Brothers Faustinus

CONCERNING THE HOLY BROTHERS FAUSTINUS, PRIEST, AND JOVITA, DEACON, MARTYRS AT BRESCIA IN ITALY

THE YEAR OF CHRIST 120

Preliminary Commentary.

Faustinus, Priest, brother, Martyr at Brescia in Italy (Saint) Jovita, Deacon, brother, Martyr, at Brescia in Italy (Saint)

By G.H.

Section I. The sacred memory of Saints Faustinus and Jovita. Their Life written by various authors.

[1] Brescia, an ancient city of Transpadane Gaul among the Italians, the chief city of the Cenomanian people, by whom Livy in book 5 implies that it was founded after they migrated to Italy -- and whose other distinctions he records in books 21 and 32 -- is situated almost at the foot of the Rhaetian Alps, At Brescia, to whose Prefect under the Emperors it was subject, as the Acts of these Martyrs relate below. Strabo, in book 4 of his Geography, under the Prefect of the Rhaetian Alps, which he wrote under the Emperor Tiberius, asserts that "the Rhaetians extend into Italy as far as the region above Verona and Como." Between these cities lies Brescia, which Catullus celebrated as the mother of Verona, from which it is less distant. And Ptolemy, who flourished in the times of the Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Aelius Verus, in book 2 of his Geography, chapter 12, affirms that "the southern side of Rhaetia is bounded by the Alpine mountains which extend hence above Italy."

[2] Under these same Emperors, Brescia, having drawn the light of the Christian faith from apostolic times, sent very many citizens to heaven, crowned with the palm of martyrdom. The Martyrs Saints Faustinus and Jovita, Among these were the holy brothers Faustinus the Priest and Jovita the Deacon, whom, having been beheaded on February 15 after enduring many torments (as will be established below), the Roman Church venerates, and whom the city and diocese of Brescia honor with a singular cult, extended even to eight days, as their patron saints and protectors. The ancient veneration is attested by the tables of the principal Martyrologies. And Bede has briefly: "In the city of Brescia, Saints Faustinus and Jovita, Martyrs." The same things are read in the manuscript Martyrologies of the Carmelites of Cologne, of St. Martin at Trier, of the church of St. Mary at Utrecht, and in another belonging to the Queen of Sweden, inscribed in the ancient Martyrologies, but without mention of Brescia. In another ancient manuscript of ours, which appears to have been written in Italy, they are reported to have suffered in the city of Colonia instead of Brescia. That a Roman colony was established at Brescia is attested by Pliny, book 3, chapter 19: "In the interior," he says, "of the tenth region, colonies are Cremona and Brescia, in the territory of the Cenomani." Whence perhaps, with a few words added to that Martyrology, it should read: "At Brescia, a city and Roman colony, of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita, otherwise called Jovita." But most manuscripts of Usuard, both handwritten and printed, are involved in a greater error when Jovita is called a "Virgin," as though she were to be assigned to the female sex. For it reads thus: "In the city of Brescia, of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita the Virgin." In an ancient manuscript of ours, which bears the name of Bede, she is called "Sobita the Virgin." We know that St. John the Evangelist and other holy men are occasionally called Virgins by authors on account of the singular continence by which they were distinguished, but we have not yet observed this in Usuard and similar Martyrologies. Notker, omitting Jovita (perhaps because the matter was less clear to him), says: "At Brescia, Faustinus the Martyr." In the manuscript of Ado belonging to the Most Serene Christina, Queen of Sweden, from the church of St. Lawrence at Liege, there is added "and of Jobita the Virgin," as if she had not undergone martyrdom. But Molanus, having erased the word "Virgin," substituted the word "Deacon."

[3] In other Martyrologies, more details from the Acts of these Martyrs are recorded. The manuscript of the Canons Regular of Albergen has this: "In the city of Brescia in Italy, the birthday of Saints Faustinus and Jobita the Deacon. And with a larger eulogy from the Acts: Who, under the Emperor Hadrian, having been exposed to the most ferocious beasts and to flames, were ordered to have their arms bound and to be suspended on high, and there to be violently tortured; finally, with lighted torches placed at their sides, they consummated their glorious martyrdom by the cutting off of their heads. Moreover, strengthened by their passion, more than three thousand persons believed." The same things are read in the Martyrology printed at Cologne in 1490, and in Hermann Greven's supplement to Usuard. But in these the error of Usuard concerning Jobita the Virgin is retained. The torments inflicted upon them are described in both sets of Acts below; but what is said about more than three thousand having believed is taken from the later Acts. Concerning this number, the manuscript Martyrology of St. Gudula at Brussels has: "At Brescia, the birthday of Saints Faustinus and Jobita the Deacon. Who under the Emperor Hadrian, after various kinds of torture, fulfilled their glorious martyrdom by the severing of their heads. By their passion more than three thousand persons believed in Christ." Similar things are read in the manuscript Florarium. But what is found in Bellinus, in the Martyrology printed in 1498 according to the usage of the Roman Curia, appears to be excerpted from other Acts which we have not yet seen in their entirety. In it we find: "At Brescia, the birthday of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita, who, being examined under the Emperor Hadrian, said to him: 'Hear, Hadrian, you twisted serpent -- nay, most savage snake -- you run through twists and turns so that you might cause us to deviate from the right path. Let this be known to you: that we shall not obey your barking, nor shall we place incense before your gods; but to the Lord our Creator we continually offer both incense and libations.' When the peoples from the city of Milan heard of the constancy of the Saints, gathering together they came to the blessed Martyrs of God and had themselves baptized. Then Hadrian, hearing this and inflamed with fury, immediately had them struck with the sword and their heads cut off." So far Bellinus; and nearly the same is found in Molanus, citing the Roman Martyrology. What the Martyrs suffered at Milan is related in the earlier Acts, number 16, but that invective against the Emperor is absent. Other eulogies are given by Wandelbert, Felicius, Maurolycus, Galesini, and Canisius. We shall presently treat of the epitome of the Acts which is found in certain codices of Ado. In the current Roman Martyrology these words are read: "At Brescia, the birthday of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita, who under the Emperor Hadrian, after many outstanding struggles undertaken for the faith of Christ, received the crown of martyrdom."

[4] The Acts of these Saints were written in various forms by various authors. Of these, we give some from a manuscript codex of the monastery of St. Maximin near Trier, collated with the edition of Laurentius Surius. The same Acts exist in manuscript at Rome among the Fathers of the Oratory, The Acts published here are twofold, from manuscripts and Surius: and at Capua in the convent of nuns of St. John, as the most courteous Signor Silvester Ayossa indicated to us by letter from there. Other Acts were sent to us from Naples by our Anthony Beatillus, which, hitherto unpublished, we judge worthy of being brought to public light as well. Some portion of these is cited by Antonio Bosio and Paolo Aringhi in book 3 of "Roma Sotterranea" -- the former in chapter 11, the latter in the following chapter 12 -- and they assert that these manuscript Acts are found in the Lateran Codex. Both sets of Acts appear to have been contracted from others written in a more ample style and with a greater wealth of material. An indication of this in the earlier Acts is found in number 19, where we read: "Since it would be lengthy to set forth the entire text of the passion or the miracles of the most blessed Martyrs of Christ, Faustinus and Jovita, let us come to their glorious end." Parts from others, from Mombritius, Some part perhaps of those more ample Acts is what Mombritius published concerning St. Calocerus, and which we append here from him, because it admirably illustrates the deeds performed by these Martyrs; and the words are also at times the same as in the other Acts. Finally, we add excerpts from the Life of St. Secundus, Martyr of Asti, baptized by St. Faustinus, and the manuscript Life of St. Secundus: which we shall give on March 30 from the most ancient manuscripts of the Church of Asti and various others. These contain nearly the same material as the Life of St. Marcianus, Bishop of Tortona and Martyr, to be published from Mombritius and manuscripts on March 27.

[5] Galesini annotates in his Martyrology that the martyrdom of Saints Faustinus and Jovita was first committed to writing by Faustinus VII, Bishop of Brescia, and then by Philastrius, likewise a Bishop; and that from their writings survive the Acts the authors are considered to be the Bishops St. Faustinus, which were transcribed by Surius. Ughelli also, in his account of the Bishops of Brescia, asserts that the Acts of St. Apollinaris and of Saints Faustinus and Jovita were recorded in writing by St. Faustinus the Bishop. And Ascanius Martinengus, a Brescian Abbot of the monastery of St. Afra, in the preface to the Life of these Martyrs which he published in Italian, says that it is celebrated by ancient tradition that seven epistles were composed by St. Faustinus the Bishop, in which not only the glorious struggles of martyrdom but also other things nobly accomplished by these brothers throughout their whole lives are set forth in a careful narrative -- but he laments that these have perished. This writer, St. Faustinus, is venerated on February 16; he became Bishop around the year 350, and in the manuscript of Ado belonging to the Most Serene Christina, Queen of Sweden, he is said to have collected the bodies of Saints Faustinus and Jovita -- but on what occasion we have not yet read. St. Philastrius, his successor, according to the testimony of Ughelli in his preface to the Bishops of Brescia, described the struggle for Christ of St. Afra the martyr, whose conversion is contained in the Acts below, and St. Philastrius: and whose feast is celebrated on May 24; in which account he could not have failed to treat of the illustrious martyrdom of Saints Faustinus and Jovita. The aforementioned Martinengus writes that their passion was printed in the year 1611 and that in the prefatory note by Jacobus Riccius it is attributed to St. Philastrius; but he doubts whether it can be considered the work of the latter, since it differs entirely in style and manner of writing from his book on Heresies, published in the "Great Library of the Fathers." St. Philastrius was a man most distinguished both in learning and in holiness of life, an intimate of Saints Ambrose, Augustine, and other leading men of his time, and was inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on July 18; his Life was written by his successor, St. Gaudentius.

[6] Whatever may be said about the authors of this Life of these Martyrs, who are certainly ancient, it seems that it was written on the basis of the records of the governor's tribunal, which had once been excerpted by notaries, and composed in subsequent centuries, now expanded, now abridged by other authors. There exist various epitomes of these same Acts, of which the principal may be considered that which is found in the edition of Ado by Surius epitomes in Ado, and relegated by our Rosweyde to the Appendix. The same Martyrology of Ado is found among the manuscript books of the Most Serene Christina, Queen of Sweden; it formerly belonged to the Church of Toulon in Provence, and in its opening folios it supplies some Bishops of that church unknown elsewhere. Throughout the entire year it offers much concerning the Saints of Brescia, and for this fifteenth of February it presents an illustrious eulogy of these Martyrs drawn from some more ample Life than we now possess, with this conclusion: "Whose Mass is found in the Gelasian Sacramentary only." The rest may be seen in Surius and Rosweyde, and are indicated below in our annotations. Another epitome is distributed in the Ecclesiastical Office, in the Lessons of the second Nocturn, for the city and diocese of Brescia, in the Brescia Breviary, and the same, somewhat more condensed, is contained in the Roman Breviary. Other epitomes have been published by Petrus de Natalibus in his Catalogue of Saints, book 3, chapter 127, and by Vincent in book 10 of his "Mirror of History," chapter 83, in Equilinus, Vincent, and others, from whom, when the ancient Acts themselves are briefly touched upon, they are rendered more certain and indubitable. Among more recent writers, eulogies of these Martyrs have been composed by Ferrari in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, by Peregrinus Merula in his "Sanctuary of Cremona" (on account of the singular cult with which the Church of Cremona honors them), by Haraeus, Lippelous, and others who have published Lives of Saints in various vernacular languages.

Section II. The date of the martyrdom of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, and likewise of Saints Marcianus, Secundus, Calocerus, and others.

[7] Among the persecutions stirred up against the Christians by the pagan Emperors, the third is reckoned to be that which Trajan instituted The third persecution, begun by Trajan in the year 107, in the tenth year of his reign, the year of Christ 107, while he was in the East. In this persecution we stated on the Kalends of February that St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was devoured by the teeth of lions at Rome in the year 109. In the same persecution were slain St. Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem, affixed to a cross, and St. Onesimus, Bishop of Ephesus, crushed by stones; the latter is venerated on February 16, the former on the eighteenth of the same month. After this persecution had been proclaimed, Trajan always remained in the East and never returned to Rome or Italy; and at last he died at Selinus in Cilicia (which city was subsequently called Trajanopolis) on the fourth day before the Ides of August, in the consulship of Quintius Niger and Vipsanius Apronianus, Hadrian, succeeding in the year 117, continues the persecution: in the year of Christ 117. Hadrian succeeded Trajan through the zeal and favor of Plotina, who had been Trajan's wife -- a cunning and crafty man, whom Dio in the epitome found in Xiphilinus calls "meddlesome and versatile." He was, in the words of Aelius Spartianus in his Life, "at the same time severe and cheerful, affable and grave, wanton and deliberate, tenacious and liberal, a dissembler, cruel, merciful, and always in all things changeable." Dio writes that he fell into hatred on account of the nefarious and unworthy murders he committed at the beginning and toward the end of his reign. Meanwhile, at the beginning of his Empire, as Spartianus relates, he pretended that all the things that seemed displeasing had been ordered for him to do by decree of Trajan. Hence also the persecution of Trajan against the Christians was continued by him for some time; whence Saints Faustinus and Jovita are said in the Lessons of the Ecclesiastical Office to have been bound and led through various cities of Italy while the persecution of Trajan raged -- although, as will soon be established, they were first apprehended and cast into prison under Hadrian.

[8] Sulpicius Severus, in book 2 of his Sacred History, says that the fourth persecution is reckoned under Hadrian, which he nevertheless afterward prohibited from being carried out. But others have adopted a different method in numbering the persecutions and do not distinguish this persecution of Hadrian from that which Trajan had begun; because, as Tertullian testifies in his "Apologeticus" against the Gentiles, chapter 5, Hadrian, although he was an investigator of every kind of curiosity, enacted no laws he promulgates no new edict throughout the Empire, against the Christians -- that is, by promulgating some public edict throughout the entire Empire. But he who, according to Spartianus, observed the Roman sacred rites most diligently, despised foreign ones, and performed the office of Pontifex Maximus, gave to others who requested it the power to rage against the Christians, but gives the power to rage against them: by means of a sacred rescript, or imperial sanction, as the earlier Acts, numbers 2 and 3, explain. But in what year these things were done, we now investigate. Having obtained the Empire, he made peace with the Parthians and restored Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia to them, and rebuilt Alexandria at public expense. These things occurred in the year 117. In the following year, in the consulship of the Emperor Caesar Hadrian for the second time and Claudius Fuscus Salinator in the year 118, (which Baronius calls the first year of the Empire, Petavius the second), he returned to Rome; but when the Sarmatians and the Roxolani were causing disturbances, he set out for Moesia and concluded peace with them. In which same year, Italicus, Count of the Rhaetian provinces, met the Emperor -- perhaps as he was setting out toward Moesia -- at the river Adda, At Brescia he orders Saints Faustinus and Jovita to be tortured before him, and received the power to rage against the Christians; and, having then captured Saints Faustinus and Jovita, he kept them imprisoned until the Emperor's return. The Emperor returned; the Martyrs were examined and thrown to wild beasts, but remained unharmed. Three thousand persons were converted, among them St. Calocerus and his servants. The Emperor ordered these to be beheaded on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of December. Whence we know that he was at Brescia in the month of November. He orders others to be slain on November 19.

[9] In the year 119, in the consulship of the Emperor Caesar Hadrian for the third time and Quintus Junius Rusticus, on the eighteenth of April, St. Calocerus was slain and earned the palm of martyrdom. After his servants had been killed on November 19, he had been taken away with Saints Faustinus and Jovita to Milan, In the year 119, he stays at Milan: where he was subjected to various torments by Hadrian's command. Thence he alone was taken to Asti, and finally, made a martyr at Albenga, he flew to heaven. The same dates are confirmed in the Acts of St. Marcianus, Bishop of Tortona, At that time St. Marcianus was slain, March 27, and of Secundus, citizen of Asti. The former was apprehended by Antiochus, Prefect of the Cottian Alps, as he was setting out for Milan to the Emperor Hadrian, at which time Saints Faustinus, Jovita, and Calocerus were being afflicted there with various torments. Sapricius, appointed in place of Antiochus, took St. Calocerus away to Asti; instructed by whom, St. Secundus traveled to Milan and was baptized by St. Faustinus. Returning to Tortona, he witnessed the beheading of St. Marcianus the Bishop, seized his body and buried it on March 27; St. Secundus, March 30, and returning to Asti and conversing with St. Calocerus, he suffered martyrdom by the cutting off of his head on March 30, on which same day St. Calocerus was taken away to Albenga, where, as we said, he was killed on April 18. St. Calocerus, April 18. Saints Faustinus and Jovita, ordered then to proceed to Rome, visited the Roman Pontiff hiding in the Catacombs. This was St. Evaristus, who was crowned with martyrdom in this same year 119, on October 26. Pope St. Evaristus, October 26. Hadrian went to Campania in this same year and relieved all its towns with benefactions and largesses, as may be read in Spartianus. That Saints Faustinus and Jovita were also carried by ship with the Emperor Hadrian and thrown into the sea by his order, Saints Faustinus and Jovita, February 15, year 120, but rescued by the ministry of angels and arrived at Naples, the later Acts relate. At length the Martyrs were sent back from Naples and handed over to Count Aurelianus, by whose command they were beheaded at Brescia on February 15 of the year 120, in the consulship of Lucius Catilius Severus and Titus Aurelius Fulvus.

[10] In the same year, after settling affairs in Rome and Italy, Hadrian set out for the Gauls and the Germanies; thence he crossed into Britain, where he built a wall extending for seventy miles Hadrian is absent from Italy until the year 124: to divide the barbarians from the Romans. This is more plausibly dated to the year 121. In the following year the Emperor, having returned from Britain to the Gauls, built a basilica at Nimes in honor of Plotina, wife of Trajan. After this he entered the Spains and wintered at Tarragona. Thence, having set out for the East in the year 123, and spending the following winter at Athens, he revisited Rome -- at which time St. Quadratus, a disciple of the Apostles, and St. Aristides, an Athenian philosopher, presented to the same Emperor books concerning the Christian religion; moved by which, he wrote to Minucius Fundanus, Proconsul of Asia, that Christians were not to be condemned without the presentation of charges. He relaxes the persecution. From all of this it is established that in the years assigned above, the aforesaid Martyrs were captured, afflicted with torments, and beheaded. We have often noted that Baronius advances the epoch of the years of Christ by two years, and thus assigns to the year 122 those consuls under whom we have said these Martyrs were slain in the year 120.

Section III. Various Translations of Saints Faustinus and Jovita. Altars, churches, and monasteries dedicated to them.

[11] Among the Bishops of Brescia, St. Latinus is reckoned the fourth, inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on March 24. In the cemetery dedicated by St. Latinus, He is reported to have endured many things for the Christian religion under the Emperor Domitian and to have dedicated a cemetery of Martyrs near the city walls, in which he himself upon departing this life was buried, and in which the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita were covered in one and the same tomb by Bishop Apollonius, successor of St. Latinus. The burial of Saints Faustinus and Jovita: In this place there stands a distinguished basilica, held by the Canons Regular, erected in honor of St. Afra; for they relate that she rests there together with many thousands of Brescian citizens slain for the confession of Christ Jesus -- so Ascanius Martinengus, Abbot of the same monastery of St. Afra, in his Italian-language Lives of these Saints, Ughelli in his account of the Bishops of Brescia, Ferrari in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, and others. Christians long ago began to cultivate this place with the most chaste veneration. For they hold that in the time of the Emperor Alexander, around the year 225, an altar was erected, lights were kindled, [an altar erected to them; the church of Saints Faustinus and Jovita called "ad Sanguinem":] sacrifice was offered; and then, under the Emperors Philip, around the year 246, a sacred edifice or oratory was erected, which they called "Saints Faustinus and Jovita ad Sanguinem" because there, dying for the name of Christ, they had shed their blood. These events perhaps ought rather to be referred to the times of Constantine the Great or of other Christian Emperors, unless what was destroyed in the extreme persecution of Diocletian, Maximian, and other enemies of the Christian faith is said to have been restored -- which they record was done after the cruel devastation of Italy by Radagaisus, King of the Goths, and Attila, King of the Huns. On this tradition of the Brescians, Martinengus should be consulted. That a temple dedicated to St. Faustinus the Martyr existed at Brescia in his own time is attested by St. Gregory the Great, in Dialogues, book 4, chapter 52, which we shall recite here.

[12] "John," he says, "a man of distinction, holding the office of Prefect in this city, whose seriousness and truthfulness we know, has testified to me that a certain Patrician named Valerianus had died in the city called Brescia. The Bishop of that city, having accepted a payment, provided him with a place in the church when a wicked man was buried in the church of St. Faustinus, in which he was to be buried. This Valerianus, even to a decrepit old age, had been fickle and slippery, and had scorned to set any limit to his depravities. But on that very night when he was buried, the Blessed Martyr Faustinus, in whose church his body had been interred, St. Faustinus denounces it, appeared to his custodian, saying: 'Go, and tell the Bishop to cast out from here the stinking flesh which he has placed here; and if he does not do so, on the thirtieth day he himself shall die.' The custodian was afraid to report the vision to the Bishop, and when admonished again he declined to do so. The Bishop dies. But on the thirtieth day, the Bishop of that city, having retired to his bed in the evening hour in good health and unimpaired, died a sudden and unexpected death." So far St. Gregory; from whose words it is not clear whether the temple of Saints Faustinus and Jovita ad Sanguinem -- in the place where we said the basilica of St. Afra now stands, where their sacred bodies were then preserved -- should be understood, or whether that other temple of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, to which their relics were translated after about two hundred years, had then been built. Martinengus and other Brescians imply that it was the former church; and Ughelli says that Bishop Cunipert, not many years before that Translation, was buried in the church of Saints Faustinus and Jovita ad Sanguinem.

[13] Cunipert was succeeded by Amphridius, or Amphrigius, who, as the same Ughelli relates, held the See of Brescia with the highest reputation as a Pastor; and in the year 806, on the thirteenth day of the month of May, [In the year 806 the bodies of Saints Faustinus and Jovita are translated on May 13 by Bishop Amphridius,] he translated with solemn pomp the bodies of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, as may be read in the Life of these same Saints. "Amphridius, while he was storming heaven with insistent prayers, died a holy and pious death and was buried in the church of St. Faustinus, where the following memorial may be read, inscribed in Lombard letters, as Octavius Rubeus observed: 'Here lies the Blessed Bishop Amphridius, who while praying before the most holy Faustinus and Jovita rendered his soul to God.'" Amphridius was succeeded by Peter, who is reported to have consecrated a chapel in the church of St. Faustinus in the year 807, on the thirteenth of April; to the church of St. Faustinus Major, to have departed this life in the year 814, and to have been buried in the church of St. Faustinus Major -- in which, of course, his body and that of St. Jovita then rested. In the same year 814, Rampert was elevated to this See, who had a bronze cock cast and placed on the pinnacle of the tower, where it is still to be seen with this inscription: "The Lord Bishop Rampert of Brescia ordered this cock to be made in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 820, Indiction 13, the fourteenth year from the Translation of the Saints, the sixth of his episcopate." So far Ughelli; from which the year of the Translation, 806, is confirmed -- at which time Charlemagne also held the Empire, by whom, according to Capreolus and Martinengus, Naimus under the prefect Naimus: (or Namus), a Duke of Bavarian origin, was appointed governor of the city of Brescia, and the entire matter was carried out under his direction and judgment.

[14] The same Bishop Rampert summoned Leuthgar the Abbot and Hildemar the monk (these are Ughelli's words), men distinguished for their praise of holiness and their learning, from Gaul; and having built a monastery, he assigned to them the church a monastery is built by Bishop Rampert, where the bodies of Saints Faustinus and Jovita rest ... "Rampert survived for a long time thereafter and departed to the heavens, having left to his successors the Church entrusted to him, wonderfully increased both in ecclesiastical discipline and in resources, and he lies buried in the same church of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, which he had made more splendid." The relics of Saints Faustinus and Jovita were also translated by him, perhaps to a more splendid location, or to a new altar erected for them. The manuscript of Ado, formerly of the Church of Toulon in Provence and now of the Most Serene Queen of Sweden, begins the entry for May 9 with a reference to this Translation in these words: "The Translation of the blessed Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita in the city of Brescia, and the relics are again translated in the year 843, on May 9, carried out by Lord Rampert, Bishop of the same city, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 843, Indiction 6." Ferrari also records in the General Catalogue on the same date, May 9, the Translation of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita, and cites the records of the Church of Brescia.

[15] Not under St. Antigius or Ansiginus the Bishop. Others assign a different Translation, carried out by St. Antigius, or Ansiginus, a Bishop. Ughelli distinguishes these two and asserts that St. Antigius was, after St. Apollonius, the sixth Bishop of Brescia in the year 160; concerning whom, see the Brescian Martyrology on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of December, and the list of Saints of the same Church. But he says that St. Ansiginus lived in the year 782, having been appointed as successor to Bishop Deodatus, and that his feast is celebrated at Brescia on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of December -- the same day he had previously assigned to St. Antigius. Ferrari records him in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy and the General Catalogue on the same day, asserting that he succeeded the holy Deusdedit and that he expired while praying during the translation of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita, and that his body rests in the church of St. Faustinus -- things which we said above were read about Amphridius. Elias Capreolus and Ascanius Martinengus are cited, in whose accounts the dates of the events and translations of Saints Faustinus and Jovita are confused and entangled. If due authority is conceded to antiquity, we are informed that the body of St. Antigius, a Bishop but not of the Church of Brescia, is preserved in the temple of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, by the aforementioned manuscript of Ado from the Church of Toulon, now of the Queen of Sweden, which we suspect was once augmented among the Brescians themselves, since it contains the most detailed eulogies of the Saints of Brescia. In that codex, concerning St. Antigius, on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of December, the following is read: "In the city of Langres in Gaul, in the territory of Montmagny, the passing of St. Antigius, Confessor and Bishop, whose body was translated from Gaul to Brescia, who was first buried there; but afterward was thence translated and honorably interred in the church of St. Mary and St. Martin in the village of Caiciacum by the Lord Haymo, a venerable priest. Then, after not many years, out of fear of the Northmen, who at that time devastated the greatest part of France and Burgundy, he was carried by the same holy priest and brought into Italy, and in the city of Brescia, in the monastery of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita -- over which the same venerable Abbot afterward presided with honor for eight years, four months, and twenty-three days -- he was venerably placed and rests." So far that Martyrology.

[16] The privileges of the temple of Saints Faustinus and Jovita confirmed: The privileges of this monastery of Saints Faustinus and Jovita were most graciously confirmed, at the request of Bishop Notengus of Brescia, by Pope Stephen, reckoned the ninth of Rome (or the eighth by others), who presided over the Church from the year 939 to the year 943. In the basilica of the same Martyrs, in the eleventh century, Adelmann was buried -- formerly a cleric and scholar of Liege, then Bishop of Brescia, who among other monuments of his genius left to posterity a book on the Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist, reprinted both separately and in the great Library of the Fathers, by which he refuted the heresy of Berengar, once his fellow student. The bodies of this man and of three other Bishops were translated to a more fitting place in this century, as may be seen in this appended inscription: "Until they shall put on immortality, the relics of Apsidius, Peter, Rampert, the burial of four Bishops therein, and Adelmann, Bishops of Brescia, have been repositioned here by the grateful Cassinian Congregation, 1612." Apsidius is the one otherwise called Amphridius, under whom we said the bodies of Saints Faustinus and Jovita were translated to that church; his successors Peter and Rampert were likewise buried there. In the twelfth century of Christ, a new church of Saints Faustinus and Jovita was built, a new church dedicated on August 13, 1152, which on the Ides of August of the year 1152, Bishop Maifredus of Brescia consecrated together with Obert, Archbishop of Milan, Gerard, Bishop of Bergamo, and Theobald of Verona. In Martinengus there exists an instrument recording the following repositioning of the relics of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, which we give here.

[17] "In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand two hundred and twenty-three, Indiction eleven, on the eighth day of August, the chest of the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita was opened; Relics repositioned on August 8, 1223: and in this place were repositioned, together with the bodies of the same Martyrs and of Blessed Faustinus the Confessor, in the presence of the Archdeacon and the Archpriest, together with his Brescian clergy, and Brother Jordan, Master of the Order of Preachers, and Brother Guala, Prior of the same house, with his brothers; and this was done with a solemn procession. And then the bodies of those Saints, Faustinus and Jovita the Martyrs, were repositioned in this wooden chest, and the body of St. Faustinus the Confessor in this other, by our venerable Father Albert, Bishop of Brescia; and there was found a marble epitaph, the tenor of which is as follows: 'To Faustinus and Jovita, Martyrs, Victor the Moor set up this table in fulfillment of a vow to his fellow citizens.'" So far that source. Albert was present at the Third Lateran Council in the year 1215, and received St. Dominic at Brescia and assigned him a suitable location for building a monastery; over which the above-mentioned Guala (also called Gaula by some) was placed in charge and lived with such fame for holiness that, when Albert was promoted to the See of Antioch in Syria, he was ordained Bishop of Brescia in the year 1229. We gave the Life of Blessed Jordan, the General, on February 13.

[18] Finally, Ughelli, in his encomium of the city of Brescia before the catalogue of Bishops, writes this: "It venerates as its patron saints Faustinus and Jovita, to whom a distinguished temple is dedicated, and a monastery of the Order of St. Benedict endowed with enviable riches. A marble reliquary chest. Their sacred relics are preserved in a celebrated marble chest above the high altar of the same temple, built at the expense of the city and adorned with figures." Martinengus relates that this chest rests upon six marble columns and was made in the year 1455.

[19] In the manuscript of Ado from the monastery of Lobbes, a memorial of Saints Faustinus and Jovita is inscribed on March 18, perhaps on account of some elevation or repositioning of relics that occurred on that day. At Bologna, in the parish church of St. John on the Mount of Olives, which the Lateran Canons possess, Some relics at Bologna, certain relics of Saints Faustinus and Jovita are held in veneration, as Masini testifies in his survey of Bologna. Likewise, certain relics of Saints Faustinus and Jovita the Martyrs, concealed at Verona in the church of St. George in a small repository near the altar of St. Helena, were deposited there by Andrew, Patriarch of Aquileia, around the year of Christ 828, as an inscription cut in stone testifies, and at Verona: published by Ughelli in volume 5 of "Italia Sacra," under Theobald, the seventy-third Bishop of Verona, column 716. At Rome, the Brescians obtained from the year 1575 a certain place in which they erected a church or oratory in honor of Saints Faustinus and Jovita, a church at Rome, to which in the year 1604 a residence was added in which poor, pilgrim, and sick Brescians are received, as may be read in Octavius Panciroli's "Treasury of the City of Rome," region 6, church 15. In the aforementioned manuscript of Ado from the Church of Toulon, the memorial of St. Castor, Bishop of Apt in Provence, is celebrated on September 21, perhaps also at Apt in Provence? who, not yet a Bishop, built a church of St. Faustinus on his own property and, having gathered monks, prescribed a rule obtained from St. Cassian of Marseille. But whether St. Faustinus the Brescian Martyr and brother of St. Jovita was adopted as the patron of this church is not clear.

LIFE

By an anonymous author, From the manuscript of St. Maximin and Surius.

Faustinus, Priest, brother, Martyr at Brescia in Italy (Saint) Jovita, Deacon, brother, Martyr, at Brescia in Italy (Saint)

BHL Number: 2837

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts and Surius.

CHAPTER I

The faith, sacred orders, captivity, and constancy of Saints Faustinus and Jovita. The statue of the Sun cast down.

[1] The most blessed men Faustinus and Jovita, born of most noble parents in the city of Brescia, preached with urgent solicitude the faith of Christ which they had learned with a devout mind. For they were joined not only by brotherhood of the flesh but also so united in the strength of the spirit They preach the faith of Christ. that, proclaiming Christ everywhere with harmonious zeal, they brought a large multitude of that region to the worship of the true faith. For at that time Apollonius was the Bishop of that same city of Brescia, who out of fear of persecution was hiding himself in secret places. When he observed that the servants of God possessed a most ardent fervor for the work of preaching, he summoned them to himself and elevated them to ecclesiastical orders. To Faustinus, therefore, because he was the elder, he bestowed the order of the priesthood; Faustinus is ordained Priest, Jovita Deacon: but Jovita, being the younger, he associated with the number of Christ's ministers. Having thus received their divine ministries, the blessed men Faustinus and Jovita began nevertheless to apply themselves to the word of preaching all the more eagerly, inasmuch as the sacerdotal dignity itself also invited them to do so. And since they were daily winning an innumerable people for Christ, and there was no one who opposed their teaching, the fame of their preaching began to spread all around even to the neighboring provinces.

[2] At that time, therefore, Count Italicus, who governed the peoples of the Rhaetian provinces, being a most extreme pagan and excessively given to demonic worship, endeavored with insane zeal to banish from the people of his province the light of faith which he himself, wrapped in the darkness of his own blindness, rejected. Whence it came about that, when the Emperor Hadrian came into the parts of Liguria, Italicus met him at the river Adda and strove to prevail upon him with the following complaints from his sacrilegious mouth: They are accused before the Emperor Hadrian: "Most invincible Emperor and triumphant one," he said, "take counsel for your Roman commonwealth; take counsel for our most sacred gods. There are two men in the city of Brescia who, preaching some Christ or other, have already turned many from the rites of our great gods. Unless the censure of your divine authority restrains them, it is certain that by their subversions the divine worship in these places will be obliterated." Hearing such things, the Emperor Hadrian gave him, as one whom he recognized as a most zealous supporter of his own error, power by means of a sacred rescript of the following kind: that wherever he should find Christians, he should either bend them to the gods or exterminate them with various tortures.

[3] Count Italicus, having received the power he had desired to rage against the Christians, proceeded to go to Brescia, they are brought before Count Italicus: as Hadrian had commanded. As soon as he had entered the city, he immediately sent his counselor Liberius to Faustinus and Jovita, to make known to them the imperial sanction. When he found them standing immovable in the faith of the name of Christ, he was filled with indignation and commanded his soldiers to seize them and bring them before him. When they had been brought, Count Italicus addressed them thus: "The most invincible Emperor has decreed by his sacred commands that all Christians must be converted to the religion of our gods.

If any are found to resist his commands, various punishments are to be inflicted upon their contumacy. Wherefore it is right that you, O Faustinus and Jovita, should submit your necks to such salutary counsels and, abandoning this new error of superstition, return to the ancient worship of the sacred gods which the constitution of the commonwealth has established." The most blessed Faustinus and Jovita said: "Our time has come, so that we ought to rejoice rather than to be terrified. Wherefore we wish you to know more certainly they are confined in prison: that we can in no way abandon the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, with which we have once been imbued, nor obey commands of this kind." Hearing this, Count Italicus ordered them to be kept in prison until the arrival of the Emperor Hadrian, who was expected to come shortly.

[4] Therefore on the fifth day, when the Emperor Hadrian had entered Brescia, Count Italicus reported to him concerning the most blessed Faustinus and Jovita: that they had scorned to obey his commands and that they were being kept confined in prison until his hearing. The Emperor Hadrian said: "And of what lineage are they sprung, that they should be reserved for a hearing before our majesty?" Count Italicus replied: "They are descended from an illustrious family. For their parents were the chief of the senate in this city, who showed such reverence to our gods that, wherever they discovered there were Christians, they persecuted them with the utmost zeal of burning devotion. Accused before the Emperor, But what madness has made these men demented I know not, so that with obstinate intent of heart they reject our gods, blaspheming them, and worship Christ, who is said to have been nailed to a cross by the Jews." Hadrian said: "These men are most necessary to me, so that through their punishments I may convert many to the religion of our gods." Then he commanded them to be brought out of prison and presented before him, and said to them: "Is there any god more excellent than the Sun, that, abandoning his divinity, you should betake yourselves to another as though he were more powerful?" The Blessed Jovita answered: They are brought into his presence: "We venerate and worship the true God, who is the God of heaven and earth and of every creature, who also established the Sun itself and gave it the office of shining by day, just as he also gave to the moon and the ranks of the stars the office of illuminating the darkness of the night." They spurn the honors offered to them: Hadrian said: "You would act more wisely if you fulfilled our will, so that you could be the foremost in our palace, rather than persevering in this madness and being consumed by a most bitter death." The most holy Faustinus and Jovita said: "We shall not do a nefarious thing that would lead us to eternal destruction." Hadrian said: "You act nefariously when you declare yourselves Christians, so that, having excluded from yourselves the grace of our tranquility, you are marked with the stain of infamy." St. Jovita answered: "Most rightly do we profess and declare ourselves Christians; for your grace must be avoided by us, so that we may attain to the grace of the eternal King." The Emperor Hadrian said: "You are of too hard a heart, since my words cannot bend you. For our goodwill toward you is sincere; and therefore we desire that you should by all means become better, so that you may hold a worthy military rank in our service." The Blessed Faustinus replied: "We have a worthy service which our Christ has bestowed upon us. For your service must end with time, because you yourselves will also perish with time; but our service endures forever."

[5] Hadrian said: "It is enough now that I have patiently borne with you. Either sacrifice to the unconquered Sun-God, or I shall have many torments inflicted upon you." Faustinus and Jovita answered: They refuse to sacrifice to the Sun. "We sacrifice to the living God, who established the Sun as an ornament. But the Sun which you command us to worship was given to us by the true God for our service." Then Hadrian, moved with anger, ordered them to be led before the temple of the Sun. Now there was a statue of the Sun overlaid with gold, having on its head rays of pure gold. Hadrian said to them: "Do you see the glory of the unconquered Sun? Approach and sacrifice to him, so that he may hold you worthy in his sight, and you may be freed from the torments that await you." The Blessed Faustinus replied: "Now you shall see the glory of our God, so that you may know that this one whom you confess as your god is powerless." Then with one voice they said together: "The sun knew his going down; thou didst appoint darkness, and it was night." Hadrian said: "What is it that you mutter? Come nearer and sacrifice to the unconquered Sun-God."

[6] Then Jovita, turning to the statue of the Sun, said: We worship God, who reigns in the heavens, who appointed the Sun to give light; but you, since you are a statue bearing only the appearance of the Sun, be transformed into the likeness of pitch, to the confusion of those who worship you as though you were God. And when he had said this, the statue was immediately made like soot in the sight of the people; and the rays that were upon its head fell to the ground like dead coals. By their word they render the statue of the Sun like soot, Seeing such things, Hadrian said: What is this that I see? Italicus the Count said: Command the attendants to restore its splendor with sponges. Hadrian therefore ordered the attendants to ascend with sponges to wipe the soot that had been spread over the statue. But while the attendants attempted to do this, it was all at once dissolved into ashes, soon reduced to ashes, so that nothing whatsoever remained of it. And the blessed Faustinus said to the Emperor: Do you observe what has happened to the god you worship? How he has been reduced to nothing?

d Surius, officium.

CHAPTER II

The victory of Saints Faustinus and Jovita over the wild beasts and over fire. The conversion of Saints Calocerus, Afra, and others.

[7] Then, greatly enraged, he ordered them to be condemned to the wild beasts. And when they had been brought into the middle of the arena, Hadrian said to Italicus: Let the most savage beasts be brought in, at the sight of which they may at once faint with terror. Turning then, Hadrian said to the Martyrs: Mark well, Faustinus and Jovita, that you are now placed in the jaws of death, and the end of your life draws near. Yield therefore to me, and sacrifice to the god Saturn or to Diana, They scorn Saturn, that you may be delivered from the teeth of the beasts. St. Faustinus answered: Saturn, whom you invoke, was a man defiled with the most monstrous crimes, who is reported to have devoured the flesh of his own children. Diana, moreover, was a shameless woman who, casting off modesty and girt in the manner of hunters, and Diana: is said to have pursued wild beasts. Do you command us to worship such beings as these, to the dishonor of the Most High God? The Emperor Hadrian said: You are placed in death's grip, and still you persist in your blasphemies?

[8] Then, turning to his guards, he commanded them to release four lions against the athletes of Christ.

The lions were therefore released, whose eyes were blazing and whose appearance was terrible. They remain unharmed among lions, Coming with great speed, they threw themselves at the feet of the Saints, giving forth unbearable roars, so that the pagan populace trembled. They, however, with heads bowed to the ground, licked the footprints of the Saints. leopards, Seeing what was happening, Hadrian ordered his attendants to release the leopards. These also, coming to the place where the servants of God stood, rolled at their feet. Seeing this, the people cried out, saying: Take the sorcerers away from our midst, that we may freely worship the gods. Hadrian, further provoked by anger, said to the attendants: Release upon them bears, first placing burning torches around their sides, and bears, so that when they have been scorched, the pain goading them on, they may devour them. The attendants did as they had been commanded, the attendants slain: and released the bears. But when the bears had approached the servants of God, the lions and leopards attacked those wretched attendants, and so tore them with their teeth that not one of them escaped alive.

[9] But the chosen ones of God stood among the beasts in safety, to whom Hadrian said: Do you observe, Faustinus and Jovita, that the god Saturn, whom you have insulted, still shows his compassion toward you, and therefore you are not touched at all by the beasts? Faustinus answered: Blush for shame, tyrant of Christians. The victors taunt the Emperor. For it is not, as you suppose, your Saturn who has rescued us from these beasts, but rather that true God whom we serve, who reigns in the heavens. Where then are the threats you raised against us? Behold, the beasts that you sent against us with such great ferocity lie prostrate before our feet, worshipping God, having nothing of savagery left. But if you have anything still more powerful, hasten, so that you may recognize yourself vanquished in all things. Hadrian said: Do not press me, for harsher things have already been prepared, which I shall order to be applied to you.

[10] Then a certain priest named Orphetus, who was a kinsman of the Emperor, said to him: If your Majesty commands, Italicus the Count and the priests of Saturn are devoured: let us take the invincible god Saturn and go to them, that they may be delivered from the beasts, and so we may win their souls. Hadrian said: Do as you see fit. Then Orphetus, together with the other priests and Italicus the Count, bearing the statue of Saturn, proceeded to the place where the Saints stood among the beasts. But when they had drawn nearer, the beasts immediately sprang upon them and destroyed them all with their teeth, while the pagans cried out, saying: O god Saturn, help your ministers! The statue itself, too, trampled underfoot by the beasts, lay defiled with the blood of its own priests.

[11] Hearing that her husband had been slain by the beasts, Afra, the wife of Italicus, came with great speed to the theater, and thus spoke with an outcry to Hadrian: O what gods you worship, Hadrian, who could deliver neither their own priests nor themselves! Calocerus, Afra, and many others believe in Christ. For this reason I, wretched woman, have been made a widow because of your impiety. But why say more? The people, seeing what had happened, glorified the God of Faustinus and Jovita, and many of them believed in the Lord: among whom also Calocerus, who held an office in the Emperor's household, together with many of his subordinates, believed in Christ; and Afra, the wife of Italicus, abandoning the error of idolatry, was joined to the number of believers.

[12] The Emperor Hadrian said to the Martyrs: If the God you worship is the true God, come forth free from the beasts. The most blessed athletes answered, saying: In this also we shall show you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then turning, they said to the beasts: In the name of the Lord we command you to depart from the city, touching no one whatsoever. The beasts immediately withdrew from their sight, The beasts depart tamely at the voice of the Martyrs, as the gentlest of sheep, and having passed through the gates of the city, sought the deserts of the mountains. Hadrian then ordered the most valiant soldiers of Christ to be thrust back into prison.

[13] On the following day, Hadrian ordered a seat to be prepared for himself in the Capitol; and having commanded the Saints of God to be brought before him there, he compelled them to offer incense to Jupiter. But since they remained immovable in the faith of Christ, Hadrian ordered a great fire to be kindled and them to be cast into the midst of the conflagration. The warriors of Christ stood motionless amid the flames, and with outstretched hands sang a hymn. Hadrian, then seized by an even greater indignation and crying out that they were sorcerers and the most wicked of men, [The Martyrs remain unharmed in the flames; in prison they are strengthened by Angels:] ordered them again to be thrust into prison, and that no one whatsoever be admitted to visit them, so that they might perish from lack of food. But the Angels of the Lord descended to them in the silence of the dead of night, whose appearance, like the rays of the Sun, dispelled the darkness. Strengthening the most blessed athletes of Christ, they vanished from their sight.

[14] After this, Hadrian ordered a tribunal to be prepared before the temple of Mars, and there the most blessed Faustinus and Jovita to be brought before him. And when Calocerus had gone to present them, behold, the entire household of Calocerus met the holy Martyrs They respond fearlessly to the threatening Emperor: and preceded them with great reverence until they came to the temple of Mars. Seeing that all from the household showed equal reverence to the Saints by common consent, Hadrian sighed and, moved by anguish of soul, withdrew into the palace. He ordered Faustinus and Jovita to be brought to him without the people's knowledge, and said to them: Do you think that through your sorceries you will make me as deluded as you have made the people? Unless you sacrifice, I will have you dragged in chains through various cities and finally impose the end of your life through various torments. The blessed Faustinus answered: Wherever you command us to be led, you shall always know yourself confounded in the name of our Lord, for our Savior, who protects us, is always with us. Hadrian said: You shall prove that when I order more severe torments to be applied to you. The blessed Jovita answered: They are strictly confined in prison. Whatever punishments you inflict upon us, we shall not fear evils, for the Lord will receive us. Then he ordered them to be shut in prison again until the day of his departure, commanding the attendants to permit no one to enter to them. He also ordered the prison to be sealed with the imprint of his ring.

CHAPTER III

The martyrdom of the subordinates of St. Calocerus, and likewise of Saints Calocerus, Faustinus, and Jovita, after further torments.

[15] Now all the people who had believed, together with Calocerus and his subordinates, seeking out the blessed Apollonius, who had been hiding on account of fear of the infidels, found him concealed not far from the city of Brescia. When they had reported to him all that had taken place, St. Calocerus and his subordinates are baptized: Apollonius, blessing God, went with them to a more remote place on a certain mountain; and there, delivering to them the sequence of the faith according to custom, he baptized them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and strengthening them in Christ, he dismissed them. It was then reported to Hadrian that Calocerus and his household had become believers. Greatly enraged, he ordered them to be seized and brought before him in chains in the circus. He said to Calocerus: Calocerus, what madness has seized you, that you should make yourself more abject than all who are in my palace? Turning also to his household, he said: Tell me, you who are destined for death, by what insanity were you driven to abandon our gods, so that you do not fear being punished among the condemned? They answered, saying: They are subjected to martyrdom. We do not fear the death of this world, because God, who reigns in the heavens, is our helper. Then Hadrian, inflamed with excessive fury, ordered them to be led around and beheaded in that same place. When this had been done, Apollonius came with the Christians, seized their bodies, and gave them a worthy burial on the eighteenth day before the Kalends of December.

[16] Hadrian then ordered Calocerus, together with Faustinus and Jovita, to be bound in chains Faustinus, Jovita, and Calocerus are led in chains to Milan: and brought after him to the city of Milan, where he was about to go. And when the blessed Martyrs had passed through the gates of the city, the entire Christian populace followed them, together with St. Apollonius the Bishop, and accompanied them as far as the river called Mella; and there, encouraging one another, they exchanged the kiss of peace and parted with many tears. As the people turned back, the most blessed athletes Faustinus and Jovita, together with Calocerus, bound in chains under guard, arrived at Milan on the third day. Immediately Hadrian ordered a tribunal to be prepared for himself in the Herculanean Baths, and commanded the most valiant Martyrs of Christ, weary as they were from the journey, to be brought into his presence, hoping, the wretch, that the most robust soldiers of God, already exhausted by the pain of travel, would obey his commands. He spoke to them in an inflated voice: They reject the highest honors of the palace: You know, wretches, how you have been taken from your city. At least now turn to the sacrifices of the great gods, so that you may be free from punishments and be counted among the foremost in our palace. The blessed Martyrs answered: We offer sacrifice to our God, who gives us aid in all things; for the rest, be assured that we shall not sacrifice to the demons you worship, counting your promises as nothing.

[17] Hearing this, Hadrian, goaded by the fury of his rage, ordered them to be bound on their backs, and pipes to be placed over their mouths, and molten lead to be poured in, so that as it passed through their throats it would simultaneously extinguish their voice and their life. Unharmed by the molten lead, The attendants carried out the order; but the lead immediately rebounded upon those who were pouring it and was scattered among them, while the burning substance did not touch the Saints in any way. Seeing this, Hadrian raged all the more and ordered them to be tortured on the rack, and burning plates to be applied to their sides. When the attendants had done this, Calocerus cried out: Pray for me, most blessed Martyrs, for I am being grievously burned by these flames. And by the burning plates: St. Faustinus said: Endure a little while, Calocerus; behold, the Angel of the Lord is at hand, bringing aid to you. Without delay, the Lord's help arrived, and Calocerus, strengthened, Strengthened in their sufferings: began to give thanks to Christ, declaring that he felt no pain whatsoever. Hadrian said: Calocerus, do you truly not feel the fire? Calocerus replied: Truly I tell you, I feel nothing at all of the burning of your flames. Hadrian said to his attendants: Bring tow, resin, and oil, and place fire beneath the racks, so that they may be consumed together with the very racks. When the attendants had carried out the order, Hadrian, seeing the flames spread abundantly around the racks and supposing that the Saints of God were being fiercely burned, ordered the cry raised to them: At least now feel the power of the mightiest gods! But the blessed Martyrs, with most joyful countenance, blessed the Lord, so that it became manifest to all that the fire was in no way harming them. The people who stood by, seeing such wonders, began to cry out: Truly great is the God of the Christians! And many of them believed in the Lord.

[18] Hadrian therefore, confounded and now at a loss for what to do, ordered them to be quickly dragged to prison; and after some days, setting out for Rome, he commanded the unconquered Martyrs of Christ to be dragged in chains behind him through every city, so that their example might strike fear into the Christians and the labor of the journey might wear down the athletes of God. But Calocerus he handed over to a certain Antiochus, Prefect of the Cottian Alps, commanding him either to compel Calocerus to sacrifice, or, if he persisted in his opinion, to torture him with various punishments and put him to death. Antiochus, having received Calocerus and preparing to set out for the Cottian Alps, sent him on ahead in chains. But since circumstances required that Antiochus travel with Hadrian, he dispatched a certain Fabricius, who would perform his duties, Calocerus completes his martyrdom. to the Cottian Alps, by whom the blessed Calocerus, having suffered many things for the name of Christ, was at last brought back to Milan and there, strong in faith, steadfastly received martyrdom.

[19] Moreover, the most blessed Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita were brought to Rome, everywhere drawing the people to Christ through the office of preaching. When they were not far from the City, a certain Calimerus, already imbued with the faith of Christ, met them and persuaded them to mount his carriage, Faustinus and Jovita, taken to Rome, confer with the Pontiff: in which he himself was seated, and entered the City with them. The blessed Martyrs, testing his faith, having been permitted by their guards, asked the Roman Pontiff, who at that time was hiding secretly at the Catacombs, to confer upon Calimerus the honor of the Episcopate and send him to strengthen the Milanese people, who had believed in Christ. And this was done. But since it would be lengthy to set forth the entire text of the passion or the miracles of the most blessed Martyrs of Christ, Faustinus and Jovita, let us come to their glorious end. Finally, when at the city of Rome they were compelled by the Emperor Hadrian to sacrifice to the gods, and with the most resolute intention of heart had resisted, God aiding His Martyrs, and had won over much of the people to Christ, both by the strength of their constancy and by the word of faith, Hadrian at last handed them over to Count Aurelianus, saying: Take these despisers of our gods and lead them back to the city of Brescia, and there, unless they sacrifice, put them to death.

[20] Aurelianus, taking the most blessed Martyrs, ordered them to be led back again in chains to the city of Brescia. Led back to Brescia: The Christians, together with St. Apollonius the Bishop, met them and were filled with exceeding joy at their return. Then Count Aurelianus ordered the blessed Martyrs to be brought before him. When he had urged them to offer sacrifices to his gods, the blessed Martyrs replied: We are gladly prepared to die for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ rather than obey your commands. Hearing this, Aurelianus ordered them to be led outside the city and there beheaded. They are beheaded, February 15. The most valiant Martyrs of Christ were therefore led outside the city gate on the Cremonese road, and there, kneeling down, they were beheaded by the executioners, receiving a momentary death that they might gain eternal life. These things were accomplished both in the city of Brescia and in the other cities and regions under the Emperor Hadrian. And their most glorious passion was consummated on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of March, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ.

o In the year 120.

OTHER LIFE

By an anonymous author, from a Neapolitan manuscript.

Faustinus, Priest, brother, Martyr at Brescia in Italy (Saint) Jovita, Deacon, brother, Martyr, at Brescia in Italy (Saint)

BHL Number: 2838

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

CHAPTER I

The captivity and constancy of Saints Faustinus and Jovita. Divine protection against wild beasts, fire, and other torments. The conversion of many.

[1] As we turn over the frequent acts of the holy Martyrs, we more quickly recognize ourselves as sluggish and falling short of our own aspirations; for when the points of weapons were unable to terrify them, a trifling annoyance of words disturbs us. If, therefore, we wish to reach the very contests of the Blessed, Among other Christians first their origin, time, and end must be investigated. In the same period, then, when the perfidious Emperor Hadrian began to disturb rather than govern the whole world on its fourfold axis, and the number of Christians was growing by divine aid, Saints Faustinus and Jovita become renowned: there flourished in the city of Brescia two men, illustrious brothers, of whom one was called Faustinus and the other Jovita. Their noble birth and renown shone far and wide throughout the world.

[2] For in a certain year, when the Emperor arrived in those same times in the regions of Italy, Italicus, Count of the Royal... met him together with Tiberius the counselor at the river Adda. Having made obeisance, he spoke thus: Most invincible Emperor and triumphant lord, come to the aid of your Roman Empire, They are accused before the Emperor Hadrian. and come to the aid of our gods; for there are two men in the city of Brescia who preach that the true God is in the heavens, who hold our gods as nothing, and who seduce much of the populace. Hearing this, Hadrian issued a decree written in this manner: Our Authority has resolved that you be permitted, wherever you find Christians, either to compel them to sacrifice to the gods or to subject them to various torments. Italicus the Count, having received the decree, proceeded as the Emperor had commanded him. Entering the city of Brescia, he immediately sent Tiberius his counselor to Faustinus and Jovita, to make known to them the imperial commands -- namely, that all Christians must either sacrifice to the gods or be punished by the sword. Hearing these words, Faustinus and Jovita answered steadfastly: We do not obey the commands of your Prince, nor do we worship gods of wood, bronze, and stone, in which there is neither hearing They are brought before Italicus the Count. nor understanding. When Tiberius heard this, he reported everything to Italicus the Count. As soon as he heard these words, seized with fury, he sent soldiers to arrest them, and they were led before him. He addressed them thus, saying: Our most invincible Emperor has decreed that all Christians must either worship our gods or be punished by various sentences or the sword. But the Saints of God, having already determined to accept death most willingly for the Lord, answered and said: Our time has come to rejoice. For we do not fear your threats, nor do we obey your commands. They are cast into prison: Hearing this, Italicus the Count ordered them to be confined in prison until the arrival of the Emperor Hadrian.

[3] And when Hadrian had entered the city of Brescia, Italicus the Count with a great outcry presented his case, saying: Most merciful Emperor, in the sacred decrees you issued you established that those who despise your laws must perish by the sword. Hadrian said: And where are those who despise our commands? Italicus answered: According to your order, they have been confined in custody. Hadrian asked: From what family do they come, that they should be heard by me? Italicus the Count replied: Accused before the Emperor, Indeed they descend from a noble family; but by what madness they are seized, that they should reject our gods and worship Christ who was hanged upon a tree, I do not know. Hadrian said: These men are very necessary to me, so that through them I may convert many despisers of the gods to our religion. Then he ordered them to be summoned before him and said to them: Is there any other god besides the Sun, or one more powerful than he? Jovita answered: O what a thing you have said! And I say there is one better than the Sun, who established the Sun itself. I worship a God who gave the Sun power to shine by day, and the moon by night, and who adorned the heavens with stars. They refuse to sacrifice to the statue of the Sun, Hadrian said: You act wickedly in declaring yourselves Christians. Jovita replied: We rightly profess and proclaim ourselves to be Christians, so that we may attain the exalted joys of heaven. Then Hadrian, as if enviously, said to them: You are hard of heart and have iron in your bowels, whom my words are unable to recall; but do not dare to answer me so boldly -- quickly sacrifice to the Sun God. Faustinus and Jovita answered: We do not sacrifice to the Sun God, but to God, who placed the Sun as an ornament in the sky, we offer a sacrifice of praise. Hadrian said: Now you say you have another God, and you do not worship in the presence of the great Sun? Faustinus and Jovita answered: Do you wish to see the glory of God? Then both with one voice said: "The Sun knows its setting; you have made darkness, Lord, and night has come." The unwitting Hadrian said: I do not know the hymn you have sung to me. Then it is made dark: And immediately the statue of the Sun became black and darkness spread in the sight of the people. Looking upon it, Hadrian said: What is this that I see? The blessed Faustinus replied: You see what has become of the god you worship; how he has been reduced to nothing.

[4] Then Hadrian, raging in anger, ordered them to be condemned to the wild beasts, and said to Italicus the Count: Let the most savage beasts be brought in, at the sight of which they may faint with terror at once. When they had been brought in, Hadrian said: Faustinus and Jovita, see, They scorn Saturn and Diana: for already the end draws near for you; yield to counsel and sacrifice to our gods Saturn and Diana, that you may be freed from the teeth of the beasts and be held in greater honor in the royal court. But the Saints of God answered with great constancy: May you be like the Saturn you worship, and may your wife be reckoned like Diana. Then Hadrian said: You are in the grip of death, They remain unharmed among lions, and you persist in blasphemy? But the chosen ones of God stood cheerful of heart in the middle of the arena, and four lions licked their footsteps, injuring no one. After them leopards were released, leopards, and they went and prostrated themselves before the feet of the Saints. Then Hadrian said to the attendants: Send upon them powerful bears, bears: and place burning torches around their sides, so that tormented by the pain of fire and turned to furious rage, they may instantly kill them. But the attendants did as they had been commanded; yet, with the divine power cooperating in them, the bestial ferocity was so converted to gentleness that the Martyrs of God were in no way terrified.

[5] Now a certain woman named Afra, hearing of the signs and wonders which the Lord was working through His Saints, hastened to the amphitheater. When she had entered, St. Afra approaches them, gazing from afar, she saw the blessed Martyrs of God standing fearless among the most cruel beasts, and although she was terrified with fear -- as the female sex is usually fragile -- she nevertheless reached the place where the holy Martyrs stood, and threw herself before their feet, and began to entreat them, saying: I beseech you, revealers of eternal light, that you would deign to show me how I may come to believe more surely in Christ. They instruct her in the mysteries of the faith: And they, seeing her constancy, joyfully imbued her with sacred teachings, that she should render worship with a pure heart and chaste love to the one Lord alone, the Maker of heaven and earth, and should preserve the integrity of her faith inviolate with all her strength. That she was afterward bathed in the waters of holy baptism by the blessed Bishop Apollonius, together with the rest of those who believed in Christ, is not to be doubted. The people, seeing the woman standing fearless among the beasts, many believed and glorified the God of heaven.

[6] Therefore Hadrian, seeing these things and filled with anger, said to the attendants: Bring me untamed bulls, They render the bulls tame by the Sign of the Cross: whose size and fury may be so great that they may pierce their sides with their horns and thus make them die. When they arrived, Faustinus and Jovita, the Saints of God, set the Sign of the Cross before them; and in great humility the bulls turned and prostrated themselves at their feet. The people, seeing this, said with one voice: Great is the God of the heavens. They convert three thousand: To them the blessed Faustinus said: See, my fellow citizens, the wonders which the Lord shows through us; do not believe in the iniquity of Hadrian. And more than three thousand of them believed, and were bathed in the waters of the sacred font by the blessed Bishop Apollonius. After this the bulls, at the command of the Saints, departed to the pastures, touching no one. They are illuminated from heaven in prison: Hadrian, seeing what had happened, groaning within himself, said to the attendants: Take them from my sight and thrust them into prison. But the Saints of God were in prison rejoicing and singing psalms day and night, surrounded by heavenly light.

[7] Rising at dawn, Hadrian ordered the Saints of God to be brought before him, and said to them: I wish you to be free from all injury; only sacrifice to the god Saturn. The blessed Jovita, answering boldly, They answer the Emperor fearlessly: said: Hadrian, Prince of wickedness, enemy of truth, why do you compel us to sacrifice to an abominable image, whose face, if you strike it with a blow, does not grow angry with you; and if with bended knee you beseech its aid, it will not help you? Cease from this madness, and do not worship deaf and mute metal. Worship the living and true God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water; at whose command the sea is calmed from its raging; at whose glance the foundations of the mountains tremble; who has the power to cast the devil and his satellites into the deep pit of death -- of whom you are the chief, unless you turn. Hearing this, Hadrian was enraged and ordered wood to be brought and set ablaze, They remain unharmed in the flames: and the blessed Martyrs to be cast into it; and so it was done. But the Saints of God stood in the midst of the flames with outstretched hands, saying: Blessed are you, O Lord God of our fathers, from everlasting to everlasting, and blessed be the name of your glory, which is holy, who has deigned to preserve us whole amid the billows of flame, so that they cannot touch a hair of our heads.

[8] But the impious Emperor, seeing that the flames could do them no harm, said angrily to the attendants: Bring here the sharpest knives, and before our eyes flay their bodies, that they may know that I reign on earth by the immortal gods. The attendants hastened to obey the wicked commands, They cannot be stripped of their skin, but with divine grace assisting them, what the wicked Prince desired, the attendants were unable to accomplish. For there was a certain man there, a Commander of soldiers, named Calocerus, who, entering and seeing that the Saints of God suffered no harm, cried out as loudly as he could: Truly great is the God of the Christians! Hearing his outcry, Hadrian ordered him to be expelled with contumely. St. Calocerus is amazed: But the Emperor, seeing them completely unharmed, struck his own face with his palm, saying: Surely I am conquered by them. And commanding the attendants to thrust them into prison, he said: I shall consider what punishments to inflict upon them. The blessed Martyrs, entering the prison, sang psalms, They sing psalms in prison with Angels. saying: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity." And immediately the Angels of God appeared, singing psalms with them and strengthening them, and then departed.

b In the year 118.

CHAPTER II

Saints Faustinus and Jovita unharmed by molten lead and a burning furnace. Demoniacs freed. The martyrdom of various persons.

[9] On the following day, the Emperor proceeding to the temple of Mars to hear there the holy Martyrs of God Faustinus and Jovita, ordered a bronze vessel to be brought, which he had commanded to be prepared, and having led them out of prison, said to them: Behold the terrifying punishment They refuse to sacrifice to Mars: that I have prepared for you; sacrifice before the sentence of death is passed upon you. The blessed Faustinus replied: To whom do you compel us to sacrifice? Hadrian said: To the great god Mars. St. Jovita answered: Hadrian, as we perceive, great folly rules over you, if you think that by your barking you can call us back from our holy purpose. Blush for shame, wretch, and cease to worship many gods. The most savage Prince, enraged, said: Before you can make me blush, I shall deliver you both to death. The blessed Jovita replied: We count your torments as nothing; do what you are going to do, They remain unharmed by the molten lead, that the people may see the great works of God. Hearing their words, the Emperor was greatly enraged and ordered them to be placed in the bronze vessel, and molten lead to be poured upon them from the right and from the left. But the Saints of God were in no way harmed. And cast into a burning furnace: Seeing therefore that they were not injured in any way, the Emperor ordered a furnace to be heated and the bronze vessel with the holy Martyrs to be cast into it, until they should be burned together with it. But the Saints of God stood in the midst of the flames as if in a fountain, and delighting in it, they sang to the Lord the hymn that the three youths sang in Babylon. The people, seeing these things, cried out, saying: Truly great is the God of the Christians, who works such wonders through His Saints.

[10] For Hadrian perceived that all were of one mind, and took flight within the palace; and he ordered Faustinus and Jovita to be brought to him without the people's knowledge, and said to them: Do you think that through your magical art you will make me as deluded as you have made the people? Henceforth I shall lead you through various cities, so that through various torments you may reach the end of your life. The blessed Faustinus answered: Wherever you lead us, you shall always know yourself confounded in the name of Almighty God, for our Savior is with us always. Led out of prison by an Angel, Then the Emperor ordered them to be shut in prison until the day of his departure, and said to the attendants: See that they are visited by no one; seal the prison with my ring. The attendants did so. But that same night the Angels of God led the blessed Martyrs out of prison and brought them to the blessed Bishop Apollonius, and said to him: Lay hands upon these men and consecrate them, for they are about to win many to the cause of Christ. And the blessed Apollonius consecrated Faustinus as Priest St. Faustinus is ordained Priest, Jovita Deacon: and Jovita as Deacon; and the people who had believed, coming to the holy Bishop and to the holy Martyrs of God, entreated them to grant them the grace of baptism; and that same night a not inconsiderable number of both sexes were baptized.

[11] Then Calocerus came running to them with his household, St. Calocerus and his subordinates are baptized: and prostrating himself before the footsteps of the Saints, begged that this grace of holy baptism be given to him and his household. He was baptized that very hour with his household in the threefold name of the Divine Majesty. When Hadrian heard that Calocerus had become a Christian, he was greatly angered and ordered him to be seized; and binding him in iron, he handed him over to Sapritius, chief of the corps of candidates, that when he went to the Cottian Alps he might tear him apart with many punishments. Sapritius, inflicting innumerable tortures upon him, ordered him to be beheaded in the town of Albenga. He is beheaded at Albenga, And there the holy Calocerus, resting in peace, bestows benefits through his prayers upon all the faithful. Afterward word was brought to the most savage Emperor concerning his subordinates, and at once, turned to fury, he ordered them to be dragged quickly to him; he reproached them with many and various speeches, wishing to recall them from their good and holy resolve. But since they persevered in the confession of the Lord, the Tyrant rather than Prince ordered them to be led around outside the walls of Brescia These are beheaded at Brescia: and their heads to be cut off. When this was done, they were received by the Lord into eternal glory.

[12] And while these things were happening, the Angels of God led the holy Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita back to prison Saints Faustinus and Jovita are deemed worthy of a divine apparition: and brought them in, the seal remaining intact. And it came to pass at midnight that a most sweet fragrance spread, and a great light shone in the prison, because the Captain of the Saints, by angelic ministries, in the splendor of brightness and the odor of sweetness, deigned to visit His soldiers. And the holy Martyrs of God, falling on their faces, worshipped God, saying: Blessed are You, immortal God, because You have visited us and do not forsake Your servants who trust in Your name; we worship You, we glorify You, we give thanks to You, O God reigning in the Trinity; to You be honor, to You be power, and perpetual glory unto all ages of ages, Amen.

[13] When the Emperor Hadrian was leaving the city of Milan to proceed to Rome, he ordered the blessed Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita to be placed under the guard of Antiochus, and said to him: As we hasten through each city on our way to Rome, They are taken to Rome: subject them to various punishments, so that others, seeing their sufferings, may not attempt to despise the worship of our gods. And when they had been brought to the city of Rome -- that is, to the Milvian Bridge -- Hadrian took up residence at Lubrae; and behold, a multitude of people, coming to meet Hadrian, arrived at the Milvian Bridge, where the Martyrs of Christ, Faustinus and Jovita, were being held under military guard, among whom came also Calimerus. And while they lingered there, the blessed Martyrs began to preach to them much concerning the coming of the eternal King, and concerning His glory and perpetual blessedness. They convert many: Many of the people believed through that preaching and were baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity; and there was a great cry among the people praising God and saying: Truly now we know that there is one true God in the heavens, living forever in glory, whom the good ministers preach to us. False and senseless are the gods whom we now see that we have been worshipping. But the Emperor, hearing the clamor of the people, said: What is this great outcry? Or where do these voices come from? His courtiers answered, saying: The voices that reach your ears are those of the people, who come to meet your Majesty with great joy. Then the Emperor said: So the Romans rejoice at our coming. But the people were jubilant with the most blessed Martyrs of God, standing at the bridge and awaiting him. Therefore, when Hadrian had approached the Milvian Bridge and saw the blessed Martyrs of God standing with an innumerable crowd of people, moved to fury, he commanded his Count Aurelianus to present them to him within the hall of the palace. And while the holy Martyrs of God were delayed there for some time, a great crowd of people, hearing the fame of the Saints, hastened to the Milvian Bridge, where the holy Martyrs were preaching to those reborn in Christ. Those who heard them preaching among the people They are renowned for miracles: and saw many signs being performed, believed also themselves, and were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

[14] And while this was happening, Aurelianus came to the blessed Martyrs of God and said to them: The most invincible Emperor has commanded that you be presented in his sight, that you may sacrifice to the god Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, Aurelianus, sent to them, if you wish to live. Immediately Satan seized him and he uttered a great howling cry, saying: I see myself bound on all sides with fiery chains; is seized by the devil, if I go to our gods, what will they profit me? And he was striking his head upon the ground, saying: Help me, Saints of God! Why do you subject me to such cruel torments? Or why do you minister fire? I burn and am tortured exceedingly. They send him back to the Emperor, Then the Martyrs of Christ commanded him, saying: Go, enter the City, and show Hadrian what you are suffering, and what sort of gods you venerate and worship, and what their punishment is. Immediately he went crying out until he reached the wicked Prince, so that Hadrian became fearful and trembled. Then Aurelianus said to him: Hadrian, behold what I suffer on account of the abominable gods we worship.

[15] Hearing this, Hadrian, seeing what had befallen Aurelianus, was greatly grieved and ordered him to be most carefully guarded, providing him with care. On the following day, Hadrian sent Calimerus to the blessed Faustinus and Jovita, to compel them to enter the City. Summoned, they come to the Emperor: Calimerus immediately went to the blessed Martyrs of God, saying: Come quickly, enter the City, that you may perform signs and wonders among the people. Those who do not yet know God may perhaps be converted. The Saints then followed Calimerus until they reached the palace and stood in Hadrian's presence. Hadrian ordered Aurelianus to be brought before the Martyrs; and when he had been brought, he was immediately seized by the demon in Hadrian's presence. When he began to be violently and cruelly tormented, Hadrian, weeping, entreated the blessed Martyrs, saying: I beseech you, come to the aid of our Count, for I grieve exceedingly over him. The blessed Faustinus said: We wish, Hadrian, They extract a confession from the demon about the gods, that he first confess before the people what he is about to do, and that it be made known to them. Then the demon raged more violently in him and began to cry out, saying: I am the demon who dwells in all the idols of the pagans. I am the one who dwells in the pride of Hadrian. I also shall cause you, Faustinus and Jovita, to end your life by the sword, and all who fear and worship God I shall hand over to the condemnation of death. Then the blessed Faustinus said to the demon: And cast him out of the man: Depart from him, wretched one, that Hadrian and all the people may see whom they worshipped. Immediately the demon went out, and he was exceedingly hideous and loathsome in appearance and utterly despicable, and suddenly he was nowhere to be seen.

[16] Hadrian then proceeded and ascended to the Capitol with a great crowd, offering sacrifices to his gods, and he ordered Faustinus and Jovita to ascend the Capitol with him and sacrifice. When they had entered the Capitol, the very foundations of the place trembled, so that all the people fled in terror. Then Hadrian, commanding the blessed Martyrs, said: As I sacrifice and humble myself before the sight of the gods, come and do likewise. And the worshippers of the God of heaven, seeing the worshippers of images and demons -- the present ruler of the world, though the most wicked of all earthly princes -- prostrate in prayer with bowed neck,

with bended knees worshipping abominable images, they spoke with compunction of heart before all who stood by: Woe to you who are blind of heart, venerating blind, deaf, and mute metal! Hearing this, the Emperor furiously commanded the soldiers, saying: Immediately seize these despisers of our laws and enemies of the gods, They rebuke the Emperor for worshipping images: and constrain them severely. When this was done, a demon immediately seized the attendants, and they began to run this way and that, crying out and saying: Deliver us, blessed Martyrs of Christ, by the God you worship, the living God! At once, They free the attendants possessed by the demon and baptize them. the demons having been cast out by the power of the Lord, they were made whole, and casting themselves at the feet of the Saints, they begged with suppliant prayer that the grace of baptism be bestowed upon them. And they conferred upon them the waters of holy baptism. When Hadrian heard this, he immediately ordered them to undergo the capital sentence.

CHAPTER III

Wild beasts rendered tame. Various torments overcome on land and sea. The martyrdom consummated.

[17] On that same day, Hadrian was giving spectacles in the arena and ordered the Martyrs of God, Faustinus and Jovita, to be brought before him to hear them there. The attendants then went and seized them and led them before Hadrian, to whom he said: Come at once and sacrifice to our god; otherwise, the day of your death draws near. But the blessed Martyrs answered and said: By no means shall we worship the dark gods whom we have never venerated until now, nor do we worship them now. Then Hadrian, gnashing his teeth, They are thrown to the wild beasts, ordered them to be led into the arena and commanded the swiftest and most savage beasts to be brought -- lions, tigers, and leopards -- so that terrified by their roaring they might expire from fear. But when they had been brought in, but remain unharmed, immediately their ferocity vanished, and with great gentleness they fell before the feet of the blessed Martyrs in the sight of all the people. All the people, stunned with amazement and wondering what this might be, cried out together with a clear voice, saying: Truly great is the God whom these illustrious Martyrs preach and declare will come. They stir the people to the faith of Christ, For there was an immense crowd of people, to whom the blessed Martyrs of God said: Believe in God, who reigns in the Trinity forever, and you shall obtain eternal glory. Then the people, answering with one voice, said: Truly we believe in the God whom you preach, who is great above all gods. The Martyrs of Christ, hearing this, immediately went out of the arena and came to the place where a most pure spring was pouring forth water. Then the holy Martyrs of God made a prayer for them, and the Angel of the Lord appeared to them, standing before the spring, clad in a garment white as snow, with flashing eyes, so that the people could see him. When they had seen him, greatly terrified, And by the command of the appearing Angel, they fell upon their faces. But the Angel of the Lord, turning to the blessed Faustinus and Jovita, said: Hasten to baptize the people, and strengthen them. Then proceed to the blessed Pope Telesphorus, and deliver to him Calimerus, the servant of Christ, to be consecrated, so that he may be ordained Bishop by him in the city of Milan and be the Pastor of the people you have won for the Lord. And saying this, the Angel vanished from their eyes. The Saints of God raised up the people and said: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and accomplished the redemption of His people." They baptize: After this they baptized an innumerable multitude of people in the threefold name of the Divine Majesty. And afterward they confirmed them with the sacred Body and Blood of the Lord.

[18] When all these things had been accomplished, following the word of the Lord, they went to the place called the Catacombs, and there they found the blessed Bishop Telesphorus hiding among the tombs of the holy Martyrs on account of fear of the pagans. They visit the Pontiff: They said to him: The blessing of the Lord be with your spirit, most blessed Pontiff. The blessed Telesphorus, with a joyful face and serene countenance, said: Come, blessed and most holy Martyrs, in whom the Lord and our Savior, who is your desire, dwells; may His blessing remain with you in mercy forever. Having said this, he kissed them. Then the blessed Martyrs spoke to him with a clear voice: The Lord our Redeemer has directed us even to you, They ask that St. Calimerus be consecrated Bishop of Milan: that you may ordain our brother Calimerus as Bishop and send him to the city of Milan. Hearing this, the blessed Telesphorus, filled with great joy, fulfilled the holy instructions of the blessed Martyrs, consecrated him, and directed him to the city of Milan according to the command of the Martyrs, to be the Pastor of the Christian people there. And when the blessed Telesphorus had accomplished all these things, suddenly the attendants of Hadrian arrived, seized them, and led them to the palace.

[19] After not many days, Hadrian, journeying in a mad frenzy to Naples, ordered a ship to be fitted with trapdoors, and the perfidious one commanded the holy Martyrs to board that ship, while the foolish Prince Hadrian boarded another ship, Placed on a ship, and ordered all his gods to be brought aboard his ship -- Jupiter, Mercury, Apollo, Saturn, and Mars -- and he adorned them with precious stones. But the chosen Martyrs of God were held bound and fettered in iron by command of the wicked one. When they had sailed for two days, and the third day was already dawning, with the ships at rest, all manner of musical instruments began to resound with their clamor. Then also a hoarse trumpet, blaring with its loud voice, and pipes with resounding lyres striking the heavens, They spurn the music long employed: and the sambuca responding to the frequent salpinxes -- all this was done so that the holy Martyrs of God would kneel and offer incense to the images of the Tyrant. Hadrian, eager to display the glory of his gods, ordered every veil to be removed from their sight; and calling Faustinus and Jovita, he said to them: Behold the gods you so boldly and foolishly despise. The blessed Faustinus answered: You, Hadrian, are called the more foolish, and in this discourse you are like cattle, who bestow such great and lofty honors upon such base gods. Hadrian, provoked, said: Now I shall see what protection your God provides you. Jovita then said to him: It seems to me, Hadrian, that everything that proceeds from your mouth flows from an insipid heart, and the counsels of your father the devil.

[20] When Hadrian repeatedly received such answers from the blessed Martyrs, he became furious and ordered the torturers to suspend the Martyrs of God on the rack and torture them violently. They are suspended on the rack: When they had been suspended on the rack, the strength of the torturers grew feeble, while the strength of the Martyrs was fortified in the Lord. Seeing this, Hadrian, swearing an oath, said: By the immortal gods, I shall cause you to perish in terrible flames! Then, according to his wicked promise, he ordered lamps to be kindled With burning lamps applied to their sides, but extinguished: and placed around their sides; but, by divine grace assenting, the lamps were immediately extinguished. The Martyrs of Christ stood free, and suffered nothing whatsoever from the punishment of the flames. But Hadrian, who was savagely fighting to kill the blessed Martyrs, cried out in an insolent voice to his sailors and soldiers, saying: Quickly seize the tackle with all your strength, so that these enemies of our gods may be plunged at once into the enclosed deep. When they had submerged them in the blue waters of the sea, Cast into the sea, they are freed by Angels: immediately the holy Martyrs of God, caught up by angelic ministry, as if placed in a small boat, treading the waves of the sea with their feet, departed swiftly until they reached the shore.

[21] When Hadrian had approached the Neapolitan port and found the blessed Martyrs of God preaching the word of God in an assembly of the people, immediately turning to anger, he commanded his soldiers to seize them They are sent back to Brescia: and, summoning Aurelianus, said to him: Hasten, take these despisers from our midst; lead them to the city of Brescia and there kill them by the sword. Immediately, the sentence having been pronounced, Aurelianus with fifty soldiers, dragging the blessed Martyrs of God in chains, set out for the city of Brescia. When they had come as far as the river Po, they heard a voice saying to them: Behold, now, you men of triumph and heralds of righteousness, They are told by an Angel that the end is at hand: trampling the allurements of this world -- now the time has come for you to rest from your labor and attain the eternal life you have always desired. Seven days of respite will be given you in this world, and on the eighth day, with the radiant crown of martyrdom, you shall reach the palm of victory. And the blessed Apollonius, hearing Greeted by St. Apollonius the Bishop: that the holy Martyrs of God had arrived, gave the greatest thanks to God the Creator of all, because he had been worthy to behold the holy Martyrs of God; and giving each other the holy kiss of peace, they entered the city together.

[22] When word had been brought to the most wicked Aurelianus concerning the arrival of the blessed Martyrs, he was filled with the fury of anger and immediately ordered them to be presented before him. He began to threaten them haughtily and furiously, saying: Do you still persist in your former opinion? Now you shall see what help of defense and liberation your God, whom you worship, will have provided you, when I order you to be killed at once. Then the blessed Martyrs, certain in the hope of eternal reward, Steadfast in the confession of faith, answered and said: Wretch, why do you delay so long? Come closer, and do quickly what you have long threatened us with; for we are prepared to die for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Hearing this, Aurelianus began to rage, and ordered them to be led outside the city and beheaded, together with the people who had followed their sacred teaching. The soldiers did as Aurelianus had commanded them. Going out from the city, not far from the walls, near the Cremonese road, they knelt in that excellent place and poured out a prayer, giving thanks to the Lord; and immediately, struck by the sword, with their sacred heads severed, they rendered to the Lord the debt of death: They are beheaded, committing their holy souls to the stars, and their bodies to the earth, taken from the body of earth. Glorious Martyrs, venerating with their purple blood Christ the Lord who suffered, on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of March, February 15, borne aloft by angelic hands, they were received by the Lord into eternal glory; to whom be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.

PART OF THE LONGER LIFE

from Mombritius.

Faustinus, Priest, brother, Martyr at Brescia in Italy (Saint) Jovita, Deacon, brother, Martyr, at Brescia in Italy (Saint)

BHL Number: 1529

By an anonymous author, from Mombritius.

CHAPTER I

The torments inflicted upon Saints Faustinus and Jovita at Brescia. Sacred Orders conferred upon them after being led out of prison by Angels. The conversion and baptism of St. Calocerus and others.

[1] When the most blessed Martyrs Faustinus and Jovita were enduring various kinds of torments from the Emperor Hadrian for the name of Christ, one of the attendants named Calocerus approached and saw Faustinus and Jovita walking outside the Capitol. Saints Faustinus and Jovita, miraculously freed from the racks, Entering to Hadrian, he saw the racks empty and the attendants still torturing; he raised his voice before Hadrian and the people, saying: Truly great is the God whom Faustinus and Jovita worship, who bestows such benefits upon those who believe in Him. Hadrian said: By what madness are you seized, Calocerus? Mind your own blood. What did you see that makes you say such things? Calocerus said: Good Emperor, what do you now see being tortured on these racks? Hadrian replied: Faustinus and Jovita. And Calocerus said: You are seeing a vision. But the attendants were crying out: We are already exhausted from torturing, and these men feel no pain at all. Seeing all this happening, Calocerus was deeply moved, and going out, he wept bitterly. They appear to St. Calocerus, And behold, Faustinus and Jovita appeared to him, saying: Calocerus, why do you grieve for us? Go and enter into the presence of Hadrian and see what the attendants are doing. Calocerus said to them: I shall not leave you until you give me the sign of Christ, through which I may be made free. Faustinus said: Calocerus, hope confidently that you will receive the sign of Christ, through which the devil is put to flight. He replied: I beseech you indeed, Saints of God, that I may be worthy and may attain to such great brightness. Jovita said: And confirm him: Keep faith, Calocerus, with your Creator and the Redeemer of your soul. When he had said this, Calocerus entered to Hadrian and saw the attendants heaping coals as if upon the Saints of God. Then Calocerus, rending his cloak, said: Truly great and powerful is the God of the Christians, whom you, Hadrian, deny and whose holy servants you persecute. Hadrian said: Calocerus, by saying such things you have lost your mind. He replied: Truly it is you who have a dead head and no sense in you, setting up statues of various sorts -- the work of human hands -- against the God of heaven, the Maker of this world. They come forth from the fire unharmed: Hearing the outcry of Calocerus, Hadrian ordered him to be cast out, lest he glorify God further, and said to the attendants: See whether they are dead yet. The attendants, brushing off the coals, found them as though they had just slept, and no mark of burning appeared upon them.

[2] Seeing them unharmed, Hadrian ordered them to be taken back to prison, to devise another punishment for them. They are shut in prison: Turning to the prison guards, he said: Take care that they be seen by absolutely no one, and thus their magic shall confound them. The Saints of God, led into prison, praised the Lord, saying: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity." They are visited by Christ, And the Savior came to them around midnight; for in the prison there was exceedingly great light, and the fragrance of sweetness spread, The guards flee, so that the guards fled in terror to the house of Calocerus, and reported to him all that they had seen happening in the prison. Calocerus said to them: Come with me to the prison, that I may see what you report. Going then, they could in no way approach, but stood at a distance because of the splendor of the Savior, who was seen with Faustinus and Jovita, strengthening them. Then Calocerus, led by faith, approached the door of the prison and said: When St. Calocerus prays, Remember me, Lord Savior, that I may be worthy to enter the number of Your sheep, that marked among them I may know You to be my Creator; and having received purification, may I be worthy to suffer and endure persecution for Your name, so that I may resist the wiles of the devil. Then a voice came to him, He is given to them as a companion: saying: Calocerus, you shall receive what you have asked; for tomorrow you will come with my servants Faustinus and Jovita before Hadrian, to refute him in the sight of the people, to his confusion. When Calocerus heard this, he groaned with great weeping, casting himself before the door of the prison until morning.

[3] Afterward the attendants came to Calocerus, saying: Behold, Hadrian is going to the temple of Mars to hear Faustinus and Jovita. By him, Calocerus immediately turned to his household and said: Until today I have served demons; for I shall be like a tinkling cymbal, in which there is no sense. Hear me, and I shall make you colleagues and companions; because the military service of this world is destruction of the soul. Truly I tell you, great is the God of the Christians, whom Faustinus and Jovita worship. He was saying these things to his household, so that they too might be converted. Again he said to them: Brothers, hear me, and let us turn to the Lord God of heaven, who is above all gods and above all the kings of the earth; And his subordinates converted by him, who is one God, Creator of the pure conscience, who alone worked wonders in Egypt. Hearing him, all of his household said to him: How can we attain to such great power, or who will be the man to lead us to that God whom your glory proclaims? Calocerus said: If you seek God with all your heart, He will come to you, and you shall see Him, and He will be your salvation, and your hearts shall be enlightened, and dwellings shall be given to you in which you may rest before the sight of the Savior, who will rescue you from your enemies. And when he had said this, all with one mind answered him: Until now we have been like sheep without a shepherd, having no one to whom we could turn. Quickly may Your mercy anticipate us, Lord, for we have become poor. Send to us the shining truth from the seat of Your kingdom, which may obscure the falsehood of our hearts, that we may refute Hadrian, the prince of iniquity, and come to You, the Prince of truth, in whom truth rejoices together with Your Saints. While they were saying these things to Calocerus, Hadrian sent for Calocerus to be summoned to the temple of Mars. To Hadrian, admonished in vain, Hadrian said to him: Has what I ordered you to do been prepared? Calocerus replied: But it is to your confusion that you say these things, so that your iniquity may be refuted. Hadrian said: Calocerus, I hold you worthy among all; but by saying these things on behalf of Faustinus and Jovita, you make yourself an enemy to your own soul. He replied: Your favor leads my soul to death. Hadrian said: Bring Faustinus and Jovita, that the truth may be drawn from them. They are brought: The attendants immediately brought them out of prison; and behold, the entire household of Calocerus met them and preceded them to the temple of Mars. Hadrian said: I am your enemy, and you avail nothing before me with your God. They are sent back to prison: Jovita said: It is enough for you that you should blush on account of your many gods. Then Hadrian, enraged, ordered them to be shut again in prison.

[4] Now all the people of the city of Brescia gathered together, seeking the good Pastor, Bishop Apollonius, that he might give them baptism. They found him hidden on account of the persecutions of Hadrian, and brought him secretly into the city, To St. Apollonius the Bishop and the people of Brescia, saying: Give us the sign by which our city and we ourselves may be made free. St. Apollonius said to them: Little children, come and ascend with me to the mountain that is above the city, so that when we have worshipped, a sign from heaven may be shown to us. For Apollonius was afraid on account of the crowd of people, lest they be surrounded; and they all ascended with him to the mountain, and there, kneeling, they worshipped in the sight of God. Then the blessed Apollonius rose from the ground and said: O Lord, hear my prayer; to You all flesh shall come. When he had said this, while the people prayed, seven Angels appeared, shining like the sun, By the appearing Angels, and said to Apollonius: What do you seek? The Lord has sent us to be your helpers for this flock, which desires the never-failing fountain of salvation. Behold, we have prepared a font in which you may renew them. Make them rise and lay upon them the blessing of the Lord. For we shall go to the prison and bring Faustinus and Jovita, whom the Lord has commanded to be ordained as Priests -- Faustinus as Presbyter and Jovita as Deacon -- for the sheep that wander in diverse places, that they may restore them to their Creator. And the Angels went to the prison and greeted Faustinus and Jovita, saying: Rejoice, you righteous, in the Lord; Led out of prison: give praise and glory in the sight of the nations. Rise therefore, holy Martyrs of God, and come with us, that you may see the sheep you have won for the Lord. Going out immediately from the prison, they departed with the Angels to St. Apollonius and found him blessing the people.

[5] When the blessing was completed, he came to the place where the Angels were with Faustinus and Jovita, and greeted them, saying: Behold men in whom no guile has been found. He laid his hand upon Faustinus St. Faustinus is ordained Priest, St. Jovita Deacon: and blessed him as Presbyter; likewise he blessed Jovita and made him a Deacon, and gave them peace. Then the Angels said to Faustinus and Jovita: Wherever you shall contend with Hadrian, baptize all who have believed through your martyrdom in the Lord. Come now and baptize these sheep. They baptize the people, It was about the sixth hour of the day, and they began to baptize the people who believed in the Lord. Then Calocerus came with his household and prostrated himself on the ground, praying thus: Have mercy on me, for I am failing greatly, and trembling has seized my body from the fear of the God of glory, who dwells among His Saints and beholds lowly things in heaven and on earth. And Apollonius, seeing Calocerus confidently seeking the sign of Christ, ordered him to come to the font and said to him: Calocerus, do you believe that God will raise you from the dead? He answered: Indeed I believe that through the renewal of the font I shall rise from the dead. He ordered his household also to be brought; and he said the same to them. And they all said with one voice: And with the Bishop, St. Calocerus, We believe that the one God exists in the Trinity in the heavens. And he laid hands upon them and made them catechumens and baptized them. Apollonius received Calocerus; And his subordinates, and Faustinus and Jovita received his household, just as they did all the people. Those baptized numbered about twelve thousand persons, Together with twelve thousand persons; and it was about the twelfth hour; and they had no altar on which to give them the strengthening of the Lord's Body. They therefore offered a prayer, and looking, they saw a linen cloth white as snow, spread out as if upon an altar; and it was filled with the Body of the Lord, and a chalice full of the Lord's Blood was upon it. Then Apollonius, approaching the altar of the Lord, All of whom are then refreshed by the Holy Eucharist, began to pray; and behold, four lights appeared burning in the sight of the people, for it was now night; and he celebrated the Mass and distributed the Body of the Lord, and likewise the Chalice.

CHAPTER II

The martyrdom of the subordinates of St. Calocerus; the torments inflicted at Milan upon him and upon Saints Faustinus and Jovita.

[6] Then all departed through the night with Apollonius; but the blessed Martyrs of God returned to the prison. Having returned to prison, In the morning Calocerus came to the prison with his household and, entering to Faustinus and Jovita, greeted them, They receive St. Calocerus with his household, saying: Behold, we have been strengthened by receiving the Body and Blood of Christ, so that our blood also may be shed for His name. Faustinus said: Let us pray in the sight of our Savior. While they prayed, behold, the Angel of the Lord came to them, saying: Be of stout heart; you have received your petition. Confirmed by an Angel, But as for you, Calocerus, thus says the Lord Almighty: I send you into the midst of wolves, that you may convert them and receive the fruit prepared for you. Then Calocerus said to the Angel: I was a man walking in my sins; what shall I do if the people are not converted to the God of heaven? The Angel answered: Calocerus, still hope in the Lord, and in that hour your petition shall be granted; and all who believe your words shall be filled with the Holy Spirit; and there you shall receive the crown of martyrdom. On that day the Angels shall come who will take you from this world and bear you to your Creator. After some days had passed, during which Hadrian mourned his brother Pompeius, he ordered games to be given in the circus as a farewell to the people; and he sent Count Aurelianus of Italy to the prison They, having entered though the doors were closed, to the amazement of others, to inspect the seal of his ring. Coming to the prison, he found it sealed just as it had been. Then they opened the door of the prison where Faustinus and Jovita were confined, and found Calocerus and his household with them. They were greatly astonished that they had entered when the doors were closed and sealed. With the Emperor: It was reported to Hadrian that Calocerus and his household had been found in the custody of the prison where Faustinus and Jovita were. He was greatly astonished and ordered them to be brought before him in chains.

[7] When this was done, Hadrian addressed them thus: Calocerus, what have you done, making yourself weak for those who are in my palace? Then, turning to his household, he said: And what madness has driven you to desire a death shared with Faustinus and Jovita and Calocerus? They all said with one voice: Hadrian, we do not fear the death of this world, for our helper is in heaven. Hadrian said: And you know that God is in heaven? They all said together: After the subordinates are beheaded, Through the renewal of the font we saw Him ascending into the heavens with a multitude of Angels, and we believe Him to be the true and living God in the heavens. Then Hadrian ordered them to be led behind him to the Circus and their heads cut off; but Calocerus, together with Faustinus and Jovita, he ordered to be put in chains and taken to Milan. Saints Faustinus, Jovita, and Calocerus are led to Milan: Three days after entering the city of Milan, Hadrian ordered Faustinus and Jovita with Calocerus to be brought before him in the Herculanean Baths, and said to them: You know that you have been transferred under guard from your city; now therefore turn to me, that you may be free from punishment. They reject the Emperor's promises and threats: Sacrifice therefore to the god Saturn, and you shall be nobles in the regions of Italy. Calocerus replied: Tyrant of Christians, everywhere their prayer confounds your gods and yourself with them. And Hadrian said: Listen to me and sacrifice, before I hand you over to death. Faustinus replied: We sacrifice and offer to our God, who gives us aid in all things. Hadrian said: I shall see soon enough how your God helps you.

[8] Then he said to the attendants: Bring the racks, that the people may see their punishment, They are suspended on the racks, and suspend them and torture them until they give up their souls. The attendants did so, torturing them violently. Calocerus cried out: Blessed Martyrs, pray, for the devil is inflicting grievous punishment upon me. Faustinus replied: Endure a little while; behold, an Angel is coming to your aid against the devil. Calocerus said: Pray, for I see that I have overcome the devil who was inflicting pain upon me; now I count the torments of Hadrian as nothing. Hearing the words of Calocerus, Hadrian said with a great laugh: Calocerus, now you shall feel it, when you see more severe torments being applied to you. With burning lamps applied to their sides, Then he said to the attendants: Bring lamps before us and place them around their sides, so that Calocerus may know whether he feels our sentence. The attendants drove a multitude of lamps into their limbs. Calocerus cried out: Hadrian, it is not yet the third hour -- how has darkness overcome you, that you have ordered lamps to be brought to you? Hadrian said: Calocerus, as far as I can see, you still do not feel the fire. He replied: Truly I tell you, I feel your torments in nothing. Hadrian said: Bring tow, resin, and oil, With oil and resin poured on the fire, and put them around the racks, so that they may be burned together with the very racks. Faustinus replied: Hadrian, you have applied this punishment to your own confusion. Then the attendants carried out what was commanded. Hadrian, seeing a great flame around the racks, ordered the cry to be raised: At least now feel the power of the gods whom you do not worship. For the flame of fire was around the racks, but the blessed Martyrs were not touched by the fire. They remain unharmed:

[9] Calocerus cried from the fire: Hadrian, most hostile one, worshipper of idols, prepare another punishment for yourself, for we do not feel this one. Hearing this, Hadrian ordered the attendants, saying: Increase the tow and resin, so that they may feel the heat of the gods. Faustinus replied: See, we stand in the midst of the flames; now you shall see your own confusion as well. For there were statues of Saturn and Hercules where Hadrian sat and listened to the holy servants of God. By their word they set fire to the statues of Saturn and Hercules: Jovita said to the fire: We command you in the name of the Lord -- go to the statues of Saturn and Hercules and heat them, for they are cold. Then the fire, at their command, went to where the statues stood and so enveloped them that they soon melted like wax. Hadrian, seeing the statues burning, leaped from his seat and fled outside, for the statues that were burning had been placed upon his seat. They follow the fleeing Emperor: Faustinus and Jovita and Calocerus followed Hadrian outside, saying: Where are your punishments, Hadrian? The Lord our God has confounded you, and we count your punishments as nothing.

[10] Hadrian said to the attendants: Bring bulls and take these magicians from my sight; Bound to bulls, they are carried into the forest, tie them to the rear of the bulls, so that they may be carried to deserted places and perish. Then the attendants took Faustinus and Jovita and Calocerus, bound them behind untamed bulls, and released them into a remote forest. But the bulls stood in the forest as if tied to a manger. Angels came to them, saying: Faustinus, the Lord has sent us to lead you back to the city, Freed by Angels, that Hadrian may see his own confusion. Then the Angels, turning, said to the bulls: Go with Faustinus, Jovita, and Calocerus into the city, and you shall be given power, so that many wonders may be shown through you. Faustinus, Jovita, and Calocerus returned to the city, as the Angels had commanded them, They return to the palace, and the bulls followed them. Entering the city at first light, they went to the palace to be seen by the people. It was reported to Hadrian: Faustinus, Jovita, and Calocerus are standing outside, and the bulls to which they had been bound are with them. Hearing this, he was greatly amazed and ordered them to enter his presence; but the bulls followed them, while the palace guards tried to drive them out. With the bulls following by force, But when the bulls saw themselves being separated from the holy servants of God, they suddenly became like a violent storm, entering the palace and breaking down the doors; and as many as they found in their path fell dead as if struck by a sword, until they reached the Martyrs of God. When they arrived, they remained like happy lambs returning from pasture. Hadrian, seeing the bulls enter with great fury and suddenly become like lambs, said in amazement: Faustinus, I see that a great grace of our god Silvanus is in you, so that the bulls, which we sent against you like lions, have become like sheep. Calocerus replied: What do you call the god Silvanus, whose image children make for themselves from branches and immediately cast into the fire, and it is nowhere to be found? Hadrian said: Listen to me before I have you delivered to the teeth of wild beasts, and sacrifice. Calocerus replied: We do not heed your counsels, but apply whatever punishment you have ready, so that those who have not seen may see, and those who have not heard may hear.

CHAPTER III

The separation of St. Calocerus from Saints Faustinus and Jovita: his contest and death.

[11] Calocerus exhorts the Milanese to the faith of Christ: Hearing these words, all the people cried out with one voice: Take the sorcerers from our midst. Calocerus said to them: Hear us, citizens of Milan; attend to the truth and do not place hope in the falsehood of Hadrian, from whom truth is estranged. And he added: Where are your threats, Hadrian? Behold, the bulls lie in our sight, meek, to your confusion; but let your father the devil provide you with harsher torments against us. Hear then, O peoples, and attend to my words. The gods you worship grow old with time. If there were sense in you, and you would receive our words into your hearts, you would worship the God of heaven purely and execrate the demons of idols. Fear the one God who is over all the face of the earth, who raises the needy from the ground and lifts the poor from the dunghill. Surely you see how great is His mercy toward His servants, that He does not allow the truth to be held in falsehood, for the Lord is righteous and loves righteousness; His countenance beholds equity. Then a voice came to him, saying: To you it is said, Calocerus, He is warned by a heavenly voice of the approaching crown: that today you shall be handed over to a judge who will lead you through various places until you arrive at a city in which many will believe in my name through you, and there you shall receive your crown.

[12] Then Hadrian ordered Calocerus to be brought to the palace, to hand him over to the Prefect Antiochus. Antiochus then said to his household: Take Calocerus outside, so that he cannot escape death through me. Then Calocerus kissed Faustinus and Jovita, He bids farewell to Saints Faustinus and Jovita, saying: Be mindful of me, making unceasing prayer, that I may be given power to overcome the devil. Faustinus said to him: Brother Calocerus, see, your contest is not a heavy one. And they gave him peace, saying: Go in the name of the Lord and prepare dwellings for us, so that when we have overcome the devil and all his phantoms, we may receive the palm of righteousness and find the habitation prepared by God, in which we shall glory. Then Antiochus said: Calocerus, go outside. For he was embracing Faustinus and Jovita, and they bade each other farewell. Then the attendants bound Calocerus and led him to the palace, to whom Hadrian said: Calocerus, see how much sorcery has turned you from us, so that you, appointed as a Judge in our palace, have been so deceived that you would refute us through many deceptions. Then Antiochus the Prefect said: By your clemency, command that a tribunal be prepared for me, so that I may hear them by your order, and they may worship our gods, or I shall have them stretched out in the most grievous torments. Hadrian replied: Behold, I grant you the honor of a five-year administration; They are destined to be sent to Rome: only see that they are converted to our gods. Behold, work diligently so that they sacrifice to the gods. Then Hadrian ordered a tribunal to be prepared for Antiochus in the Capitol, to hear Faustinus and Jovita; but Calocerus he ordered to go ahead to the Cottian Alps. And Hadrian said to Antiochus: These men are very necessary to me in the City; but you shall travel with us, so that through your agency they may be converted to our religion.

[13] Antiochus said: What shall we do about Calocerus, whom you ordered to go ahead to the Cottian Alps? Hadrian said: We shall send someone to act in your place while you are with us. He is examined by Sapritius at Asti: Antiochus replied: May your Majesty appoint someone who is shrewd in dealing with the despisers of your laws. There was a certain Sapritius, very strict in our law; he served in the palace as Chief of the Candidates. Hadrian appointed him to act in Antiochus's place and commanded him thus: We are sending you to the Cottian Alps to act for Antiochus, so that you may execute by the sword whatever Christians you find. Sapritius then, having entered the city of Asti, said to the blessed Calocerus: Sacrifice, so that you may obtain pardon. Calocerus replied: I sacrifice to my God, and I worship Him in His holy place, for His praise is sweet. Sapritius said: What God do you mean, whom no one sees? For surely the gods we worship are seen at all times and worshipped by all, and whatever is asked of them is granted at that hour. Sapritius ordered the attendants He is terrified by no punishments: to melt pitch and pour it over resin. Then Sapritius said again to Calocerus: Calocerus, before the torments that have been prepared are applied to you, consent to me and sacrifice, that you may be free from punishment. Calocerus replied: You shall not see the servant of God distressed in anything; but look behind you, for you shall have no power to harm the servant of God. Sapritius then said to the attendants: Bring them, that he may see the torments prepared for him. He is unharmed by pitch, resin, And the attendants brought pots filled with pitch and resin, which the enraged Sapritius ordered to be poured upon his head. But when they poured them, the mixture rebounded upon the attendants, and did not touch the Saint of God at all. Again he ordered boiling fish sauce to be brought and poured into his mouth. And boiling fish sauce: When the attendants did this, he drank it as if it were the sweetest water, and was filled with great delight; lifting his eyes to heaven, he said: "How sweet are Your words to my taste, O Lord." And turning to the people standing around, he said: Therefore take care that Sapritius does not deceive you through the punishments he inflicts upon me, since I feel them not at all. But look to your Creator and turn to Him and worship God who is in the heavens and made you, and do not worship gods of stone and wood, in whom there is no salvation.

[14] Hearing these words, Sapritius ordered Calocerus to be beaten with rods and placed in prison; and seized with fury, he passed sentence on Calocerus, He is killed at Albenga, yearning for Saints Faustinus and Jovita. that he should be led to Albenga and there receive the end of his life. Going out beyond the walls of the city of Asti, he said: Lord, act with Your servant, that I may see before Your sight Faustinus and Jovita. And having received the sentence, he was taken to Albenga and there received the end of this life; and immediately a considerable multitude of singing Angels arrived at the place. All the sentences that Sapritius had passed against Calocerus he transmitted to the Prince Hadrian; and when all had been read back to him, they greatly pleased him.

EXCERPTS

from the Manuscript Life of St. Secundus, Martyr of Asti.

Faustinus, Priest, brother, Martyr at Brescia in Italy (Saint) Jovita, Deacon, brother, Martyr, at Brescia in Italy (Saint)

BHL Number: 7566

From the Life of St. Secundus.

[1] Secundus, a citizen of Asti, a vigorous soldier and Count Palatine, was of distinguished birth, dignity, wealth, and character, yet deceived by the error of idols. At that time a certain most impious Emperor named Hadrian ruled the Roman Empire, and a certain Antiochus, similar to him in cruelty, was Prefect of the Cottian Alps, who had been sent by the Emperor to persecute the Christians. When this Antiochus was going to Milan to the Emperor Hadrian, After St. Marcianus had been captured at Tortona, passing through the city of Tortona, he heard that Marcianus, the Bishop of that city, was daily leading many to abandon the worship of idols and embrace the faith of Christ. But since he could not stay there at that time, he ordered him to be kept in prison until his return. When he arrived at Milan, Saints Faustinus and Jovita, tortured at Milan, are kept alive, he saluted the Emperor, who at the same time had caused the holy brothers Faustinus and Jovita and St. Calocerus to be brought from the city of Brescia to that same city. When he had afflicted them in many ways and with many torments to draw them to the worship of idols, seeing that he was making no progress, he kept Saints Faustinus and Jovita alive so that he might take them with him to Rome; but St. Calocerus he consigned to the same Antiochus, to send him to Asti... But in his place the Emperor Hadrian substituted a most cruel deputy named Sapricius. After St. Calocerus had been sent to Asti: He was an idolater and a most cruel persecutor of Christians...

[2] When Sapricius and the blessed Secundus, instructed by St. Calocerus, entered Tortona, the blessed Marcianus, going out of prison by the command of an Angel, met the blessed Secundus at the gate of the city Sent by St. Marcianus to Saints Faustinus and Jovita at Milan, and said to him: Enter, Secundus, into the way of truth, and go to Milan, that you may receive the palm of faith; and there you shall find the most illustrious ministers of Christ, Faustinus and Jovita, by whom, having been baptized, you shall come to me... Then Secundus, having taken carriages, departed with two of his servants. When they had entered Milan at about the sixth hour, he began to be troubled within himself as to how he might reach the Saints of God, Faustinus and Jovita, who were being held in prison. When he had drawn near the center of the city, behold, an Angel of the Lord appeared to Secundus, saying: Secundus, go outside the walls of the city on the right side. I shall bring Faustinus and Jovita to you. Hearing the words of the Angel of God, Led out of prison by an Angel: Secundus, filled with joy, went to the place. The Angel of the Lord then went to the prison and said: Faustinus and Jovita, our brothers and companions, come with me, for a wise man named Secundus has come to you from the city of Asti to receive baptism, who has been instructed by the blessed Calocerus and sent to you by the blessed Marcianus. Faustinus and Jovita said: We give You thanks, Lord, because You have visited us and sent to us the salvation of Your servant Calocerus. And the Angel led them out of prison and brought them to Secundus. Seeing them from afar, he threw himself upon the ground before them and said: Redeem my soul from the hand of the grave, that I may come free to the God of the heavens. Faustinus said: Lord, look upon the faith of Your servant, that he may arrive at his desire.

[3] And when these words of prayer had ended, behold, suddenly the water failing, there appeared something like a pillar of cloud descending, and it furnished them with water in abundance. Faustinus, seeing the purpose for which Secundus had come to him, St. Faustinus baptizes St. Secundus with water received from a cloud, took hold of Secundus and placed him under the water flowing from heaven, washing him and saying: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit I baptize you. And he signed him; and behold, suddenly a dove came from heaven, bearing the Body and Blood of the Lord, which it placed in the hands of Faustinus and Jovita, And gives him the Holy Eucharist, saying: Behold the living bread which came down from heaven to give life to this world. Then Faustinus gave the Body and Blood of the Lord to Secundus, saying: Go, Secundus, and receive the palm of righteousness in your city. And giving him the kiss of peace, they said: May we hear from you the completion of the course of your faith. And they gave him the kiss of peace again, saying: Carry this Body mixed with the Blood of the Lord to our brothers Calocerus and Marcianus, He is given the Eucharist to carry to Saints Calocerus and Marcianus. whom we know must be renewed through the font of martyrdom. And having made a prayer, he bade them farewell and mounted the carriages in which he had come... And entering the city of Tortona, Secundus said to the Angel: I beg you, lead me to Marcianus, that I may greet him and deliver to him the gift sent by Faustinus and Jovita. Then the Angel led him to the place where the blessed Marcianus was in custody. And when they had entered the prison, they greeted St. Marcianus, saying: Rejoice and be glad, wise worshipper of God. Secundus said: Behold what the Lord has sent to you, through the hands of Faustinus and Jovita. Marcianus, receiving the Body and Blood of the Lord, took it for himself, saying: May the Body and Blood of the Lord be with me unto eternal life. And he kissed Secundus, saying: You shall carry my peace to our brother Calocerus...

[4] Then the blessed Bishop Marcianus was taken outside the wall of the city of Tortona... he knelt, St. Marcianus, killed on March 27, is buried by St. Secundus: and after making a prayer, the executioner cut off his head. Secundus then cast himself forward, seized his body, and buried it with all care on the sixth day before the Kalends of April... Then the attendants, taking the blessed Secundus, led him into the dark custody of the prison. While St. Secundus was there, suddenly a bright and shining light appeared in that prison; and behold, an Angel... led him out of the prison with the prison unharmed and closed, from the city of Tortona, and brought him to the city of Asti... to place him in custody with the blessed Calocerus... Hearing this, Sapritius ordered St. Calocerus to be beaten with rods and confined in prison; Led by an Angel to Asti, but the blessed Secundus he ordered to undergo the capital sentence. St. Secundus, however, taking hold of Calocerus, kissed him in the presence of the people and of Sapritius. Seeing this, Sapritius, filled with fury, passed sentence on Calocerus, that he should immediately receive the end of death at Albenga. Then the holy Martyrs of Christ went out beyond the walls of the city of Asti, saying: Lord, act with Your servants, that before Your sight we may see Saints Faustinus and Jovita, Yearning for Saints Faustinus and Jovita, he is killed on March 30. and also our Father Marcianus; and they bade each other farewell. When this was done, Secundus went with the executioner to the place, where he knelt and thus prayed: Lord, receive my spirit, that it may be worthy to find grace in Your sight. And with these words, his head was taken off on the third day before the Kalends of April.