CONCERNING THE HOLY ROMAN MARTYRS SYMPHORIANUS, MACARIUS, VICTORINUS, MAURICE
OR MAURUS, ANICETUS, MODESTUS, CYRIACUS, FAUSTUS, PLACIDUS, ROCCHUS,
ALEXANDER, GENESIUS, EULALIA, HIRENA, AT ANTWERP IN BELGIUM
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Symphorianus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Macarius, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Victorinus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Maurice, or Maurus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Anicetus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Modestus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Cyriacus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Faustus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Placidus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Rocchus, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Alexander, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Genesius, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Eulalia, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint) Hirena, Roman Martyr, at Antwerp in Belgium (Saint)
from a diploma of the Bishop of Antwerp.
Section I. The relics of these Martyrs brought from Rome to Antwerp and exposed for public veneration.
[1] We have above, on various days of February, mentioned several bodies of Saints brought from the Roman cemeteries and crypts to Antwerp and other cities of Belgium in this century: here we shall relate that not complete bodies, or most of the bones and principal parts of individual bodies, Relics of these Martyrs but some parts of several, some notable, others smaller, were translated to this city, to the church of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus: and it was decreed that their memory should be recalled on this day. These are of Saints Symphorianus, Macarius, Victorinus, Maurice or Maurus, Anicetus, Modestus, Cyriacus, Faustus, Placidus, Rocchus, Alexander, Genesius, Eulalia, Hirena: extracted from the cemeteries of St. Callistus and St. Lucina all of which were extracted partly from the most famous cemetery of St. Callistus, partly from that of St. Lucina on the Via Salaria, as will be said below. I suspected that, if from the Via Salaria, they were not from the cemetery of St. Lucina, of which no cemetery on the Via Salaria is mentioned by Bosio and Aringo, but from that of St. Priscilla: but the records of a Roman notary had St. Lucina, and on the said road.
[2] Furthermore, the relics of the said Saints, and of others, sent from Rome to Belgium were legitimately consigned at Rome to Father William Du Loroy, Priest of our Society, in the month of December of the year 1639, to be sent here: they were brought here after some months, and were visited and approved approved by the Bishop of Antwerp, who is now Archbishop and Duke of Cambrai. They were not, however, immediately exposed for public veneration, since in the turbulent times, as they then were, not immediately elevated it seemed difficult to prepare the worthy adornment and solemnity of Translation for them: when from the very walls and roofs of this city we beheld the hostile arms of the Dutch and French: their cannon certainly, besieging our cities and fortresses, seemed to some to impede public piety and the triumphs of the Saints.
[3] I, however (nor shall I conceal it), judged that no other means could be more suitable for inflaming the piety of the citizens and for spurring them to propitiate the Deity. which was nevertheless advised to be done Therefore I exhorted Father Conrad Gaureau, then Superior of this House, to seek from the patronage of the heavenly Saints a defense for upholding both religion and the state, and not to allow their remains to lie hidden any longer, but to bring them forth into the church and onto the altar, with such a display of religion as would both move the Saints themselves to break the assaults of the enemies and kindle the spirits of mortals with a sense of new piety. Since others also urged the same; as he was himself, both by the character of the most noble family from which he sprang, and by the submission of spirit and piety in which he excelled, of the greatest ease and courtesy, he willingly acquiesced in such pious counsels.
[4] First, therefore, Father Nicholas Lancicius of the Society of Jesus, Provincial Superior in Lithuania, a man most renowned for the holiness of his life, his zeal for amplifying the glory of God, and after those of St. Honophria, Virgin and Martyr, of Rome and his ascetical writings, arranged for the transfer of the body of St. Honophria, Virgin and Martyr. He had previously brought many bodies of Saints from Rome to the kingdom of Poland: from among which he gave to the Belgian Province of the Society the bodies of the holy Virgins and Martyrs Honophria and Martina, and of the holy Martyrs Anthimus and Sevilianus, on the condition that one should go to this House, one to the Brussels college, and the remaining two to colleges of the Franco-Belgian province, as Father Florentius Montmorency should decide. The Most Illustrious and Most Excellent Lord John Zawadski, then Captain of Sucha, who afterward became Castellan of Gdansk and then Palatine of Parnawa in Livonia; and who at that time, namely the year 1636, was being sent as ambassador from the most powerful King of Poland Wladyslaw IV to the Most Serene Ferdinand of Austria, Infante of Spain and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Governor of Belgium for his brother King Philip, brought here from Poland and to the Most Serene Charles I, King of Great Britain; brought that treasure with him here: from which St. Honophria fell to us, St. Sevilianus to the Brusselites, and Saints Anthimus and Martina to the other province. At length in the year 1646, on April 22, the third Sunday after Easter, the body of St. Honophria, Virgin and Martyr, was translated, or elevated, in solemn procession. the translation carried out in the year 1646 was deliberated The same Superior Gaureau had accepted the obligation, if God were at last appeased and peace should dawn upon Belgium, to arrange for the relics of the various Saints which we have mentioned to be transferred with equal religious devotion and pomp.
[5] But he received a successor not long after, Father Francis van Hees: who, when two years later peace was established between the Dutch and the Catholic King, began to deliberate about bestowing upon the holy Martyrs the honor his predecessor had determined. But because he himself was chosen by the province the following year to travel to Rome for the general assembly of our Society (at which assembly Father Francis Piccolomini was created Superior General), the Translation was carried out in his absence, and done in the year 1650 but with his approval and desire that it be done so, in the year 1650. The manner in which these relics were brought here and approved by the Bishop of Antwerp, and the elevation and veneration decreed, will be evident from the diploma of the Bishop himself which we append below.
Section II. Diploma of the Bishop of Antwerp, by which the relics were approved and veneration decreed.
Gaspar Nemius, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See, Bishop of Antwerp, postulated Archbishop and Duke of Cambrai, Count of the Cambresis, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, to all who shall see these, greetings in the Lord.
[6] By these our public letters we attest that some years ago, namely on the 17th day of October in the year 1640, in the presence of the Reverend Lord Peter Druet, Canon of our Cathedral Church of St. Mary at Antwerp, and the Reverend Father Lawrence Uwens, Superior of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus in this city, Certain relics of Martyrs as well as the Reverend Father John Bolland, professed Priest of the same Society, and Lord Anthony Oriue, our Secretary, and Paul Haex, a Religious of the same Society, we visited the Relics of Saints recently brought from Rome to the said Professed House; with the cases, cords, and seals safe and intact: We also read two public instruments, drawn up by Pamphilius Thomasius, public Notary of the Court and Causes of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal of the Holy City, Vicar of the Most Holy Lord the Pope, in the year from the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ 1639, Indiction 7, on the 20th day of December, in the seventeenth year of the pontificate of the Most Holy Lord Pope Urban VIII.
[7] In one of which instruments the said Notary attested that Ignatius Rocchetto, a Religious of the Society of Jesus, had previously received as a gift from the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord John Baptist Alterio, formerly Bishop of Camerino and Vice-regent of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal, Vicar of the Holy City, from the cemetery of St. Callistus certain Relics of Saints, which the same Most Illustrious Vice-regent, by order of the Most Holy Lord Pope Urban VIII, had caused to be dug up and extracted from the cemetery of St. Callistus. And that on the said day of December 20, he had handed over and given certain particles of those Relics, for the greater glory of God and of the Saints and for the increase of the piety of the faithful, given to Ignatius Rocchetto of the Society of Jesus to the Reverend Father William Du Loroy, Priest of the same Society, namely certain bones of St. Alexander M., St. Constantia M., St. Primus M., St. Victorinus M., St. Cyriacus M., St. Modestus M., St. Julius M., St. Vitalis M., St. Benignus M., St. Anastasia M., St. Felicianus M., St. Vincentius M., also from the skull of St. Artemius M., and from the skull of St. Justinus M., and that he had solemnly affirmed that these were the very relics that had been given to him so that he might be permitted to give them to others for the amplification of public piety. And that the Reverend Father William received them with a singular testimony of gratitude and reverence, by him to Father William du Loroy of the Society of Jesus placed them in a box, and tied this box with a cord, with the seal of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal of St. Honuphrius, Pro-Vicar General of the Most Holy Lord the Pope, affixed in two places. These things were done at Rome in the Professed House of the Society of Jesus, in the presence of Lord Anthony Gerardi of Rome and Balthasar Ballone, a Religious of the Society of Jesus, witnesses specially called for all and each of the aforesaid matters.
[8] Then the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Anthony Barberini, Priest Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church of the title of St. Peter in Chains, called of St. Honuphrius, under the attestation of a public notary Pro-Vicar General of the Most Holy Lord the Pope, and Ordinary Judge of the Roman Court and its district, had attested that the above-written Pamphilius Thomasius was a public and legal Notary, and that faith had been and should be given to his writings, both public and private, in court and outside of it. Given at Rome on the 8th day of March, 1640. Subscribed: For Lord Sebastian Caesius, Notary, Thaddaeus Barberini, in faith. The ordinary seal of the Notary Thomasius was also affixed; and after this attestation, the impressed seal of the Cardinal of St. Honuphrius.
[9] In the other instrument, the same Notary Pamphilius Thomasius attested that Balthasar Ballone, a Religious of the Society of Jesus, in the same year 1639, Indiction 7, others from the cemeteries of St. Lucina on the 20th day of December, had affirmed and proved that he had received various relics of male and female Saints, partly from the Most Reverend Father General of the Society of Jesus, dug up from the cemetery of St. Lucina on the Via Salaria by the authority of the late Pope Paul V of happy memory; partly from the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord John Baptist Alterio, formerly Bishop of Camerino, and Vice-regent of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal, Vicar of the Holy City, extracted from the cemetery of St. Callistus by order of the Most Holy Lord Pope Urban VIII, and of St. Callistus and given to him on various days by the same Most Illustrious Vice-regent and Most Reverend General (with permission given to donate them to others, or to determine regarding them in any other fitting manner, for the honor of those same Saints), and that he had hitherto preserved them with the greatest possible reverence and piety. But then, because he had been frequently asked by the Reverend Fathers Lawrence Uwens, Superior of the Professed House of Antwerp, by Balthasar Ballone of the Society of Jesus and Andrew Indoci, Rector of the Louvain college of the same Society, in the Flandro-Belgian province, to procure for them some Relics of Saints for the churches of the said houses; he first affirmed on oath, with his hand placed on his breast, that all and each of the things narrated above were true, and for those same Reverend Fathers Lawrence and Andrew, he consigned to the Reverend Father William Du Loroy, Priest of the same Society, the below-written Relics of male and female Saints; given to the same Father William namely, from the head of St. Herculanus M., from the head of St. Rocchus M., from the bones of St. Silvius M., from the bones of St. Donatus M., from the bones of St. Justus M., from the bones of St. Hirena M., from the bones of St. Philomena M., from the bones of St. Placidus M., from the bones of St. Genesius M., from the bones of St. Faustus M., from the bones of St. Pelagius M., from the bones of St. Pius M., from the shin of St. Macarius M., from the jawbone with teeth of St. Maurice M., from the bones of Saints Zeno and companions MM., from the bones of St. Anicetus M., from the bones of certain other Martyrs, whose names were written externally on small papers in which the individual Relics were wrapped. Then the same Balthasar placed all these Relics in a box prepared for this purpose, tied it with a cord, and sealed it in two places with Spanish wax, to be sent to Belgium with the impressed seal of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal Ginetti, Vicar General of the Most Holy Lord our Pope. And the Reverend Father William Du Loroy carried away the chest so sealed, promising that he would transmit it, in the best manner and way he could, to the said Reverend Fathers Lawrence and Andrew in Belgium. Done at Rome in the Professed House of the Society of Jesus, in the presence of and with the attention of Ignatius Rocchetto and Gaspar de Costa, Religious of the Society of Jesus, witnesses called and asked for all and each of these matters, in the year, Indiction, and day written above.
[10] Anthony Barberini, by divine mercy Priest Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, of the title of St. Peter in Chains, called of St. Honuphrius, under legitimate attestation Pro-Vicar General of the Most Holy Lord our Pope, and Ordinary Judge of the Roman Court and its district, attested the same things as in the former instrument concerning the office and credibility of the Notary. Given at Rome, March 13, 1640. Subscribed: For Lord Sebastian Caesius, Notary, Francis Petrucci, in faith. And the seal of the same Cardinal was affixed.
[11] All and each of these things were carefully inspected, read through, and examined by Us, in the year and on the day above stated. approved by the Bishop of Antwerp in the year 1640 But because the Reverend Father Lawrence Uwens, the Superior, thought the solemnity of the Elevation of the said Relics should be deferred for the time being to a more opportune time, formal authentic letters were not then drawn up.
[12] Recently, however, the Reverend Father Francis van Hees, the current Superior of the same Professed House, informed us that certain of the Relics then inspected by us had been carried away from here and given to some other house of the Society by Father Lancelot Du Loroy, to whom they had been specially given by his brother Father William. some sent to Louvain and elsewhere The rest, however, which we reviewed above, had been distributed in two parts according to the will of both donors, and one part indeed was taken to the Louvain college; while the following were left to the Professed House: namely, a notable thigh bone or shin bone of St. Macarius M.; a shin bone of St. Maximus M.; the forearm and complete radius of the arm of St. Symphorianus M.; these left to the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp the hip bone and dust from the skull of St. Silvius M. And these four are indeed large and notable: the rest somewhat smaller; namely, a part of a larger bone of St. Benignus M.; two teeth with part of the upper jaw of St. Maurice M. (as he is called in the Roman instrument, or Maurus, as in the attached paper); some small bones and part of the skull of St. Victorinus M.; two intact foot bones of St. Fidelis M.; from the vertebrae of the spine of St. Alexander M.; a fairly notable small bone, apparently from the radius of the arm, of St. Anicetus M.; two bones of St. Modestus M.; a particle of the head of St. Procopius M.; a small bone of St. Cyriacus M.; small bones of St. Pelagius M.; a small bone of St. Primus M.; particles of the skull of St. Felicianus M.; small bones of St. Julius M. In addition, dust from the skulls of several holy Martyrs mixed with glue and applied in the approximate form of the upper part of a human skull to another material: and these are from the heads of the following Saints: St. Eulalia V.M., St. Herculanus M., St. Faustus M., St. Donatus M., St. Rocchus M., St. Justus M., St. Hirena M., St. Philemon M., St. Genesius M., St. Placidus M., St. Pius M. That all these Relics are from among those which we previously approved, the same Reverend Father Superior solemnly affirmed.
[13] The same Father then reported to us that he had learned from certain letters sent from Rome with the true names of the Martyrs that the names of the Martyrs that have been reported are true, and were not imposed after the Relics were found without any identification. Secondly, that the ashes from which the skulls just reviewed were assembled with glue or gum, are truly from the head of each of the Saints whose names are inscribed upon them.
[14] Finally, he petitioned us that, as we had generally assented to previously, we would permit public veneration to be paid to these Relics according to the customary rite of the Church, and that an Ecclesiastical office be made for all these Saints, public veneration of these was requested either simultaneously, with only the names of the principal ones expressed; or at least that the larger relics which we mentioned be placed in individual cases, along with some of the smaller ones, so that they might be venerated individually on several days; with no small increase of Divine honor, since that religious devotion will be displayed to more people. For an office can be made for a Saint whose body or notable relic is held, as is evident from the Rubrics of the Missal, and as Gavantus explains in his Commentary on those same Rubrics, part 1, title 2. By whose authority it is established that Gregory XIII in the year 1573 granted to the Churches of Spain that they may celebrate a double Office for a Saint whose head, arm, or leg is held: and likewise, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, a notable Relic is considered to be that part of the body in which the Martyr suffered, etc.
[15] We therefore, desiring that, with the Ecclesiastical Rule preserved in all things, permitted by the Bishop the honor of the Saints may be amplified as much as possible, have granted to the said Superior that either for all these Saints together, or on various days, insofar as their Relics can be judged notable, a double office of several Martyrs who are not Pontiffs may be recited, with the Creed in the Mass. The lesser Relics may be joined to those more notable ones, so that they may be honored together. For although an Office ought not to be made separately for those small particles, they certainly deserve our heartfelt veneration. For truly and wisely St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, [but so that the lesser may be joined to the greater, and they themselves are truly precious] as is written in his Life, said to the monk Eadmer, who was grieving because, when Gualo, Bishop of Paris, had permitted him to take from the bone of St. Prisca M. as much as he could break off at the first attempt, he had broken off only a small particle and taken it for himself: Do not grieve, do not grieve, said Anselm: what you have, let it suffice you. For in truth I say to you, that for all the gold that is in Constantinople and on either side of it, the Lady herself, to whom it belongs, would not fail to claim it for herself on the day of the resurrection of all. Therefore, if you show it the reverence due to it, she will accept it equally as if you were showing it to her whole body. For which reason also it seems more commendable to us that those lesser relics, whether they are adorned with some particular ornament or plate or case, or wrapped only in linen or fine cloth, should nevertheless be enclosed within the case of the others, so that they may be honored with the celebration of the Divine Office along with them: which would not happen if they were placed separately in their own smaller reliquaries, even if publicly placed on the altar in the sight of the faithful.
[16] We have also permitted the same Reverend Father Superior to choose the day or days which he judged most suitable for making the Translation, or Elevation, of the above-named Saints.
[17] But since he, with the matter somewhat deferred, was meanwhile sent to Rome to attend the general assembly of the Society of Jesus, the day for making the Translation at which a new Superior General was to be created, the Reverend Fathers William de Wael a Vronesteyn and Frederick Tassis (of whom the latter governed the said Professed House by vicarious authority for the same Reverend Father Francis the Superior, and the former the entire province for the Reverend Father John Baptist Enghelgrave, who had departed for the same assembly) designated as the days before Ash Wednesday in the year 1650 -- these, I say, arranged for a petition to be made to us, that we should decree that Translation to be made on the Monday and Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sunday of this year one thousand six hundred and fifty. For since by a praiseworthy decision for many years past in our Belgium, the Fathers of the Society have been accustomed to institute solemn prayers in their churches during the three days before Ash Wednesday, and have also obtained from various Roman Pontiffs plenary indulgences, so that by this more efficacious remedy they might both restrain the public licentiousness and luxury of those days and entice the Christian people to begin piously and fruitfully the Lenten fast; they now judged that, since in this Holy Year all such indulgences are suspended, nevertheless by that celebration of the Translation of sacred relics the customary piety of the people could be fostered, so that they would diligently and frequently attend the prayers of the Forty Hours to be held on those days, and would devoutly receive the Sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist. They therefore asked that they be permitted to divide and enclose the said relics in two cases fittingly adorned for that purpose, and to venerate them with an Ecclesiastical Office by our authority, according to the rite of the Holy Roman Church.
[18] We, willingly assenting to their pious requests, have decreed that on the said Monday after Quinquagesima Sunday, Monday the 28th of February: these relics were translated which this year is the twenty-eighth day of February, all the Priests residing in the above-said Professed House shall read the office in the double rite of Saints Symphorianus, Macarius, Victorinus, and companions (namely Maurus, Anicetus, Modestus, Cyriacus, Faustus, Placidus, Rocchus, Alexander, Genesius, Eulalia, Hirena): and shall celebrate Mass of them as Martyrs who are not Pontiffs, and recite the Creed in it. On the following day, however, namely Tuesday, the first day of March, others on March 1, Tuesday by a similar rite, according to the usage and Canons of the Holy Roman Church, they shall read the Office and Mass of Saints Silvius, Maximus, Benignus, and companions (namely Fidelis, Herculanus, Primus, Pelagius, Julius, Philemon, Justus, Procopius, Donatus, Pius, Felicianus), Martyrs who are not Pontiffs.
[19] And that we may further arouse the piety of our people to honor the holy Martyrs indulgences then granted by the Bishop and to implore the mercy of God, we grant during that entire three-day period, namely Quinquagesima Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, to all the faithful who, refreshed by Holy Communion, shall recite in that same church five times the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic Salutation for the spread of Holy Mother Church, the extirpation of errors and heresies, the peace of Christian Princes, and especially the tranquility of our Belgium, an indulgence of forty days. To those, however, who, though by no means refreshed by the Eucharist, yet contrite for their sins, shall recite the same prayers, we bestow, for each time they do so during the said three-day period, an indulgence of seven days.
[20] an annual veneration decreed We further decree that every year the celebration of the said Saints Symphorianus, Macarius, Victorinus, and companions the Martyrs be carried out in the same double rite on the same day, the 28th of February, or in a leap year, the 29th, namely the day before the Kalends of March. On the Kalends of March itself, that of Saints Silvius, Maximus, Benignus, and companions the Martyrs. Done at Antwerp in our Episcopal palace on the twelfth day of February, in the year from the Nativity of Christ one thousand six hundred and fifty.
By command of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Bishop of Antwerp, designated Archbishop and Duke of Cambrai, Francis Hilleweruen, Secretary.
Section III. The Translation of the Relics. The uncertain Acts of the Martyrs.
[21] The order and rite of the Translation of the relics was roughly as follows. On Quinquagesima Sunday, in the church of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus, Relics brought into the church on February 27, 1650 at two o'clock in the afternoon, a sermon was preached, as is customary on all feasts and Sundays. Then Litanies and certain sacred hymns were sung in musical modes, with voices, organ, and other instruments. After these, an elegant case in which the relics were enclosed was brought into the church: four Priests, vested in dalmatics of Deacons, carried it placed on a bier, preceded by a long line of others from the Society, carrying candles in their hands: three Priests solemnly vested in copes followed. The procession was grave and pious. When they reached the middle of the church, the case was placed on a stand adorned for the occasion, and the hymn Te Deum laudamus was sung by the musicians, and piously honored and an antiphon of the holy Martyrs, then a prayer by the Priest. The case was left there, with many candles lit around it. The order of suppliants proceeded to the high altar, where the benediction of the Venerable Sacrament was imparted to all. At five o'clock, that is, as darkness was falling, another sermon was given, or rather a reading on controversies of the faith and ecclesiastical history, for half an hour: and after it, musical concerts. Then the sacred relics were carried to the high altar. The next day at ten o'clock in the morning, a solemn Mass of the holy Martyrs was sung: and the remaining Masses for them were recited at seven altars. the next day Masses were celebrated for them The afternoon sermon was followed by pious hymns and songs about those same Martyrs and the Queen of Martyrs, and the Most Holy Eucharist.
[22] Concerning the Martyrs themselves, nothing is known to us except that their relics were extracted from the Roman cemeteries which we have mentioned: in what age they lived, their acts are unknown by what tortures they testified to the faith, under what tyrants, is entirely unknown. There are indeed in the Martyrologies some Martyrs distinguished by the same names as these; but that they are the same we cannot pronounce except rashly, nor that they are all universally different. St. Symphorianus, who is mentioned in the Acts of St. Sebastian on January 20, was, along with others, compressed with immense weights, cast into the waves of the sea, and in a pure place amid the waters celebrated the crown of martyrdom on July 7, as we shall say on that day. That his body was rescued from the waves [some other Roman Martyrs of the same name: whether they are the same is not established] and buried in one or the other of the said cemeteries is nowhere recorded. Another Symphorianus, a sculptor, is venerated on November 8, who, when he refused to fashion a statue of Aesculapius, accomplished a noble martyrdom with four companions, and afterward they were all entombed on the Via Labicana. We therefore consider our Symphorianus to be different from both. Many Martyrs named Macarius are listed in the Martyrologies: a single one obtained the crown at Rome, and on this very day, as seemed right to Baronius after Galesini, with the older manuscripts keeping silent about the place: yet even if we were to agree with them, it would not immediately follow that this is our Macarius. Likewise many Victorini: at Rome, one of the Four Crowned Ones on November 8, entombed on the Via Labicana with companions: another at Amiternum, companion of Saints Maro and Eutyches on April 15: both therefore different, as one may conjecture from the burial place. No Maurice has yet been found by us who underwent martyrdom at Rome: if anyone should prefer to call this one Maurus, we recorded on January 29 a companion of St. Papias named Maurus, whose relics Panciroli testifies exist in many churches of the City: another was killed on August 1 with Faustus and others on the Via Latina. Another Faustus is reported to have met death for Christ at Rome on July 24 with twenty-three companions. Whether our Faustus, in whose relics we glory, is one of those, is not clear: still less whether one of the Mauri is the one who is also our Maurice. Nor whether Cyriacus is that famous one mentioned in the Acts of Pope St. Marcellus on January 16, who is venerated on August 8; or the one recorded on February 8; or rather some other. Placidus bravely fell for the faith at Rome with many fellow soldiers on February 2: whether this is ours, or another, who will determine? I am less inclined to suspect that this Alexander is the son of Saints Claudius and Praepedigna, the brother of St. Cutia, about whom we treated on February 18. For the one commemorated on February 27 in the Martyrologies obtained his palm at Thessalonica, not at Rome, as Galesini and after him Baronius wrongly wrote. There are, however, other Roman Martyrs named Alexander, from among whom whether ours belongs, no certain argument is available for us to affirm: nor is there reason to say that Genesius is that celebrated Martyr who was once a mime, venerated on August 25. There is a certain Hirena on February 25, but she won her laurel in Africa. The Irene or Herena venerated on January 22, the widow of St. Castulus the Martyr, lacks the title of martyrdom. none found for others This Hirena is therefore different from both. Besides Pope St. Anicetus, about whom we treat on April 17, no other Martyr Anicetus, no Rocchus, no Eulalia at Rome, and no Modestus have yet been found by us.