ON THE HOLY MARTYRS FUSCA, VIRGIN, AND MAURA, HER NURSE, AT RAVENNA AND TORCELLO IN ITALY
IN THE THIRD CENTURY OF CHRIST.
Preliminary Commentary.
Fusca, Virgin, Martyr, at Ravenna in Italy (St.) Maura, Martyr, at Ravenna in Italy (St.)
G. H.
[1] Three places above all have been made illustrious by these holy Martyrs: Ravenna, an ancient city of the Senones among the Italians, the metropolis of Flaminia or Romagna, in which St. Fusca was first born, Ss. Fusca and Maura are venerated at Ravenna, where they were slain, and was nursed by St. Maura; and afterward both were adorned with a distinguished martyrdom and enrolled in heaven. They are assigned to this place in the Roman Martyrology for February 13 in these words: At Ravenna, Ss. Fusca, Virgin, and Maura her nurse, who, under the Emperor Decius, having suffered much under the Governor Quintianus, were at last pierced by the sword and completed their martyrdom. Constantius Felicius in his Calendar writes: Of Fusca, Virgin and Martyr, who with her nurse Maura at Ravenna, for Christ, under Bassianus Caracalla, suffered many torments from the Governor Quintianus, and finally, pierced by a knife, flew gloriously to heaven. Christopher Phreislebius in his Memorial of the Saints writes: Of St. Fusca, Virgin, who at Ravenna with Maura her nurse, through whose work she was baptized, was detained by her own father in prison so that they would change their resolve. But when they persevered immovable in the faith, by order of the Governor they were pierced through by the executioner. So far he. St. Maura was a companion in baptism, but was urged on by St. Fusca, as will appear below.
[2] The other city is Sabrata, or Sabratha, in Africa -- in Ptolemy, book 4 of his Geography, chapter 3, it is Sabathra -- in the province of Tripolitania. Nados, bishop of this city, was present at the Conference of Carthage in the year 411, at Sabrata in Africa, and Leo is listed among the Catholic bishops who came to Carthage to give an account of the faith by order of Huneric, King of the Vandals, in the sixth year of his reign, the year of Christ 482. where they were buried; To this city the bodies of the holy Martyrs were immediately conveyed by Christian sailors after their death, and buried there, as is told below in the Acts, and from them Galesinius writes thus for this February 13: At Ravenna, of St. Fusca, Virgin, and Maura her nurse, Martyrs. She, born of a Syrian father, a noble man, being fifteen years of age, inflamed with love for the Christian religion, received baptism with Maura from the priest Hermolaus. When her father discovered this, he left nothing undone to make his daughter abandon the faith; but she, most constant in her resolve, was first beaten with scourges by order of the Prefect Quintianus under the Emperor Decius, then cast into a most foul prison, and finally, pierced by a sword driven into her side, departed to the eternal reward in heaven. Maura likewise, nearly destroyed by torments and the filth of prison, holding the dead body of her mistress, which she constantly embraced, weeping, asked the executioner to pierce her in the same manner with the sword, and so she followed her. Their bodies were carried away by night by Christian sailors to Sabrata, a city of the province of Tripolitania, and laid in a noble sepulcher. Then many years later, Vitalis, a Venetian citizen, sailing to that city inspired by the divine Spirit, brought them to Torcello, an island of the Venetians, where they are reverently and piously venerated.
[3] Now Torcello is an episcopal city on one of the islands that surround Venice, situated to the north on the borders of the territory of Treviso, at Torcello near Venice, at this time sparsely inhabited on account of the heaviness of the climate. Hither then from Africa were brought the sacred relics of the holy Martyrs Fusca and Maura, where in the cathedral church dedicated to them they are still preserved with due honor. Bellinus in his Martyrology according to the usage of the Roman Curia, printed in the year 1498, and from him Molanus in his supplement to Usuard, where the Bodies are preserved in a church built for them: report the matter thus: At Torcello, of St. Fusca, Virgin and Martyr. Maurolycus: At Torcello, of St. Fusca, Virgin, who suffered at Ravenna with Maura her nurse under the Governor Quintianus. Canisius gives more from the Acts in his German Martyrology, in which there is an error, in that he writes she was twelve years old when she suffered martyrdom, whereas the rest with the Acts attribute fifteen years to her.
[4] Hermann Greuen in his additions to Usuard also records Fusca the Martyr without her companion and with no place indicated. The Canons Regular of St. Savior celebrate the feast of the same St. Fusca with an Office, as they call it, another church of St. Fusca, of nine Lessons for a Virgin and Martyr, because there is a certain parish church of that Order consecrated in her honor. For it is prescribed in chapter 1 of the Constitutions, section 10, On the Office of the Church, that everywhere throughout the entire Congregation the Office be performed for all those Saints in whose name they have consecrated monastery churches, on the very day on which their feasts fall -- for example, St. Daniel, St. Fusca, etc. This is confirmed in the Calendar of Saints who are celebrated in the particular churches of Genoa with their own Genoese Offices, as printed. and at Bologna some Relics: Masinus in his Survey of Bologna relates that some relics of St. Fusca are kept at Bologna in the church of St. Stephen.
[5] We have obtained various Acts of these Martyrs, all of which are perhaps contracted from more ancient ones. Two sets of Acts are given from manuscripts. The first are from a manuscript codex of the monastery of Budecensis, of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, in the diocese of Paderborn in Westphalia, and these, as they are more extensive, so they appear to be more exact. We give others from a manuscript codex of the Carthusian house of Cologne, others were published by Peter de Natalibus, procured together with the preceding by our colleague Johannes Gamansius. In these there are some things different from the preceding, such as what is reported as said before the Governor Quintianus in section 7; and these have hitherto been unpublished. Others exist in the Catalogue of Saints by Peter of Equilinum, book 4, chapter 119, but contracted from those first ones, and elsewhere in manuscripts, just as from these same ones there are others that exist in the codex of the Fathers of the Oratory at Rome.
[6] Hieronymus Rubeus inserted an epitome of these same Acts in the first book of his Histories of Ravenna, and this excerpt by John Mosander is found in the Appendix to the Lives of Saints collected by Laurentius Surius, in the first and second editions; Summaries published by Rubeus, but in the third edition it was published among the other Lives for this February 13. Another summary was published in the Catalogue of Saints of Italy from the records of the Church of Ravenna by Philip Ferrarius, Ferrarius, where he says St. Fusca was born of a father who was a priest of idols, and calls Sabrata a city of Africa "Tabrata," which is Sabrata. and others. Ludovicus Zacconus in his Compendium of the Lives of Saints, written in Italian, Silvanus Razzius in volume 1 of the Lives of Holy Women, and in French William Gazetus, treat of the same -- and indeed these last two cite Surius; but it is Mosander, as Francis Lahierius more correctly notes in his Menologion of Virgins, where from him, Peter de Natalibus, and Ferrarius, he translates another Life into French, and calls Fusca herself "St. Brunetta," which is less pleasing.
[7] At what time these Martyrs lived, or under what Emperor they won the victorious palm after their death, Were they slain under Caracalla? the ancient Acts are silent, and with them Peter de Natalibus. Constantius Felicius, cited above, writes that it happened under Bassianus Caracalla. This is Bassianus surnamed Antoninus, who succeeded his father Severus, who died at York on the day before the Nones of February in the year 211, and the following year murdered his brother Geta, on the fifth day before the Kalends of March, in his mother's lap. A new persecution against the Christians had begun under Severus in the year 202, reckoned the fifth, in which St. Irenaeus suffered at Lyon, Leonides the father of Origen in Egypt, and others elsewhere; this persecution was continued by the governors of the provinces under Caracalla, an Emperor otherwise cruel by his own nature, who would not readily have granted any favor to Christians. But whence does Felicius have it that Fusca and Maura suffered martyrdom at that time?
[8] Hieronymus Rubeus refers the death of these Martyrs to the persecution of the Emperor Decius, and asserts that St. Agatha was killed in Sicily under the same Governor Quintianus. or rather under Decius? Bivarius writes the same in his Commentary on the Chronicle of Dexter, Commentary 2, at the year of Christ 300, number 13, where it is said that St. Centolla suffered under Diocletian, the daughter of the Consul Lucius Rago Quintianus, under whose father St. Agatha suffered at Catania -- as we have said in the Acts of the latter, Latin text, question 1, letter e, where Quintianus is called the Consular Governor of the province of Sicily. Flaminia was also a Consular province, but how is it proved that the same Quintianus governed both in so short a time as Decius reigned? He would have to have been transferred from Ravenna to Sicily, where he perished. They are said to have suffered martyrdom under Decius in the Roman Martyrology. Galesinius and Baronius in the Annals, year 254, number 29, agree. But Decius was already dead before that year, having seized the Empire in the year 249 and held it for only thirty months.
ACTS BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR,
from the Budecensis manuscript.
Fusca, Virgin, Martyr, at Ravenna in Italy (St.) Maura, Martyr, at Ravenna in Italy (St.)
BHL Number: 3222
From manuscripts.
CHAPTER I
The Baptism of Fusca and Maura. The constancy of the former, tested in various ways by her parents.
[1] When in the times of the Christian persecution the great victory of the Martyrs, St. Fusca reveals her affection for the Christian faith to St. Maura, her nurse: accomplished by divine power, was being celebrated throughout the whole world, the most blessed Fusca (who was born of rather noble but pagan parents), hearing of the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, with a most eager and ardent soul began to be perfectly a Christian. For she was fifteen years old when the Holy Spirit set her heart on fire. She called to herself her nurse, named Maura, and said to her: If you will agree with me, and not betray the secret counsel of my heart, I will reveal my plan to you. Consent therefore to my words, so that with a perfect heart we may believe that the Lord Jesus Christ (by whose power the victory of the Martyrs is celebrated throughout the world) is true God and the Son of God, remaining without beginning and without end, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. If we shall believe not falsely but perfectly, we shall be holy and spotless vessels of the Lord God, our Creator and Redeemer, so that no temptations may separate us from his mercy in this world, and moreover we shall reign eternally with him in the world to come.
[2] Hearing this, Maura her servant was pricked in her heart; and, as good earth receiving seed yields fruit in its seasons, with her she goes to St. Hermolaus: so receiving the words of life, she immediately believed, and remained perfect in faith and fear and also in love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and said to the blessed Fusca, her mistress: If the Lord Jesus Christ deigns to show his mercy to me, that I may deserve to follow in his footsteps, I will most gladly believe in his name; knowing assuredly that, if I shall be worthy to suffer something for his name, I shall receive from him a crown remaining without end. Fusca said to her: Listen to me, dearest nurse, and let us go by night, with no one knowing, to St. Hermolaus the Priest, that he may instruct and teach us the way of truth and baptize us in the name of the Holy Trinity. Rising therefore that same night, they came to St. Hermolaus the Priest, asking him to strengthen them in the perfection of the holy faith. He immediately instructed them through the whole rule of faith, she is baptized: and having poured over them the sacred baptism and confirmed them with the Body of Christ, he allowed them to depart.
[3] When the parents of the blessed Fusca learned that she had been baptized and had perfectly believed in Christ, she consoles her troubled parents: they were greatly disturbed, and considered how they might recall her from this intention. For they feared that she might be dragged before the judges to martyrdom, and they mourned for her because she was their only child. The most blessed Fusca consoled their grief, saying: Do not mourn, my parents, but rather rejoice, because I have believed in the true God; for your gods are idols made by hand, which can destroy those who believe in them, but cannot save them. When Syroy, her father, heard these words, greatly angered, he ordered the blessed Fusca together with her nurse to be cast into prison, thinking that those whom he could not overcome with blandishments might be terrified by punishments; [she is tried by prison, fasting, the conversation of matrons, and of her parents,] and for three days he permitted no food or drink to be given them. After this he sent to them matrons and noble girls, who might by their persuasions recall them from the faith of Christ; but they could in no way seduce those faithful hearts, because they were established upon a firm rock. Wherefore the parents of the blessed Fusca, greatly saddened, began to address her themselves and to say: Dearest daughter, listen to us and withdraw from this madness, worshipping the gods of our fathers, lest you die a terrible death. with threats of death, For if the Governor Quintianus hears that you are a Christian, he will torture you with various torments, and then with grief we shall lose you, whom as our only child we have raised with every affection and care. the death of Christ is objected to her: Why do you believe in Christ, whom the Jews crucified and put to a most shameful death?
[5] To these words St. Fusca replied: I shall in no way depart from the faith which I have received and vowed to God in baptism. she answers firmly: For I do not fear your threats or the punishments of the Governor. For Christ my God willingly endured death and suffering on the cross for us, to free us from the condemnation of eternal death; he who died rose again on the third day, to lead us who believe in him to the joys of eternal resurrection. He also, after the glory of his resurrection, placed the human nature which he assumed for us in heaven at the right hand of the Father with the trophy of victory, giving us true hope that, having conquered temporal punishments, we might reign with him without end. But your gods, whom you worship, are demons who dwell in idols, and they will lead all their worshippers to eternal fire.
[6] Then Syroy, her father, angered, said to her: By the great gods I swear that she is not moved by repeated threats and the anger of her father: if you do not heed the counsel of your parents, so as to sacrifice with us as quickly as possible before the judge Quintianus comes, we ourselves will afflict you with the most cruel torments, together with that woman who is so badly associated with you, Maura your nurse. St. Fusca said to her father: Listen to me, Father, and departing from the worship of idols, believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, who made heaven and earth and all things that are in them, so that you may be saved from the fire that has no end. But Syroy, blinded by the devil, hardened his heart, refusing to believe the words of his daughter; but he still persisted in dissuading her, saying: Fusca, my daughter, have you not heard how many men and women Quintianus has put to the most cruel death, who are of this religion? St. Fusca answered and said to her father: It is a foolish fear to fear human power more than Divine. I tell you, father, as I have often said already, that I have once departed from idols, and will never again be defiled with them. But I will always adore and worship my Lord Jesus Christ, for whose love I will deliver myself to death, who after the death of the body will lead my soul to eternal rest.
[7] Hearing these things, her father, moved with fury, seized a sword, wishing to kill her. But her mother rose up with a great cry and threw herself upon her, and said to Syroy her husband: still constant even when about to be killed by her father. Do not shed her blood; but let us wait yet some days, if perhaps she may remember her mother's love and return to the worship of our gods. But the most holy Fusca with her nurse Maura remained fearless, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, desiring to die happily rather than to live unhappily; yet fearing more for the perdition of their parents than for their own bodily punishment, knowing for certain that they would very soon be delivered by God. Then Syroy, the father of the most blessed girl, frequently sacrificed to his gods in the sight of his daughter, that he might provoke her also to sacrifice; but he accomplished nothing in this, because the Lord was strengthening the minds of those who believed in him in the faith.
CHAPTER II
The torments inflicted on St. Fusca. The death of both. The Translation.
[8] These things having been done, Quintianus the Prefect, a most impious persecutor of Christians, entered the city of Ravenna to punish whatever Christians he might find there; at whose arrival all the Christians of that city were moved with great trembling. In the persecution, But the most blessed Fusca with her servant Maura poured forth prayers in the sight of the Lord, she prays more fervently with St. Maura: and persevering in fasting and prayers, with one voice they humbly implored the mercy of Christ, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, who granted to your holy Apostles and Martyrs the strength of faith and patience, strengthen us in your fear and love, lest the diabolical rage turn us from the way of truth; but grant that through the constancy of our patience those who are weak in faith may be made firm, and the hearts of your enemies may be confounded.
[9] Now when the most impious Quintianus was seated at the tribunal, certain men inflamed by the devil came to him she is discovered by the agents of Quintianus with an Angel: and said: Behold, the daughter of Syroy has become a Christian. Hearing this, the Governor, moved by great anger, commanded his officers to bring St. Fusca together with her parents and Maura her servant bound before him. The officers therefore came, sent by the tyrant Governor, and found St. Fusca praying, and an Angel of the Lord standing beside her, and they were greatly afraid, and returned to the Governor, saying: We saw with our own eyes an Angel standing beside her, whose appearance we could not endure. Then the angry Governor ordered them to be cast into prison.
[10] While these things are being said and other matters are being reported, behold, St. Fusca, she willingly approaches the Governor: whose spirit was already set on the crown, came of her own accord together with her parents and Maura her nurse to the forum, and entered where the most wicked Quintianus was seated at the tribunal. When he saw them, the Governor said to the father of the girl: Why did you hand over your daughter to the Christian laws? Syroy answered: By your well-being, I have labored for many days now, but I have never been able to recall her from this folly. The Governor then turned to the blessed Fusca and said: What is your name? She answered: by my earthly name, Fusca; she steadfastly defends the Christian faith: but by my spiritual name, Christian. The Governor said: What God do you worship? St. Fusca answered: My Lord Jesus Christ, because I am a Christian. The Governor said: You speak of that Christ whom the Jews crucified? By the god Acheron and Jupiter, if you do not withdraw from this madness and sacrifice to the immortal gods, you shall die. St. Fusca answered: I am ready to undergo death for my Lord Jesus Christ, and never to sacrifice to vain idols. For it is written: "Let all who worship graven images be confounded, and all who glory in their idols." Psalm 96:7 The Governor said: By all the gods, unless you now obey my commands, I will give your flesh to the dogs and the birds of heaven. St. Fusca answered: I count your terrors and threats as nothing; it is better for me to die than to adore demons.
[11] But Quintianus, angered, ordered her to be scourged, and after being scourged, she is scourged: to be thrown into prison with her nurse. When they had been detained in custody for some days and could by no means be turned from their resolve, the impious Governor ordered them to be brought out of prison and struck with the sword outside the city. Then St. Fusca, when she was being led to her death, she is sentenced to death: prayed, saying: You know, Lord, why for love of you I have rejected the whole world with its pleasures, and have denied my father and mother; command therefore that my spirit be received in peace. And a voice came from heaven, saying: Do not fear, Fusca; you have kept the faith, you have finished the race; now come in confidence and enter into the joy of your Lord. she is confirmed by a heavenly voice: Greatly rejoicing at this voice, Fusca, the Martyr of Christ, said to the executioner: Do what has been commanded you. And he immediately pierced her side, and having been perfected by such a martyrdom, she is slain she fell asleep in peace. But St. Maura, holding the body of her mistress, asked the executioner together with St. Maura. to kill her as quickly as possible, whose request was immediately fulfilled.
[12] That same night, therefore, certain Christian sailors The Bodies are carried to Africa, seized the bodies of the Martyrs and conveyed them to the province of Tripolitania, to the city called Sabratha, and laid them in hidden places in the crypts. Then after the passage of many years, that region was occupied by faithless pagans, and the aforementioned city of Sabratha was reduced to desolation even to the present day. thence to the island of Torcello: God, therefore, seeing that the relics of the holy Martyrs were resting in a desolate place, inspired the heart of his servant Vitalis to take them both from there. He came with those whom he could gather to Sabratha, took up the Bodies shown to him by divine guidance, and brought them to the territory of the Venetians, to the place called Torcello. Where the Christians, receiving the most sacred Relics with great veneration, there a church is built in their honor. constructed a church in honor of the same Martyrs, in which they also buried their Bodies, praising the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, who bestows such great glory upon his servants, through all ages of ages. Amen.
AnnotationAcheron, born in Crete of the mother Ceres, not daring to look upon the light, flowed down to the underworld, and there became an infernal river. Acheron Boccaccio treats of him in book 3 of the Genealogy of the Gods, chapter 4. It is, moreover, an oath by heaven and hell.
OTHER ACTS
from a manuscript of the Carthusian house of Cologne.
Fusca, Virgin, Martyr, at Ravenna in Italy (St.) Maura, Martyr, at Ravenna in Italy (St.)
BHL Number: 3223
From a manuscript.
[1] St. Fusca the Virgin and St. Maura her nurse believe in Christ: In those times when the great virtues of the Martyrs shone forth throughout the whole world, the most blessed Fusca, born of pagan parents, hearing of the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, became a Christian in spirit. For she was fifteen years old when the Holy Spirit breathed into her heart. And she called to herself her nurse Maura and said to her: If you will agree with me, that we may believe in Christ the Son of God, we shall be holy vessels, and in that life we shall reign with him, and we shall not be separated from one another. Let us go together by night to St. Hermolaus, that he may baptize me; and tell no one of this. St. Maura answered: they are baptized by the priest Hermolaus. If I too, your servant, may deserve to believe in Christ, in whom you have believed. And that same night, rising, they came to the priest of God, Hermolaus, and he baptized them, and they believed in Christ the Son of God.
[2] After this the father and mother learned that they had abandoned the idols and had declared themselves Christians, and her parents were troubled, and there was immoderate grief. Fusca rebukes her parents who oppose her: For they grieved greatly because she was her father's only child. Her parents came to her and wished to call her back from her intention of embracing the Christian religion. St. Fusca said to them: The God of the Christians is the true God, and your gods are dumb idols, made by human hands; they can destroy those who believe in them, but they cannot save them at all. But Seroi, her father, was greatly angered, she is enclosed in prison, fasts for three days: and sent them into prison, thinking to terrify with punishment those whom he could not overcome with blandishments; and for three days he commanded that no food be given them. Afterward, grieving for his daughter, he sent to them matrons and other girls of her own age, who might cause them to cease from the faith of Christ; but they could in no way seduce them, because the Lord God was strengthening those who believed in him.
[3] But seeing that they could not deceive them, her parents came to their daughter and said to her: Our daughter Fusca, listen to us and withdraw from this folly, and turn your mind back to the gods of your country, she answers firmly to her parents who alternate between coaxing and threatening: and do not forsake your own people, for you are our only child. Behold, we will conceal the wrong that you have done. But if the Governor Quintianus hears that you persist in this faith, you shall die; because you believe in Christ, who suffered on earth and whom the Jews condemned on the cross. St. Fusca answered: Christ suffered for us, to free us from the sufferings of hell, and willingly accepted death for us, to free us from the second death; but as victor he rose from the dead on the third day. And the human nature which he assumed for us, he carried back to heaven after his victory over the world. And we await him at the end of the world as Judge of the living and the dead, to render to each one according to his works. For your gods, whom you worship, are proved to be demons, and deaf and dumb idols, made from whatever metal by the hand of man.
[4] Hearing these things, Seroi her father was greatly angered and said to her: By the great gods, if you will not listen to your parents and if you will not sacrifice to the gods before Quintianus comes, I will make a bad end of you along with her who is known to be your companion. fearless in the face of mortal danger, St. Fusca answered: Listen to me, Father, and depart from the worship of the gods and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. Seroi her father said: Daughter Fusca, have you not heard how many men and women Quintianus has killed who are of this religion? St. Fusca answered: It is a foolish fear to fear human power more than Divine. Your gods are, as I have said and I say again, marble sculptures and waxen images; everyone who believes in them will have no forgiveness of their sins, but will be tortured with them in eternal fire. But hearing these things, her father, moved by fury, when her father seizes a sword: seized a sword and wished to kill her. But her mother rose up and threw herself upon her, saying: Do not shed her blood; but wait yet some days, if perhaps she may remember and return to her gods. But St. Fusca together with her nurse Maura, rejoicing, desired to end her life for the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord was strengthening the minds of those who believed in him. Seroi, her father, going out, sacrificed victims to the idol Acheron, to turn his daughter from the faith.
[5] On another day, Quintianus, the persecutor of Christians, entered the city of Ravenna. When the most blessed Fusca together with her nurse Maura heard this, they poured forth this prayer in the sight of the Lord, by the agents of Quintianus devoting themselves to fasting and prayers day and night: You, Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to your holy Apostles and Martyrs the strength of faith, strengthen your handmaids in your fear, so that the insatiable devil may not be able to turn your handmaids from the way of truth. Now when Quintianus was seated at the tribunal, certain men came to him and said: Behold, lord Prefect, the daughter of Seroi in this city is a Christian, she is discovered with an Angel: and she has said that our gods are demons. Hearing this, the Governor, moved with anger, ordered his officers to bring St. Fusca and her parents bound before him. But the officers, coming, found St. Fusca praying, and a holy Angel standing beside her, whose appearance they could not endure. But the angry Governor ordered them to be cast into prison.
[6] While these things are being said and other matters are being reported, behold St. Fusca, whose spirit was already willingly crowned, came together with her parents and Maura her servant to the forum. The Governor said to Seroi: Why did you subject your daughter to the Christian laws? Seroi answered: By your well-being, she willingly approaches him: I have labored for many days, and I could not recall her from this folly. Know that she has been deceived by the Christians, who say that our gods are stones and wood. The Governor turned to the blessed Fusca and said: What is your name? St. Fusca answered: Fusca. The Governor said: What God do you worship? Fusca answered: Christ God. she steadfastly defends the faith of Christ: The Governor said: You call that Christ God, whom the Jews crucified? By the great gods Acheron and Jupiter, if you do not withdraw from this madness and do not sacrifice to the gods, you shall die and not live. Fusca answered: I am ready for my Lord Jesus Christ rather to die than to sacrifice to your vain idols; for it is written: "Let all who worship graven images be confounded, and all who glory in their idols." Psalm 96:7 The Governor said: Withdraw from this folly and sacrifice to the gods; if you will not, I will make a bad end of you. But she answered: I have already told you, it is better for me to die than to adore demons. The Governor said: Fusca, daughter of Seroi, why do you not fulfill my command? By the great gods, you shall die, and your nurse Maura, because she is a Christian just as you are. Deny Christ and worship the gods of your country; if you will not hear these words, I will give your flesh to the dogs and the birds of heaven. But she, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: Your terrors and your threats are nothing; for I am the bride of Christ, and I desire to die for him who enlightened me, that I might approach him with a pure heart, who helps us draw near to that which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him with their whole heart.
[7] Hearing these words, Quintianus ordered them to be scourged. And when they were being scourged, he wished to strike her with the sword. But when her father Seroi saw this, she is scourged: he fell at his feet, saying: Lord Governor, grant us two days' reprieve, if perhaps she may return to the gods, for she is her mother's only child. The Governor said: I too wished that she would not perish; but her pride and the vanity of some Jesus Christ will not let her live. But she answered: she continues to despise the idols: It is you who worship vanity, who forsake the true God, and to images, which are without voice and without hearing, you say: You are my God. And to wood you say: Help me. The Governor said: You vex me greatly; but I still have pity on your youth. But she said: May the Lord have pity on me. For what is your mercy, you accursed one? Quintianus, angered, ordered her to be thrown into prison, saying: By the great gods, tomorrow I will order both of them to be struck with the sword. she is thrown into prison: But she answered: Thanks be to God -- and this I have always desired. And the officers came and, placing chains on their necks, threw them into prison.
[8] On another day the Governor, sitting at the tribunal, called the executioner and said to him: Bring those proud women out of prison, those aliens from our gods; she is sentenced to death: and let them receive the capital sentence outside the city. And the executioner came and brought them out of prison, dragging them before the city. But when he was leading them to their death, the whole multitude of women wept. But she prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, into your hands I commend my spirit. strengthened by a heavenly voice, And a voice came to her, saying: Do not fear, Fusca; you have kept the faith, you have finished the race; come to your rest, the Angels will receive you. Then St. Fusca said to the executioner: Come, my son, do what has been commanded you. And the executioner immediately pierced her side with a lance; she is slain together with St. Maura. and by such a martyrdom she fell asleep in peace. But St. Maura, her nurse, holding her body, asked the executioner to kill her, which was also accomplished; and just as they shared one life, so in death one glory was granted to them.
[9] Their bodies were cast into the sea and were carried to the province of Tripolitania, to the city called Sabrata, and most worthily laid in a crypt. the bodies were carried to Africa. But after the passage of many years, that region was occupied by pagans, and the city of Sabrata itself was reduced to desolation even to the present day. The blessed Virgin Fusca and her nurse Maura suffered on the Ides of February in the aforementioned city.
ON THE TWO CRUCIFIED ONES, FATHER AND SON, MARTYRS.
CommentaryTwo Crucified Ones, father and son (Ss.)
G. H.
Various sacred calendars present Martyrs whose names are unknown. A long series of this kind is listed in the Index of the Roman Martyrology under the name of Martyrs; more are added in our work. These two have their veneration among the Greeks on this day, both in the Menaea and in the Lives of Saints by Maximus of Cythera, in these few words in both places: On the same day, a father and son, affixed to the cross, ended their lives. In the Menaea this distich is added:
A father with his son suffers the punishment of the cross, For the Father who gave his Son to the Passion.
The rest -- which would suggest the time, the place, and the occasion of their obtaining the cross -- together with their very names, remain unknown. In the Coptic Calendar, two Martyrs are indicated on this day, Bastaemon and Eudaemon, but other evidence is lacking from which we might conjecture that they were father and son and underwent the martyrdom of the cross.