Martina

CONCERNING ST. MARTINA, ROMAN VIRGIN AND MARTYR.

Under the Emperor Alexander.

Martina, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (St.)

[1] The feast of St. Martina the Virgin is celebrated on this day in all the Latin Martyrologies. We have transcribed her Acts, though not approved by us in every respect, from an ancient codex of the Imperial Monastery of St. Maximin at Trier, and compared them with the edition of Boninus Mombritius, the printed Acts of the Martyrs, the manuscript of St. Mary de Ripatorio (in which they were somewhat abridged in places); similar to the Acts of SS. Tatiana and Prisca: then with Surius, Silvanus Razzi, and others. They agree in nearly all respects with the Acts of St. Tatiana and St. Prisca, as we shall discuss on January 12 and 18. St. Martina is now honored on January 30 with a semi-double office; formerly on the 15th with an office of three lessons, as is evident from the Breviary of Cardinal Quignonius.

[2] Her head is said to be preserved at Rome in the monastery of the Friars Minor at the Aracoeli; certain bones in the church of St. Mary Major, as our Rosweyde had written in a vernacular book on Virgins who lived in the world; and the body, or at least its principal parts, at Piacenza in the basilica of St. Sixtus, Relics. according to Ferrarius in his catalogue of Saints of Italy. But the body, or at least its principal parts, were found at Rome in the year 1634: on which matter the Italian priest Marsilius Honoratus of Viterbo, of the Congregation of the Oratory, wrote a booklet.

LIFE FROM MANUSCRIPTS.

Martina, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (St.) BHL Number: 5587

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

The lineage of St. Martina. The statue of Apollo overturned.

[1] While our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ reigned first of all in the circuit of the whole world, the adversary devil, warring against the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, prevailed perniciously under the reign of Caesar Alexander, in Alexander the Emperor persecutes the Christians: the fourth year of his reign. For Alexander, issuing a new and most wicked decree throughout the whole world, commanded that either the Galileans should sacrifice, or if they would not sacrifice they should be put to death. He dispatched governors and judges led by demonic seduction. For the decree was published everywhere with a burning threat, that the worship of the Christians should be destroyed, and they threatened with terror to accomplish these things. Those who received such decrees, inscribing them in many imperial documents and carrying the imperial image, demonstrated the new decree through sacrifices to their most wicked and polluted gods; which the Emperor ordered to be done, and those consenting to sacrifice to be deemed worthy of great honors; but those who scorned and refused to sacrifice, to be subjected to cruel torments and death.

[2] he sacrifices to Apollo. Alexander the Emperor offered sacrifices at Rome to Apollo, and commanded with great terror that his officers should seize those known to profess the Christian religion, men and women, so that with punishments and violence they would be compelled to sacrifice to Apollo. And indeed those ministers of Satan were wicked men: Vitalis, who held the rank of Count, and Bassus who presided over the imperial chamber, and Caius the Domestic, truly ministers of their polluted and most wicked sect, who were sent to destroy the worship of the Christians.

[3] Martina, a noble and wealthy virgin. Coming therefore to the Church which is situated at Rome, they saw Blessed Martina praying and looking with a joyful face toward the Most High. She had many male and female servants; for she was of exalted birth, and her father had been thrice Consul, exceedingly rich and merciful to all the needy, and preserving the law of the holy Trinity. And indeed by the gift of God she was a Deaconess; adorned with all her holy works and the grace of God and good character, and firmly resisting the wickedness of the devil, truly having her loins girded.

[4] The officers, seizing her, said to her: The lord of the world, Alexander, honors you as noble and adorned in lineage, and being first among the Romans, and knowing your honorable way of life, he entreats you to offer a distinguished sacrifice of your own will to the great god Apollo. But the blessed and God-beloved Martyr said to them with a joyful face: she is arrested: First let me enter my holy church and commend myself to God and to Christ his Son and the Holy Spirit, and to the most holy and honorable Bishop; and to the priests who eagerly and diligently serve Christ through faith, and to all the blessed flock of the Church; and so we shall set out in peace. For I must endure against the disorderly and lying lord for Christ's sake, and confound the pestilent and unworthy Alexander: so that as victor I may stand beside our Savior Jesus Christ. And entering, she completed her petition: and praying, she hastened with them to the Emperor, with a radiant face and illustrious appearance.

[5] The officers of the impious sect entered and announced to the Emperor that she stood before the Palace: The first and most eminent of the Galileans is present, they said, who, consenting to the command of your authority, is prepared to sacrifice to the Gods willingly, she is brought before the Emperor, and to persuade all Christians to follow her. When the Emperor heard this, he greatly rejoiced; and he ordered her to enter the Imperial Palace and the place where he resided. When she entered, the Emperor was pleased by her beauty, which he admired; but even more by her illustrious lineage about which he had heard, and he said: Great is the god Apollo, who is glorified by all the gods, who has composed the mind of one so noble in birth and so beautiful in appearance and glory, so that she may joyfully offer sacrifice to you.

[6] And saying this, he said to Blessed Martina: Having a good mind and talent and a purpose of charity, so that with pleasing gifts you may present the chief and manifold rite of the Gods, sacrifice to Apollo. For by your adherence, I have resolved to make you known as the Mistress of my power and of my Palace. she is invited to sacrifice: To this Blessed Martina said to the Emperor: Command me to sacrifice without blood to the immaculate God, who made all things that were not to exist, so that by my sacrifice I may expose Apollo, refuting him, she steadfastly refuses: lest I become complicit and allow him to destroy souls that hope in my Savior and Lord, the King of all.

[7] The Emperor, hearing what the Blessed one had said and not understanding it, ordered her to enter the temple of Apollo and sacrifice. But the Saint, commanded to enter, she is led to the temple of Apollo: said with a cheerful face to the Emperor: You too enter, along with the priests of Apollo and as many as are his devotees, and see how sincerely the undefiled and merciful and holy God will graciously receive undefiled and immaculate sacrifices from me. And the Emperor ordered all those standing by and all his ministers to enter readily and observe what she would do.

[8] The God-beloved and simple Martyr stood and made upon herself the sign of Christ: and there appeared to those standing by an Angelic glory embracing her, and those who were with her. The Blessed one, with a simple face lifting her eyes to heaven, with an Angel present she invokes God. and extending her hands as a handmaid of God, said: Glory to you, Father of glory, and Jesus Christ, glorified God, with the Holy Spirit; full of holiness and giver of knowledge, without envy, immaculate and eternal King, God of mercies and Lord of all things visible and invisible, who in the grace of your kindness and the name of Christ your Son strengthen those who confess you; I invoke you, who are and who always will be, remaining God forever; and I ask, beseech, and supplicate your greatness which is in you, to fulfill my confession: and now cast down this immovable, unseeing, and deaf idol, which through deadly and hidden wickedness brings perdition to those who believe in it, which is powerless in the destruction of the perishing; for it is clay sealed with silence, and defiles those who believe in it. But you, Lord our God, hear me, humble and a sinner, and let this inventor of evils, this Emperor, who has vain hope in his idols, know that we must adore no other God but you, who said: "I will kill and I will make alive; I will strike, and I will heal" (Deut. 32:39), for your name is glorious forever, Amen.

[9] By an earthquake Apollo collapses, and part of the temple: many perish. And while she was praying, immediately a great earthquake occurred, so that the city was shaken: and Apollo collapsed and was shattered: similarly the fourth part of the temple itself was destroyed, and it crushed a great multitude together with the priests of the idols who had been sent by the most wicked Emperor to Blessed Martina. For the earthquake lasted many hours, so that the terrified Emperor took to flight; Martina mocks the Emperor. and the blessed Martyr said to him: Stand, Emperor, and help, for Apollo is broken; gather his fragments and show your priests whom they worship; moreover a spirit has crushed them with ruins: now let him rise and help them.

[10] The Prince of the demons, who had dwelt in the idol, flees wailing. And immediately the demon who had inhabited the idol of Apollo, wallowing in the dust of the idol in the presence of many men and women, and dismayed at what was happening, cried out with a great voice, saying: O maiden Martina, handmaid of the great God who is in heaven, who keeps his commandments, you have stripped me from my dwelling and shown me deformed: for I inhabited it for ninety-eight years: under Caesar Augustus for thirty-eight years, and under Antoninus for forty-five years, and under Alexander who has handed me over to you for destruction in the sacrifice of idols, making for me fifteen years. Many of the Saints, completing their passion and martyrdom, never revealed me until now, though I was in great power and had under me four hundred and seventy-two most wicked spirits. For I commanded them, and each of them offered me seventy human souls daily; their chief, named Exfygon Greek: Exfygon, who was assigned over adultery and sorcery, offered me thirty-six human souls: which I had under my power: but you have put me to flight, manifesting me and persecuting me and delivering me to the Tartarean fire. I find no place to which to go. You have commended me to the great Angel Uriel, who has burned every way of escape for me. O Alexander, enemy of the Christians Greek: antartes, tyrant, adversary, you have found a holy soul through whom to put me to flight, so that your reign shall end in great disgrace. And the demon said these things with a great voice and lamentation, crying and shrieking through the air. Where it departed, darkness was visible; and all who watched, greatly dismayed, were filled with doubt. But they marveled at the grace of God who is in heaven.

a Alexander reigned from March 6, 222 until March 18, 235. Therefore if Martina's death was followed by the Emperor's death, the fourteenth or thirteenth year should be read here. Others attribute whatever is here attributed to Alexander to Domitius Ulpian, who is known to have lived under Alexander and to have been an enemy of Christians.

b MS. of St. Maximin: "from among the Officers."

c alt. "throne."

d Acts of the Martyrs: "her father was thrice Consul, and exceedingly rich and merciful to all the needy, and confessing the law of God in sincerity. She herself, etc."

e These are omitted in some manuscripts.

f alt. "If it is in mind the talent."

g MS. of St. Maximin adds "wall."

h Either this passage is corrupt, or the demon lied in his usual manner. Marsilius Honoratus omitted these in his Italian Life of St. Martina.

i alt. "two hundred."

k MSS. Efigdon and Effigdon. Mombritius: Effugiens.

l On the names of Angels, consult Serarius on Tobit 12:15 and Cornelius on Apocalypse 1.

m Greek: antartes, tyrant, adversary.

CHAPTER II.

The lictors are converted and killed.

[11] The Emperor, however, not understanding that by divine grace and command the idol of Apollo had been shattered, and that the congregation of abominable and most wicked spirits had vanished by the power of God, and that the worship of his sacrifices and the most wicked rite of idolatry had been dispersed by the prayer of the holy Virgin, and just as through the foresight of St. Martina the destruction of the idols came about, St. Martina is struck with blows and scraped with hooks, and the idol of Apollo was broken, and sorceries, soothsayers, diviners, and priests of the idols were scattered and killed; he ordered her face to be struck with blows and her eyelids torn apart with hooks. And while this went on for a long time, the executioners who were assigned to it gave out and cried aloud saying: Woe to us sinners! The Angel punishes the lictors: Truly we are tortured more than she is: for our hands are falling off; intolerable pains constrain us: but she remains solid as an anvil: she strikes us. We beseech you, Emperor, order her to be taken from us; for we see four shining men before her, and the punishments we strive to inflict on her, we receive from them on our own faces instead. Truly the God who is with her is the true God, not permitting any punishment from us to prevail against her.

[12] The Emperor, greatly enraged against them, threatened them, and looking at them furiously as if they were inflicting punishments carelessly, ordered them to take up potsherds and scrape her face. She is scraped with potsherds: But holy Martina, looking toward heaven, said: Blessed are you, Lord Jesus Christ, because you give eternal grace to those who hope in you: blessed be the terrible name of your glory, both honorable and powerful and full of all holiness, Lord God: and blessed be your holy Divinity, consubstantial with the Father and the Holy Spirit, which perfectly dissolves and scatters the adversaries: hear, Lord, your last handmaid who beseeches you, she prays for those tormenting her. and grant me endurance, and convert those who torture me to a good way of life and the grace of your Divinity.

[13] And when she had offered this prayer, a light surrounded those who were tormenting her (for they were about eight men), and a voice from heaven was heard saying: Unless my handmaid Martina were interceding for you, I would have long since destroyed you: By heavenly light and voice but wishing to destroy the enemy and to make the present people my own, I have spared you. But you, daughter, be confident and do not fear; for I am he whom you adore and invoke as God: I will not desert you, nor permit the shameless, impious, and rebellious demon to have dominion over you.

[14] When these things had been said, the Emperor Alexander was rendered quite senseless. Those men who were tormenting her, the executioners are converted. hearing the miracles, fell on their faces and besought Blessed Martina that they might obtain forgiveness through her before God: forgive us, they said, for what we presumed to do under compulsion. The blessed Martyr said to them: If you are converted to my Lord Jesus Christ, and acknowledge with all your heart that he rewards each one according to their works, you too shall have, as we enjoy, the full reward that is in heaven; but if you think otherwise, eternal and burning torments will receive you. And they said, as if with one mouth: Our lady Martina, it is better for us that you show us Christ, so that seeing him we may believe in him the more; but if it is not possible to behold him in this flesh, we are his servants and ministers, and in him alone we believe; for we adore and worship him. As for Alexander, who scorns the commands of our Savior, we do not fear him, we reject him, even though he be Emperor.

[15] they are encouraged by Martina. Blessed Martyr said: I give you counsel, my children; believe from a clean heart without pretense in Christ, and you will know what God will give you in that other age. And what can Alexander do now there, who in the present is supported by glory here? Inspired by the grace of God, they said: We believe in Jesus Christ our Lord: and great is the God of Christians, to whom we flee. And with bold faces and with one voice they stood against Alexander: We indeed, they said, are lost in those who are called gods but are rather idols, by which we were once seduced; but we no longer adore them, having come to know through the blessed Martyr Martina the power of almighty God and of his only-begotten Son, our Savior Jesus Christ.

[16] Alexander, enraged, said: You most wicked ones have been seduced by the incantations of the Crucified One, in whom you trust. But they answered: Truly you are the villain, and a dragon dwells in you, because you do not know him who made you and gave you this power, you who defile your soul to the very end. Enraged, he had them hung up and ordered their flesh to be torn with swords. They are tortured: Cut by the swords, they said nothing; they only looked toward heaven. Inflamed against them all the more by the most wicked spirit, they are sentenced to death: he passed a capital sentence against them, fearing lest others, satisfied by them, might follow the same path.

[17] The glorious Martyrs of Christ, led with joy to the perfect way without any doubt, looking to heaven said: Lord of all, only-begotten Jesus Christ, Son of God, they pray: whom we did not know while formerly serving in error and foul worship: but you have been made known to us through your holy and glorious Martyr Martina. You, Lord of heaven and earth, who created the whole world and all that is in it, who through your holy Martyr have broken the idols of the nations, whom we have now come to know as begotten before the morning star, whom every abyss fears, and every mountain and hill trembles at hearing your terrible and glorious name; you, Lord Jesus Christ, hope of those who flee to you; deliverer of those who hope in you; look down from heaven, and have mercy on us, and receive our souls in peace, not imputing to us our sins which we committed in ignorance, being in the breadth of these shadows, which we perpetrated against you. And praying, making the sign of Christ on their foreheads, stretching forth their heads together with great joy, they received the end of this world; and thus through their own blood they built for themselves an eternal memorial in the grace of God. They are beheaded. They are completed on the seventeenth day of the month of November, at the fifth hour, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

a Mombritius: "according to the provision."

b alt. "with potsherds."

c Others write that she alone was surrounded by light.

d Mombritius: "We believe, Lady, and great, etc."

e Others: "the seventeenth of the Kalends of December."

CHAPTER III.

Those tormenting her are punished from heaven.

[18] When the Emperor Alexander heard that the holy Martyrs had surrendered their spirit with great joy, he was all the more distressed because he had not tortured them more. Martina is brought before the Emperor a second time: The next day, sitting in the tribunal, he said: Let the unjust enchantress Martina be brought in; so that we may again see her enchantment. When she was brought in, the Emperor said: Even now consent to me, and sacrifice to the gods by whom the world subsists. Or do you still heed the magic arts of your Christ? She answered: Cease, most wicked one and fiercer than all beasts: are you not ashamed to be surpassed by a woman, and even trampled upon? You will never be able to incline me to sacrificing to idols. Therefore if you have any other punishments or beatings in mind which you are preparing, inflict them on me; for I do not sacrifice to your abominations, nor do I fear you when you speak: for to God alone and to his Christ and the Holy Spirit have I commended myself, and I believe that nothing you inflict will harm me, God granting me endurance.

[19] Then the enraged Emperor ordered her to be stripped, and having been bound, he ordered her flesh to be cut. She is lacerated with razors: The officers quickly did as they were ordered. But the holy Martyr appeared white as snow, whose body shone, and the brightness of her radiance made those looking at her unable to see clearly. Milk flows instead of blood: When her body was cut, milk flowed instead of blood: and a great odor arose, as from a vessel of spices poured forth from her mouth. The Blessed one, while being cut, said to the Lord: "With my voice I have cried to the Lord, and he has heard me in the contest of my passion: may my praise be in your sight, Lord: may the groaning of my pains come into your sight: your grace for the salvation of my soul: I have called upon you, Lord, in tribulation, and you have given me the backs of my enemies. I persevere in supplication: this is my knowledge, which is with you, Lord, like a fountain of the spirit. Abraham the father offered his son Isaac to your Divinity as a sacrifice of salvation, because in faith he confessed you, and you received him. So also receive my contest, O God, and complete it in many contests, so that the instructors of perdition may know that you are he who shattered the golden image and destroyed Bel and manifested the worker of perdition to your servants; just as in my humility you have shown the truthful glory of your Divinity and crushed the idol of Apollo; and surrounding Alexander, who is alien to the truth, with confusion, you have made your handmaid resplendent with your terrible light, so that through the torments of the body I might escape the instigators and goads of Satan."

[20] The Emperor, enraged and greatly dismayed, said: By your sorceries you prevail, fearless one, and you seduce, as you think, those who stand by. Blessed Martina said to the Emperor: Your father Satan is the chief of all sorcery and enchantment; She refutes the charge of sorcery brought against her: he loves fornicators and embraces sorcerers, and embraces all who serve impure desires in his own bosom: and how can he show indulgence to me who despise him and do nothing such as you say? But my God and my Savior Christ condemns all who act contrarily and do not guard themselves, commanding them to be delivered to eternal punishment. But you, Emperor, deserve to be afflicted with stronger and more powerful punishments, knowing that I do not prevail by sorceries and enchantments, as you claim, but by the name alone of Christ, who has scattered all the cruelty of your punishments which were inflicted in my contest.

[21] The Emperor ordered her to be stripped and stretched out on four stakes, She is beaten with rods. and beaten with rods by two centurions. But she, with a joyful face, encircled her holy body with the sign of the cross on the right and left as though with a wall, and while being beaten she said: Great is my desire for you, Lord, and for the glory of your Divinity, which assists me. I have given my back to scourges and my flesh to torments; but my face, on account of your glorious name, I have not turned away from weariness and grief. But you, Lord, do not delay your help, but hasten through your mercies, and send healing upon me from your holy dwelling, who am scourged for your Divinity.

[22] And she continued saying this. They changed the centurions seven times. In the eighth rotation, seven were disabled, Those beating her are tortured by Angels. both in their hands and in all their limbs, and they cried out with a great voice: We beseech you, Emperor, free us from these punishments; for the Angels of the Lord strike us back with iron clubs, and we are cut in our sinews and marrow; moreover our bones and flesh are burning as if by a great fire. But we beseech you, free us from this girl.

[23] She mocks the tyrant. The Emperor ordered her to be beaten still more with rods. The Saint, smiling at the prolonged torments inflicted upon her, said: O unjust and condemned one, enemy and assailant of the heavenly judgment of God, searcher of evils like yourself, Alexander, do you not perceive the benefits which are being wrought in me by the eternal Creator? Because you are foolish and have joined yourself to the senseless, you have destroyed yourself in the disgrace of Apollo and his priests. Truly, by the honor and assistance of my God who made all things, I have been set free through the Angelic exercise. Know therefore, senseless dog, that you made twelve centurions successively inflict blows upon me to kill me. But through the name of Christ, who agonizes for me and governs my salvation, no punishment has touched me, nor shall any touch my flesh. In him I have hope, who also after death gives life to those who confess him in truth.

a MS. of St. Mary: "who can never be inclined."

b Same MS: "according to custom."

c Same MS: "in place of torments."

d Mombritius: "immodest."

CHAPTER IV.

Angelic consolation. Diana overturned.

[24] A certain very wealthy man named Eumenius, a relative of the Emperor, said to him: This polluted woman sustains these torments not for the glory of the Christians and the Crucified One, but seizing an occasion with most clever speeches and surrounded by senseless books, she makes us all foolish, like a ray of the sun shining all around, and thus she hopes to endure everything. She is returned to prison: Let your power command her to be imprisoned until tomorrow, and let her be washed with melted fat, and thus let us defile her radiance.

[25] The Emperor immediately ordered the Saint to be hurried to prison until the next day. When the blessed Martina had been led by guards to the prison, she cried out before the people, saying: Great peace to those who name the name of Christ. In the peace of Christ I shall complete this journey. And she entered the prison rejoicing and glorifying God and saying: She praises God in prison, "Guard me, Lord, as the apple of your eye, and under the shadow of your wings protect me." I give thanks to your holy power, Jesus Christ, and I beseech the precious and terrible grace of your kindness, guard me from the most wicked and contaminated Alexander, who accounts your goodness as nothing. For nine centurions died under the most cruel and intolerable torments, and the rest were disabled from their shoulders. For he had changed fourteen centurions altogether. Throughout the whole night she was in prison singing hymns and glorifying God. And with her, Angels. The voices of many men were heard glorifying God with her.

[26] In the morning the Emperor ordered a certain Tribune named Limenius to go to the prison and bring her out: but first to have her anointed with fat and grease. The prison is filled with heavenly fragrance and light; Limenius, proceeding from the palace, smelled an odor of sweetness, and filled with much aroma he said to his companions: Do you also smell this great odor? For he was with a large crowd. They said: The citizens made this odor for their beloved Martina. Others said: The gods have appeared propitious to her. Coming to the prison, they found the fragrances of sweetness much stronger. When Limenius opened the first door, he saw a great light shining around her: when he entered the adjoining chamber (for the prison had many chambers), it shone upon him like lightning, so that all trembled with fear, he himself falling to the ground in terror. Rising with difficulty, he entered the third chamber and saw Blessed Martina sitting on an imperial throne, and a multitude of mighty men was around her, whose brilliance could not be contemplated; for they were all in white; and she held a tablet and was reading: "How magnificent are your works, Lord! You have made all things in wisdom."

[27] Limenius, afraid, went out from there and returned to the palace, which the tyrant ascribes to sorcery: and reported to the Emperor the marvelous works of the great God. But all who were in the palace, together with Alexander's priests and scholars, said: She has seduced him with her sorceries: let no mercy be shown to this Virgin, but rather let her be torn apart by wild beasts, so that she may know that it is better to sacrifice to the gods than to trust in the Crucified One and have hope in him.

[28] She is found surrounded by Angels and Saints. The Emperor ordered her to be brought to the temple of the idol of Artemis, either to sacrifice and live, or to be given to wild beasts if she did not sacrifice. Limenius went again with two chief priests of idolatry and a great crowd to the prison. They found her similarly sitting on an imperial throne, with the same men in white standing around her; and they were divided. Blessed Martina was saying: "I have run the way of your commandments: teach me your statutes, and I shall learn the wonders of your Divinity. Deliver me from the punishments of men, and I shall keep your commandments: for malicious dogs have surrounded me, wishing to tear apart your sheep: but you, Lord God of my humility, receive my supplication, and let them not prosper as they think; but blind the understanding of their hearts, and guide me, who guided the three youths." While she said these things, they resolved to remove her from the throne. The men standing around her in white nowhere appeared; they had been about seven hundred in number.

[29] She is brought to the temple of Diana: They cast her from the prison and brought her to the temple of the idol of Artemis. The Emperor, seeing her face more cheerful than it had been before, and her body nourished like that of a most strong champion, said to her: Have you corrected yourself now, converted to sacrifice to the benign gods? Or do you persist even more, as we see, in your former evils? She said to him: Emperor, my conversion is complete; she responds nobly to the Emperor: because you do not persuade me to take part in your controversies; for I have been freed from your vanities and from the impieties of the most vain seductions of this age, having received a command from my Lord. But to cleave to God is good for me, to place in the Lord God my hope, who holds me in truth, and nothing shall I lack: for my God is almighty. The seduction of your words is as dark arrows, directing into a gloomy way. But I have heavenly grace and glory ever illuminating the eyes of my heart; which, setting you aside, has consigned the perverse Artemis and the treasures of the arrangement of your empire to eternal punishments. And the death of the Saints, who have surrounded me in all things and held me, makes me glad, while they have bound your father the devil. The righteous, steeped in the study of the divine Scriptures, shall flourish like the palm tree, drying up the seductions of the wicked. He shall weigh anchor, setting his boat from the waves of the stormy sea, through the faithful helmsman who governs his soul, fleeing to a tranquil harbor, who, casting anchor, is prepared to take vengeance on his enemies and win victory over them. And I have crossed the sea, Christ extending his right hand to me as a support of true hope, to overcome the most wicked course of your seduction. I see Christ crowning me, who justly grants me the arms of justice against the wickedness of your father the devil.

[30] She is invited to enter and sacrifice: The enraged Emperor said to her: You shall not die, Martina, but enter and sacrifice to the most honorable goddess Artemis. The great and most pure gods seek knowledge of your beauty. Do not think therefore to blaspheme against her. The God-praiseworthy Martyr said: Do you order me, Emperor, to enter the temple in which he who cooperates with you dwells, having an immovable, deaf, and blind idol in a fair covering? To this Alexander said: Enter and sacrifice promptly, lest you perish by wild beasts. St. Martina said: By the grace which my God grants to me, fighting humble as I am, and at your command, I shall enter.

[31] the demon shrinks back in horror at her entrance The demon who dwelt in the idol of Artemis recognized that the Saint had come to destroy him, and cried out with a great voice, saying: Woe to me! Where shall I flee from your spirit, O God of heaven? Fire pursues me from the four corners of the temple. But the Blessed one entered in the name of Christ, making the sign of the Cross upon herself, and looking upon the statue of the demonic idol, she said to the Emperor: Behold your seduction, Emperor: eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear, hands that do not feel, feet that do not walk, a vain appearance, an image stripped of ornament. I, Emperor, sacrifice to it. The Emperor was suddenly made joyful, not understanding that he was being mocked, and said: The gods are alive, because you have consented to me. She rebukes and drives it away. And the Saint approached the idol of Artemis and said: To you I say, who dwell in this mute idol, stir yourself, and gnash your teeth, and depart, you seduction of those who senselessly sacrifice to you. Saying this to the idol, she poured forth a prayer to the Lord saying: Eternal King of all, God, who hold the throne of invisible glory, who established the heavens and founded the earth, who created the waters, who crushed the serpent and drove the legion into the Tartarean abyss, who bring those in peril into a secure harbor, who have reduced the principal power of the devil to nothing in the time of human history, who are adored with holy fear by all Angelic glory trembling before you (for you have appointed Angelic hosts to adore you alone); who have wisely adorned the great expanse of heaven with stars, and established the splendor of the sun through justice, who have decreed that the shining circuit of the moon should complete its course in order, who have revealed the uncontaminated and eternal treasures of your commandments; I adore you, the perpetual and eternal light, with trembling, and beseech you: do not desert me, Lord, but receive my supplication, and consign the irreverent and manifold foulness of the demon to damnation: and destroy this idol made by the hand of man: and make Alexander, full of the manifold seduction of the demon and of all malice, know through various punishments that you are the true God, who have wrought destruction upon those dwelling in idols and destroyed their priests, for you are blessed forever, Amen.

[32] By lightning many perish; the idol is shattered. And immediately thunder came with lightning: and fire fell from heaven and consumed the priests from the temple; and a great multitude of people died, and it burned the right part of the Emperor's purple, and reduced the idol of Artemis to ashes. Blessed Martina said: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will," who gives peace to those who love him, and who call upon his name in truth.

a MS. of St. Maximin: "powerful, who said to the Emperor."

b Added by MS. Ripatorio: "golden."

c The term "scholasticus" is often used by St. Augustine and other writers of that era for a jurist or rhetorician.

d MS. of St. Maximin: "A. A." perhaps for "Alexander Augustus."

e Mombritius: "Do you wish, Emperor, that I sacrifice?"

CHAPTER V.

A lion made gentle, and enticements scorned.

[33] The enraged Emperor, not considering the miracle nor the power of the invisible God, said to the Prefect Justinus: Take this unjust woman, take hold of her, and stretched out with swords and sharp iron hooks, tear her, The Saint laughs at the foolish cruelty of the Prefect Justinus: so that she may leave the light of this world. For I am greatly filled with grief, and seeing her I am now overcome with dismay, and I do not know what to do. The Prefect, taking hold of her, immediately went to the Praetorium, and sitting at the tribunal, ordered Blessed Martina to be brought in, saying: Let the destroyer of the temple enter, and let me see what she wants. She entered smiling. The Prefect said: Do you mock me, unjust woman, because I have allowed you to live so far? By the most pure Sun, I will have your entrails thrown to the dogs, if you do not sacrifice to the gods, so that I may see what solace your Christ provides you. Blessed Martina said: Should I not laugh, impious one, at the powerlessness of your Emperor, because he was conquered by a woman through Christ, and has handed me over to you again? The Prefect said: He is lord and has power; he has handed you to me so that you either sacrifice or perish by punishments. Martina said: Behold, I do not sacrifice: punish me as much as you wish.

[34] She is scraped with small blades and hooks: Then the Prefect ordered her to be stretched on a pole, and her limbs cut with swords. While she was being cut, she cried out saying: Cross of Christ, help me, for in you is salvation. The Prefect said: Tear at her breasts with hooks, saying to her: Let your God free you. Torn with hooks, she said absolutely nothing; Her breasts are torn with hooks: she only looked to God with her eyes. After she had received one hundred and eighteen incisions from the hooks, the Prefect Justinus, hoping that she had already expired, ordered the executioners to stop. While she hung there, the Prefect asked her saying: Do you wish, Martina, to sacrifice and escape the remaining torments? Or do you still remain in the faith of your Christ? Martina answered: I have Christ who strengthens me, and I do not sacrifice to your abominable gods, nor do I feel the torments inflicted upon me, through him who has had mercy on me, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[35] She returns joyfully to the prison: The Prefect, rendered senseless for many hours, ordered her to be taken down. But since she could not walk because of the punishments, he ordered her to be placed on a litter and carried to the prison. But she, gathering up her holy body and covering it with the hair of her head, pushing away the executioners, she quickly entered the prison. The Prefect, sitting on a horse, went to the prison and found the Saint once again on a high throne, Sitting on a throne, surrounded by light, she praises God: with a face shining like a ray of the sun. Greatly distressed, he went out and closed the prison, sealing it firmly with his ring; and he left about a hundred guards and went to the Emperor. The Saint was singing psalms and glorifying God; and a great light was in that dwelling.

[36] When this was reported to the Emperor, When he entered the palace to Alexander, he found him dining. The Emperor, surprised, said: Why have you come here, Prefect, at such an hour? He said: As your majesty commanded, I subjected the unjust Martina to affliction with punishments, to be cut with swords and torn with hooks; I inflicted these upon her from morning until now, as you can see from my clothing; and though hung up and subjected to punishments, she neither died, but what is more, she does not feel what we inflict; beaten with rods she ran into the prison, while I was hoping she had expired while hanging. Behold, I have done what was commanded by your majesty.

[37] She is ordered to be thrown to wild beasts: But it is for you to consider what you command concerning her. Alexander said to him: It is clear that the confidence of her safety, which she has through enchantments, is apparent. Let her be given to wild beasts, to be torn apart and perish. Justinus said nothing. In the morning he sent executioners to bring her. The Prefect entered and said: The Emperor Alexander has ordered you to sacrifice; but if you do not sacrifice, to hand you over to wild beasts. The Blessed Martina, shining like a ray of the sun, said: I, in the name of Christ who suffered for us believers in him, remaining in glory, trust to conquer you. For once through Angelic power, through an earthquake, I overthrew Apollo and reduced him to nothing; again I delivered the goddess Artemis, adorned with lamps and a throne, to fire; and do you not know the miracles wrought by the power of God, and are you hardened? You are hardened by the manifold perversity of the enemy, deaf in deep dissolution, indigestible filth; you have deposited the shipwreck of your soul in the Tartarean abyss.

[38] Hearing these things, the Prefect Justinus, enraged, said: Let the beasts be prepared until I return from the palace: for I hasten to summon the Emperor to come to the amphitheater. When he had entered the palace, he said to the Emperor: I beseech my lord to come to the amphitheater. Together they went directly, and both of them had her cast among the wild beasts. St. Martina said: Behold, this is my sacrifice. The Prefect said: See, Emperor, this woman who has ground our gods to pieces: let her be torn apart by wild beasts. She is brought into the amphitheater, Now there was a most savage lion, which ate forty pounds of meat daily, and twenty-eight pounds of white bread; and for its drink, eighteen measures of barley gruel; this lion had not eaten for three days, so that it would devour the Blessed one. While the Emperor sat grieving, he ordered her to enter. When she entered, a great sound came from heaven, so that all trembled, and the Emperor said to her: Trust me as your father, and consent to me: for I love you greatly, by my gods, so that you may dissolve the great wrath that has surrounded you; for I will make you mistress of my palace, and known to all as Empress. Or merely say a word for the satisfaction of the people present, and do not sacrifice, but only say: great is the god Zeus Greek: Zeus: She is again tempted with various enticements: for thus you hold the power and fear of all the gods; and satisfying them you will live, sharing in my empire.

[39] But the holy Martyr, raising her eyes to heaven and extending her hands, prayed saying: My light, Lord Jesus Christ, my inextinguishable light, undefiled brightness, eternal King, who have the throne of immortality, who manifest the knowledge of your Divinity and have crowned your Saints, keep me perfect in the contest. But to the Emperor she said: Diminished understanding, you threaten me, preparing death for me by terrifying me. Know that I rather consent to be devoured by wild beasts, that I may merit a blessed and eternal life with Christ, than by consenting to your seduction to fall into the snare of eternal death.

[40] The Emperor ordered the lion to be released to devour her. The lion was roaring in its den so as to terrify everyone. She is thrown to the lion, which fawns on her: The keeper who fed it opened the gate to the lion: and the lion came out roaring toward the Saint, showing not terror but delight, and indicating grief on her behalf, it was moving the expression of its face, showing affection; and breaking into a run, it went to the Saint and, bowing down, kissed her feet. The Saint said: You shine with your powers, O God. For I behold a glorious company standing around my passion, Angels glorifying your Divinity on the right and on the left, and contradicting the hostile power of savage beasts, turning their roaring into a rebuke of Alexander; the gentle behavior of the beasts has been transformed, which for the knowledge of truth you restrain, against the manifold and deceiving glory of those who hate you. Do not permit me to have communion with them, but preserve me whole and safe in your mercy, O God my God, as I exist in the punishment of contest.

[41] She urges the Emperor to acknowledge Christ. And saying this, she said to the Emperor: See, Emperor, you who have brought against me the power of punishments and wild beasts, that Christ who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, is most victorious by the will of the Father. For all things are subject to him alone. Alexander said: How then has the fury of lions submitted itself to you? The holy Virgin said: Do not hold the truth in doubt, but love Christ, who reduced your Apollo to dust and destroyed your seductress Artemis. Know Christ, who commanded the Angels to consign the deserted and shattered Artemis, together with the one dwelling in her, to ashes from its foundations. Know God, who illuminated the former darkness and converted those who erred, and showed a lion at peace; and for the knowledge of your error and the conversion of your ferocity, he showed a nature gentler than that of the lion.

[42] The Emperor, seeing the lion showing gentle manners and reverence of love toward the Saint, and the eager handmaid of Christ remaining constant in all her torments, said to her: Humble yourself in your behavior, and confess Jupiter Greek: Dia; for it is he who assists you. The holy Virgin said: Your Apollo, whom you love so greatly, who has deposited your soul in perdition, did not help, nor did he rescue Artemis from all her wickedness: and how can anything help me? In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, and through my contest and my martyrdom, The lion kills Eumenius. they have been reduced to nothing. The Emperor ordered the lion to be sent back to its cage. The keeper made some noise, and the lion, rising up, made a charge and seized Eumenius, the Emperor's relative, and killed him. And all cried out with a great voice, saying: Save, Emperor, the one whom God and the wild beasts pity, and release her through whom even the gods have perished; through whom God who is in heaven has revealed the demons who dwelt in the idols, and has put them to flight. But the Emperor said: The tyrant's exhortations rejected: Name Jupiter Greek: Dia as God, Martina, and you shall be released. The Blessed Virgin Martina said: I confess Christ as God, who gives power to me and to those who confess him to destroy lying gods. But this one whom you call Jupiter, I confess to be made of bronze, Greek: aereum and that a maleficent demon dwells in it, who neither hears nor sees, whom through prayer I most faithfully trust will be made like Apollo. For I recall Christ saying through the Apostle Paul in the Holy Spirit: "For the law entered in that sin might abound; but where sin abounded, grace superabounded" (Rom. 5:20). The law of the Emperor has entered, which I fulfill. The Prophets proclaimed and the Apostles preached the law of Christ; but in you sin has superabounded, through your malicious impiety binding yourself to eternal destruction; but upon your sin and evil way of life the grace of Christ will superabound, to scatter your malicious sacrifice, so that people may be converted from your ways and those of your father the devil.

[43] She is returned to prison. Then the enraged Alexander ordered the Saint to be shut up again in prison. Impelled by the grace of Christ she walked, saying: "I shall love your tabernacles, Lord: my soul desires and has cleaved to you, the living God, forever. Guard me from the snare which they have set for me, and from the stumbling blocks of those who work iniquity" (Ps. 141:9). "Teach my soul, Lord, the statutes of your commandments, and have mercy on me according to your great mercy." And she entered the prison glorifying God. And she was with the Saints, triumphing and rejoicing, and keeping festival throughout the whole night for Christ who saves her.

a MS. of St. Maximin: "foolishness."

b Mombritius: "hair."

c Same: "lamp."

d MS. of St. Maximin: "couch."

e Same MS: "tisanes." Ripatorio: "tipsanes." alt. "barley gruel" (ptisanas).

f MS. of St. Maximin: "thirty."

g Greek: Dia, i.e. Jupiter.

h MS. of St. Maximin: "air."

CHAPTER VI.

Fire and other torments overcome.

[44] After two days the Emperor went out to offer sacrifice in the temple where twelve idols were; and he ordered the Saint to be brought. She came, shining like the sun. And he said to her: Call upon Jupiter Greek: Dia as God, and you will be saved. The Saint said: I call him a foul and unclean idol: do therefore what you wish; for you will not incline me, because my Lord Christ is with me. Then he ordered her to be hung up and scraped with hooks. Martina is again scraped with hooks. While being torn, she said: "You have made me glad, Lord, in your will, and in the works of your hands I shall rejoice. You have made known to your handmaid your wonders: your justice is justice forever: your judgments are the true and eternal light."

[45] Those tormenting her are afflicted by the power of God. And the incisions went down to her bones. The herald was crying out saying: Confess Jupiter Greek: Dia as God, Martina, and you will be saved. But she kept saying: I am a Christian, and I confess Christ. They tortured her all the more. She kept saying: The light of Christ has risen upon the just, and gladness upon those of upright heart. All who tortured her felt pain in their bones down to the marrow, and they said to the Emperor: We beseech you, Emperor, free us from these punishments, for the Angels of God are tormenting us. And the executioners were disabled from their shoulders.

[46] She is cast into fire, The enraged Alexander ordered her to be handed over to the fire and consumed. The officers did as ordered, and lit a great fire and cast her into the midst of it; she cried out with a great voice and said: O God who looked down from heaven to earth, and gave your Son, that he might see if there is anyone who understands or seeks God, help me in my humility; for justice has looked down from heaven, and truth has sprung from the earth. And she said to the Emperor: Hear, Emperor: I have learned the sacred writings which have instructed my soul, which say to me through the Apostolic voice, to endure all things, tribulations and distresses, punishments and necessities; and through these to have the most sublime faith, through which Christ God, the hope of Christians, is known, through whom God is known as rewarder by those who invoke his name. For charity grows, multiplying commandments; and whoever suffers for the name of Christ is crowned. The Emperor was greatly saddened because the Blessed one was prevailing. which is immediately scattered: And soon a great rain fell, and the sound of wind, and the flame was dispersed and burned all those who stood around.

[47] The pestilent and inconstant Alexander attributed the marvels of God to many sorceries; and ordered the hair of her head to be shaved: for he said that her sorceries lay in her hair, because she hoped to win victory through them. Her head is shaved: The officers did as commanded and shaved her head. The Emperor says to her: What is it, Martina, that you have to do? Behold, your magic is defeated; trust in the great god Jupiter Greek: Dii, and humble yourself to him. She said: It is written by the Apostle: "If a woman has long hair, it is her glory" (1 Cor. 11:15); but you have cut off the glory which God gave to the world, in his own creature; God will take your kingdom from you while you are present, she predicts the Emperor's death: and you will be pursued from the glory of God, and clothed in confusion with excessive grief, you will await death.

[48] He ordered her to be taken to the temple in which there was Jupiter Greek: Zeus, and to be shut inside. When she entered, the Emperor closed the door of the temple, she is shut in the temple of Jupiter for three days. sealed it with his ring, and returned to his palace. The Saint was glorifying God throughout the whole night and day. Every day the Emperor and the Priests entered the temple but could not approach her, because the voices of many holy Angels were heard: Angels attend her. and the Emperor said to those with him: The great god Zeus has gathered all the gods together, to instruct and admonish Martina. On the third day, he ordered the sacrifice of bulls to be prepared, and a formal confession of the gods. The crowds opened the doors and saw the Blessed one sitting on a throne, and with her a choir whose graceful beauty cannot be narrated, and there was a great fragrance of incense; Jupiter falls and is shattered. but Jupiter had fallen and been reduced to dust. The stupefied Emperor, at the great exultation of St. Martina, said to her: Where is the god Zeus? St. Martina said: He gave an account to Christ about Apollo and Artemis, and did not tell the truth; and Christ handed him over to the Tartarean angels, and they ground him to powder just as they did Apollo. And your empire, with which you are clothed in great confusion, he has set aside and rejected.

a Mombritius: "Jupiter." alt. "Diana."

CHAPTER VII.

The contrasting deaths of Martina and the tyrant.

[49] Then the enraged Emperor ordered her to be led outside the city and her head to be cut off with a sword. But the holy Martyr, rejoicing at departing this toilsome world, Martina is sentenced to death: prayed saying: I give thanks to you, Lord God, who have confirmed the choirs of the Saints; and I adore the great and glorious and terrible name of your Divinity, who have manifestly scattered the dark enemy and reduced to dust the senseless and immovable demons of their seduction; who by glorious understanding have established your handmaid in the perfection of confessing you; who have bestowed upon us the wonderful grace of your Father and our God, Lord Jesus Christ; who testing blessed Job through the most wicked devil, found no malice in him, and bore witness to him; you therefore, Savior, who chastised blessed Tobias and for the blameless love he had for you, had mercy on his life in your piety; who have manifested the mists of darkness and declared the truth; who have destroyed the middle wall, showing yourself in the work of charity; who have killed the darkness and destroyed the sorrows of perdition; who have reduced the things of earth to earth and made the things of heaven to be in heaven; who hungered and suffered and endured the Cross for us; who descended into the depths of Tartarus, that by your death you might make us immortal; who have illuminated the former darkness, Lord Jesus Christ, Liberator, direct my soul to the sweetness of the depths of your mercy, and number me with your faithful ones who have faithfully pleased you, because you are the one who made the election of the Saints. I invoke you, Lord Jesus Christ, Liberator of all, and I adore you, and I beseech you, and I supplicate you, who have freed me from the many evils shown to me: true light in the true light of your Divinity, save me, heavenly Lord Jesus Christ, with whom there is no respect of persons: command me, perfect in the confession of your name, to be received into your glory, so that splendidly clothed I may escape the evil by which I am surrounded. Repay the malicious Alexander as he has wrought against the innocent and against your handmaid: afflict his unbelieving heart and harden his stony spirit, for the correction of those who despise your greatness. For I, though poor and a sinner, ask to be found clean in your holy mercy; for I have struggled for your truth and that of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen.

[50] She is beheaded, followed by a heavenly voice. After this she said to the executioners: Complete what you have been directed to do. And she ended her life by the sword. And a voice came from heaven: Martina, you who have fought for my name, enter with all the Saints, completing your confession in the kingdom of heaven, and today you shall be with me in paradise: rejoice with your fathers. The executioners are killed: And when this voice was heard, they fell on their faces and died.

[51] Then Bishop Rythorius came, and the entire Roman priesthood, and they brought her holy body with spiritual canticles and hymns to the sixth region, and placed it in an onyx sarcophagus, glorifying and praising almighty God who is in heaven, She is buried. in the garden called Mirabilis; for it was a most beautiful place.

[52] The Emperor Alexander was struck with grief of heart on the same day, and like a rabid dog he ate his own flesh, and said, groaning and trembling: Have mercy on me, God of the Christians, for I have transgressed your commandments, Christ, and I have provoked you, The tyrant is tormented by grief: and I have persecuted your name, and I have punished your handmaid without cause. Justly am I tormented by you; as I have done, you have repaid me. And he expired in great agony, torn apart and mangled. He dies horribly, with an earthquake. And a voice from heaven was heard: Enter, Alexander, into the furnace of Gehenna, go into the outer darkness; for dark punishment is prepared for you, to which you are condemned. And a great earthquake occurred, and on that same day those who believed in God in the city of Rome on account of the voice made from heaven numbered two thousand and thirty souls. And eight days after her passion, Maximinus Caesar began to reign, and the whole Roman Senate received him. The martyrdom of St. Martina was completed on the Kalends of January. Honoring the faith and passion of this Saint, let us pray, brothers, that we may be worthy to become companions with all the Saints and find grace with our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory, with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever, Amen.

a Alt. Ritorius. alt. Rithorius. The name is absent in the MS. of Ripatorio. Marsilius Honoratus narrates these events somewhat differently from the ancient monuments of the Vatican Library, approximately as follows: The body of St. Martina lay unburied for several days, until Bishop Ritorius, who out of fear of persecution was hiding in the cemeteries, was informed by a certain Christian, The body of St. Martina was guarded by eagles, and came there with the same Christian, and found the sacred body guarded by two eagles, one keeping watch at the head and the other at the feet, lest any harm should come to it from anywhere. This was an argument of how great the merits of the unconquered Virgin were before God, whom he honored with this singular distinction. splendid, The body of the Virgin was so beautiful and conspicuous with such splendor that it brought great consolation to those who found it. They buried it secretly, celebrating with praises the triumph of God in his Virgin. Afterwards a church was erected there by Christians, sacred to the honor of Martina, thenceforth illustrious for the devotion of the faithful: indeed priests initiated under this title are found who would decorously manage the sacred rites there. Somewhat later, Pope St. Anterus received a divine command to remove this precious treasure from there, afterwards translated to the City. and transfer it to the City, to a place indicated by God. The holy Pontiff went with some Christians to the place where the Virgin's body had first been buried; and seizing a hoe, he began with his own hands to dig the earth, the others continuing the work. They finally found the buried treasure, and together with it the bodies of the glorious Martyrs Concordius and Epiphanius, also buried there: and they were all carried together to Rome and buried in a certain garden, in the very place where they were recently found. So says Honoratus. Concerning St. Anterus, by whom the relics of St. Martina were translated to the City, as Honoratus writes, we shall treat on January 3. Who these Martyrs Concordius and Epiphanius were, we have not yet discovered.

b That is, an urn of alabaster. For Greek: larnax is an urn, casket, chest. Greek: onyx sometimes signifies the same as Greek: alabastrites.

c MS. of St. Maximin: "a place blooming like paradise."

d The pagan authors who wrote of Alexander's deeds contradict this narrative. But neither do they agree among themselves; for some report he was killed at Mainz, The death of the Emperor Alexander. others in Sicila, or Sicily, a village, while he was hastening with great speed against the Germans who were ravaging Gaul; while others place that village in Gaul, others in Britain: and still others write that he was killed by a German uprising, others by recruits incited by Maximinus: so that they seem to have wished to conceal the manner of his death. Although it is possible that, after the Virgin's murder, he was seized by grief, as is said here, then upon news of the Germanic incursion into Gaul, he hastened there by forced marches, as Aelius Lampridius writes, and, being most suspicious (as the same author testifies), with his grief increasing, he was finally murdered by his own soldiers, while at the same time the portents narrated here occurred in the City as well.

e Perhaps sixty-eight.

f Maximinus began to reign in March of the year of Christ 235, and reigned for three years and a few days, as Eutropius writes.

THE FINDING OF ST. MARTINA

From the Italian narrative of Marsilius Honoratus, Priest of the Congregation of the Oratory.

Martina, Virgin and Martyr at Rome (St.)

From the Italian of Marsilius Honoratus.

[1] The relics of St. Martina found on October 25, 1634. The body of St. Martina, Virgin and Martyr, was discovered on October 25 of the year 1634, at Rome, in the crypt, or as they call it, the Confessio of the church once dedicated to her. That crypt had nearly collapsed from age: and therefore it was assigned to Pietro Berrettini of Cortona, Prefect of the Academy of Painters, by the public authority of the same Academy, in the manner and right by which church chapels are customarily transferred to certain persons and families; on the condition, however, that he was bound to endow, restore, and adorn it in whatever manner he pleased. When therefore he had reduced it to the form now seen, and was arranging to have his tomb placed there, when the ground was dug up to about ten palms toward the altar, an ancient wall was uncovered, and when this was broken through, a chest was found inside. The matter was immediately reported to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, Francesco Barberini, Cardinal, Protector of the church of St. Martina. the Protector of that church: who immediately ordered the matter to be communicated to Cardinal Ginetti, the Vicar of the Pontiff.

[2] These men sent Antonius Torniellus, the Vicegerent, Giovanni Severano of San Severino, a Priest of the Congregation of the Oratory, and Girolamo Bruno of Fermo, a Priest, to inspect and carefully examine everything and report back to them. They diligently carried out their instructions. The chest was of terracotta, sixteen palms and ten fingers long; two palms and two fingers wide, a palm and a half high, two fingers thick, covered with three ancient tiles, enclosed between two walls, and so piled around with earth and packed with stones that no one could suspect that so precious a treasure lay hidden there. These obstacles made it impossible to extract it except with immense labor and effort. The chest was placed transversely to the altar from West to East. At its beginning toward the West was the head of St. Martina, in a bronze dish, a palm and two fingers long, two and a half fingers high, not very thick, and already corroded by age. From the commissure of the skull it was possible to infer that it was a female cranium. That dish was placed upon many bones which clearly appeared to be those of a young Virgin, and there were nearly as many as are necessary for the composition of a human body, or at least very few were missing. Among those bones a lead plate was found, on which characters were inscribed, but so eroded by the passage of time that they could scarcely be read. Relics of SS. Concordius, Epiphanius, and their Companion were found. A terracotta tablet, and another marble tablet about the size of a palm, on which this inscription was visible, separated these bones from the bodies of Saints Concordius, Epiphanius, and their Companion:

Following this inscription, the remaining portion of the chest was packed with an enormous quantity of bones and two skulls. Upon careful inspection, it was determined that there were three bodies: two complete, and from the third certain parts of the head and tibia, with no small amount of dust. These are the bodies of Saints which were found on the Via Ostiensis along with the body of St. Martina, and translated to the City, as is evident from the ancient manuscripts of the Vatican Library.

[3] Beneath this chest, two very ancient walls were visible, set transversely, between which an enclosed space large enough for an equal chest had been formed: and many bones were found there, but most of them reduced to the smallest particles and almost to dust, without any name or inscription. They were, however, placed upon thin marble slabs without any other container.

[4] I myself was also present at this most fortunate discovery, along with Francesco Grillo, a Roman Priest, Matteo Bertocchi, a Priest of that church, Pietro Berrettini the Cortonese painter, Francesco Mochi, the sculptor of Monterovicio, Giovanni Battista Soria, the Roman architect, Alessandro Algardi, the Bolognese sculptor who is now an officer of that Academy, and others.

[5] On the sixth day following, with the same persons present, the altar stone was lifted and the sepulcher within it was opened, measuring about two palms in every direction, supported on all sides by marble; and in it two glass vessels were found, like large lamps, about a palm in height, both covered with thin lead sheets: above one was a small slab of black stone, four fingers wide and a palm long, on which the following was engraved:

In this vessel were found certain fragments of bones with some marrow juice, also small particles of fat still retaining their whiteness; at the bottom of the vessel a certain bloody and soft substance, approximately in the form of a heart.

[6] In the other vessel, of the same size but without any inscription, was found the right foot's metatarsal with its joints, partly still connected and partly separated; the toe joints, however, were missing. Outside the vessel, on the very floor of the sepulcher, some small bones were found, veil particles reduced to dust, a few fragments of already decayed wood, a small cross of wood exquisitely crafted in the most delicate workmanship, perforated at the top so that it could easily be worn suspended from a cord, entirely free of decay.

[7] These relics were extracted and with every diligence arranged by those priests in the same crypt, where they are still preserved: and for their more secure custody, not only was the crypt locked with a key, but fortified with two seals of the said Fathers, and day and night guarded with the utmost care and fidelity by those who had been present at the discovery.

[8] Pope Urban VIII with Cardinals visited these relics. Cardinal Francesco Barberini then came and visited and reverently venerated those relics. Pope Urban VIII himself, on the following Tuesday, November 28, in the afternoon, came there with Cardinals Torres, Sant'Onofrio, Spada, Sacchetti, Pamphilio, Santacroce, Brancaccio, Francesco Barberino, Borghese, Ginetti, Cesarini, Don Antonio, and many other notables of both orders. Francesco Barberini, Protector and benefactor of that church, took care that the adornment be provided which so great a treasure deserved. On the high altar, these relics were exposed for public veneration with the ceremony and solemnity that was fitting. To increase the people's piety, the Pontiff granted a plenary indulgence to those piously visiting the relics from first to second vespers. He grants indulgences. Therefore a huge multitude of people flocked there.

[9] So far Honoratus, who then published the Acts of St. Martina in Italian, chiefly using Mombritius and various manuscripts of the Vatican and Vallicelliana libraries, adding erudite annotations and the history of the finding. Our Alexander Donatus, in book 4 of his work on the city of Rome, published in the year 1639, chapter 12, testifies that the new temple of St. Martina was being built by Cardinal Francesco Barberini and adorned with a front of Tiburtine stone by Urban VIII.