ON THE HOLY MARTYRS HERMYLUS AND STRATONICUS, AT SINGIDUNUM IN UPPER MOESIA.
A.D. 315.
PrefaceHermylus, Deacon, Martyr at Singidunum in Moesia (St.) Stratonicus, Commentariensis, Martyr at Singidunum in Moesia (St.)
[1] Singidunum is a city of Upper Moesia, according to Ptolemy (book 3, chapter 9, table 9 of Europe), on the Danube; others write Singidonum, and it is now commonly called Zenderin by the Hungarians. Here were crowned with martyrdom, under the reign of Licinius, the holy Hermylus, a deacon, and Stratonicus, a commentariensis keeper of the prison record. Concerning them, Molanus writes in his Additions to Usuard: Their birthday in the Latin calendars, "On the thirteenth day, of the holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus." Galesius writes: "In Greece, of the holy Hermylus and Stratonicus." The Roman Martyrology more fully: "At Singidunum in Upper Moesia, of the holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus, who, after savage torments, were drowned in the river Ister Danube under the Emperor Licinius."
[2] Christophorus Patricius, Proconsul of Mytilene, writes: "With hymns I celebrate the Martyr Stratonicus and his companion in the contest, Hermylus." And in the Greek calendars. The Horologium of the Greeks also records them; but the Menologium of Maximus of Cythera less fully, mentioning only Hermylus. The Menologium published by Henricus Canisius: "The birthday of the holy Martyrs Hermillus and Stratonicus under King Licinius. Hermillus was in the order of the diaconate, who, for his confession of Christ, after beatings and the tearing of his flesh and other kinds of torments, was cast together with Stratonicus into the river Ister, where both attained a blessed end." The Menaia give a fuller account, to be presented shortly. In the Anthologion, the Office is of the Octave, and only the Canon of the holy Martyrs is chanted.
[3] Commemoration on other days elsewhere. Galesius writes in his Notes under January 12: "In Greece, of the holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus." But this may be a copyist's error. In the first calendar of the monastery of the nuns of St. John in part 4 of the Sanctuarium Capuanum, under January 16, the following is found: "And of St. Hermulus, Martyr." But again the Greek Menologium records under June 1: "On the same day, of the holy Martyrs Hermyllus and Stratonicus." And the Menaia: "On the same day te aute hemera, of the holy Martyrs Hermylus Hermylou and Stratonicus Stratonikhou; their synaxis synaxis is held in the chapel eukterio oiko of the Archangel Michael in the Oxeia, and in the city of Fyrmou Fyrmou polei, and in the buildings of Spoudaios Spoudaiou near the orphanage orphanotropheion."
[4] The Acts. The Acts of these holy champions, written by an anonymous author and related by Metaphrastes, were published in Latin by Lipomanus and Surius. We have reviewed them against the Greek codex and distributed them into four Questions, as many as were held concerning Hermylus. The Menaia provide this epitome:
"A net is the ship for Hermylus and Stratonicus; their common port, The same from the Menaia. for those plunged into the deep. The thirteenth day: the Ister drowned Hermylus and his companion."
These men lived in the times of the Emperor Licinius. Hermylus was a deacon by ecclesiastical rank. When he confessed the name of Christ before the Emperor, first his jaws were beaten with certain bronze rods; then he was lacerated with innumerable blows. Meanwhile, he provoked his friend Stratonicus, who was moved to compassion by his torments, to confess the faith openly. For when Hermylus was being beaten so savagely with iron rods that his belly and heart already gaped open, Stratonicus, turning and looking at him, wept. He was immediately revealed as being of the same religion. Therefore, questioned by the Emperor, he professed himself a Christian. And so, likewise punished with beatings, he was drowned in the river Ister together with Hermylus, where both attained a blessed end. Their synaxis is celebrated in the church of St. Michael the Archangel in Oxia.
[5] So far the Menaia. Oxeia is a certain quarter of the city of Constantinople. From what we have cited above from the Menaia, Chapels. it may be inferred that there were several small churches or chapels dedicated to these holy Martyrs, namely in Fyrmopolis and in the buildings of Spoudaios near the orphanage. On January 10, in the Life of St. Marcian, chapter 5, no. 21, we stated that the church of St. Stratonicus, which appears to have been in Rhession, a suburban district, was restored by him — and we believe this should be understood as referring to this Stratonicus.
[6] The time of their martyrdom. Concerning the time at which these holy Martyrs were killed, the following may be established. After the battle at Cibalae, a town in Pannonia — at which (in the year of Christ 315, under the consulship of Constantine IV and Licinius IV, on the 8th before the Ides of October, as the Fasti of Idatius record) Licinius was first defeated by Constantine — Constantine, having taken possession of all Dardania, Moesia, and Macedonia, occupied numerous provinces, as Eutropius states in book 10 of his Breviarium. And after another battle in Thrace, with a truce agreed upon, says Zosimus in book 2, it seemed good that there should be an alliance and mutual treaty between them, so that Constantine would rule over the Illyrians and all other nations extending further westward, while Licinius would have Thrace, the East, and the more distant provinces. And more clearly Sozomen in book 1, chapter 7: "After the battle fought near Cibalae, the Dardanians, Macedonians, and all who dwell along the Ister, as well as Hellas and all Illyricum, were subjugated to the dominion of Constantine." Singidunum and Moesia therefore thenceforward obeyed Constantine, so that Licinius could not have exercised jurisdiction there. Whence it follows that these men were crowned with martyrdom in the same year of Christ 315. In the year of Christ 313, under the consulship of Constantine III and Licinius III, Constantine gave his sister in marriage to Licinius. From that point, war was waged by Licinius against Galerius Maximinus. Then Licinius began to rage against the Christians while plotting war against Constantine. So Paulus Orosius writes in book 7, chapter 28: "Maxentius, often wearied by many battles, was finally defeated and killed at the Milvian Bridge. Maximianus (rather, Maximinus), the most hostile instigator and executor of the persecution of Christians, perished at Tarsus while planning a civil war against Licinius. Licinius, roused by sudden madness, ordered all Christians to be expelled from his palace. Soon war flared up between Licinius himself and Constantine. But Constantine first defeated Licinius, the husband of his sister, in Pannonia," etc. That persecution, however, was only severe where Licinius himself was present, as Socrates testifies in book 1, chapter 2. After peace was restored between them, Licinius, as the same author writes, began to curry favour with Constantine, to feign friendship with him, and to bind himself by oath that he would never undertake anything in which there would be any sign of tyranny — although shortly afterwards he began to rage cruelly throughout the entire East, as the same author and Sozomen in book 1, chapter 7 narrate, and as will be mentioned shortly in the Life of St. Glaphyra. Nevertheless, this slaughter of Saints may have been committed before Licinius entered into friendship with Constantine, when he was only a Caesar; but in the Acts he is expressly called Emperor.
ACTS FROM METAPHRASTES,
By an anonymous author, Recently collated with the Greek manuscript.
Hermylus, Deacon, Martyr at Singidunum in Moesia (St.) Stratonicus, Commentariensis, Martyr at Singidunum in Moesia (St.)
By an anonymous author, from Metaphrastes.
QUESTION I. Concerning Hermylus: his jaws are beaten.
[1] The persecution of Licinius. When the impious Licinius was reigning and showing great zeal for idols, that they might be honoured with rites and sacrifices, a heavy death threatened all Christians, and cities were searched on their account, and regions, villages, fields, and households were carefully examined; and whoever brought a single Christian before the Emperor was considered to be well-disposed toward him and worthy of the highest honours. Wherefore both he and all who were subject to him used great diligence in this matter, as the latter sought to please the impious and wicked Emperor, while he himself sought to gratify various gods.
[2] To this Licinius, therefore, as he sat one day on his lofty tribunal, a certain man from the military ranks approached, St. Hermylus is denounced. bringing the divine Martyr as a prisoner: "There is," he said, "a certain man named Hermylus, who holds the rank of deacon, who has long practised the rites of the Christians, but mocks and thinks nothing of the gods and of you, O Emperor." When Licinius heard this, he did not delay or put it off, but immediately ordered those who were present to seize him wherever he might be He is brought before Licinius. and bring him before the tribunal. They searched every place, and having found him praying somewhere and raising his holy hands, they informed him of the Emperor's command. He at once eagerly followed those eager men, showing nothing cowardly or soft in his appearance — things by which the disposition of the soul is made manifest — but rather rejoicing and filled with great delight that he was about to suffer for Christ. And so he presented himself to the Emperor.
[3] The Emperor said: "Answer and declare openly: do you confess yourself to be a Christian, as we have heard?" He replied with a noble judgement and voice: "Not only do I confess this, but also that I have been consecrated to God, who does not fall under sight, and that I stand before him, as one who has become his deacon." The Emperor, wishing to show himself urbane and very clever, said: "Then show yourself to be a deacon, that is, a minister, to the gods." He mocks the idols and Caesar. The Martyr, however, turning his ready and versatile reply into laughter, said: "You seem to me to be deaf, O Emperor, or else to be acting foolishly. I told you that I minister to God, who does not fall under sight; I am not the deacon of these things that are seen, or rather that do not even see — which you yourself, being deceived, worship as gods, although they are stones and wood, utterly lifeless, and deaf works of the human hand, which for those who have wisdom are rather to be laughed at than worshipped."
[4] The Emperor could not endure this freedom of speech, but immediately ordered that the Martyr's cheeks be beaten with certain bronze instruments fashioned for inflicting punishment, He is beaten. and a herald to proclaim these words: "Do not be so excessively free with your tongue, Hermylus; honour the Emperor, sacrifice to the gods, and be freed from punishment." But he, even while being beaten in this way, as if undergoing nothing disagreeable, on the contrary reproached the tyrant for his weakness — for being of a doubtful and perplexed mind, and plainly defeated, and therefore, no differently from those who are of pusillanimous and abject spirit, inflicting punishment out of anger. Then, also raising his voice yet more clearly, he said: "You shall experience the blows that never cease and the divine hand: because you have abandoned him who made you and attend to deaf and mute gods; and, what is more serious, as if begrudging the salvation of others, you strive to drag them to the same destruction."
[5] He is thrust back into prison. After it seemed to the Emperor that the punishment was sufficient, and his anger had somewhat abated from its extreme severity, he consigned the Martyr to prison and ordered him to remain there for three days, saying: "Perhaps he will be led to repent of his vain obstinacy." The Martyr, therefore, going to the prison, sang the psalm: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man may do to me. The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what flesh may do to me." And as he entered the jail, he said: "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit upon the Cherubim, manifest yourself and come to save us." Thus the Martyr endured, and thus he was willing to suffer what was hard and burdensome for the sake of Christ. But how did Christ himself act? Did he disdain his servant? Did he neglect consolation while his servant was suffering? And how would that have been consistent with our God, and with the kindness and clemency that surpasses all thought? He did not, therefore, fail to bring help, He is strengthened by an Angel. but even spurred him to courage of soul, and sent an Angel to him as a consoler, saying: "Hermylus, be of good courage and do not fear: speak, and do not be silent: fight, and do not be afraid. For soon you will overcome the tyrant's devices, and from above you will receive the glorious crown of martyrdom." Thus God rather arms his champion against the tyrant — he who does not appear. Thus he girds with strength, and teaches hands for war, and gives a bow of bronze; he places his arms and the shield of salvation Ps. 17.
QUESTION II. He is beaten with rods.
[6] He answers the tyrant with constancy. After the third day, certainly, when Licinius had ascended the tribunal, the divine Hermylus was immediately brought before him. "Have you now decided," he said, "to sacrifice to the gods and be freed from the threatening terrors and dangers and threats? Or are you still carried headlong," he said, "and has the same madness seized you again?" To these words the soldier of Christ replied very bravely, and worthy of him who had armed him: "I have told you once, O Emperor, and it is fitting that you be content with my previous answers and raise the same questions no further. For I have a God in heaven, for whom alone I live, and to whom I hasten to offer myself as a sacrifice; and from whom I hope the greatest help will come to me." The Emperor said: "Let me see, then, whether the one who inhabits the heavens will bring you sufficient help." And immediately he gave the order, and six men, swiftly carrying out what they had been commanded — men strong of hand, harsh and cruel of spirit, breathing slaughter and fury — having stretched the Martyr on the ground, beat him most cruelly with rods. He is beaten with rods. They indeed acted thus, serving their mortal king. But the Martyr, as if he had nothing in common with the flesh that was suffering thus, and felt no sensation of pain, persevered fearlessly and calmly in prayer and attended to God. And this was his prayer:
[7] "Lord my God, who for my sake endured scourges and blows under Pontius Pilate, do you yourself strengthen me now as I suffer for your sake, He is strengthened by a heavenly voice. that I may be able to complete the present course; and that, having been a companion in suffering, I may also be worthy to become a companion in glory." Such was his prayer, and a voice was immediately heard from above, saying: "Amen, amen, Hermylus: after three days you shall be freed from your present afflictions, and you shall receive splendid and magnificent recompenses for your present labours." The voice brought great boldness and courage of spirit to the Martyr, but struck great fear into the executioners; and all suddenly falling to the ground trembled and quaked, so that not even the Emperor himself nor any others were immune from perturbation of spirit, but all were equally moved — even though he, blinded by impiety and raging most violently, "did not wish to understand so that he might act well, nor did he hate wickedness," to speak with the divine David Ps. 35:4-5, nor did he receive even the slightest knowledge of God who was working these miracles; but once again he consigned the Martyr to a dark and gloomy prison, devoid of light.
[8] He is led back to prison. But one must pay attention to the prayer and understand the secret of God's wisdom. For from this springs what is most delightful about the prayer, and what will join a fellow-soldier to the athlete. The person to whose custody the Saint had been entrusted, and who had charge of the prison, was very much his friend and intimate companion. Stratonicus has compassion on him. Who was this? That wise Stratonicus, who appeared indeed to share the same sentiments as his friend and to be of the same persuasion in religion, but had not yet dared to profess his piety openly, nor had he overcome the hidden discipline of Joseph; yet he showed by the eyes of many that he pitied his friend and was grieved by his torments. But let us defer speaking about that wise Stratonicus for the present, for the narrative pursues what pertains to the divine Hermylus and does not allow its sequence to be broken.
[9] The Martyr Hermylus, therefore, entering the prison, opportunely and wisely sang these words: "The Lord is my light and my Saviour; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; Hermylus is animated by heavenly light and voice. of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers draw near against me to devour my flesh, those who trouble me and my enemies, they themselves are weakened and have fallen. If armies encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. If war should rise against me, in this I will hope." So he spoke; and immediately a wonderful light from above burst upon him to confirm what was being sung; and a voice was again heard from there, bidding the athlete to be of good courage, likewise confirming the psalm, and, as it had promised him, that the end would come after the third day.
QUESTION III.
He is beaten again; and Stratonicus with him.
[10] Again he answers the tyrant fearlessly. On the following day, when Licinius had signified that he would hold court and had taken his seat at the tribunal, he ordered a herald to proclaim that Hermylus be brought in. He was led in with a cheerful spirit, with joyful eyes, and a heart full of delight — for his outward appearance openly declared this. Licinius, smiling and shaking his head, and as if openly mocking the Saint, said: "Come now, how beneficial was that dark jail for you? Has the interval of time that has passed truly brought you some change of mind and persuaded you to yield to the Emperor's commands and render to the gods what is owed to them? Or shall we still need torments against such hardness of your heart?" But the Martyr said: "For me indeed, that dark and gloomy dwelling has procured a great light; and now my soul dwells in tranquillity and delight and inexplicable illumination, which extends to me a good hope for the future. But I greatly marvel how the darkness that dwells in you undergoes no change, but always, profound and dense, sits upon the eyes of your soul, which by no means allow you to behold the truth."
[11] When he had so openly reproached the Emperor with impiety, Licinius, responding to him vehemently and with great bitterness, said: "You have learned nothing else, it seems, except only to heap insults — which is indeed intemperance of the tongue and audacity of the soul, and, to say it in a word, madness. But nevertheless answer and say openly: will you sacrifice to the gods and yield to us who so command, or must we deal with you as you deserve?" But the Martyr of Christ, Hermylus, said: "You have your answers, O Emperor, and you shall hear nothing further from us. Do henceforth what you will, and carry out what you have determined." Provoked to anger by these words, Licinius He is beaten with triangular rods. ordered him to be stretched out on his back and beaten on the belly with triangularly-shaped rods. This was indeed a severe torment, and one scarcely tolerable for human bodies. For the angles of the rods, not unlike certain blades, powerfully cut into the flesh. But the athlete, even while being beaten so mercilessly, He is refreshed by divine aid. had one consolation: namely, to gaze upon Christ with fixed eyes; one benign remedy: the prayers which he poured out to him, which he joyfully mingled with his blows, saying: "Lord, make haste to help me." And he swiftly came to his aid, both enabling him to bear the pains more easily and announcing his consummation. The Emperor, therefore, being irritated because the Martyr would not obey, and considering that athlete's remarkable constancy for the sake of piety to be contempt of his own power, continued punishing him, thinking he would persuade him by force. Wherefore he ordered his belly to be pierced with eagle-shaped claws, Tortured, he exults. "Until," he said, "he sees his own entrails with his own eyes." On account of which the Martyr said: "My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. As if with fat and richness my soul has been filled, and with lips of exultation my mouth shall praise." And so indeed were these things. But what followed next, and how?
[12] Betrayed by his tears, Stratonicus confesses Christ. The tyrant intended to put the athlete back in custody again, so that he might then punish him more severely. But the noble Stratonicus (for now the narrative demands that I bring the promise to its conclusion), when he had seen Hermylus suffering thus and could not bring him any help at all, did what he could: he pitied his friend and experienced bitter grief, and his countenance fell, and tears flowed drop by drop from his eyes. The result was that, being in such a state, he could not remain hidden; but when certain fellow-soldiers had seen him sad and mourning and had discovered the reason, they approached the Emperor and said: "Stratonicus, O Emperor, Stratonicus the keeper of the prison, openly shows that he shares the error and Christianity of Hermylus. For he seems to pity him and to nourish great grief in his soul on his account." When Licinius had immediately summoned Stratonicus, he asked whether he was a friend of Hermylus. The disciple of truth did not lie, nor could he bear to conceal within himself a cowardly and pusillanimous piety. But judging it to be the time for this idle knowledge of God to come forth into action, and to obtain for himself a great fruit through confession, he immediately confessed that he was a friend of Hermylus and a Christian, and that he judged those who worship images to be insane. "For I fear," he said, "God alone, who made heaven and earth."
[13] Moved by these words, the Emperor ordered him to undergo the most severe punishment. This was He is scourged most savagely. that he should receive blows from those rods on his entire naked body — and this until his very voice should fail him. And so indeed did Licinius command. But the Martyr, even though entangled in so many evils, gazed at his friend with fixed eyes, and called upon him for help, and used him as an intercessor with Christ, saying: "Hermylus, pray to Christ for me, that, having kept a firm and stable confession toward him, I may be able to easily overcome the snares of the tyrant." Meanwhile he also mocked Licinius himself, forbidding him to sacrifice to blind gods and threatening him with the vengeance of the true God, into whose hands to fall holds a truly terrible, inescapable, and complete destruction.
[14] He is strengthened by a divine voice. When Licinius had seen that St. Stratonicus was sufficiently wounded, he refrained from punishing him further. He refrained — not out of any feeling of humanity or a disposition inclined to mercy, but to leave room for repentance, having first terrified him with torture. And so for the present he consigned him to custody. But though he was in custody, he considered Jesus to be his consolation, and conversed with him through prayers, saying: "Lord, do not remember our former iniquities. Bear us aid, O God our Saviour, for the glory of your name." And at the same time a divine voice followed, saying: "You have completed your course; you have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which tomorrow you shall receive."
QUESTION IV.
Both are drowned.
[15] Hermylus is again torn to pieces. When day had come, Licinius again interrogated the brought-forth Hermylus as to whether he would sacrifice to the gods. He replied: "I give you now the same answers as before, O Emperor. Therefore burn, punish, cut — do with me whatever has settled in your mind. For I have learned not to fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." When the Emperor had heard this and despaired of ever bringing the Saint to a different opinion, he suspended him on a wooden frame and ordered him to be savagely torn apart. But even though his flesh was being cut so cruelly, he was not ignorant of the source of the salvation of the just — namely that it comes from the Lord, and that he is their defender in the time of affliction. And so he said continually: "Be my helper, Lord, and Redeemer." And just as if he seemed to hear someone speaking from above, saying: "Do not fear, for I am with you, and I am your God."
[16] Licinius, therefore, being afraid and as if disturbed by what he had heard, took the Martyr down from the frame and condemned him to perish in the river Ister, ordering him to be cast into it — foolishly supposing perhaps that Hermylus, having suffered thus, would utterly perish, and that no discovery of his venerable body would take place. When Stratonicus was brought before him, Licinius seemed to offer him useful advice and warning: "Believe me, O wretch," he said, "believe me, and consent to sacrifice to the gods, lest you too suffer the same things as your friend, and both of you undergo the same punishment for your contumacy." Stratonicus answered: "Truly I would be wretched if, obeying you, while he has died for Christ, Both are ordered to be cast into the Ister. I myself should wish to live." And Licinius said: "What then? Do you wish to die with Hermylus?" "Most certainly indeed," said the divine Stratonicus. "For," he said, "if friends must share calamities in common, they must certainly also enjoy good things in common. And what could be more delightful or more honourable for us than to suffer for Christ?" Therefore, when the Emperor had despaired of being able to persuade Stratonicus, he pronounced the same sentence against him as well, and condemned both to the same end — which indeed the same end received them both, and common blessedness and exultation.
[17] And so the Martyrs were led to their death, saying: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men" — They are drowned in the river. which is indeed a hymn befitting those who are about to obtain some good, not of those who are being led to death or to any other cause of sorrow. When they had come to the river, having been placed in a net by those to whom this task had been given, they were sent into the deep. When the river had received the bodies of the Saints and had been sanctified by so great a flood, it in turn delivered them into the hands of the faithful — as if it could not bear to keep such a treasure hidden within itself any longer, and to inflict the loss of so great a good upon the Christians, since its first goodness had not appeared. Their bodies emerge and are buried. On the third day afterwards, therefore, the bodies of the Martyrs were seen lying in a deserted place; and when certain pious men, whose office it was to venerate the bodies of the Saints, had come upon them, they took them up with eager hands, piously and reverently, and sang sacred hymns and performed all the rites customary among Christians. They laid them together in a certain place which is eighteen stadia distant from the city of Singidunum, so that they might share all things in common: their friendly confession in Christ, their dwelling in prison, their drowning in the river, their heavenly rest, and the deposition of their bodies in one place — by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honour, and worship, now and forever. Amen.