Sergius

ON ST. SERGIUS, MARTYR, AT CAESAREA IN CAPPADOCIA

IN THE YEAR 304.

Preliminary Commentary.

Sergius, Martyr at Caesarea in Cappadocia (St.)

By the author G. H.

[1] Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia Prima, was the arena of many illustrious Martyrs: in which St. Sergius merited the palm of heavenly victory on this day, The sacred veneration of St. Sergius: as the Martyrologies indicate, both handwritten and printed, those of Bede, Usuard, Ado, Bellini, Maurolycus, the ancient Roman of Rosweyde, and the present one of Baronius. In this last the following is read: At Caesarea in Cappadocia, of St. Sergius the Martyr, whose illustrious deeds are extant: which others also call most illustrious. Some Martyrologies make no mention of these deeds. Galesinius writes the following: At Caesarea in Cappadocia, of St. Sergius the Martyr, whose admirable contest for Christ was outstanding, and other divinely wrought deeds are narrated. Canisius transcribes the same in his German Martyrology. Galesinius notes, however, that the Martyrologists write that his illustrious acts are extant, yet nothing has yet been ascertained.

[2] Tamayo Salazar also inscribed the same in his Spanish Martyrology in these words: At Caesarea in Cappadocia, the birthday of St. Sergius, monk and Martyr, whose sacred relics, brought to Spain, rest with honor at Badalona in the Laletanian region of Catalonia. The same adds in his Notes that in investigating the more difficult Acts he applied the whole labor of his investigation: Ancient Acts: and that he received those Acts, transcribed from ^a very ancient Gothic MS. codex preserved at the Cistercian monastery of Mont-Sion in Toledo, with the help of Don Martin de Zelaga Ocariz, then Inquisitor at Toledo, now the most worthy Scholastic at Salamanca. These Acts therefore, published by Tamayo, we give, although they seem to have been composed by an unskilled writer.

[3] The Martyrologies in Latin did not suggest the manner of death, which the Acts clearly teach occurred by the cutting off of the head, Whether he is venerated among the Greeks on January 2? and they confirm our conjecture, by which on January 2 we indicated that this seems to be the Sergius whom the Greeks celebrate in the Menaea and in Cytheraeus on that day, and whom they assert ended his life by being beheaded.

[4] Primus, Bishop of Chalon, in his Topography of the Saints written about two hundred years ago, has the following concerning St. Sergius resting at Badalona: Badalona, ^a coastal city of the same province of Tarraconensian Spain, near Barcelona. [Whether St. Sergius, buried at Badalona, is the same as St. Anastasius killed there?] Here Anastasius, ^a soldier from Lerida, with seventy-three companions, is ^a Martyr. Here lies St. Sergius in his monastery, ^a Martyr. Concerning St. Anastasius and his companions, we treated with Ferrarius on January 23, and we joined St. Sergius together with them, lest we seem to separate those whom other Spanish writers also joined. Ambrosio de Morales, book 10 of the History of Spain, chapter 28, folio 385, and Domenech, History of the Saints of Catalonia, page 123, having narrated the death of St. Anastasius, add that ^a monk called Sergius was also subjected to martyrdom in the same place. The same are mentioned in the Chronicle published under the name of Julian Peter, and St. Anastasius the soldier is established as having perished in the persecution of Decius, and his martyrdom is said to have been so illustrious that on the fifth day of December the Greeks in their Menologia mentioned this most brave soldier and Martyr. So it reads there at number 86. But whether, after the Greek Menologion was published by Heinrich Canisius, or at least after the name from the Greek MS. codex and Menaea was inscribed in the Roman Martyrology, these things were first composed, let others inquire. The Greeks make no mention of the Emperor Decius, nor of Spain or any city, nor indeed of companions, who in that Chronicle at number 87 are said to be seventy, also companions in the most difficult combat and in the crown.

[5] After these things concerning St. Anastasius and his companions are narrated, the following is asserted at number 88 concerning St. Sergius: At Badalona in the Laletanian region was brought the body of St. Sergius, ^a monk who suffered for the faith at Caesarea in Cappadocia, whose day of the twenty-fourth of the month of February is held as ^a solemnity. There are those who think that this Sergius was the son of St. Philip the Martyr, who, after the administration of distinguished magistracies, became ^a monk, endured martyrdom after his father and sister, and, buried with them at Rome, possesses with them the eternal palm. They rightly say that he who suffered was the brother of Eugenia. Certain authors, however, are mistaken in saying he suffered at Rome: but in truth he suffered his illustrious martyrdom at Caesarea in Cappadocia. So it reads, and these things require ^a little explanation. He says: They rightly say that Sergius who suffered was the brother of Eugenia. She is venerated on December 25, and her Acts were published by Lipomanus, and from him by Surius: whether the brother of St. Eugenia, at the opening of which the following is read concerning her parents and brothers: When Commodus, after his father Marcus, held the Roman Empire, and had already spent seven years in it, ^a certain Philip, an illustrious man, was appointed over Egypt: and he was sent together with his wife Claudia and his children to Egypt. He had two sons, Avitas and Sergius, and ^a daughter named Eugenia, noble indeed in spirit, as she was also distinguished in body and beauty. After Philip was killed at Alexandria while praying, for the faith of Christ, on September 13, and the son of St. Philip the Martyr of Alexandria? on which day he is inscribed in the sacred calendar, his wife Claudia with her sons and St. Eugenia returned to Rome: when, as her Acts relate, the Senate of the Romans chose her sons for distinguished magistracies, Avitas indeed as Proconsul of Carthage, and Sergius as Vicar of Africa. Hence in the Chronicle of Julian it is said that after the administration of distinguished magistracies, having become ^a monk, he endured martyrdom after his father and sister. But those Acts contain nothing about his monastic life or his martyrdom: so that perhaps, because the name of Sergius was found there, those things which pertain to St. Sergius of Cappadocia or some other monk were added by the slightest conjecture. For Commodus received the Roman Empire in the year 180 and was killed in the year 193, and St. Sergius underwent martyrdom in the year 304; nor indeed is his martyrdom, much less the translation of his body, to be referred to the times of Decius, since below in the Acts he is said to have endured martyrdom after his sister, who suffered under Gallienus. But the Chronicle is perhaps to be explained in the sense that on the occasion of the martyrdom of St. Anastasius, which occurred at Badalona, the Translation of the body of St. Sergius to the same Laletanian city of Badalona was added.

[6] Below in the Acts of St. Sergius, the following clause concerning the Translation is read: The body of St. Sergius was brought to Spain, Afterward, in the course of time, the relics of the holy monk were brought to Spain, and buried at the town of Badalona, they rested with honor, although today the site of the sepulchre is entirely unknown. This clause would be of greater weight with us than the Chronicle of Julian, if it had not been added to the Acts afterward. Alegreus, in the Carmelite Paradise, state 2, age 6, chapter 151, places the martyrdom of St. Sergius in the year of Christ 400, under the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, brothers reigning together. Whether under Arcadius and Honorius? It could rather be conjectured that the translation of the body occurred at that time; and that this clause was perhaps written together with the Acts themselves: at which time the site of the sepulchre was unknown, since the city of Badalona is said to have been leveled and destroyed, and from its ruins Badalona was constructed. I would not, however, rashly say that whoever this Sergius was, he was ^a monk of the Carmelite Order without the authority of ancient writers. Whether the monk himself was ^a Carmelite? Perhaps he was only considered ^a monk because the monastery of St. Sergius was so called on account of his relics deposited there. In the ancient Martyrologies no trace of his monastic life is found. The one whom we reported on February 23, Sirenus or Sinerius, who suffered at Sirmium in Lower Pannonia under the Emperor Maximian, is commonly called ^a monk in the Martyrologies, on account of the solitary life he led on ^a certain estate of his or in desert places, as we said there at number 1. In the MS. Florarium he is said by others to be also called Sergius. Whether the name of monk was transferred from him to this Sergius of Caesarea, we do not know.

[7] Molanus notes on Usuard that St. Gregory of Tours perhaps treats of St. Sergius in his work On the Glory of the Martyrs, chapter 97, Whether Gregory of Tours treats of this Sergius? whose beginning is as follows: Sergius also, the Martyr, performs many signs among the peoples, curing infirmities and healing the diseases of those who faithfully pray. The same Gregory of Tours also treats of St. Sergius the Martyr in book 7 of the History of the Franks, chapter 31. A certain man related, he says, that ^a certain king in the parts of the East, having removed the thumb of St. Sergius the Martyr, kept it on the right arm of his body, etc. Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, noble Romans killed under the Emperor Maximian in the province called Augusta Euphratesia, are venerated on the Nones of October. Baronius writes at the same October 7 that Gregory of Tours treats of this Sergius in his History of the Franks. There is added on this February 24 another Sergius to Sts. Herulus or Herodius, Lucius, and Absolon, who also suffered at Caesarea in Cappadocia, for which Sergius others substitute George or Lorgius, as we noted above among those Omitted, and as we shall say more fully on March 2.

LIFE

Published from the Toledo MS. by Juan Tamayo Salazar.

Sergius, Martyr at Caesarea in Cappadocia (St.)

BHL Number: 7598

By an anonymous author.

[1] In the twentieth year of the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, and of their second consulship, the edicts of their impiety were sent throughout the whole world against the Christians: which, directed through the judges of the various provinces, they received under great fear and peril of their lives, In the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian so that if any persons were found serving the worship of the Christian religion, they would perish by various punishments and torments. When these most nefarious commands were being issued, while the atrocity of the persecution especially threatened in the Eastern parts, throughout all the provinces of both parts of Asia, all Christians who were found were put to death by various torments and by the sword. At that time, therefore, it came about by divine intention and providence that Maximian at Nicomedia and Diocletian at Milan, desiring ^a private life, withdrew from the Empire. For which reason the Lord granted ^a brief rest to his holy Churches and to the worshippers of the Christian religion. Then ^a certain man named Sapricius, born at Malta under the Roman Empire, obtained the office of Governor of both Armenia and Cappadocia, which he administered in both regions at the same time. And when the same Governor Sapricius, directing his course to Armenia, was passing through Cappadocia, he came to Caesarea: When Sapricius raged against the Christians at Caesarea in Cappadocia, where, while he was strictly seeking out the Christians and commanding that those found be presented to him by his ministers, there were not lacking two men, enemies of the Christian name and servants of profane idols, who said there were many Christians in that same city: whom the same Governor Sapricius ordered to be brought to him by his officers. The fierce cruelty of the Governor quickly consumed the Virgin Dorothea, Barlaam, and others in ^a short time. Afterward, the most wicked Governor, devoted to the sacrifices of idols, made known throughout all Cappadocia the command of the nefarious Princes Diocletian and Maximian: also establishing by his own decrees that if Christians were found in any place, they should be tortured even unto death by various and devised torments. When this became known in Caesarea, the metropolitan city of Cappadocia, and the commands of the Pagan Princes and the sacrilegious edicts of the most cruel Governor were publicly read, and all were strongly urged to observe them, then certain Christians, few in number, were found, who nevertheless were neither terrified by those commands nor willing to assent to the proposed torments. But the crowd of the faithful was growing day by day, and the crowns of the just were being multiplied before God.

[2] It happened in those days that annual sacrifices were being made in the Capitol, which was near the Governor's basilica, to the most nefarious Jupiter, whom the Gentiles of the profane idols considered to be the prince: to which throngs of the wicked were flocking with their unclean sacrificial victims. Others, moreover, along the sacred way, according to their sacrilegious custom, were hastening with white and laurel-crowned bulls and with great exultation to that Capitol to sacrifice to the demons themselves, celebrating ^a certain execrable feast of ^a most vain image. While they were doing these things, ^a certain monk named Sergius, educated in the Christian faith by his parents and already made ^a faithful servant of Christ the Lord -- who at first had served worldly princes through secular offices, St. Sergius the monk renders the idols mute through his prayers: but fearing the storms of ^a sacrilegious age and despising the breezes of human glory, leaving all things and distributing to the poor, had withdrawn to the vast hut of ^a mountain, where, naked, he sought the naked Christ, and devoted to fasting, prayer, and hairshirts, covered with ^a rough garment, he thus endeavored to gain Christ -- this man, coming into the city by the will of God, mingled among the throngs of the sacrilegious, was awaiting the vain display of the sacrifices. And at that hour when that sacrilegious priest of the idols was entreating his accomplices with certain magical words, Sergius began to pray to God in his heart, that he might show to the unbelieving peoples the greatness of his wonders, so as to make the performance of the wicked priest vanish like nothing. And so it was done, insofar as the ill-starred minister of the idols could thereafter receive no response from the idols. On account of this, the priest, angered while offering the sacrifices, began to devise various tricks of falsehood, by which he proclaimed that the anger of their gods was kindled because of the toleration of the Christian name. At these things, Sergius, inflamed with zeal for the faith, standing in the midst of all, cried out with ^a loud voice: Why, O sacrilegious sacrificer, do you falsely claim the anger of your gods, when my Lord Jesus Christ, who makes the tongues of the wise eloquent, for the glory of his name sometimes silences the speech of demons? It is he, O wicked one, who on account of the prayer of me, his servant, and on account of the condescension of his own mercy, He rebukes the sacrificers: has sealed the lying mouths of this demon. It is he, O superstitious one, who chose me, though unworthy, as ^a minister, and that I might make manifest to you and to all this people the error of your envy, and that I might fearlessly make known to all the truth of my religion.

[3] The sacrificer was immediately stupefied, and laying hands on Sergius, he called together all the people whom he had assembled for the sacrifice, who seized the holy monk and, having roughly dragged him, brought him before the Governor. Who, learning all that had been done by the priests, turned to Sergius and said: Who are you, examined by the Governor, who call our gods demons and affirm that our Emperors are worshippers of demons? To whom Sergius replied: I am ^a servant of my Lord Jesus Christ, by whose power both your idols are as nothing before me, and the lying images of the Emperors, though they have mouths, shall not speak. The Governor replied: All you Christians glory in these magical arts, but your God never frees you from death. The Martyr answered: It is appointed unto men once to die. Woe to you, who, deprived of this temporal life, will receive eternal death if you do not believe in Christ my God. We have temporal death on account of the decree, but afterward ^a glorious life remains for us. He fearlessly despises death: Sapricius smiled, and then said: Beyond doubt, deprived of judgment, you are mad. By all the gods, if you do not sacrifice, I will not delay in making you undergo the capital sentence, but I will immediately have you deprived of life by the sword, so that you may experience that glorious life you have falsely claimed. To whom Sergius, answering, said: I give thanks to my Lord Jesus Christ, who deigned to free me, ^a sinner, from the many pollutions and power of demons, so that I might no longer err: and therefore, whatever torments you may wish to inflict upon me, I am ready, because I will not sacrifice to idols. Then he pronounced sentence upon him, saying: He is beheaded. We decree that Sergius, disobedient to the gods and blaspheming our Lords the Emperors, be struck with the sword, and that all his possessions be marked for confiscation under public titles. Upon the pronouncement of this, the officers seized Sergius, and having cut off his head, they left his body there, which the Christians, gathering it at night, buried in the house of an honorable matron. He suffered on the sixth day before the Kalends of March.

[4] Afterward, in the course of time, the relics of the holy monk were brought to Spain, and buried at the town of Badalona, they rested with honor, The body is brought to Spain. although today the site of the sepulchre is entirely unknown.