigning. For when Decius, after their murder, seized the empire, he immediately (in which matter he also showed that he had killed the Philips for this very reason) dispatched savage edicts for the persecution and killing of Christians, being the seventh persecutor after Nero, as Paul Orosius writes in book 7, chapter 21. From this we conclude that the sedition at Alexandria and the slaughter of the saints we have mentioned took place not in the year 250 of the common era (since Decius had assumed the purple toward the end of the preceding year), but in the very year 249 of Christ, the sixth year of the Philips, under the consulship of Aemilianus and Aquilinus.
[2] What happened next in the city after the killing of SS. Metranus and Cointa, Their houses plundered, the same Dionysius relates in his letter to Fabianus of Antioch, found in Eusebius, in these words: Then, as if by a single impulse, they rushed into the homes of the pious, and each man led the mob swiftly to the dwellings of those he knew as neighbors; they plundered and ransacked them, so that whatever was valuable among the furnishings they set aside for themselves, and whatever was made of wood or otherwise of lesser worth they threw out and burned in the streets; the scene was altogether that of a city captured by enemies. flight, Most of the faithful, however, had withdrawn from the onslaught of the seditious multitude, retreating to more secluded places, and had received the plundering of their goods with joy, as Paul testifies of those Hebrews 10:34 of whom he spoke. And I do not know whether even now anyone, except perhaps one individual somewhere seized by them, constancy, denied Christ.
[3] But they also seized that admirable Apollonia, a virgin of advanced age, and knocked out all her teeth by striking her jaws; The tortures of St. Apollonia, and having built a pyre outside the city, they threatened to burn her alive unless she uttered impious words together with them. She hesitated a moment, death, as if deliberating with herself, then suddenly leapt into the fire and was consumed. So Dionysius reports in Eusebius. Rufinus adds: So that even the authors of cruelty themselves were terrified, because a woman was found more eager for death than the persecutor was for punishment.
[4] From the same Rufinus, Usuard composed this eulogy of St. Apollonia: At Alexandria, St. Apollonia the Virgin, whose persecutors first knocked out all her teeth; feast day February 9, then (Ado and Notker interpose: after building and lighting a pyre) when they threatened to burn her alive unless she uttered impious words with them, she deliberated briefly within herself, then suddenly broke free from the hands of the impious and leapt into the fire they had prepared. Bede adds an exclamation which we have already quoted from Rufinus. The modern Roman Martyrology has the same and records that these events took place under Decius — the extent to which this is true we have already discussed. In many manuscripts the eulogy is briefer, as in this ancient Trier manuscript: At Alexandria, St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, who after the knocking out of her teeth, completed her martyrdom by fire.
[5] Some inquire how Apollonia came to be entered in the sacred calendars and honored with the veneration of the blessed, whether it was lawful for her to leap into the fire, since she leapt into the flames of her own accord, when otherwise it is a sin to bring death upon oneself voluntarily. But she did this either under a special impulse of the Holy Spirit at that moment, or she blamelessly did not know that this was contrary to the laws of nature. So, after other Fathers and Doctors, our own Leonard Lessius argues in book 2, On Law and Justice, chapter 9, doubt 6, number 23.
Section II. Various writings about St. Apollonia, of uncertain reliability.
[6] What we have related about the martyrdom of St. Apollonia has been elegantly inserted into the Roman Martyrology; the same is also told by Vincent of Beauvais in book 11, chapter 38, by Silvanus Razzi in volume 1 of his work on women illustrious for holiness, by Baronius in volume 2 of the Annals, at the year 252, number 4, and by others. Baptista of Mantua, the Carmelite, treats her agony at greater length in heroic verse in volume 1 of his Works, Mantuanus writes Parthenice 6, where, however, with poetic license, he attributes to her not only the dignity of royal lineage but also the first bloom of youth, writing thus:
Here she was, as fame tells, born of royal ancestors, among the Nile-born maidens Apollonia surpassing in beauty, that she was of royal blood, splendid with the titles of her forebears, reared in purple and gold and great wealth.
And a little later:
Apollonia, offspring of kings.
And regarding her age: and a young girl;
What should the Virgin do before such a people, before such a judge, resolved to die, scarcely of marriageable age in her green youth?
To this belongs the aged mother, companion of the Virgin, guardian and teacher of piety, nearly fainting with grief when she saw her dragged off to execution. He adds other uncertain details as well, but such as are permitted to poets for embellishment: that she was tortured by order of a Roman consul sent to Alexandria, while the people stirred up a sedition out of pity for the Virgin; confirmed by an Angel and Saints; that after her teeth were knocked out, she was thrust back into prison and comforted by the address of an Angel and the sight of the Saints. Then those details not lacking in verisimilitude: that her lifeless body, entirely unharmed by the fire, her body uninjured by fire and beasts, was left for a whole day on the shore, yet untouched by any bite of birds or beasts, and was taken up by Christians at night, carried back into the city by ladders set against the walls, and reverently buried. Concerning the knocking out of teeth he sings not unfittingly: buried at Alexandria;
They seize stones, and with hands raised the bold executioners attacked the head of the Virgin: when the teeth were seen to fall with blood dislodged, a shout goes up, etc.
[7] So much for Mantuanus, but in a poetic vein. For beyond what has been related from Eusebius and Rufinus, nothing else has been written about her that is worthy of credence. The Acts of a Roman Virgin named Apollonia (if indeed such a one ever existed), which survive in manuscripts and will be presented in section 4, were formerly recited in abridged form in certain ancient Breviaries for February 9, others report other things, with no mention made of any other Apollonia of Alexandria; in some Breviaries they were adapted to this Alexandrian saint; in others, certain things are told about her, partly somewhat plausible, even uncertain things; partly taken from the Acts of some other Virgin, all of them borrowed and unworthy of credence, because they were either unknown to or neglected by Eusebius and the other ancients.
[8] Of this kind is what the Strasbourg Breviary, printed in 1478, recites: Lesson I. that she was noble, The most blessed Virgin and Martyr Apollonia, devoted to God, born of noble lineage, but far nobler in the manner and conduct of her virtues. For she was serving God from a tender age in humility and chastity, devoted to God from childhood, and was distinguished by the practice of all good works, generously intent upon the service of God through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, so that many were converted to the Lord through her good works and example; she spurned idols and heaped many reproaches upon them.
Lesson II.
[9] The Prefect of the city, therefore, seeing her holy way of life and unable to endure it, sent officers to bring her before him. Captured by order of the Prefect, When she had been brought before him, the Prefect questioned her as to her condition, her family, and her name. Blessed Apollonia replied: I am a Christian, of noble lineage, and my name is Apollonia. Then the Prefect said to her: Cease from this foolishness and your false teaching, or you will perish by torments, because our predecessors condemned Christ, whom you worship, to a most shameful death.
Lesson III.
[10] To this Blessed Apollonia replied: Therefore those who crucified him shall themselves perish. The Prefect said: Either sacrifice to the gods, scorning his threats, or you too shall die. But she said: I desire to die for the Lord, for he is the helper of all who call upon him. The Prefect said to her: Now then, utter impious words against your God, in praise of our gods. She said: I will in no way do this, but will rather endure death for love of him. The Prefect, enraged, ordered her teeth to be knocked out with hard stones. She bore this patiently; then he had a great fire kindled after the teeth were knocked out, and the holy Virgin placed upon it. She, however, spreading her hands toward heaven, placed upon the pyre, giving thanks to God, and thus crowned with martyrdom, the glorious Virgin Apollonia departed happily to the Lord.
[11] An ancient Breviary of the Church of Utrecht, printed at Gouda in 1508, relates in Lesson I that Apollonia, bride of Christ, was born of noble family at Alexandria and was led by persecutors to a pagan temple in the time of Decius. Lesson II has this: overturning the idols by breathing on them, When she had entered the temple, fortifying herself with the sign of the Cross, she breathed upon the statues of the gods, and immediately they fell and were reduced to nothing. Then St. Apollonia began to preach there our Lord Jesus Christ as the true God. And when the persecutors saw that they could not bend this Virgin to the worship of their gods, and that she affirmed all the more that Christ, her spouse, was the true God, they dug out all her teeth with rough stones and cast her into prison, promising that she would be a patroness against toothache, that they might pronounce a harsher sentence against her. Then, as the blessed Virgin prayed for those suffering toothache who called upon her, a voice came from heaven saying: O bride of Christ, you have obtained from God what you asked. divinely promised to her; Lesson III relates that the next day, when the impious threatened to throw her into the fire, she was refreshed by the consolation of the Holy Spirit, protected by the shield of the holy Cross, and leapt voluntarily into the fire.
[12] The Breviary of Saint-Omer, published in 1518, recites the following: Lesson I. At Alexandria there was a certain Virgin born of noble parents, by the name of Apollonia. Growing from her earliest age not only in body but also in character, and striving to advance from virtue to virtue, she excelled in a wondrous manner, fortified by the arms of faith. Her life proves this by its immense effects. Lesson II. Since she was a most Christian Virgin, like a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden, brought before the Emperor, the fame of her faith, spread through many places, reached the notice of the Emperor at Alexandria. He sent his officers and commanded them to compel her to sacrifice to the gods. She, having been seized, declaring all idols to be deaf and mute and useless, and proving by authority that their gods were demons, provoked the rage of all the executioners against her. Lesson III. They, stirred to excessive anger, bound her cruelly, and first knocked out all her teeth one by one with savage violence, etc.
[13] In the Breviary of the Church of Evora in Portugal, printed in 1548, many things are recorded of which there is no trace anywhere else, and which appear to be modeled on the acts of St. Eulalia (whom we shall treat on February 12); they are distributed into nine Lessons as follows. having dwelt on an estate, Lesson I. Apollonia, a Virgin of Alexandria, was dedicated to God from her infancy, and lived with her parents, the most noble of the Alexandrians, on their own estate outside the city. After her parents died, she herself, persevering in her commitment to holy virginity and distributing her possessions to the poor of Christ, reached mature age.
[14] Lesson II. Meanwhile, when a savage persecution against Christians arose at Alexandria by order of Decius, under the governor Divinus, Blessed Apollonia, desiring to die for Christ, having come to the city by night, one night at cockcrow, lest she be prevented by her household, went alone to the city. Lesson III. And seizing the hour when the governor was conducting trials in the forum, she came forward amidst the throng of people and said to the governor: having voluntarily approached the governor, Most wicked judge, you not only do not fear God, who is King of Kings and Prince of Princes, but you also afflict with various torments those who fear and serve him!
[15] Lesson IV. The governor, looking upon Blessed Apollonia in astonishment, said: Who are you, who have dared to approach without my order and have uttered against me things unheard of with the greatest insolence? To which she replied fearlessly and in a loud voice: I am Apollonia, handmaid of Jesus Christ, having reproached him for his cruelty, who greatly marvels at your cruelty and madness; for, scorning God, to whom all things belong, you worship the devil, and you compel people who worship God to sacrifice to idols; and those who refuse to sacrifice you afflict with various punishments.
[16] Lesson V. Hearing this, the governor ordered her to be beaten on the back, and said to her: Where is your God, who does not free you from these punishments? beaten by his order, If you say that you spoke such words in ignorance, you will receive pardon. To which she replied: Impious man, why do you urge me to lie? she defended the truth and did not feel the blows, For since I am a servant of God and fear the Lord, who sends liars and sacrilegious persons to hell, I ought not to speak falsehood. Indeed, for the sake of the truth of the Christian faith, I do not feel your blows, since the Lord Jesus Christ protects me.
[17] she exulted at the extraction of her teeth. Lesson VI. Then the governor, gnashing his teeth and driven by excessive rage, commanded all her teeth to be violently extracted. When this was done, she rejoiced and, exulting more and more, sang psalms to the Lord, saying: Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy on me, for my soul trusts in you. I shall not be put to shame; let not my enemy say, I have prevailed against her. Lesson VII. The governor, seeing her endurance and that he had accomplished nothing against her, ordered a great fire to be made, and said to her: Apollonia, until now I have had compassion for your nobility and beauty, hoping entirely to turn you from your resolution. Lesson VIII. Now then, choose one of two things, etc.
Section III. Whether there was another St. Apollonia, a Roman Virgin, daughter of the senator St. Apollonius, and Martyr.
[18] In place of the Alexandrian saint, or alongside her, some place a second Apollonia on this day, 114 years younger, killed indeed in the reign of Julian the Apostate, together with her father Apollonius. Concerning her, Hermann Greven, Another St. Apollonia, a Roman Virgin, is recorded for February 9, having first cited the words of Usuard about the elder Apollonia, adds in his second edition of 1521 (for in the earlier edition of 1515 he had made no mention of her) the following: On the same day, St. Apollonia, another Virgin and Martyr, whom Caesar Julian first had beaten with rods for the faith of Christ, then, suspending her alive on the rack, ordered her to be flayed alive and pieces of her flesh to be cut away; finally, after the cruel extraction of her teeth, flayed alive, he had her run through with a sword and thus made her a Martyr of Christ.
[19] The manuscript Florarium, having also mentioned the other Apollonia, whom in its index it calls the elder, adds: At Rome, St. Apollonia, likewise a Virgin and Martyr, the younger, who is said to have been slaughtered by the personal hand of the Emperor Julian the Apostate, after the extraction of her teeth and the endurance of other punishments, slain by the hand of Julian the Apostate, and thus made a Martyr of Christ in the year of salvation 365, in the second year of the twelfth and last persecution.
[20] Canisius likewise writes in his German Martyrology: Likewise, the burial of another holy Virgin Apollonia, who suffered martyrdom at Rome under Caesar Julian. Her father, a noble Roman, was killed under the same Emperor. In the contest of this holy Virgin, many were converted to Christ; therefore the Emperor himself, stirred to anger, stabbed her through with a sword; and Angels conducted her soul to heaven in the form of a dove. her soul flying up in the form of a dove; Ferrarius also writes in his Notes for February 9: On this day is commemorated the passion of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, crowned with martyrdom at Rome under Julian the Apostate. See Antonio Gallonio. But Gallonio has no Apollonia in his book on the Virgins of Rome.
[21] The commemoration of Apollonius, who is said to have been the father of this Apollonia, her father St. Apollonius, February 7, the same Greven records for February 7 as follows: Apollonius, Senator, Martyr, father of St. Apollonia. No other Martyrologies mention him. For the Apollonius who is a senator and who on April 18, under the Emperor Commodus, composed a notable volume and read it in the senate, rendering an account of his faith, and was nevertheless beheaded for Christ by sentence of the same senate, is a very different person from this one.
[22] We have transcribed the Acts of this younger Apollonia and of her father Apollonius from a codex of the Church of St. Martin at Utrecht, Manuscript Acts, written some centuries ago (as one could conjecture). The same Acts were extant in the second part of the Legenda printed at Cologne in 1483 and at Louvain in 1485, and printed, but somewhat abridged here and there, with the martyrdom of her father Apollonius omitted. The same Acts were customarily recited in certain old Breviaries, divided into Lessons, as may be seen in the Schleswig Breviary, printed in 1512 on the authority of Bishop Gottschalk of Ahlefeld; in the Osnabruck Breviary of Bishop Eric, and recited in Breviaries, Duke of Brunswick, in 1516; in the Minden Breviary of Francis, likewise Duke of Brunswick and Luneburg and Bishop of Minden, in 1515; and in the Cammin Breviary of 1521. And in this last, the first Lesson begins thus: In the time of the Emperor Julian, there was a certain noble man of the city of Rome, of the family of Senators, named Apollonius. The Schleswig Breviary places the ordeal of the Roman Apollonia at Alexandria under Julian, for it begins thus: At Alexandria, St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, who suffered under the Emperor Julian, who reigned in the year of the Lord 365. And this same St. Apollonia was born of the noble family of Senators at Rome.
[23] These Acts, however, are suspect to us, not only because Julian was not at Rome or Alexandria after seizing the empire suspect and apocryphal, (for it is common for what governors did to be ascribed to emperors), but because there is no mention, so far as we recall, of this Apollonius and Apollonia among the ancients, nor of any priest named Polycarp who lived in Julian's era. But since there was some senator named Apollonius, a St. Polycarp who was a priest under Diocletian, and a St. Apollonia, a Virgin famous for the extraction of her teeth, the entire narrative seems to have been pieced together from these. Nevertheless, we have seen fit to insert it here, in case perhaps those more learned might be able to extract something more certain.
Section IV. Acts, apparently apocryphal, of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, from the Utrecht manuscript.
[24] In the time of the Emperor Julian, there was a certain noble man of the family of Senators, by the name of Apollonius, who had a wife in the persecution of Julian the Apostate, named Dina, and begot from her a daughter, giving her the mother's name. At that time there was a very great persecution of Christians. At a certain time, Gordianus was baptized with his wife and household, all of whom received martyrdom for Christ. When Apollonius heard the fame of Polycarp and the other Martyrs and saw the constancy of the Christians, he began to reflect within himself on who and what manner of being the God of the Christians might be, for whom the holy Martyrs preferred to die rather than to live, Apollonius the Senator, or what reward they might obtain after death and the victory of their passion. While pondering these things within himself in a secret place, he heard a voice saying to him: Apollonius, hear and see, and call your daughter. When the daughter had been called, the voice first said: I am an Angel sent to you by God, to show you who the God of Christians is sent by an Angel to Polycarp the priest with his daughter, and what the reward of Christians is, as you have desired in your heart. If therefore you wish to know this, go with your daughter to Polycarp the priest, who will baptize you and clothe you in new garments and mark you with the sign of the Cross; and so you will be able to see Almighty God, who is the God of Christians. When these words had been spoken, the Angel immediately departed from them.
[25] The next day, Apollonius rose early and went with his daughter to Polycarp the priest and, by whom they were examined, as the Angel had said, related everything. When Blessed Polycarp heard that so noble a man as Apollonius had turned from the worship of idols to God, giving thanks to God and filled with great joy, he said to Apollonius: Do you believe that the one true God is Father and Son and Holy Spirit, or do you still doubt? He replied: I believe in one God, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Then he said to his daughter Dina: Do you also believe? She replied: I believe in God the creator of heaven and earth, who is one God and true, for there is no other God besides him, whose glory I behold. Then Blessed Polycarp baptized them they are baptized, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, clothing them in new garments and marking them with the seal of the holy Cross, changing the name of the daughter Dina to another name, calling her Apollonia, taking the name from her father. And immediately heaven was opened, they see Christ, and they saw the Son of God seated on his throne with a multitude of Angels, so that from the exceeding brightness of the glory they fell to the ground.
[26] And behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying: Apollonius, behold the God of heaven and your Creator; this is the God of Christians and of all who live well. Behold, he now calls you, they are warned by the Angel of impending martyrdom, that you may reach him through the palm of martyrdom. Apollonius, hearing this voice, said to his daughter Apollonia: Hear, daughter, the voice of the Angel, and behold your bridegroom, for whose sake you are to suffer much, and after many kinds of torments you will enter the kingdom of heaven. When this had been said, the Angel of the Lord disappeared. They remained with Polycarp the priest for seven days, and when these had passed, they returned to their home.
[27] The next day Apollonius called his wife Dina, saying: I have been baptized with my daughter, Apollonius inviting his wife to the faith, and we have seen the Son of God and his Angel. Know this yourself too, and go to Polycarp the priest, who will baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; and thus you will see God and his Angel. When the wretched Dina heard this, she denounces him, that Apollonius her husband and his daughter had been converted to Christ, she rose up swiftly with great rage, like an unbridled horse, running to the Emperor Julian, reporting everything she had heard and learned about the conversion of her husband and daughter, and said: O Emperor, send messengers immediately to my house, and let them bring my husband and daughter before your sight, so that through fear of your punishments they may abandon their errors and madness.
[28] The next day he sent messengers with Dina to seize Apollonius and his daughter and present them before Julian. and she herself was suffocated by a demon, But as Dina was departing and entering her house, the devil came in the form of a dog, leapt upon her throat, and she fell to the ground, and with her neck broken she expired. The messengers who had been sent by the Emperor seized Apollonius with his daughter, he is captured with his daughter, bound them, and led them before the Emperor's face. Seeing him, the Emperor said: You were born of the noble family of Senators, and it would befit your nobility to be a friend of our gods. To this Apollonius replied: They are not gods but demons; but there is one true God of the Christians, and confessed Christ, whom I adore, whom I glorify, whom I serve, whose name be blessed forever. Hearing this, Julian, filled with fury, ordered him to be beheaded in his presence immediately, he is beheaded.
and commanded his body to be thrown outside the city, forbidding anyone to bury him. That same night Blessed Polycarp came and took the body of the blessed Martyr and buried it beside the bodies of the holy Martyrs.
[29] The next day after the death of Apollonius, Caesar Julian commanded Blessed Apollonia to be brought before him, and said to her: Since you are noble, as your entire family attests, consider the terrible death of your parents — how your mother was suffocated by the devil and your father was beheaded; St. Apollonia scorns the tyrant's threats, and do not perish foolishly like them. Hearing this, Blessed Apollonia said to Caesar: Do you not know that it is written, Whether we live, we live for the Lord, or whether we die, we die for the Lord, and to each one a reward is given according to his labor? Romans 14:8 Therefore my mother received her reward from the devil, to whose service she had devoted herself, which is eternal punishment. My father lived happily and triumphed steadfastly in Christ; therefore he reigns with him in the eternal fellowship of the Angels. The Emperor, hearing such an abundance of words and seeing the constancy of the Virgin, said: Choose one of two things: Either sacrifice to the gods and it will be well with you in your house; or you will die a most shameful death like your parents, and I will scatter all your wealth and your patrimony. and promises; Apollonia replied: These riches are transitory; but there are riches which endure eternally in heaven, because my Lord Jesus Christ distributes them abundantly to his own forever.
[30] Then the Emperor ordered her to be beaten with rods, to turn her mind from our Lord Jesus Christ. beaten with rods; She, however, gave thanks to God amid her sufferings. The Caesar, seeing that he could not change her mind, ordered her to be suspended on the rack, suspended on the rack, flayed alive, to be flayed alive, and pieces of her flesh to be cut away. Suspended on the rack, she cried out to the Lord, saying: Have mercy on me, Lord, and strengthen me, that I may fight bravely against the enemy. When she had said this, immediately the Angel of the Lord came with a great rush freed by the Angel; and set her free and broke the wood on which she was hanging, and many pagans fell to the ground and died; but many also believed in Christ. Then the Caesar ordered her to be placed in prison until the next day.
[31] On the next day he had her brought before him, and said to her: Believe, Apollonia, in the god Jupiter, and sacrifice. She replied: O wretched man, you should not call him a god but a demon, whose servant you are, and with whom you will possess eternal punishments. thrown to the wild beasts, Hearing this, the Emperor, filled with fury, ordered her to be led into the garden of wild beasts, that the beasts might devour her with their cruel bite. Seeing the horrible faces of the lions and the other beasts, she was afraid, and making the sign of the holy Cross, she prayed to the Lord, saying: she tames them with the Cross and prayer; Lord God, who freed Daniel from the den of lions, free me, lest I be given as prey to these beasts. And immediately the beasts, setting aside their ferocity and cruelty, came to her like tame puppies, lying down around her.
[32] Seeing this, the Emperor, struck with even fiercer fury, ordered her to be brought before him, saying: Deny Christ and worship my god, otherwise you will die a most cruel death. She replied: As long as I live in this frail life, my tongue and my mouth will not cease proclaiming the praise and honor of Almighty God. Hearing this, he ordered very hard stakes to be prepared and made hard and sharp in the fire, her teeth cruelly knocked out, so that her teeth might be injured by these stakes and the roots of the teeth might be torn out from the roots with pincers. In that hour St. Apollonia prayed, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, I beseech you, that whoever devoutly observes the day of my passion and remembers with devotion the bitterness of this pain, [she prays that those who invoke her may be freed from toothache and headache; her tongue is cut out;] may never experience the pain of teeth or head or such sufferings. But the Emperor, hearing that she did not cease praising God, ordered her tongue to be cut out, so that she might preach no more. She, however, prayed in her heart that God, who is the maker of all, might hear her prayers. And behold, the Angel of the Lord appeared with great light and surrounded her with exceeding brightness, saying: Apollonia, my sister, your prayer has been heard. And he brought her a letter written in golden letters, [with the appearance of an Angel she learns she has been heard; after many conversions,] which contained the assurance that her prayers would be heard by the Lord.
[33] In that hour five hundred people were converted to the Lord on account of the miracles they had witnessed. But when the Emperor saw that so many people had been converted to the Lord, in great wrath he seized a sword and cruelly pierced Blessed Apollonia with his own hand; and thus with the palm of martyrdom she departed to the Lord. [she is killed by the tyrant's hand; her soul is carried to heaven by Angels in the form of a dove.] And behold, a multitude of the army of Angels, leading that holy soul, which was seen by many of Christ's faithful in the form of a dove, ascended to the kingdom of heaven. Holy Polycarp buried the body of the blessed Virgin together with the body of her father. Above all things blessed is God, Amen.
AnnotationsSection V. The relics of St. Apollonia.
[34] Peter de Natali, book 3, chapter 107, followed by Maurolycus and Canisius, records that the body of St. Apollonia, The burial of St. Apollonia, together with the relics of the Virgin Cointa and the Martyr Metranus, was buried by Christians at Alexandria. We have nowhere read where these sacred remains were first taken and when they were brought to Europe. The manuscript Florarium has the following entry for January 29: The Translation of Blessed Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr. Whether it refers to this one or another, and where, whence, and at what time, we do not wish to guess. translation, So many places throughout Europe claim to possess some relics of St. Apollonia, especially teeth, that it is scarcely credible relics in many places; they all belong to one and the same person. Nor is there reason why Calvin should therefore scurrilously assail the piety of the faithful, as is his habit. The same occurs with the relics of many Saints. The twelve causes for this are established and explained by our own John Ferrandus, a man of distinguished learning, in his Disquisitio Reliquiaria, or On the Suspicious and Suspect Multitude of the Same Relics Which Are Preserved in Various Churches: let those who desire more consult him.
[35] We shall here enumerate some churches that boast of relics of St. Apollonia. First at Rome, at Rome, besides the fact that in the Trastevere district there is a church dedicated to the name of St. Apollonia, relics of the same holy Virgin are preserved in many other churches: the head in St. Mary's, also in Trastevere; an arm in St. Lawrence Outside the Walls; part of the jawbone in St. Blaise, which is in the Capitoline district; teeth in the church of the Friars Minor of Ara Coeli on the Capitoline, in St. Mary at the Campus Martius, in St. Roch, and in St. Cecilia in Trastevere; other relics in the church of St. Mary called Transpontina, and in St. Anne de Funariis in the Arenula district, commonly called the Regola district.
[36] There are various relics of the same Virgin in the city of Naples, which we recall having seen noted somewhere. at Naples, Also at Volterra in Tuscany, the Cathedral church preserves a bone and part of the jawbone at Volterra, and one tooth of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, as the Chapter and Senate of that most distinguished city wrote to us in a notable document, which we discussed on February 3, when we treated of St. Candidus the Martyr. Antonio Masini in his Bologna Perlustrata lists several churches in that city at Bologna, where teeth and other relics of St. Apollonia are preserved; and especially in the church of the illustrious confraternity named after Death, the lower jawbone, to venerate which the Legate, the Vice-Legate, and other dignitaries solemnly assemble on this day.
[37] In our Belgium there are many relics of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, whether of the Alexandrian or of one of the companions of St. Ursula (for some of them are recorded as bearing that name, as may be seen in the Ursula Vindicata of our Hermann Crombach). in Belgium (but whether all of the same saint is uncertain), at Antwerp, But all the relics I have mentioned are considered by those who possess them to be those of the Alexandrian Apollonia.
[38] And here at Antwerp, in the sacred treasury of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus, there is a particle of the relics of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, which James Tirinus, a man distinguished for his writings and piety, brought here. In this same city, in the church of the Hermits of the Order of St. Augustine, with a great gathering of people and not without frequent miracles, especially among the Augustinian Fathers, part of the jawbone of the same holy Virgin is honored throughout the entire course of the year, but especially on February 9 and the seven following days.
[39] At Brussels, in the oratory of Isabella Clara Eugenia, Princess of the Belgians, there was among other relics, which have recently been transferred to the Basilica of St. Gudula, at Brussels, a particle of the arm of St. Apollonia enclosed in a silver arm-reliquary, along with relics of SS. Margaret, Barbara, and Magdalene, as may be seen in the Belgicum Hierogazophylacium of Arnold Raissius, from which I shall also transcribe other items here. In the same city, as the same author relates, the Augustinian Hermit Fathers possess splendid portions of the relics of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, which on the Saint's feast day are visited with honor and equal pious devotion by a great throng of people.
[40] At Mechelen, in the Novitiate of the Society of Jesus, there is part of a tooth of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr. The Franciscan Fathers at Lille also have a tooth of the same holy Virgin, at Mechelen, in many places in Flanders, as does the collegiate church of St. Amatus at Douai, the Trinitarians in the same city, the monastery of Marquette near Lille, and the convent of Zwijveke near Dendermonde — both of Cistercian nuns; the Arrouaise house of Canons Regular in Artois; the Benedictine house of Blangy, also in Artois, in Artois, which has a notable part of the lower jawbone; the Premonstratensian house of Floreffe in the diocese of Namur has a relic from the head of the same Saint; the Canons Regular of St. Aubert at Cambrai have relics from the bones; the convent of noble Benedictine Virgins in the town of Bourbourg has something from the body, elsewhere, in the diocese of Trier, as does the Carthusian house of Rettel — situated not on the Meuse, as the same Raissius writes, but on the Moselle, between Trier and Thionville.
[41] At Cologne there are very many relics of St. Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, and no wonder, at Cologne, since two or three companions of St. Ursula are found to have borne this name. A monastery of Virgins, also called the Mommersloch convent, is dedicated especially to her honor, where a silver arm-reliquary with her relics is displayed. In the Bethlehem monastery of Virgins of the Third Rule of St. Francis on the Roman street, there are four teeth in the ninth reliquary; three teeth and some other relics, enclosed in a casket covered with gold plates, are in the monastery of St. Maximin of Regular Virgins of the Order of St. Augustine; a shoulder blade, a rib, and a tooth are in the Garden of the Blessed Mary, of Virgins of the Cistercian Order; notable parts are in a gilded pectoral statue among the Carmelites; a jawbone is among the Carthusians; a tooth is in the parish church of St. Maurice; in the parish church of St. Alban, there is a silver tripod upon which the lower jawbone of St. Apollonia is placed; some relics are also in the collegiate churches of St. Gereon and St. Cunibert. We have transcribed all this from Gelenius, who also for this reason inserted her name in the Calendar of Cologne. at Essen; At Essen as well (which, as we have said elsewhere, is a convent of noble Virgins in Westphalia), two relics of St. Apollonia are preserved.
[42] From Germany to Portugal, along with many other relics of Saints, a tooth and other relics of the same St. Apollonia were brought by John Borgia, a distinguished man, and placed with magnificent display in the church of St. Roch of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Lisbon at Lisbon, in the year 1588, on January 25, as we have indicated under that date. John Tamayo de Salazar, in his book on St. Epitacius, Bishop and Martyr, lists among the relics of the Church of Plasencia two relics of St. Apollonia, and records that this prayer is recited there in her honor: at Plasencia in Spain. O God, who granted Blessed Apollonia to overcome dire torments in her tender and pure body, grant us, we beseech you, that having overcome the allurements of the flesh, we may fear no adversities of the world. Through our Lord.
Section VI. The veneration of St. Apollonia, her healing patronage, and a miracle.
[43] On account of the frequent remedies against troublesome pains of the teeth and head, many churches publicly venerate St. Apollonia, not only with the Office of Three Lessons as in the Roman rite, but also with a double Office, as at Trent, Noyon, Arras, St. Apollonia is venerated in many churches, and formerly at Utrecht, and others. And most churches implore her patronage against various ailments with a special prayer. The Antwerp Breviary, printed at Venice in 1496, recites this one: O God, who crowned Blessed Apollonia, your glorious Virgin and Martyr, who suffered the extraction of her teeth for faith in your name, in the heavenly realms: grant, we beseech you, to all who devoutly honor her memory, and is invoked for peace and well-being, to enjoy perpetual peace and to be freed from dangers both of body and soul. Through our Lord.
[44] The Mainz Breviary, published in 1495 and again in 1507, has this: Eternal and most mighty God, who never cease to strengthen your elect with the spirit of fortitude to endure bodily torments: hear us graciously, that we who celebrate the martyrdom of Blessed Apollonia, your Martyr, whom you made to triumph through a most bitter death after her teeth were knocked out for the glory of your name, may deserve by her merits and prayers to be rescued and protected from bodily and dental pains and from afflictions of the soul. against pains of the teeth and body. Through our Lord. Likewise the Ratzeburg Breviary, published in 1506: O God, who caused Blessed Apollonia, your Martyr, to triumph wondrously over the most savage enemy after her teeth were knocked out for love of your name: grant, we beseech you, that by her merits and intercession we may be freed from toothache and languor of the soul, and from every languor of body and soul. Through our Lord.
[45] The ancient Cologne Breviary, frequently reprinted: O God, for love of whom Blessed Apollonia, Virgin and Martyr, steadfastly endured the horrible extraction of her teeth: grant, we beseech you, that all who frequent her commemoration you may keep always free from pain of the teeth and head, headaches, and after the hardships of this exile bring them to the joys above. Through our Lord.
[46] Most of the ancient Breviaries of German churches, such as those of Speyer, Constance, Schleswig, Minden, Osnabruck, etc., agree with one or another of these. In the Utrecht manuscript cited above, there is this prayer, which, however, does not seem to have been customarily recited in the Divine Office, since in that Office all prayers are almost always directed to God; so the manuscript reads: O holy Apollonia, against the sins of the teeth and mouth, through your passion obtain for us the remission of all sins which we have committed with our teeth and mouth through gluttony and speech, that we may be freed from the pain and grinding of teeth here and in the future, and by loving purity of heart, through the grace of our lips, may we have as our friend the King of Angels. Amen.
[47] It is worth adding another account from the same codex concerning Ernest, the first Archbishop of Prague, which is, however, reported neither in the writers on Bohemian affairs nor in the recently published Life of Ernest himself, that most devout prelate. The learned reader will judge what assessment should be made of it. For our part, it is not easy to approve, nor to reject, what could have occurred without serious fault and yet was avenged by a divine portent — one quite painful, though directed not toward the disgrace of the deceased nor to his infamy among the living — lest the example of even the slightest negligence should harm his successors. After the Acts, which we have said seem to us to be in any case apocryphal, the following is appended: A MIRACLE. Outside the walls of the city of Prague there was a chapel consecrated in honor of God and Blessed Apollonia the Virgin. The Archbishop Ernest, wishing to include the chapel within the circuit of the walls, destroyed the one that was outside, so that another might be built within. But as time passed, negligence overcame the Bishop, [When the Bishop forgot to restore the chapel of St. Apollonia, his teeth were knocked out after death,] and the entire building was given over to oblivion; and the memory of St. Apollonia was forgotten and erased from the devotion of the people. It came to pass, in the course of time, that the Bishop closed his last day; and behold, all the teeth
were knocked out of his mouth, so that not one was found in his mouth, that it might be clearly evident that he was punished who had destroyed her memorial, through which she had been accustomed to succor all who did not erase her from their memory.