ON ST. PRIMIAN, BISHOP AND MARTYR, AT ANCONA IN PICENUM
Preliminary Commentary.
Primian, Bishop and Martyr, at Ancona in Picenum (St.)
J. B.
[1] At Ancona, an ancient and celebrated city of Picenum on the Adriatic Sea, St. Primian is venerated on February 23 -- a Greek bishop (of what see is uncertain) and Martyr, the veneration of St. Primian, Bishop and Martyr as Filippo Ferrari reports in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy and in his General Catalogue of Saints, and Ferdinando Ughelli in volume 1 of his Sacred Italy. Both acknowledge that the time at which he flourished and won the palm of martyrdom is unknown; that from his sepulchral inscription it is established that he was Greek; that he had his own church at Ancona, in which his relics are still preserved; but that it is now called the church of St. Francis of Paola, because the followers of that saint now perform the divine office there.
[2] Besides the inscription they cite, there exists a narrative of his Finding, an account of the Finding and Translation has been published which occurred about three hundred years ago, as well as a Revelation of his martyrdom and translation, and certain miracles then recorded in a book which is said to be preserved with his relics in the curia of Ancona. Both narratives were translated into Italian by Giorgio Tromba, a theologian and priest of Ancona, and published in print by Marco Salvioni in the year 1609. We have again rendered them into Latin, since we could not obtain the original.
[3] From that narrative it is established that the relics of St. Primian were found under Bishop John of Ancona, some time before Pope Gregory XI returned from Avignon to Italy, relics found around the year 1370 which occurred in the year 1376. Thomas Herrera in his Augustinian Alphabet calls that Bishop of Ancona Giovanni Tedesco; Ughelli calls him Giovanni de Tudescis and says that he had previously been Bishop of Capitolias, that is, of Capitolias in Palestine II under the Archbishop of Scythopolis, and was elected Bishop of Ancona on October 23, 1349, and presided over that church for many years, his successor Bartholomew Ularius of the Order of Friars Minor being elected in 1381.
[4] In the time of this Bishop John, St. Primian is said to have indicated in a dream to a pious woman that he had undergone martyrdom more than a thousand years before, the time of his martyrdom so that it may be possible to assign it to the times of Diocletian. As for Ughelli's observation that many doubt whether he was Bishop of Ancona -- the saint himself indicated to the same matron that he had been a bishop elsewhere, but that his relics had been transported from there to Ancona by ship about four hundred years before that revelation, first translation in the tenth century that is, in the tenth century of Christ.
[5] Ferrari writes that he had his own church in the city of Ancona; his church at Ancona Ughelli likewise asserts that the church in which he rests was consecrated to his name. From the history of the Finding it is clear that the building was called the church of St. Mary de Turriano. Whether it later began to be celebrated under his name after his veneration was restored there, we do not know.
[6] Giorgio Tromba attests that a solemn translation of the same Saint was performed on May 10, 1609, recent translation on May 10; feast day under the care of Cardinal Carlo dei Conti, then Bishop of Ancona. It had been established by Bishop John that the anniversary commemoration of St. Primian should be observed on the second Sunday of Lent, and that it should be reckoned among the moveable feasts, as they are called. It was afterwards fixed to the seventh day before the Kalends of March, as Ferrari writes from the records of that church. Whether St. George, who was a companion of St. Primian in martyrdom, is venerated anywhere, and on what day, is uncertain. A certain Primian the Martyr is commemorated on January 1, but he is not said to have been a bishop, and he has several companions.
NARRATIVE OF THE FINDING OF BLESSED PRIMIAN, BISHOP AND MARTYR,
from the Italian of Giorgio Tromba.
Primian, Bishop and Martyr, at Ancona in Picenum (St.)
from the Italian of Giorgio Tromba.
[1] Almighty God, who is wonderful and glorious in His Saints, does not allow the riches of His poor servants to remain hidden; but, so that the magnificence of His omnipotence may shine forth in those victorious athletes, He brings to light, not without miracle, those remains of theirs that were entirely unknown to mortals. The extraordinary treasure of the body of Blessed Primian, Bishop and Martyr, had lain hidden for an immemorial time at Ancona in the church called St. Mary de Turriano. St. Primian, Bishop and Martyr But when the day arrived on which the Godhead had decreed that it must be brought forth from its hiding place, Jacopo Benamato, a Canon of Ancona, and Smeduzio Paolini, likewise a Canon and Rector of that church of Turriano, while they were alone within that building after the completion of the Divine Office, by the prompting of the Holy Spirit noticed a certain marble structure in the wall a tomb in the wall to the right of the high altar, which occupied barely as much space as would be needed for a burial. Above it, a cupboard had been fitted, in which the Divine Eucharist was then preserved, and continues to be preserved to this day by the rectors and custodians of that church. As they marveled from a distance at the elegance of the work, they drew closer to examine so ancient a memorial. When with great labor and suitable tools the letters had been uncovered, an inscription carved in the wall appeared, recognized from the inscription yet so worn by age and obscured that it could not easily be read. It was as follows: HERE RESTS THE BODY OF BLESSED PRIMIAN THE BISHOP, WHO WAS A GREEK. And those words were thereafter seen and read everywhere by all.
[2] A few days later, the same Smeduzio, Rector of the church, and the master builder who oversaw its construction, eager to discover the truth, having carefully examined everything all around, by divine prompting, from the upper part where the window was and where the most holy Sacrament was kept, with the necessary tools removed a squared and skillfully wrought stone opened through pious effort. Behind that stone there was an empty space, and in it a wooden chest. When this was reverently and devoutly opened, all the members of an entire body were found, relics found therein wrapped in a distinguished linen cloth. After everything had been replaced as it had been before, they judged the matter should be disclosed to the Bishop of Ancona, Brother John, of the Order of Hermits, a man of the most honorable and holy life. In the meantime they arranged for an iron grating and a new chest elegantly ornamented and furnished with silver and other adornments, as the dignity of so great a treasure merited.
[3] They therefore went first to the Bishop, set forth the entire matter in detail, and asked him to come to the place himself and inspect everything, so that all might be confirmed with greater certainty. Admiring the various miracles of the same Martyr that were narrated by them and by other trustworthy persons, he promised that he would come to that church; and he came with a great throng of the clergy, visited by the Bishop and with the utmost reverence and feeling of piety examined everything with his own eyes, and found that all had been duly reported to him. Then, after giving thanks to God and singing the hymn Te Deum laudamus, he decreed that the day on which that holy body had been found, namely the second Sunday of Lent, should be reckoned among the moveable feasts, a feast established on the second Sunday of Lent as they are called. And the same Bishop, with the clergy and a very great throng of the assembled people, honored that celebration with the Office and the rest of the solemn ritual according to the received custom of the Church, with the assistance of Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
AnnotationREVELATION OF ST. PRIMIAN
concerning his martyrdom and first translation, from the Italian of the same Giorgio Tromba.
Primian, Bishop and Martyr, at Ancona in Picenum (St.)
[1] Almighty God, to manifest His works more illustriously and to exalt His servants with great glory, God reveals many things in dreams is accustomed to declare many wonderful things through dreams, as is evident from the Old and New Testaments: in the former, the future was announced in dreams to Joseph, the son of the Patriarch Jacob, and to Pharaoh, King of Egypt; in the latter, to Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mother of God, and to the Magi who had come to adore Christ and, having received an answer in a dream not to return to Herod, returned to their own country by another way. A certain woman is also reported to have been admonished in a dream, in the history of Blessed Liberius, that his body, buried in a previously unknown place, should be carried to the Cathedral basilica of Ancona. Since, moreover, it has always been, is, and will be the same God, with whom there is no difference of past or future time, it ought not seem surprising if, as in ancient times, so now also He manifests certain miracles of His servants in the quiet of sleep.
[2] Indeed, at the time when the body of St. Primian was discovered, a certain woman named Ceccola, whose son was wretchedly afflicted with the epileptic disease, bound herself by a vow to God and St. Primian St. Primian appears to a matron commending her paralytic son to him that she would see to it that tithes of all the goods her son might acquire would be offered to this holy Saint, if by his patronage her son were freed from this infirmity. In accordance with that vow, an apparition was presented to the matron the following night in a dream, of the following sort: she seemed to see St. Primian, of tall stature, elegant form, clad in pontifical vestments, adorned with a mitre and pastoral staff, appears to her in a dream walking along the Ceptaria road toward the church of St. Mary de Turriano. When he had nearly arrived there, she seemed to be summoned by him, and she followed him, but out of fear and reverence she did not dare approach more closely. and summoned to himself Nor did she approach when she was called a second time. But when he called her a third time, she finally drew near and heard him pronounce the following: "Go to the priests of this church and admonish them in my name he orders her to announce that silver should not be used to adorn his relics that it does not at all please me for them to fashion a grating before my tomb. What I ask is that the Bishop of Ancona remove my body from the monument in which it now lies and place it in a chest of cypress, by no means covered with silver. For I wish that anyone may be able to look upon my bones, and that no ornament be applied to them, why? since above the relics of my body the most holy sacrament of the body of Christ is kept without similar ornament; and it is not fitting that greater honor be shown to the servant than to the Lord." The Saint seems to have said this because the priests of that church had already secretly resolved among themselves to have a new casket fabricated and to overlay it with silver insignia, as was mentioned above.
[3] Made bolder by the Saint's familiar discourse, the woman inquired of him thus: "Most holy Father, where did you come from, and when were you buried here?" The Saint replied: "Three companions and I together underwent martyrdom for the faith of Christ. he indicates to her the manner and time of his martyrdom I am Primian; another was George; he also named a third, whose name she herself forgot. And to me, the Saint added, after other torments, my head was most cruelly struck, and thus my soul, released, flew to heaven with the palm of martyrdom. More than a thousand years have passed since the time of my death. And when good Anconitan citizens had arrived by ship at those shores where my body was buried, by my will they brought it here and laid it in the tomb where it now lies. I have rested here for four hundred years, and the time of the first translation and I wish to continue resting until the day of the universal resurrection. I permitted myself to be carried away from my former place because there the name of Christ was by no means honored by the inhabitants."
[4] "Know, moreover, that within a short time the sea will be troubled by a most terrible storm. Woe to the mothers whose sons are now at sea, for many will be shipwrecked and will incur the danger of death; he predicts a terrible storm but God, by the merits of many Saints, will deliver some from peril." She said: "What will become of the trireme sent to bring the Supreme Pontiff back to Rome, or at least to Italy, for many of the leading citizens of this city are on it?" That trireme, said St. Primian, and that he will come to the aid of some will incur the most imminent danger of shipwreck; but because some of the passengers will seek help from me, by divine favor they will escape unharmed. The matron inquired further: "What will happen, holy Father, to the ship of Cescolo Rossi of Ancona, my neighbor? Surely his loss would be most grievous." The Saint replied: "Admonish Cescolo's wife to venerate me with devout prayer, and I will bend the divine will by my prayers, so that he may be delivered from danger and come safely to my house -- namely, to the church in which my relics are preserved -- even though he will undergo enormous perils and near destruction."
[5] The woman then asked: "Is there nothing, most holy Father, that can be done to ward off that storm?" Blessed Primian said: he suggests a means for driving it away from the city "Suggest this counsel to the priests of this basilica: that when that dreadful storm begins to rage, they should take the linen cloth found in the chest in which my relics lie, and ascend to the roof of the basilica itself with torches, ringing the bells, and hold out the linen cloth toward every quarter of the sky. As far as the linen can be seen and the sound of the bells heard, the storm will subside, and God, appeased by my intercession, will deliver those in the vicinity from that peril. If the priests neglect this, many will perish by shipwreck." The woman, awakened from sleep, went to the church and narrated what she had seen in her dream.
[6] The prophecy was not in vain, nor was the woman deluded by an empty dream. Three months later, on the very vigil of Pentecost, that storm occurs on the eve of Pentecost so fierce and tremendous a storm arose at sea that no one then present remembered having seen or heard of its like. The ships in the harbor, tied with thick and strong cables,
could barely be held by the combined effort of many sailors to keep them from being battered by mutual collision. many ships damaged at Ancona One, despite the futile struggles of the sailors, was driven against the wall and shattered. A certain epidaurian vessel that was stationed outside the harbor at its wall was hurled by the force of the storm against the rock of St. Clement and perished, and all who were on it were drowned.
[7] one ship rescued from imminent danger by the help of St. Primian Then, as the fury of the same storm redoubled, an Anconitan ship belonging to Pasqualino Perucci was dashed against the same rock. When the wives of those who were on that ship saw this, they rushed with wailing and a great flood of tears to the sepulcher of St. Primian, devoutly begging him to avert destruction from their loved ones. As soon as the prayers were uttered, the fury of the winds was checked, the storms were calmed, serenity was restored to the sky, and the ship, freed from danger, entered the harbor undamaged with its passengers and sailors safe, St. Primian having appeased the angry heavens.
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