CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS OF LEONTINI IN SICILY.
ABOUT THE YEAR OF CHRIST 255.
CommentaryMartyrs of Leontini in Sicily (SS.)
G. H.
[1] That there is a city of Leontini on the eastern coast of Sicily, also called Leontini itself, situated a few miles from the sea, we noted on February 2 in the Life of St. Rhodippus, Bishop of the same city at the beginning of the fourth century. Our Octavius Caietanus, from the Leontine Records and the Ecclesiastical Offices approved by Pope Paul V, The feast of these Martyrs on February 18 reports the following for February 18 in the Sicilian Martyrology: At Leontini, of very many holy Martyrs, who under the Consulars Armatus and Tertullus of Sicily, having been subjected to various tortures, obtained triumphal palms. Ferrarius also has this in his Catalogue of Saints: At Leontini in Sicily, of very many holy Martyrs killed under the Governor Tertullus. He cites the Acts of Sts. Cleonicus and Stratonicus, Martyrs under the Governors Armatus and Tertullus. Acts in the Life of Sts. Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus. Indeed the martyrdom of both these and those is contained in the Acts of Sts. Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus, Martyrs, to be treated on May 10. We obtained these Acts printed at Palermo in the year 1622, which Baronius writes were translated from ancient Greek records into Latin, at July 12, letter G.
[2] Before St. Rhodippus already mentioned, the Bishop of Leontini was St. Neophytus, The governance at Leontini of Armatus and Tertullus: who is venerated on September 1, previously called Alexander, whose mother, as is read in those Acts, named Neophyta, was the sister of Blessed Isidora, mother of Thecla; these two sisters undertook many struggles and endured torments for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and were deprived of life by the impious and wicked Armatus, who held the chief authority of the metropolis before Tertullus. Sts. Neophyta and Isidora are venerated on April 17, and St. Thecla the Virgin on January 10, on which day we gave her Life. Concerning the same persons and the Governor Armatus, Alexander, or St. Neophytus, speaks thus in the same Acts: Know that the mother of Thecla, my kinswoman, and Neophyta, my mother, proclaiming the holy Trinity of great name and worshipping the eternal God, after many torments departed from this life under Armatus, who held the chief authority in this metropolis before Tertullus, my lord.
[3] In this persecution under the Governor Armatus, many fled from the city of Leontini; others followed when Tertullus, a man of barbarous cruelty, succeeded him. on account of their savagery, the flight of the Christians, Hence, when the son of a certain Jew living among the people of Leontini had been freed from a demon possessing him by Sts. Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus on the road, as these saints were being led captive to that city, his father and mother, as is found in their Acts, and brothers and kinsmen questioned the saints, saying: What do you, our lords, command us servants of yours to do, so that by doing it we may be baptized? For all the Christians have fled from here, both Bishops and Priests, leaving the church where baptisms are performed, out of fear of Tertullus, who has destroyed many Christians both here and in every place in Sicily on account of the faith in vain idols. Very many of these Christians, leaving the city of Leontini, fled to the castle of Menae, to the castle of Menae: which Diodorus Siculus, Ptolemy, and others called Menae, an ancient town situated in the interior of Sicily, on the road going south from Leontini. But the aforementioned Jews, having become both Christians and Martyrs for the faith of Christ, are venerated on April 9.
[4] The mandate to arrest these Christians was given to St. Neophytus, or Alexander, Tertullus's Counsellor, since he had not yet publicly professed the faith of Christ, and is narrated as follows in those same Acts: When Alexander and his wife St. Epiphania had been conversing together about these things, three noblemen from among the chief men of the city, Herpio, Marullus, and Colymbio, sent by Tertullus, came to Alexander; and being received into the house, they said: Our lord, your second father, mandate to arrest them given to Alexander Tertullus has sent us to you, and speaks to you thus: Since you have always been dear to me as a son, and a faithful counsellor equally beloved by me and the Emperor, or rather by the immortal gods (and our benevolence toward you is manifest), I inform you that I have recently received letters... that, since in a certain place in Sicily a very great multitude of Christians lies hidden, we should go there with a sufficient army and arrest them and bring them here; and I wish this to be done at the direction of your prudence and valor... Hearing this, Alexander, not wishing to offend those sent by the Governor before he could go to the Saints, said: I am ill, he makes excuses, as you see, and I cannot come to him at present. Therefore tell my lord Tertullus that if God restores me to my former health and commands me, I will come to him... Tertullus, hearing this, rejoiced greatly, and neither he nor they rightly understood in what sense Alexander had spoken those words.
[5] Alexander, or St. Neophytus, then by the command of Sts. Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus withdrew from the city to some hiding place, and fleeing. while in the meantime the said three brothers were crowned with the palm of martyrdom, as was St. Epiphania, Alexander's wife, whose feast day has been assigned by the Sicilians to May 12, and in the Roman Martyrology to July 12. Moreover, Sts. Stratonicus and Cleonicus were slain in the confession of the Christian faith, to whom July 24 is sacred. After narrating their martyrdom, the following is added: After some days Tertullus set out with a great army to the castle called Menae, Martyrs killed by the army of Tertullus. where he slew the Christians who were from the metropolis of Leontini, and others who were there, and from that place he utterly eradicated the name of Christians, as the impious Valerian had commanded. Fazellus, Decade 1 of Sicilian Affairs, Chapter 11, affirms that Menae still has a citadel and very ancient walls. Two thousand paces from this town there is a spring, of which Vibius writes in his Catalogue of Springs: "At Menae of the Leontini, by which the citizens of that place fear to swear." Consult Cluverius, Book 2 of Ancient Sicily, Chapter 8, where he reports that this spring is more often called the lake and pool, or the boiling craters of the Palici, and that both the spring and the town of Menae are in the territory of Leontini. This spring was also discussed in the Life of St. Agatha on February 5.
[6] Concerning the time of the persecution, the following is read on July 12 in the Roman Martyrology: At Leontini, of St. Epiphania, who under the Emperor Diocletian and the Governor Tertullus, having had her breasts cut off, gave up her spirit. Here Baronius notes in the persecution of Decius, that her struggles are described in the Acts of the holy Martyrs of Leontini, Alphius and companions, from which it seems possible to gather that she suffered rather under Decius than under Licinius, as is erroneously stated there. Indeed the husband of St. Epiphania, Alexander, then called Neophytus, as is read in the proper Lessons approved by Pope Paul V, was consecrated Bishop of Leontini on December 28 of the year 258, in the times of the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus, by the Apostle Andrew appearing to him, after he had lain hidden in a cave for a space of four years, and the impious Tertullus, as is found in the oft-mentioned Acts, continued under Valerian and Gallienus. had miserably perished after four years had elapsed since the death of Sts. Alphius and companions; so that the martyrdom both of those saints and of these Martyrs of Leontini seems to be referred to the beginning of the reign of Valerian and Gallienus, under whom the persecution of Decius was continued.