Potitus

ON ST. POTITUS, MARTYR.

A.D. 166.

Potitus, Martyr (St.)

From various sources.

[1] There is scarcely any mention of St. Potitus the Martyr in the ancient Cisalpine Martyrologies that we have seen. A manuscript Florarium, certainly not ancient, has this entry under the Kalends of January: "At Rome, of Potitus the Martyr, ^a boy of 13 years, who was suspended on the rack, The name of St. Potitus in the sacred calendars, Jan. 1 and 3 burned with torches, and at last stoned in the year of salvation 160, and beheaded." But ^a manuscript of the monastery of St. Martin at Tournai, which was written several centuries ago and bears the names of Eusebius, Jerome, and Bede, has under January 3: "And the birthday of Potitus, who under the Emperor Antoninus was first beaten with rods, then shut up in prison and condemned to ^a great weight of iron. Drawn forth from there, he was suspended on the rack. And when the Emperor had ordered him to be cut to pieces and thrown to the dogs, the soldiers could not touch him. Then he was ordered to be fried in ^a pan, and after frying, to have molten lead poured over him. Then he was fixed from head downwards on an iron stake. When he was snatched from this by an Angel, the Emperor ordered his tongue to be cut out and his eyes to be pierced. And since he could not be overcome even thus, he was ordered to be beheaded, being ^a boy of thirteen years." A certain calendar of the monastery of nuns of St. John, from the fourth part of the Sanctuarium Capuanum published by Michael the Monk, Jan. 12 has this under January 12: "The Passion of St. Potitus the Martyr will take place."

[2] Jan. 13 The Roman Martyrology celebrates him on the very Ides in these words: "In Sardinia, of St. Potitus the Martyr, who under the Emperor Antoninus and the governor Gelasius suffered many things, and at last obtained martyrdom by the sword." In the monastery of St. Potitus at Naples, Jan. 30 about which more below, he is venerated on January 30. Ferrari under April 8 has this in his general Catalogue: "At Tuscania in Etruria, of St. Potitus the Martyr." Apr. 8 He cites the records of the Church of Tuscania and reports that his relics are preserved there, while the rest is unknown. On the relics, more shortly. The same Ferrari under November 13: Nov. 13 "At Pisa in Etruria, of the Holy Martyrs Ephysius and Potitus, Sardinians," which day is that of their translation, about which more below.

[3] The Acts. Our Rosweyde had copied out the Acts of St. Potitus in his own hand from ^a very ancient codex of M. Welser, which we have collated with another manuscript of the monastery of St. Maximin. The same text, but abbreviated, existed in ^a manuscript of the Church of St. Martin at Utrecht. The same, written in ^a more recent and more ornate style, Rosweyde had received from Sicily. Other, more extensive Acts, based on the earlier ones but composed by an ancient author, we received from Naples from our Antonio Beatillo, copied from ^a very old codex of the monastery of St. Potitus, which we publish alongside the others, collated with the Lessons of the proper Office of the same monastery, which, by the direction of the Abbess Maria S. Felix, was arranged and printed about 100 years ago; the same Beatillo sent it to us, and from this Office we shall append some hymns.

[4] Furthermore, the following also treat of St. Potitus: Marius de Vipera in his catalogue of the Saints of the Church of Benevento, by which he is venerated on this day with ^a double Office. Other writings about him. Philippus Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy. Michael the Monk in part 4 of the Sanctuarium Capuanum. Caesar Engenius Caracciolo in Napoli Sacra. It is reported that Alexander Flaminius, ^a citizen of Tricarico, wrote the life of St. Potitus in verse, which we have not seen; nor have we seen the book of Giovanni Maria Arca on the Saints of Sardinia, nor Francesco Fara on the affairs of Sardinia, nor Dimas Serpi's Chronicles of Sardinia.

[5] Baronius in volume 2 of the Annales, under the year of Christ 154, which was the 16th (according to him, the 15th) of Antoninus Pius, enumerating the various Martyrs ennobled by martyrdom under the same Emperor, The time of his martyrdom. lists Potitus in Sardinia. Ferrarius, de Vipera, and Caracciolo say he was killed in the year 168, which was the 7th year of the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Philosopher with Lucius Aurelius Verus. The later Life reports that it happened in the year 166, that is, at the close of the fifth year of these same Emperors.

[6] The same Baronius makes Potitus not only ^a Sardinian but killed in Sardinia. Ferrarius, Caracciolo, and de Vipera write that he was born at Cagliari in Sardinia. The more recent Life, transmitted from Sicily, His homeland. asserts he was ^a Sardinian by nationality. The earlier manuscript Life says that while still in infancy he dwelt in the city of Sardica; the later one calls him ^a citizen of the eastern regions, and the hymns and Lessons agree. The same Life mentions ^a persecution stirred up against Christians in Isauria; the Lessons of the proper Office say "in the regions of Asia." From this, the Monk says, it may be gathered not obscurely that he was Asiatic by origin, and he cites other Neapolitan manuscripts which report him as born in the city of Sardica; and Flaminius, who says Sardis, the metropolis of Lydia. We found in ^a certain note of Rosweyde these words written: "The Acts have Potitus dwelling in Sardica, which is in Dacia or Thrace. Could the origin of 'Sardinia' come from this?" Indeed, in the Life it is stated that Potitus was found on ^a mountain, and Dacia is mountainous. Whence Statius on the horse of Domitian: "And the lofty house of the astonished Dacian saw it" (et attoniti vidit domus ardua Daci).

Likewise, here at the end concerning Apulia. Apulum, or the colony Apulensis, is ^a city of Dacia. So he writes. We can modestly pronounce only this: "The matter is not clear" (Non liquet).

[7] Just as many cities boast of the birth of Potitus, so also do they boast of his sacred relics. In the Sicilian Life, after the narration of his martyrdom, the following is added: Relics translated to Sardinia; "The body of St. Potitus was afterwards carried from Apulia to Sardinia, the Saint's homeland, with no less honour, reverence, and devotion, and was placed in that spot where the distinguished Martyr St. Ephysius was later buried, near Cagliari, and there it remained until the Pisans, who had occupied Sardinia for ^a long time, translated the relics of both to their metropolis, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the year of our Lord 1088: thence to Pisa. they arrived there on the 13th before the Kalends of September August 20, and from that time to the present, as they have been held in the highest honour, devotion, and reverence, so also the Pisans have continually experienced and continue to experience the most effectual aid from them. The feast of their Translation is celebrated with ^a great assembly and the utmost devotion of the citizens on the Ides of November." So it reads there. We find nothing about this Translation on the 13th before the Kalends of September in any Martyrology.

[8] Baronius writes to the same effect in the Notes to the Martyrology: "In Sardinia and also at Pisa, the feast of Potitus and Ephysius is kept on the Ides of November; The feast of the Translation: but that is the Translation." Ferrarius, in his Notes to the general Catalogue of Saints, writes from the Records of the Church of Pisa that they are celebrated as Patrons on November 13, with an octave. He adds, from Francesco Fara's first book De rebus Sardois, as he says, that the body of Potitus was carried from Apulia to Nora by Angels. Then the bodies of both, Potitus and Ephysius, were brought by the Pisans, who were in control of affairs in Sardinia, to their own city. We shall treat of Ephysius on January 15.

[9] Caesar Engenius Caracciolo writes that some years after the martyrdom of Potitus, his body was transported by the Sardinians from Nora to Cagliari, and finally in the year 1326 to Pisa together with the body of St. Ephysius, where both were placed in ^a magnificent chapel within the Cathedral basilica. He adds from the Sardinian Chronicles of Dimas Serpi that when the clergy of Pisa had discontinued the cult of those Martyrs (whether from negligence or some other cause is uncertain), discontinued: and when on their feast day the ferial Office, as they call it, was being begun, both appeared in splendid form with an immense throng of Angels, and raising their voices, began the Office of the Martyrs, singing "The Lord, the King of Martyrs" (Regem Martyrum Dominum) and what follows, and admonished the clergy to continue the same Office: for the Angels had been sent by God to celebrate the feast neglected by them. Those who were present, astonished, continued the Office begun by the heavenly visitors, divinely restored. and thereafter performed it devoutly. This heavenly marvel is still depicted in the Choir of the same basilica. So he writes.

[10] It is possible that the people of Tuscania received relics of this St. Potitus either at Pisa or previously at Cagliari, and instituted ^a feast to be celebrated annually on the 6th before the Ides of April, His relics are also elsewhere. as was said in no. 2: although there is perhaps another Martyr Potitus whom they venerate. Marius de Vipera writes that the body of St. Potitus was buried by Christians, and later was found at Tricarico in the church of the Most Holy Trinity in ^a chest in the year of salvation 1500, began to be venerated, and was regarded as Patron. The same is reported by Ferrarius in his Notes to the general Catalogue of Saints under November 13, and by Caracciolo, who suspects that some part of the body remained there. Paulus Regius, in his Life of St. Januarius, chapter 10, writes that certain relics of St. Potitus are preserved in the monastery of Monte Vergine.

[11] Our Jacobus Pintus, book 3 of De Christo Crucifixo, title 4, place 12, asserts that the head of St. Potitus still exists in Sardinia. For, treating of the discovery of various relics in Sardinia, at no. 40 he writes thus: "In another magnificent and more notable tomb, together with sacred bones, another glass vessel of coagulated blood was found. In others, other sacred bodies were found, not without the same or similar signs of sanctity, evidences of martyrdom, and ^a most sweet fragrance of scent. Among the evidences, or instruments of martyrdom, there was that remarkable and singular thing: that in the more notable tomb, along with ^a good portion of bones collected The head — whether in Sardinia. and translated there, ^a head was found pierced from the crown to the throat by ^a large nail; which, though not marked by an epitaph or distinguished by ^a Martyr's name, is nevertheless sufficiently illustrious, since none of the Sardinian Martyrs except Potitus is known to have suffered martyrdom by that kind of torment. It is established by the Martyrologists that his relics were translated from Italy to Sardinia; but thence to Pisa, as an ancient codex of the Church of Pisa, which I have read, attests; but to what part of the island they were formerly translated from Apulia, the Pisan codex does not say. Some say Nora. Perhaps they were translated to Nura, commonly Nurra; and these were different from those translated to Pisa, with the borrowed name of Potitus. Now Nura, or corruptly Nurra, is adjacent to Torres and belongs to the city of Torres." So he writes; The city of Nora. but we do not approve all of his conclusions. For although St. Potitus was pierced through the head, he was not killed by that torment; nor do we think that during the time he survived, he bore ^a gaping wound in his skull, but rather that both the iron was extracted and the wound healed by divine power. Let us grant that, however; but Nora, certainly an ancient city, is placed on the southern coast of the island by Ptolemy, table 7 of Europe; and learned men suspect it was not far from the right bank of the river Saeprus, where there is now ^a place called Nori, not far from the town of Servi. The conjecture is supported by the Antonine Itinerary, in which we read: "From Sulci to Nura, 69 miles. From Cagliari to Nura, 22 miles." But Torres was on the opposite side of the island, facing north. As for his statement that none of the Sardinian Martyrs suffered martyrdom by having ^a nail driven through the head — how is this established? Who previously knew the names, let alone the combats, of those Saints whose bodies were discovered there in recent years?

[12] At Benevento, as de Vipera writes, ^a church was long ago erected in honour of St. Potitus, in that quarter of the city called "ad Calcarias," but it has collapsed from old age. Churches erected to St. Potitus. At Naples also ^a church with ^a monastery was built for him by St. Severus the Bishop, as is stated in the eighth Lesson of his proper Office: "He built two monasteries, one of St. Martin, Bishop and Confessor, and the other of St. Potitus the Martyr." But regarding the title of the monastery of St. Martin, we shall discuss this when we examine the dates of St. Severus himself on April 30, since Severus seems to have died before Martin; but it could have been dedicated to the honour of St. Martin by one of his successors, on account of the people's devotion, though it had previously been called by another name. This monastery was recently, with the assent of Pope Paul V, sold for the benefit of Prince Camillo Caracciolo of Avellino, whose palace it obstructed, and ^a new one was built in another location, which is now inhabited by thirty nuns of the Order of St. Benedict, for whom six priests provide sacred services. So Caracciolo reports.

LIFE FROM THE MS. OF M. WELSER.

Potitus, Martyr (St.) BHL Number: 6908

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

St. Potitus overcomes his father's threats and the wiles of the devil.

[1] Now it came to pass in those days that St. Potitus, while still in his infancy, dwelling in the city of Sardica, the Spirit of God abode upon him. But his father, named Hylas, served idols and wicked gods, and with many words and blandishments urged his son St. Potitus is tormented with hunger by his parent: to sacrifice to the gods. St. Potitus said: "O father, you do not speak ^a useful word to me, that I should sacrifice to demons." Then his father, enraged, ordered St. Potitus to be placed under guard, and commanded that no one should give him food or water, saying: "Let us see whether your God, whom you say you worship, will himself give you bread."

[2] Then St. Potitus, falling on his knee, prayed to God, saying: "Judge, O Lord, those who wrong me; fight against those who fight against me. For I desire to see you, Lord Jesus Christ, for you are the fragrance of sweetness. You humbled yourself for us sinners. Let your right hand help me, strengthened from heaven. as you had mercy on Daniel in the lions' den: as you spoke, Lord Jesus Christ, in the holy Gospel, saying: 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" And St. Potitus was strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and his face shone like ^a ray of the sun.

[3] He gives an account of his faith. His father then came to him again, saying: "Son, sacrifice to the gods, for it has been decreed by the Emperor Antoninus that whoever does not sacrifice to the gods shall be put to death by many and various punishments, or handed over to wild beasts. For it grieves me that I have you as my only son." St. Potitus said: "To which gods should I sacrifice, that I may know their names?" His father said: "Do you not know, my son, that Jupiter is ^a god, and Arpa and Minerva?" St. Potitus said: "Since I was born of you, father, I have never heard of ^a god called Arpa, or Ariana, or Minerva, of whom you speak. O Father, if you knew how mighty the God of the Christians is, who humbled himself and saved us, you would believe in him. For you do not know, father, what the Prophet says: 'For all the gods of the nations are demons; but the Lord made the heavens'" Ps. 95:5. Hylas said: "Where did you get these words?" St. Potitus said: "He whom I serve, he speaks through my mouth; just as he says in the Gospel: 'Do not be anxious about how or what you shall speak; for it will be given to you in that hour what you shall speak'" Matt. 10:19.

[4] He scorns torments. Hylas said: "So then, my son, you fear no punishment? Or when you are brought before the Emperor Antoninus, what will you do when you are subjected to many punishments?" St. Potitus said with ^a smile: "O father, you have spoken ^a foolish word; for our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the redeemer of our souls, will himself strengthen me, his servant. For do you not know, father, that in the name of the Lord, David alone slew Goliath with ^a stone, and cut off his head with his own sword, and showed it before the children of Israel and before his father-in-law?" Hylas said: "So you are prepared for all these things?" St. Potitus said: "I believe in God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and I am prepared to suffer all these things in the name of the Lord. But you, father, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved: for those gods are nothing, and have never saved anyone, He mocks the gods. nor have they ever prevailed. If you want to know, father, day and night they burn in fire, and the eternal fire shall never be extinguished for them. Who then, father, would adore bronzes and stones which, when they fall to the ground, cannot raise themselves up, but are broken into pieces like dust, and utter no voice, for they are mute? Or consider the serpents: if they bite, they can do harm; those gods cannot harm ^a man — how much more, then, one who suffers for the name of Christ, who has trampled upon the lion and the dragon?"

[5] And his father Hylas was amazed, and fell on his face to the ground, saying: "Truly God is with my son Potitus. Woe is me, ^a sinner, that my son should be found wiser than I!" And immediately ^a cloud from heaven snatched up St. Potitus He is carried away to another place. and set him down in ^a place called Epirus. There, bending his knees, he prayed, saying: "God of the Angels, God of the Archangels, hear me, your sinful servant: for I am not worthy to call upon you, because my sins are multiplied over me. He prays for his father. Give understanding to my father, that he may know that you alone are God, and that the devil may not glory over him; but send your Holy Spirit upon him, that he may know you; and let him who begot me not be separated from me."

[6] And immediately an Angel appeared to St. Potitus, saying to him: "Let it be done for you as you have asked: for God is with you, and wherever you call upon him, He is forewarned by an Angel against temptations: God is ready for you. Know that the devil, who is the seducer of souls, is prepared to attack you; and with many deceitful words he will try to persuade you, telling you that he is Christ. Therefore do not worship him, but say to him: 'If you are the Lord Jesus Christ, kneel with me, and let us pray.' Watch his heels, for they cannot touch the ground." And immediately the Angel departed from him. Then St. Potitus, praying, said: "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul trusts."

[7] And behold, the devil stood before him and said to him: "Behold, I have come to you, Potitus: why do you so torment your soul? Go to your father's house and feast there." St. Potitus said: [He overcomes the devil lying in wait for him in the guise of Christ, ^a giant, and ^a bull;] "You shall not destroy the servant of Christ." The devil said: "Do you not see that I am Christ, and I grieved over your tears and came to you?" St. Potitus said: "If you are Christ, let us pray." And looking at his heels, they did not touch the ground. Then St. Potitus humbled himself in prayer, saying: "Lord Jesus, cast out this iniquity from me, that it may not glory over me, your servant." Then the devil, seeing that he could not make him submit to himself, grew to ^a height of fifteen cubits. St. Potitus, seeing this, breathed upon him, saying: "Depart, enemy; for you do not persuade the servant of Christ, but as the Lord said to you, depart behind, and worship the Lord your God: for it has been commanded you that you serve him alone." And immediately the devil changed his form and became like ^a bull, and bellowed over the soldier of Christ Matt. 4:10. Then St. Potitus made the sign of the cross, and the devil could not approach him. The devil cried out all the more, saying: "O St. Potitus, release me! Why have you bound me? For I am burning." St. Potitus said: "Swear to me by the holy Cross, He binds him with the sign of the Cross. which has bound you, that you will no longer harm ^a Christian, and I will release you." The devil said: "By that very Cross by which you have bound me, I will no longer fight with you."

[8] And going out, once released, he said: "O what an infant has surpassed me! That he should have so mocked me! Woe is me! Where shall I send my arrows? If I send them against an old man, he can no longer be much wiser; if against an animal, the animal itself is mute. But I shall enter into the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus, for she is his only child, and I shall show my powers." And the devil cried out and said: "O Potitus, He releases the devil, who utters many threats. until the very end of your death I shall not leave you alone; by my brothers and those like me, I shall enter into the heart of the Emperor Antoninus and of the governor Gelasius, and I shall kill you with many punishments." St. Potitus said: "O you deceitful enemy, I shall go into whatever punishments you wish, and I shall defeat you — not I, but my Lord Jesus Christ." And immediately the devil departed from there, going away blaspheming: "Woe is me, by what an infant I have been overcome!"

CHAPTER II.

He converts many by words and miracles.

[9] He begs in the city of Valeriana. Then St. Potitus went down to the city called Valeriana, and entered it, and sat in the middle of the forum. Now Quiriaca, ^a matron and wife of the senator Agatho, who held the first chair in the Senate, was suffering from leprosy, and no one could cure her. Then St. Potitus humbled himself to appear as ^a beggar, and sat before her gates, and asked for water to be given to him by ^a eunuch named Hyacinthus. The eunuch said to him: "Have you come here to ask for water?" St. Potitus said: "I desire to drink water from this house — not water only, but I desire your faith, that there may be peace upon this house, and the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ." The eunuch, astonished that he should hear such words from ^a child, marvelled and said: "Where are you from, child? And what is your name?" St. Potitus said: "I am ^a man who serves my Lord Jesus Christ, who is the redeemer of all souls, especially of the faithful, who healed lepers and paralytics, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead." The eunuch said: "Then if you are his servant, can you cure lepers?" St. Potitus said: "My Lord Jesus Christ saves and heals, and I through him, just as he himself said in the Gospel: 'If you have faith like ^a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you'" Matt. 17:19. The eunuch said: "Then you can cure my mistress of her leprosy." St. Potitus said: "If she believes in my Lord Jesus Christ, I will make her well." The eunuch said: "If you make her well, will you not be able to be master over all her possessions?" St. Potitus said: "I do not desire gold or silver; nor do I covet her riches: but I desire only to join her soul to Christ my Lord."

[10] He is brought in to the leper: And immediately the eunuch Hyacinthus reported all these things that he had heard from the child to the matron. And she ordered him to be called to her. When St. Potitus had entered her chamber, he said: "Peace to this house of my Lord Jesus Christ." Quiriaca, the wife of the senator, said: "Make me well, and I will believe." St. Potitus said: "If you believe, you will be well, and you will see ^a good work, together with your whole household." Quiriaca said: "How can I believe?" St. Potitus said: "Be baptized in the name of Christ, and you will be well." Quiriaca said: "I believe there is no other God except the one you worship; you do what you are going to do." Then St. Potitus humbled himself in prayer and wept, saying: "Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Angels, redeemer of souls, you said to your disciples: 'In my name cleanse lepers, raise the dead'; and hear me, Lord, your servant, that your grace may come upon this woman, He heals her with his prayers and converts her, and many others. and let the nations say that you are God, and that besides you there is no other" Matt. 10:8. And immediately the woman was made well, and her flesh shone like the rays of the sun; and Quiriaca believed, and her whole household, and half the city; and they blessed God, saying: "Truly we have seen ^a great light, and ^a good desire through this child, who has redeemed us from all sin." Then St. Potitus said: "Behold, you have seen all the wonders of God: keep his commandments, that you may be saved forever and ever." And immediately he departed from her house.

CHAPTER III.

He heals ^a woman possessed and overturns the idols.

[11] Then the devil cried out through the mouth of the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus, saying: "Unless Potitus, the holy one of God, comes from the mountain and commands me, I shall not depart from your daughter, Antoninus." She was being suspended by her hair in the air; and there was great sorrow in the palace of the Emperor Antoninus; and he made many promises to the gods, saying: "O god Apollo, god Arpan, and god Jupiter, if you make my daughter well, I will offer you ^a bull with gilded horns." The devil said: "Unless St. Potitus comes, I shall not depart from here." Then the Emperor sent the governor Gelasius with forty soldiers to apprehend St. Potitus. He is summoned to the Emperor, to free his daughter from ^a demon. And they went up the mountain and found St. Potitus sitting there, with many wild beasts standing around him. When the governor Gelasius saw this, he was terrified, and the beasts stood facing them. St. Potitus said to the beasts: "Return to your lairs, He restrains the beasts with ^a word. harming no one." Then Gelasius threw himself from his horse and seized him. St. Potitus said to him: "Why have you come to me with such ^a crowd?" Gelasius said: "Are you Potitus?" And he answered: "I am ^a sinful servant of my Lord Jesus Christ." The governor Gelasius said: "The Emperor summons you." St. Potitus said: "What business does ^a Christian have with him?" He is led bound to the Emperor. Then he ordered the soldiers to seize him and lead him with his hands tied to the city. And when they had come to the palace, Gelasius went in to the Emperor. The Emperor said to him: "Where is the one you were sent for?" The governor Gelasius said: "We saw great wonders in this boy, and we nearly died ourselves." The Emperor said: "And what did you see in him?" Gelasius said: "All the wild beasts were standing around him; and when they saw us, they rushed against us. But he commanded them, and they immediately withdrew." The Emperor said: "Bring him before us."

[12] He casts out the demon from the Emperor's daughter. When he had entered, the Emperor said to him: "What is your race?" St. Potitus said: "I am ^a Christian." The Emperor said: "Do you not know the decrees of the rulers: 'Whoever does not sacrifice to the gods, let him perish'?" St. Potitus said: "That is what I desire." The Emperor said: "Your reputation has reached me. Can you save my daughter? And if you make her well, I will honour you with great riches." St. Potitus said: "Why do your gods not make her well?" The Emperor said: "Why do you answer me so proudly?" St. Potitus said: "If I make her well, will you believe in the God in whom I believe?" The Emperor said: "I will believe." St. Potitus answered: "I know that your heart is hardened; but I do this for the sake of the people standing by, that they may see and believe in the name of Jesus Christ." Then they brought the Emperor's daughter, and she stood before St. Potitus. When the devil saw this, he said to him: "What is it, Potitus? Did I not tell you that I would make you come against your will?" St. Potitus said: "O devil, behold I contradict you: depart from this girl, whom the Lord Jesus Christ created. He himself commands you, devil, to depart from her." The devil said: "Even if you cast me out from here, yet I will not leave you alone." Then St. Potitus breathed upon the girl's face, and with ^a slap the devil went out, and took the form of ^a dragon, so that all the people could see; and many fell on their faces, saying: "Truly the God of this boy is great."

[13] The Emperor said: "He does all this by sorcery." St. Potitus said: "Woe to you, foolish Emperor, for you have seen the wonders of God and still do not believe." He rebukes the Emperor for attributing it to sorcery. For when the Emperor had seen his daughter healed, he said: "I give thanks to my gods, who have made her well." St. Potitus said: "You are wrong, Emperor; for it was the Lord Jesus Christ who healed your daughter." The Emperor said: "Leave off the words you are speaking and sacrifice to my gods; and I will make you ^a great man in the palace, and I will give you gold and silver and pearls." St. Potitus said: "May it never be well with you, Emperor: for I have gold and silver and pearls in heaven, He spurns his gifts and threats. which the Lord Jesus Christ has promised me. Your gold and silver and all your possessions the fire will consume." The Emperor said: "Do you still speak so proudly?" St. Potitus said: "I do not fear your punishments. For my Lord Jesus Christ will himself deliver me from your hands." The Emperor said: "You speak insultingly. Either sacrifice to the gods, or I will order you to perish by various torments." St. Potitus said: "May you and your kingdom perish, if you do not do so." The Emperor said: "You speak to my insult. See how long I endure you. I grieve for your youth, for I am going to hand you over to the wild beasts." St. Potitus said: "Grieve for yourself, Emperor, for ^a great hell is being prepared for you, where you and your father the devil, who has hardened you, will burn."

[14] He is beaten with rods. The Emperor, moved to anger, ordered him to be stripped and beaten with rods. St. Potitus said: "I give thanks to my Lord Jesus Christ." Then they stripped him and beat him nearly to death with rods. And while he was being beaten, with ^a cheerful countenance he blessed God, saying: "I will bless you, Lord: for I suffer all this for the sake of your name; and I feel no pain from those who strike me." The Emperor said: "What do you want? To die or to sacrifice to the gods?" St. Potitus said: "To which gods?" The Emperor said: "Do you not know that Jupiter is ^a god, and Arpan, and Ariana, and Minerva?" St. Potitus said with ^a laugh: "Let us see what your gods are like, and I will do as you command." The Emperor, filled with joy, ordered him to be led with ^a great crowd; and the Emperor himself went first into the temple and said: "I give thanks to you, gods, that I could scarcely bring this child to you." He overturns the idols. For the crowd of people was about ten thousand. And when St. Potitus entered, he prayed, and the idols fell before his feet and were ground to fine dust. When the Emperor saw this, he said in dismay: "What child has made ^a fool of me?" He taunts the Emperor. St. Potitus said: "Where are the gods you told me to sacrifice to?" The Emperor said: "By your sorceries you have overcome my gods." St. Potitus said: "If they were truly gods, why did they not defend themselves? Behold, that you may know, Emperor, how mighty is my Lord Jesus Christ, whom I serve."

CHAPTER IV.

He undergoes ^a glorious martyrdom.

[15] He is loaded with iron in prison. The Emperor, confounded, ordered him to be shut up in prison, and one hundred and twenty pounds of iron to be placed on his neck. St. Potitus said: "I adjure you, Emperor, add another hundred and twenty pounds." And the attendants did as the Emperor had commanded, and they bound St. Potitus An Angel frees him and illuminates the prison and fills it with sweet fragrance. and sealed the prison with the Emperor's ring, so that no one might enter to him. Then St. Potitus prayed, saying: "O Lord, make haste to help me; when my strength fails, do not forsake me; deliver me from this punishment, O merciful one, as you delivered your servant Joseph from the wickedness of his mistress." And immediately an Angel appeared before him; and the prison shone like twelve burning candelabra; and the face of the Angel was like snow from heaven, or like the rays of the sun. And immediately the iron became like melting wax. Then St. Potitus said: "I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, that you have deigned to visit your servant. But strengthen me the more in these punishments which the Emperor Antoninus devises to inflict upon me, that your name may be glorified in all the earth, and that the enemy may not glory over your servant." For the prison smelled as if of spices. Indeed, the prison guards themselves, marvelling, peered through the gates of the prison, watching how St. Potitus walked about in the prison with the Angels.

[16] Then the Emperor sent heralds, declaring that anyone who did not attend the spectacle would be punished by the sword. And the amphitheatre was filled with people, about thirty thousand spectators; Potitus responds bravely to the tyrant in the amphitheatre. and he ordered St. Potitus to be brought from the prison. When St. Potitus entered the amphitheatre, he made the sign of the Cross and stood before the tribunal. Then the Emperor said: "Where do you see yourself?" St. Potitus said: "I see myself standing on the land of my Lord." The Emperor said: "Behold, today shall be your destruction; and who is the God that will snatch you from my hands?" St. Potitus said: "Be ashamed now, Emperor. I praise your face, for ^a dog is better than you, since it has more sense."

[17] Then the Emperor ordered him to be hung on the rack and burned with torches. But he, trusting in the Lord, received even greater refreshment. He is burned with torches. Again he ordered him to be torn with hooks. St. Potitus spoke, saying: "Where are your threats, He is torn with hooks. Emperor?" The people cried out, saying: "O child, placed in such torments, you fight without fear? Truly the God of Peter is at work with him." Then they took him down from the rack; He is thrown to the beasts. and the Emperor ordered him to be given to the wild beasts. When the beasts came to him, they fell at his feet. Then St. Potitus said: "What is the matter, Emperor? Behold, the Lord Jesus Christ has overcome you, that you may know how great is the power of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. For your punishments bring me not pain, but refreshment."

[18] Then the Emperor, enraged, ordered his limbs to be cut apart and thrown to the dogs. Ordered to be cut to pieces, he cannot be touched. St. Potitus said: "I give thanks to my Lord Jesus Christ, for you have prepared ^a great crown for me, which the Lord promised to those who love him. I tell you, Emperor: you have power over my body, but you cannot touch my soul." The attendants, carrying out the Emperor's command, kept cutting themselves, but could not touch him. St. Potitus said: "Be ashamed, Emperor, overcome in everything you have done to me."

[19] Many are converted. The people cried out: "Great is the God of the Christians." Then about two thousand people believed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Emperor again ordered him to be fried in ^a pan, He is tortured with boiling oil and molten lead. with oil added. While he was being fried, the Emperor ordered lead to be melted and poured over him. But he urged them to add more, because he felt great refreshment in his body.

[20] He is pierced with ^a nail. Then the Emperor saw that he had been defeated in everything. He ordered ^a sharp spike to be fashioned for his stature, and when it was brought, he ordered it to be driven into him from head downwards. St. Potitus stood upon the spike and spoke to him all the more. Then the Emperor said: "Now let your God come and free you from the spike." St. Potitus said: "My Lord himself will free me." And adding, he said: "Look down, O Lord, from heaven, and see, and free me from this spike, as you freed St. Peter from the chains of his bonds." And raising his eyes to heaven, he said again: "Most high Father, Creator of heaven and earth, The nail is divinely driven into the tyrant's head. together with your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, command this spike to be taken from me and driven into the head of the Emperor Antoninus." And immediately an Angel came, took the spike from St. Potitus, and drove it into the head of the Emperor Antoninus. The Emperor cried out, saying: "Have mercy on me, servant of God; now I know that your God is very powerful. Free me from the spike, for my soul is in agony." St. Potitus said: "Let your gods free you, as my Lord Jesus Christ freed me." And the people cried out with great astonishment: "O faith in this child, which has overcome the idols! For all err who believe in them."

[21] St. Potitus baptizes the Emperor's daughter. The Emperor cried out: "Have mercy, young man, for I am dying." St. Potitus said: "You shall not deserve to be freed from this spike unless your daughter comes; I will not free you from this spike." There was ^a great crowd; and all the senators were grieving. Then his daughter, named Agnes, came and fell at the feet of St. Potitus, saying: "Baptize me in the name of Jesus Christ, whom you worship." And she was baptized before God and his Angels. Then St. Potitus prayed, and the spike was removed from the head of the Emperor Antoninus. Crying out with ^a loud voice, he said: "I give thanks to you, god Apollo, and god Arphes, and Ariana, and Minerva, who have freed me from this spike."

[22] His tongue is cut out and he still speaks. Then, driven by anger, the Emperor ordered his tongue to be cut off and his eyes to be pierced. And with his tongue cut out, St. Potitus sang ^a psalm, saying: "I will bless the Lord at all times." And again he said: "O God, give your judgement to the king, and your justice to the king's son. What is the matter, Emperor, that you have cut off my tongue? Do you think I cannot speak or contend with you? The Lord Jesus Christ overcomes you, who overcame Pharaoh and freed the children of Israel. What more will you do to me?" The Emperor, confounded in everything, seeing himself overcome, could find nothing more to do to him.

[23] Then St. Potitus said: "You cannot overcome me, most wicked Emperor, except by cutting off my head with the sword." So the Emperor, filled with joy, ordered him to be beheaded. And as St. Potitus was being led to his beheading, he said: "I beseech you, Emperor, that wherever I request, there you would order me to be beheaded." This was granted by the ruler. Then they led him into Apulia, to ^a place called Milianus, between Sentianus and Mulianus. St. Potitus was beheaded beside the river called Banus, and his spirit was seen like ^a dove. He is beheaded. And they went to his body and guarded it for three days, and buried him, and there was great mourning on that day. St. Potitus, the holy one of God, was martyred under the Emperor Antoninus, on the Kalends of January. He was thirteen years old; in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honour and glory forever and ever. Amen.

ANOTHER LIFE

By an anonymous author. From ^a manuscript of the monastery of St. Potitus at Naples.

Potitus, Martyr (St.) BHL Number: 6911

By an anonymous author, from manuscripts.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] Our Lord and Redeemer, descending from heaven through the womb of ^a virgin into the theatre of this world, desiring to reconcile the human race — which had long ago been corrupted by the deceit of envy — to God the Father, the Creator of all, mercifully brought the invisible fire of holy faith, hope, and love, as he himself affirmed in the holy Gospel: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth; and what do I will but that it burn?" Luke 12:49 — so that, just as in the first parents

"The cold serpent in the garden had broken the fervour of faith by his singing, the envious one, and had poured his black poison upon the afflicted;"

so the mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, the mystical Adam, Christ the Captain of the Martyrs. might mercifully aid frail souls by the warmth of the Holy Spirit and invisible industry. By this fire, indeed, the holy Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, and all the Saints of both sexes among the faithful were inflamed, who up to the very boundaries of their passing did not grow lukewarm from the ardour of his love. And who, meanwhile, was their standard-bearer, if not the same Saviour of all, who, lifting up and bearing the cross in his body, going before with his own blood, by enduring sufferings became the head of the Martyrs? To his banner, enduring the sufferings of this present time, diverse companies of the Saints, shouldering adversity under the yoke of his love, ran eagerly with the palm of victory, and having obtained the rewards of their heavenly calling, rejoice with him without end.

[2] Whence we have thought it not unfitting to recount one Martyr from among these legions, and to bring his sufferings to the light of truth with the utmost diligence, setting them down as the Creator of knowledge may grant: one who, fighting manfully, by name and by deed alike attained (potitus est) to eternal joys among them. Whoever wishes to know fully his triumphant combats and the strength of his endurance, let him read what follows, if faith be not absent, and there he will see more clearly how, by fighting, he overcame the enemy and most gloriously approached the eternal King for whom he suffered so much. The purpose of this history. For he will find there what he ought to believe for the increase of his religion, what he should desire to hope, and what he should delight in loving, by which means, arriving at the city of the heavenly fatherland, he contemplates face to face the glory of all the Saints, where God, the boundless light, illumines the minds of men, and the ineffable summit of supreme happiness abides. Having thus briefly prefaced, let us hasten to the order of the narrative.

CHAPTER I.

The pious youth of St. Potitus, and his constancy in the faith.

[3] In the reign, therefore, of the fourteenth Roman Emperor, Antoninus, Persecution under Marcus Aurelius. that is, in the one hundred and sixty-sixth year from the Incarnation of the Redeemer, the fourth persecution of Christians from Nero broke out throughout the whole world, and especially in the regions of Isauria it grew to such ^a degree that, by the command of the aforesaid most wicked Caesar, images having been placed near the dwellings of families, no one was given leave to pass by without adoring and sacrificing to them; so that whoever obeyed would be exalted with greater honours, but whoever was found to be rebellious would be stripped of his possessions and put to death.

[4] At this time, therefore, the most blessed Martyr of Christ Potitus, ^a citizen of the eastern regions, still ^a young boy subject to his father's authority in his city, had blossomed forth like ^a rose among thorns from the life of the wicked. The Lord's power had adorned him with every integrity and every sanctity, Potitus, ^a holy boy with ^a pagan father. so that not without ^a certain great presage did he receive such ^a name; for by obeying the precepts of almighty God with fortitude, he attained (consecutus sit) the result that, by his preaching, he caused many others to attain the heavenly kingdoms. For, as the Lord says in the Gospel, "I came not to send peace on earth, but ^a sword" Matt. 10:34, struck as it were by this sword, he had so separated himself from the abominable superstition of his father that he seemed to be his son not by nature but only in name. And though he lived bodily with him, no worldly persuasion had enticed him, nor had his father's pagan redemption, so that by the goad of his preaching he might be able to snatch him from the shadow of death and restore him to the fatherland of heavenly life by the most sincere faith. O wonderful power of the Lord! For once he had said to his faithful ones with ^a promise: "If you have faith like ^a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, Move from here, and it will move" Matt. 17:19. He converts others. And indeed he was already working ^a similar miracle through his servant, when, drawing such and so many wicked minds from the fellowship of demon-worship by the impulse of such ^a man's preaching, he desired to bring them to the fellowship of truth and eternal life.

[5] Now, since his father, Hylas by name, was devoted to idols and distinguished according to worldly dignity, and exceedingly wealthy in resources, and had no other son for the continuation of his line who might inherit his properties, he began with many persuasions, through various embraces and kisses, through the blandishments of diverse words, to try to wrench him from the integrity of his faith and to urge him to worship his gods. To whom the Saint of God said: "You do not give me wholesome counsel, father; He scorns his father's enticements. for if, as you claim, I were your son and you loved me with fatherly love, you would be eager to counsel me what would profit the salvation of my soul, not what would lead to its destruction. But since good judgement is wanting in you, I wish rather to counsel you and to discourse on the way of truth, so that, recognizing the Creator of the whole world and of yourself, you may make satisfaction for such great and terrible errors in which you are entangled; and being corrected from all these things, you may in some way deserve to enjoy the clemency of his mercy. But if it seems otherwise to you, know that from now on you, together with your idols, are utterly despised in all things."

[6] At these words his father, indignant, ordered him to be placed in custody, hoping that he whom he had not been able to soften with blandishments might be broken by terrors; and he commanded that no food be given to him, saying: "Let us see He is tormented by hunger. if your God, whom you worship, will come and provide you with food." When he had been shut up in custody, on bended knees he began to implore the Lord with tears: "God of strength, God of mercy, eternal God, Lord Jesus Christ, without whom no one lives, who deigned to descend from heaven for the salvation of human frailty, look mercifully upon the prayers of my humility, and have mercy on me, as you had mercy on Daniel, cast into the lions' den; that just as you deigned to help him, so you would deign to strengthen and comfort me, who have hope in no one but you, by the protection of your right hand, to the glory and praise of your holy name. Now, O God of my life, though I am powerless in strength because of my youthful age, He is divinely strengthened. yet with such confidence and trust do I approach you, that, though destitute of every earthly comfort, what human weakness cannot provide, the power of the majesty of your glory may deign to supply." As he prayed these words, the Lord's power was so present that, with the Holy Spirit strengthening him, his face took on ^a splendour of joy.

CHAPTER II.

The devil's snares foiled. The conversion of his father.

[7] On account of which, rejoicing and exulting, he glorified the Lord, saying: "I give you thanks, my God, who have deigned to fill me, your unworthy servant, with your spiritual gifts, which the more they are received, the more they are desired. Therefore I beseech you, God of the Angels and Archangels, whose bowels of mercy and compassion are open to all, He prays for his father's conversion. who do not will the death of ^a sinner but that he be converted and live, that you would hear me, your servant, crying to you with all my heart for my father. Give him knowledge of your truth and understanding of faith, and open to him the treasures of the knowledge of your gifts, to know you, the Creator of all things, God, so that, filled with your grace, the enemy of the Christian name may not glory over him, but rather may your power be glorified."

[8] At his prayer an Angel of the Lord immediately stood by, strengthening him, and said: "Let it be done for you as you have asked, and let this be known to you, athlete of Christ, that almighty God, to whom you have committed yourself with all your heart, is always with you, and whatever you ask of him you will obtain without delay. Only take care and be watchful, He is armed against temptations. for you must take up the armour of God against the imminent snares of the ancient enemy, which are going to be brought against you through the usurpation of the name of Christ. But do not yield and give in to him; rather, strive to repel him from you with prayers and supplications." And saying these things, the Angel of perpetual light departed from him.

[9] Therefore the holy Confessor and Martyr of Christ, Potitus, relying above all on the mercy of the Lord, sang to him: "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul trusts, and in the shadow of your wings I hope, until wickedness passes away." He overcomes the devil by prayer and the sign of the Cross. He had scarcely finished these words when suddenly the inciter of evils appeared: "Behold," he said, "I have deigned to come to you, O innocent man, that you may not so afflict your soul; but rather return and feast with your father. For, if you do not hesitate to believe, I am Christ. I have grieved over your tears, and therefore I have descended to console you." To whom St. Potitus said: "Get behind me, Satan, enemy of truth, for you can neither destroy the vigour of my spirit nor persuade the servant of God. But if you are Christ, as you dare to assert, and not rather Antichrist, let us kneel and pray." And as the Saint of God prayed, saying: "Lord Jesus Christ, cast out this enemy of your holy name, this author of wickedness, from me, and hurl him into the abyss where he is assigned with his satellites" — that adversary grew enormous in stature and, bellowing, raised his voice against the young recruit of Christ. Against whom Potitus, fortified with the sign of the cross, said: "Cease, malign spirit, to tempt the soldiers of Christ; for you will not be able to terrify one whom Christ himself has already redeemed by the sign of the cross of his passion." At this command he immediately vanished like smoke. The articulate voice of the enemy was heard, crying out: "O what an infant surpasses me! Woe is me! Where shall I hurl my arrows? Where shall I find rest? If I approach ^a man of more advanced age, I am not much more easily overcome than I have been defeated by this boy. Unless perhaps I might enter the daughter of the Emperor Antoninus, whom he has as his only child, and prevailing in her might somehow emerge victorious?"

[10] The Lord's innocent one, therefore, supported by the help of the Holy Spirit, did not cease offering acts of thanksgiving to almighty God, who had deigned to assist him in so many adversities. Meanwhile his father arrived and ordered him to be taken out of custody, and addressed him thus: He is again tempted by his father. "When the entire human race of the whole world obeys the decrees of the Emperor, who is the worshipper of the divine powers, and there is no one who does not seek to have their most eminent power favourably disposed, with what obstinacy of heart — I do not understand — you have been offended, that you wish to deprive yourself of the most sacred protections and to die wretchedly, punished by their most just judgements. Now since the edicts of Caesar are circulated everywhere, that whoever does not offer libations to the sacred gods shall be afflicted with various punishments and handed over to the jaws of wild beasts, before you come to the trial of truth, come and submit yourself to their decrees; lest, most bitterly losing the flower of your youth, you lead me, bereft and grieving, to the grave. Since I have you as my only son, I grieve exceedingly that you are destroying yourself in these superstitions in which you are entangled." And St. Potitus said: "Tell me, father, which divine powers should we obey?" And Hylas said: "First Jupiter, then Arphan, and Minerva." And the holy Innocent said: "If you knew, O father, how great and wonderful is the God of the Christians, He urges faith upon his father. who humbled himself to restore us lost ones to salvation, you would never have or name any gods; but rather you would consider them in every way as demons, who can benefit neither themselves nor anyone else. Indeed, if you had been willing to believe the prophet, you would hear him declaring about the gods that 'all the gods of the nations are demons, but our God made the heavens'" Ps. 95:5.

[11] Hearing these things, his father, greatly marvelling, said: "Where did you get these words?" And the boy said: "The Spirit himself, God, whom I serve, speaks through my mouth, who forbade in his Gospel, saying: 'Do not be anxious about what you shall speak.'" And his father said: "Behold, you care nothing about my pains and torments; but when you come before the most savage torments of the Emperor Antoninus, what will you do?" Matt. 10:19 He scorns torments. And the Martyr of Christ said: "God, who is the redeemer of my soul, is himself the guardian of my body. For do you not know that in the name of the Lord, David alone, not protected with arms and helmet, struck Goliath with ^a stone and cut off his head with ^a sword; on account of which he was found glorious before the children of Israel and before his father-in-law?"

[12] To him his father said: "So, as I see, you are prepared to endure everything for your God." And the boy of the Lord said: "So I believe in the omnipotence of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that for the sake of his holy name I may be found ready not only to endure all things but even to die. For you, it is necessary to consider carefully how you may escape eternal punishments and the destruction of Satan. For those gods of yours, He mocks the gods. whom you honour by vainly worshipping, are nothing, nor can they bring any salvation to others, since Tartarus receives them and torments them, where an inextinguishable fire with the immortal worm is proven to live without end. For if you had been willing to believe at the summit of its account, you would be able to find without any hesitation that these whom you think are gods were most wicked and criminal men, ensnared by diabolical art, whom the universal law judges will be punished without mercy. Therefore, if such should by chance arrive, let them rather be reduced to earth and ashes than raised up. What rational person can bear to worship them, when the divine voice also declares: 'Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them' Ps. 113:8; 134:18. And if it is so, indeed because it is so, it remains therefore that one God, living and eternal, is to be believed in, He preaches the true God. in the substance of his divinity and triune in persons, the ruler of all things visible and invisible, by whose power all who suffer persecution for the sake of his glorious name are found immune from perils, and indeed can restrain the misfortunes of others with great power, as he bears witness: 'These signs shall follow those who believe in me: they shall cast out demons, they shall take up serpents, they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall be well'" Mark 16:17.

[13] As St. Potitus said these and similar things, his father, astonished and marvelling beyond what could be believed, said: He converts his parent. "Behold, now I know that the God of the Christians is true, who speaks such great and remarkable things through this boy, as I have never experienced. For if there were not in him some divine power, he could by no means have brought forth all these things from his own heart; but, as I see, God himself speaks through my son." And groaning together he said: "Woe is me, ^a sinner; what sagacity of wisdom do I seem to possess, when my son is in every way proven wiser than I in all these matters? Plainly now I see in my heart, I believe in faith, that there is no one like him who has granted such grace of understanding to my son, so that, cleansing all the squalor of doubt from me, he might be able to lead me to the most true reason of the light." As his father said these things, St. Potitus, giving thanks to God, catechizing and teaching him the entire rule of faith, wonderfully established him, with God's assent, as ^a most faithful servant of Christ in the bosom of holy Mother Church.

CHAPTER III.

The healing of ^a leper. The conversion of many.

[14] After these events, the holy man of the Lord, whose desire was "to be dissolved and to be with Christ," which was far better, flying from his homeland to Epirus, where the city of Gargara is, preached Christ there. Then, descending into ^a certain city of those same regions called Valeria, sitting in the forum, he led many by his teaching to the grace of the faith of Christ. He preaches in the city of Valeria. In that city there was ^a certain matron named Cyriaca, wife of ^a senator named Antonius, who held the first chair of the Senate, ^a man wealthy in resources and household, but afflicted with leprosy, for whom no medical art could provide any remedy, but who from day to day, with life now despaired of, awaited the end of death. To his house, hastening in the guise of ^a poor man, he sat before the doors and asked ^a certain eunuch of his household, named Jaquintus, He approaches the doors of the leper Cyriaca. whom he happened to see passing by, for ^a drink of water. When the hermaphrodite had looked at him, he said contemptuously: "Have you come here to ask for water?" To whom the Saint said: "I have not come here solely for ^a drop of water, but for the benefit of your salvation, so that, recognizing the truth of the faith, you may in some way receive the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, and may his peace always abound in this house." As the Saint continued speaking, the attendant, astonished, said: "Where are you from, boy? And what is your name?" Blessed Potitus answered: "I was born from the earth, as you were, ^a most faithful servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Saviour of all faithful souls and bodies; I am called by the name Potitus." To him the eunuch said: "Then if you are his servant, can you cure my mistress of her leprosy? For it has been heard that he once worked many wonders among men: if he is the one, surely he can accomplish this as well." And the Saint said: "If true faith be not absent, the power of our Lord Jesus Christ is able to save her now, just as he then saved the centurion's servant and many others." And the eunuch said: "I beg you, know this for certain, that if you can bring her to the soundness of her former health, you shall be master of all her possessions." And the athlete of Christ said: "I do not desire to have her wealth so much as to bind her soul to almighty God, her Creator."

[15] To this the attendant said: "Wait then ^a little while, until all this is reported to my mistress." And when he had reported to her, she ordered him to be brought in. He is brought in to her. When he had entered to her, he said: "The peace of my Lord Jesus Christ be upon this house." And greeted honourably by him, the senator's wife said: "Tell me, boy, can you bring all that has been reported to the height of perfection?" To whom the Saint said: "If you believe, with your whole household, in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, you will be able to arrive not only at wholeness of body, but also at the restoration of your soul." To him Cyriaca the senator's wife said: "Explain to me as quickly as possible by what means I may attain these things. For I have decided to worship and adore no other God in heaven and on earth except him through whom I may experience the salvation of both substances of my being."

[16] Hearing these things, St. Potitus, prostrating himself in prayer with tears, said: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who, coming from the bosom of the Father, He prays for her. putting on mortal flesh through the womb of the Virgin, appeared to mortals, that you might lead those confined by the bonds of death to the true freedom of perpetual life; you who also gave to some of them the power to become children of God, to work signs and wonders, namely to cast out demons, cleanse lepers, and raise the dead; hear me now as I pray to you, and grant to this woman who asks for the health of her body, that, saved by your mercy, your holy and glorious name may be blessed forever and ever." When the prayer was completed, He baptizes and heals her. immediately catechizing her, he baptized her in the name of the Holy Trinity; and at its invocation her flesh at once became radiant, and with God's help she was restored to perfect health.

[17] And all her household, seeing this, were baptized in the name of the Lord. As Blessed Potitus preached and taught in the same city, many came and were baptized. The Lord deigned to confer upon him so great ^a grace He converts many there. that within ^a short space of time nearly half the city's population believed in Christ the Lord, and they gave thanks, saying: "Blessed are you, Lord and Saviour of all, who have deigned through this your servant to snatch us from the snare of the hunters and the power of the prince of this world." He withdraws to ^a mountain. After these events, the holy worshipper of God, Potitus, going forth from there, departed to ^a nearby mountain above the city, and remained there serving God.

CHAPTER IV.

The liberation of Antoninus's daughter from demonic possession.

[18] At the same time, Antoninus had ^a daughter named Agnes, who was possessed by ^a demon, of whom we made mention above, and he mourned over her, along with his entire palace, with no small distress. Moreover, he had bound himself by ^a vow to his gods, saying: "O god Apollo, god Jupiter, god Arphan, come to the aid of my daughter and save her, and I will offer you ^a bull with horns from your most sacred shrines." He is sought out at the command of Antoninus. But the devil, tearing at her all the more, cried out through her: "Unless Potitus comes from the mountain, I shall not depart from here." At this voice Caesar began to inquire who this might be whom so great ^a demon called by name. When his reputation was discovered, he sent one of his distinguished friends, named Gelasius, who at that time held the office of governor, with forty soldiers, saying: "Go as quickly as possible, and wherever you find him, summon him speedily."

[19] When they had departed, they went up to Gargara, where he was dwelling with the wild beasts. Indeed the Lord's power was so present with him that the beasts, their savage ferocity changed, came with lowered necks to guard him. Therefore, when they were seen by the beasts, they made ^a charge unanimously against them. Terrified exceedingly, the soldiers turned to flight. He tames wild beasts with ^a word. But the most blessed Confessor of Christ, who desired not only to suffer but also to die for Christ, understanding that the time of his martyrdom was now imminent, turned to the beasts and said: "I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to go to your lairs, harming no one, touching no one." As he spoke these words, they immediately departed. Seeing this, the governor, marvelling greatly, threw himself from his horse at ^a distance, and approaching him said: "Are you Potitus?" To whom the Saint replied: "However unworthy and sinful, I am he. Why did you, such ^a great and distinguished man, with such ^a crowd, wish to trouble yourself to come to me, so small ^a person?" Now the boy of the Lord was at that time thirteen years old. "Behold," said Gelasius the governor, "the most excellent Augustus, hearing of you, desires eagerly to see you." To whom the Saint said: "And what business has Caesar with Christian people? Although I seem to act contrary to the religion of the faith, He is brought to Rome. I will nevertheless come with you." Saying this, he set out on the road, coming with the governor to Rome. There, upon arrival, having left the Saint with the soldiers, the governor hurried ahead to the palace and announced to Caesar that Potitus would be forthcoming. Caesar said to him: "And where is he?" And the governor answered: "Behold, he follows after me with the soldiers." And Caesar said: "Where did you find him?" Gelasius said: "On one of the mountains, with wild animals and beasts, not far from the city of Valeria. Had he not been there, we would all have been awaiting death." And Augustus said: "How so?" And the governor said: "All the beasts had surrounded him like ^a wall, and seeing us, they charged at us with open jaws; but at his command they immediately withdrew." To him Antoninus said: "Let him now be presented before us."

[20] Then Gelasius went out and, finding him standing before the doors, brought him in. He is brought before Caesar. When the Emperor Antoninus saw him, he addressed him thus: "Of what noble birth and religion are you, boy?" St. Potitus replied: "I am from the eastern regions, and I am ^a most true servant of Christ." And Caesar said: "We have heard the report of your name, that by the invocation of the name of some power you can heal our daughter and restore her to her former health. For this reason we have ordered you to be summoned, so that, restored through you to the soundness of her mind, you may deserve to flourish as ^a sharer in the goods and riches of our Empire, and to be great in this palace." Hearing this, St. Potitus said: "Let your riches and your honour be given to another; for I have not utterly renounced my own possessions in order to covet the use of what belongs to others, not without great sin. Yet why do those gods of yours, in whom you trust and worship with all your heart, He rebukes the idolaters. not save her?" And Caesar said: "Why do you answer us so sharply?" And the Saint said: "Because, renouncing and abandoning the almighty living God in heaven, you worship the creature rather than the Creator and Saviour of all, who has the power of killing and making alive; and you desire to be freed from the siege of evil spirits, who already hold you enslaved in their eternal curse. However, if you had believed in the Redeemer of all, all things would assuredly have been possible for those who believe." And Augustus said: "I pledge to believe in no other way than as you teach, if you can free my daughter from the assault of so great an enemy and restore her to the soundness of her mind." To him St. Potitus said: "I know most certainly that you are obstinate of heart and refuse to believe; yet, for the sake of this multitude gathered for the spectacle, that they may see the works of my Lord Jesus Christ and glorify his Father who is in heaven, let the girl be brought into their midst."

[21] She was then brought before the holy man; He casts the demon out of the Emperor's daughter. and as the possessing enemy sensed his power, he began to cry out through her mouth, saying: "What is it, Potitus? Do you now notice that I am the one whom you boasted of having overcome just ^a little while ago? Did I not foretell that I would go where I would be overcome by you, and where you would be able to overcome me all the more? And so I have caused you to come here, so that if you should cast me out from here as well, then I would leave you entirely alone." Then the holy Martyr of Christ, Potitus, breathed into the face of the aforesaid girl, saying: "My Lord Jesus Christ, Son of almighty God, whom every creature in heaven and on earth obeys, in the power of the Holy Spirit commands and orders you, accursed demon, to go out and depart from this creature of his, and no longer to have the power to enter into her." And giving her ^a slap, there was immediately seen coming out of her mouth ^a most foul and horribly frightful dragon. Seeing this, the throng of onlookers, turned to great astonishment, not without mighty acclaim, raising their voices to heaven, said again and again: "Truly, truly the God of this boy is great, who has deigned to display such ^a prodigy through him." And so it happened that many of them believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, praising and blessing him.

CHAPTER V.

The overthrow of the idols. Heavenly consolation.

[22] Seeing this, therefore, the most wicked man, the Emperor Antoninus, marvelling greatly, said: "These things are indeed done by sorcery, not by the power of ^a divine being." He rebukes the Emperor for attributing it to sorcery. The most constant Martyr and Confessor of Christ, Potitus, said: "Most unhappy one, entirely alien to all experience of reason, you who should have sought out your God without this, who created you and gave you your soul, so that through this you might understand to what glory of blessedness you were destined, and adoring, you might venerate him and give him thanks; and you do not believe even now, when he has accomplished such great and remarkable things through me, his servant?" Antoninus said: "I give thanks indeed to my gods, who have mercifully provided her with the remedies of health." And the young recruit of Christ said: "You err, Emperor. For this daughter of yours, whom you claim was rescued from the demon through your gods — they could have sent the demon into her, not driven him out. But, if you will pay attention, it was the power of my Lord Jesus Christ that was present, which restored her to health and brought her back to the soundness of her former well-being."

[23] To whom Caesar said: "Hear me, Potitus, and accommodate the ear of your heart to the counsel of our moderation. Come, He spurns the Emperor's gifts. sacrifice to our gods, and I will adorn you, as I said, with many honours, and you shall be great and most glorious in this palace." The soldier of Christ answered: "May it never be well with you, Emperor, that I should need these riches, which I consider as the filth of ^a sewer; but I await riches and honours from the eternal King, which he keeps stored up for me in the heavenly kingdom, which, once given, are never diminished by being taken away, but are always increased. For you and your kingdom, with all the glory of this world, an inextinguishable fire will consume."

[24] And Caesar said: "Do you not know, wretch, the decrees of the most invincible Emperors, that whoever does not freely offer libations to the almighty gods shall be put to death with various punishments?" And the athlete of Christ said: "That is what I most gladly desire He scorns their threats. and wish for with all my prayers. Nevertheless, let it be known to you that almighty God, who is the liberator of my soul from eternal punishments, will himself also be the guardian of my body in these momentary afflictions that you attempt to inflict upon me." To whom the Emperor said: "Either sacrifice to the gods in obedience, or you shall experience such and so many kinds of torments as you never imagined experiencing." And the Saint said: "You are mad, you and your kingdom, if you do not make good your words with deeds in all things." Caesar said: "Do you speak in this manner to the majesty of my authority? But I bear with you only so far as I see that your years are in the tenderest age; otherwise I would have already had you thrown to the jaws of wild beasts, if the obstacle of our clemency had not been present." The most blessed Martyr of Christ said: "Whatever you threaten, most cruel Emperor, I will endure with ^a patient spirit for Christ, and on account of this I gloriously hope to receive the joys of eternal life. But you, together with your father the devil, at whose instigation you contrive these things, the Tartarean Charybdis will swallow up, where you will be tortured without end, never to be consumed."

[25] At this, the most unhappy Caesar, filled with anger, ordered him to be stripped and beaten to death with rods. And so it was done. He is beaten with rods. As the Martyr of Christ, Potitus, was beaten for ^a long time, with the mercy of Christ helping him, as if feeling nothing of any pain, he gave thanks to almighty God, saying: "Magnifying, I glorify you, my God, because you have already deigned to count me, your servant, among your most faithful witnesses."

[26] After he had been beaten, the same most cruel Emperor had him brought before his tribunal, and said to him: "Why do you wish to die so wretchedly? Sacrifice to the gods." The most blessed Potitus answered: "To which gods should I offer libations? Make their names known to me." And Caesar said: "Do you not know that Jupiter, Arphan, and Minerva are most sacred gods?" The innocent Martyr of Christ said with ^a smile: "I have never known such ones. But I wish to see those you speak of, that I may more fittingly obey your commands." At this the Emperor, filled with joy, leaping from his tribunal, hastened with the whole people as spectators to the temple of Jupiter. Entering, he began to worship the images, saying: "I give thanks to your almighty powers, O divine ones, since, although with difficulty, you have deigned by your protection to soften the stubbornness of that boy and to bring him before your most merciful sight." And saying this, he ordered St. Potitus to be summoned, and said to him: "Behold, these are the ones I told you about, Potitus, the immortal gods, whom you had scorned and disparaged ^a little while before. Prostrate yourself now before their majesties, so that, having calmed their most savage furies, you may be able to win their favourable judgement for yourself." He overturns the idols by his prayer. When the Saint had entered the temple, he suddenly prostrated himself on the ground with tears and poured forth ^a prayer. At his prayers the idols immediately fell and were reduced to foul ashes. When the most accursed Caesar saw their fall, he clapped his hands and groaned, saying: "O what child has overcome me!" To whom the Saint replied: "Where now are your gods, before whom you ordered me to make atonement, most excellent Caesar?" And Augustus said: "By your sorceries I see that they have been overcome." And the boy of the Lord said: "If your gods were truly almighty, as you claimed, why did they not defend and protect themselves? Therefore, that you may know how great is the power of the Lord Jesus, whom I serve, consider and understand that there is none like him in heaven above or on earth below, who is able to accomplish such great and remarkable things by his power."

[27] Weighed down with iron, he is shut up in prison. At this the Emperor Antoninus, confounded, furiously ordered him to be confined with the heaviest weight of iron and thrust into prison, so that no one might enter to him to administer even ^a little water; and he commanded the prison to be sealed with his ring. But when the Martyr of Christ, Potitus, had entered, he immediately had recourse to his customary weapons, saying: "God, restorer and lover of innocence, who are proved in every way to be ^a helper and liberator to those who cry out to you in tribulation and in need, and who, when the strength of those who hope in you fails, do not abandon or cease to help them: hear now your servant, coming to my aid, as you deigned to hear Joseph, thrust into the prison of Egypt, and free me from these bonds of chains, which by reason of the weakness of my small body I am unable to bear; that all may know that there is no other God who works wonders but you alone, who live forever and ever." He is freed by an Angel, and refreshed with heavenly light and fragrance. As he prayed these words, suddenly the entire prison shone bright, and in that splendour an Angel of the Lord stood by, strengthening him; and immediately his chains were melted like wax. Meanwhile ^a fragrance of such sweetness had surrounded that place that, overcome by the exceeding scent, the prison guards came running and, seeing him flash with such great light and the Saint himself enjoying angelic conversation, they fled in astonishment and terror, reporting to the Emperor what they had seen. St. Potitus, strengthened by such relief and sustained by so great ^a benefit of the divine power, began to render acts of thanksgiving to God, saying: "I praise and bless you, almighty God, who have deigned to visit and strengthen me, your servant. Therefore I beseech you, my protector, that you would not cease to console me with the accustomed clemency of your mercy against the manifold devices of torments of the most wicked Emperor Antoninus, so that, aided by the protection of your defence, the glory of your majesty may be magnified, and all may proclaim your wonders from generation to generation."

CHAPTER VI.

Various torments overcome by divine power.

[28] Meanwhile, when Caesar Antoninus had heard the things that had been seen by the guards, he ordered the amphitheatre to be prepared for him, and ^a herald to be sent so that all would flock to it, He is brought before the Emperor in the amphitheatre. and whoever excused themselves from it would be beheaded. By his edict ^a rush of all the people took place, and the amphitheatre was filled. Then the Emperor, sitting in his judgement seat, ordered the most blessed Martyr Potitus to be brought before him. When he had been led forth and entered the amphitheatre, fortifying himself with the sign of the Lord's Cross, he stood fearless before Caesar's tribunal. Looking at him with ^a fierce gaze and angry spirit, Antoninus addressed him thus: "Tell me, Potitus, where do you see yourself standing?" And the Saint said: "On the earth of my Lord, the almighty Creator." And Augustus said: "Do you not know that today this amphitheatre has been filled for the spectacle of your destruction? He rebukes the blasphemous tyrant. And who is the God who will be able to snatch you from my hands?" To whom the Saint replied: "Your face can now blush with shame, most wicked Emperor, since your head is seen to be more senseless than ^a dog's, because, having experienced the omnipotence of my God in every way, your impudence now asserts that I cannot be snatched and freed from your hands."

[29] And Caesar said: "Why do you ramble on at such length? What I have just now said, you shall experience through the efficacy of truth." Hung on the rack, he is burned with torches. And he immediately ordered him to be suspended on the rack and burning torches to be applied to his sides. When this was done, the most blessed Martyr, trusting in the Lord, as if seeming to suffer in another's body, endured the punishments with such resolution and cheerful countenance, praising and glorifying God the Creator of all, who by the power of his strength had reduced the burning torches to ^a refreshment, indeed to nothing. Therefore, seeing the Saint's great constancy and courage, the most impious Caesar, greatly indignant, said: "Do you wish, Potitus, that we add something to the refreshment of such sweetness and delight for you, so that, passing from one to the other, you may without distaste enjoy such feasts of delicacies, and rejoice all the more?" To whom the innocent Martyr said: "Most certainly I desire that. For these things are more desirable to me than gold and precious stones, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb." And Augustus said: "Let there be added to the dignity of your honour as much as is sufficiently fitting; He is scraped with iron hooks. let iron hooks be brought, and let him be scraped with hooks." When this was done, the Saint of the Lord said to Caesar with all his heart: "Where are your threats, Emperor? A little while ago you were promising to humble me — have I not overcome them? See then and understand that your punishments bring me not pain, but rather great joy and exultation."

[30] Then the Emperor, seeing himself greatly confounded, began to be even more indignant, and commanding him to be taken down at once from the rack, he ordered him to be thrown to the jaws of wild beasts. Thrown to the beasts, he is unharmed. And the wild beasts likewise came to his feet and, laying aside all their savage ferocity, came humbly and kissed his feet with their heads. At this the most constant Martyr began to taunt the most truculent Emperor, He taunts the tyrant. saying: "What say you, most wicked Caesar? Do you not think you have experienced the power of my Lord Jesus Christ? Or do you still doubt? Indeed, consider how great is the omnipotence of his power. But if any doubt still remains in your most obstinate breast, act now and accomplish what you have begun, that I may arrive at even greater wonders than these, which the Lord deigns to accomplish in me, his servant."

[31] As he said these things, the most savage Emperor, kindled with fury, ordered him to be cut limb from limb with iron. At his command the executioners tried to carry out what had been ordered, Ordered to be cut apart with iron, he cannot be touched. but could not. For just as they attempted to sever any of his limbs, so the Lord's power helped, so that they could not touch him even slightly. For this also the most blessed Potitus gave thanks to the Redeemer of all, and with joyful and sincere spirit said to Caesar: "Most cruel one, deprived of every virtue of piety, behold how great and remarkable are the benefits of my almighty God, since through exquisite torments you desire to destroy me, and you have power to perpetrate nothing evil, not only against the soul which is immortal, but not even against the body, without the will of God. And since this is so, it remains therefore that you recognize that you have now been powerfully convicted in both by my Lord Jesus Christ, for whose love I willingly endure all these things."

[32] Meanwhile, as the entire multitude of the amphitheatre watched these things, Many are converted. about two thousand of them believed in the Lord Jesus, glorifying God and raising such voices to heaven: "Truly the God of Peter and Paul is in this boy, and no other can be believed under heaven except him who has deigned to show such great powers and signs through this child." Then the tyrant Emperor, seeing these things, raged, and drawing deep sighs from the depths of his breast, said: "Potitus, you overcome all things by your sorceries; yet we have more powerful torments which can in no way be eluded, as the others have been eluded by magical arts." He is drenched with boiling oil and molten lead. Saying this, he immediately had ^a glowing-hot frying pan brought with oil, and ordered the Saint to be placed in it. He also ordered molten lead to be poured over him from above. When this was done, the holy Innocent, confessing the Lord Jesus, blessed him, and with ^a calm countenance cried out: "I adjure you, Caesar, by the glory of your imperial insignia, to have more of that lead added for me in sufficient quantity, because it provides me with great refreshment."

CHAPTER VII.

Having overcome the tyrant and the tortures, death.

[33] Hearing these things, the most cruel Emperor, more and more inflamed with fury, commanded after this that an iron nail be fashioned, saying: "Let us see whether that God of yours, in whom you say you trust, will rescue you from this sharp iron, or whether by your cunning you can somehow escape it." To him Blessed Potitus said: "I believe nothing other of his merciful goodness He is pierced with ^a red-hot nail. than that, just as by his power he has freed me from so many kinds of punishments already described, so also he will rescue me from the sharp nail with which you threaten me." Then, as he had proposed, the most cruel Antoninus had the aforesaid nail heated intensely and driven into the head of the bravest Martyr.

[34] But the Saint himself, sustained by heavenly protection, immediately raised his eyes to heaven and began to invoke the Saviour of all, saying: "Lord my God, most high Father, who have always deigned to be present in my necessities, who freed your holy Apostles — one from iron chains, the other from the peril of ^a viper's poison — I beseech you to hear me, your servant, and deign to send your holy Angel from heaven, who may free me from this punishment which the most wicked Antoninus has inflicted upon me, repaying him according to the wickedness of his cruelty, so that, according to the sentence of the Prophet, he may fall into the pit which he has made, and this pain may be turned upon his own head, and his iniquity may descend upon his own skull; As the Saint prays, the nail is driven into the tyrant's head. so that, tested at least by this ordeal, he may cease devising even more such things against your most faithful servants." As he prayed these words, immediately by the Lord's power the pain was removed from the blessed Martyr's head and driven into the skull of the most wicked Antoninus, who immediately began to cry out to St. Potitus with loud voices, saying: "O servant of God, Potitus, have mercy on me! Beseech your God to rescue me from this intolerable destruction, for I am greatly tormented by it. For now, believing most certainly, I acknowledge how most powerful that God is, and there is no other besides him."

[35] Then the servant of Christ did not cease rendering acts of thanksgiving to God, the Creator of all, saying: "I glorify and bless your name, O great and almighty God, who have helped and consoled me." Potitus taunts him. And taunting, he said to Caesar: "Why then do your gods not come to your aid, as my God has come to mine and helped me? Call upon them now, that they may come and have mercy on you and free you." And all the bystanders, seeing this, turned to the praises of God and said: "O how great and how mighty is the power of the Lord of this boy, by whose strength he mocked the blows, torches, and lacerations of the hooks, calmed the rage of wild beasts, and extinguished the glowing pans with molten lead; and finally, having conquered both the idols and the Emperor Antoninus, he displayed himself safe and unharmed! And what wise and rational person has understood these things and does not cease to worship such demons, and instead, worshipping, venerate the one eternal God who made heaven and earth?"

[36] Meanwhile the most atrocious Antoninus was distressed and tormented, and gnashing his teeth he said: "St. Potitus, help me and have mercy on me, for I am dying from this punishment." To whom the Saint said: "Unless your daughter comes, whom my Lord Jesus Christ healed, you shall by no means be cured." He baptizes the Emperor's daughter. At that very hour the entire Senate was in sorrow, and at their command the girl was summoned. When she came, prostrating herself with tears on the ground, she began to kiss the feet of the most holy Martyr, saying: "Baptize me, servant of God, in the name of your almighty God, whom you preach." And immediately, catechizing her, he baptized her in the faith of the Holy Trinity. And when she had withdrawn, the Blessed Potitus, spreading his hands to heaven, said: "God, Creator and Redeemer of the universe, who need no one's goodness but exist essentially and eternally as the Good, who in the clemency of your kindness cause your sun to rise and pour rain upon the just and the unjust; and who have deigned to promise to your faithful, saying: 'Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find' Matt. 7:7; hear me now on behalf of the Emperor Antoninus, that you may rescue him from his intolerable pain, He frees him from his pain. to the praise and glory and power of your greatness. For although, Lord, he is accursed and most cruel, the eternal damnation that must follow him after this miserable life will nevertheless suffice for him." When the prayer was finished, the pain was taken away from his neck, and he was made whole.

[37] When the most wicked Emperor perceived that he had been freed from that pain, he began to give thanks to his demons, saying: "I do not cease to render thanks to you, most sacred and almighty gods, who have deigned by your powers to rescue me from this distress." To whom the Saint said: "Your mind still suffers from error, Emperor, since it was God, the hearer of all the faithful, who provided you with the remedy of salvation and health, not your gods, who could not help themselves in their eternal destruction, where they are now being tormented." His tongue is cut out and he still speaks. Then the Emperor, violently enraged, ordered his tongue to be cut off and the light of his eyes to be put out. When this was done, the boy of the Lord, Potitus, began above all to bless and glorify God, saying: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall always be in my mouth, who has put ^a new canticle in my mouth, ^a hymn to our God." And singing this psalm, strengthened by grace from above, he cried out: "What more will you do, most cruel Emperor? Perhaps because you have had my tongue cut out and my sight removed, you try to call yourself the victor? Behold, if you do not pretend not to know: my God, the Lord Jesus Christ, has overcome you through me now, just as he once overcame Pharaoh of Egypt, similar to you in hardness of heart, through holy Moses, when by all manner of signs and wonders and outstretched arm he freed his people from the oppression of his dominion? Unless perhaps you determine to cut off my head with the sword, and think to conquer only in this way as ^a remedy concerning my body."

[38] At this, the Emperor, exceedingly astonished and filled with confusion, immediately pronounced the capital sentence as he had proposed. Hearing this, the most blessed Martyr and Confessor of Christ, Potitus, rejoicing and exulting, said to the Emperor Antoninus: "I beseech your execrable power, Caesar, that you would order me to be punished wherever I shall request." To whom Caesar Antoninus said: "Let it be done, and let your wishes be duly confirmed according to the proposal of your petition." By this edict he was handed over to the executioners. He is beheaded. When they had received him, they led him to ^a certain place between Sentianus and Iuntianus, called Julia, on the bank of ^a river named Calabriticus, and there they struck him with the sword. His holy soul was seen in the form of ^a dove, hastening triumphantly from the prison of the flesh to the heights of the heavens, where, reigning with Christ, he enjoys blessed joys in perpetuity. He is buried. Moreover, Christians came and collected his remains with all reverence, and embalming them, buried him on the day of the Ides of January, to the praise and glory of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

HYMNS CONCERNING ST. POTITUS.

From the proper Office of the monastery of St. Potitus, Naples.

Potitus, Martyr (St.)

From the Office of St. Potitus.

O bright star of Christ, Potitus, renowned Martyr, drive the dark clouds of sin from our minds. You, illustrious among the Martyrs, shine as the sun among the stars, and as lilies gleam white amid the bright privet flowers. You shine like ^a burning lamp, illumining human hearts; like salt you are scattered through the world, drying up human wounds. Not so does crushed cinnamon, O Potitus, breathe its fragrance, as you, with modest ways, in the flower of your age, give fragrance to the world. After the glorious obsequies of your death, illustrious among the Angels, you shine with as great ^a light as is your renown throughout the world.

II.

A boy shines forth, born in the Eastern shores; he shines in an illustrious father; he shines in ^a noble mother — what wonder that in ^a famous city the infant should be famous? This is more wondrous: that from the bright heavens Christ the Sun drew him with ^a greater light, shining amid darkened shadows, to himself. As ^a rose from thorns, as ^a gleaming star from ^a murky cloud, the merciful Creator of the world drew the child Potitus from his mother's womb. He drew him, so that, with the true Sun born for him, he might despise brute images: that he might possess the triune Godhead and One, by whose every ardour he burns. O my Martyr, while you enjoy the Thunderer, let the Virgins be your care, who each year prepare your feast days: be propitious to them while they fulfil the sacred rites. While they sing sweet hymns to you, while they burn incense upon sacred altars, while they prepare the lamps, and with fragrant flowers crown the shrine. While saffron, marigolds, violets, privet, nard with roses, thyme with rosemary — thus from their right hand and basket they scatter everywhere through the church. From the kingdom of God, holy Martyr, hear the sighs of the Virgins; see their tears, their vows, their sobs; bear them as fragrant lilies to Jesus. Supreme praise to the one Trinity through all ages, who, as it granted the laurel to little Potitus, may by his prayer grant us the joys of the blessed.

III.

O Potitus, renowned Martyr, as you restore the sacred rites to be observed in yearly custom by the Virgins, be present to the choir of those who sing. From the rising of the sun you spring from ^a stock of wicked lineage, like ^a little flower of roses from the hard stock of thorns. Born of ^a pagan parent, you are breathed upon by the breeze of the Spirit, by which you trample false divinities and advance the trophy of the Cross. As the cypress surpasses the wayfarers' trees with its leafy crown, so you, though small, surpass all others by your greatest virtue. Not so does crushed cinnamon breathe its fragrance, as you, Potitus, with modest manners, in the flower of your age, give fragrance to the world. You, an eager little preacher, shine in your own city; you preach Jesus to your parent and spread the faith among the citizens. Praise to the threefold Unity, for whom Potitus, with his blood poured out, obtains the palm of the Martyrs, in the likeness of ^a dove.

IV.

O Jesus, beautiful crown of the heavenly ones, O Jesus, hope of the Martyrs, behold us, as we sing the battle of your soldier. Why do you rage so, Antoninus, O Caesar, more dire than ^a serpent, more savage than ^a savage lion? Why do you swell with brittle bile? He does not worship carved marble, nor believe that wood is divine; Potitus despises gold, nor does he burn incense to beasts. He scorns harsh beatings, and spurns the dreadful prison, nor is he swayed by flattering words, nor does he dread fierce threats. He takes up the lashes as if they were lilies, and dedicates them to God with ^a burning heart, as if they were little flowers of roses. Not so eagerly does the white swan plunge into crystal waters, as the little one enters the boiling oil, for love of Jesus.

As the Phoenix amid cinnamon grows more alive when burned, so this one, plunged in the seething cauldron, shall rise again the stronger. Potitus, made like an Angel, most strong in faith, despises the divinity of Minerva and denies incense to Jupiter. His rule is equal for all: he strengthens the weak with sweetness, he fortifies the strong with virtue, he cherishes both with love. O soldier, O most valiant athlete of Jesus, while your body pours out blood in ^a stream, you send your spirit to the stars. So adorn your wounded neck as victor with ^a golden torque: so by death you crown your life with laurel, triumphing with life everlasting. O thrice-blessed little one, who by enduring are granted the laurel — O how bravely you triumph over death even in dying!

VI.

The mighty power of God, and the victory of the Martyr, the cruel wrath of the Governor, and the gentleness of the wild beasts! Whatever beast rages with its teeth, horn, or claw, at the feet of the Martyr is as gentle as ^a little sheep. So he embraces torments as if they were welcome gifts of heaven; so he rejects blandishments as if they were the dread wounds of death. By these pledges, Potitus, which Jesus freely bestowed, beg for the sacred young virgins the nuptials of the shining Lamb. After whom, singing, may they rejoice with lamps full of oil; may they give fragrant berries, robed in white garments. From the vanity of the world, from the heat of slippery flesh, and from the malign demon, free us with your lance, Potitus. To God alone be glory, who may protect us from every evil by the prayer of the Martyr, and grant us the heavenly kingdoms.

VII.

O blessed soul, it burns, it burns with fire, with divine fire; the tyrant's rage it soothes with ^a calm voice, and by silence it mitigates his wrath. He endures the lashes as flowers (from which he weaves garlands before Jesus); the bloody wounds (O power of God!) he bears as if they were emeralds. A boy confined by prison chains, lacerated by the hooks and nails of combs, he enters the glowing cauldron: plunged in hot oil he triumphs. He conquers Caesar by enduring monstrous punishments: he wearies the torturers, undergoing the lashes with ^a tranquil mind: as victor he fights against death itself. Warned by the word of an Angel, he desires approaching death no less than the gate of everlasting life, the rest from labours, the rewards of the contest. Whence, with ^a bloody nail driven through his head, and ^a blade plunged into his throat, the blessed Potitus poured forth his spirit above the lofty stars. Thus, with death conquered, he girds his head with ^a verdant laurel: he adorns his sacred neck with ^a jewelled torque: the Martyr enjoys the Thunderer forever. If the flesh itches, sprinkle the snowy dew of modesty: if the fierce enemy hurls Satan's arrows, with weapons repel his weapons. If the perishing pomp of this blind world smiles, moderate it by the glory of eternal life: with famine, plague, and war driven from our home. Let praise be everlasting to the eternal Trinity, to the Father, and to the Son, and to you everywhere, O Holy Spirit: to whom, nourishing Martyr, carry back our vows.

VIII.

Receive graciously with favouring ear, my boy, the praises which the consecrated Virgins sing to you, O Saint, Various Responsories and the melodies produced by their pure hearts. These are given to you in place of incense and fragrant nard, in place of ^a bundle of thyme and ^a basket of roses: receive them, I beg you, as gems and fragrant balsam. When the boy first reached the treacherous crossroads of uncertain life, leaving behind the broad way, he strove to climb along the narrow path. Wholly intent upon sacred things, he desires nothing of the fleeting world: he venerates the temples of the Gods: he worships with the highest piety the triune Godhead and One. Thus he submits his boyish neck to Christ's yoke, and holding the plough's handle, as is fitting, he furrows the field of goodness with the ploughshare of peace. No less does he weary heaven with his prayers than with his devout worship: with his tears he washes the darkening night, and repels Satan with sweet songs. Having searched the divine writings of the Prophets, he tastes the sacred rudiments of Jesus: then embracing Leah, he enjoys Rachel, after the manner of Jacob. As the renowned Martyr won for himself the name of Potitus, by possessing (potiendo) the sweet nectar of the heavenly ones, he scorned all perishable things beneath the stars. He scorned the rosy blossom of his tender age, he scorned the titles of his ancestors, the purple, the fasces, the helmet, the curule chairs, his estates, his revenues.

IX.

As ^a poor man he hastens to the naked Jesus, embracing the Cross. He becomes ^a Teacher, forerunner of the heavenly fatherland; he becomes the Herald of the exalted Thunderer. Various Responsories A great light of virtues, ^a balanced rule of conduct, ^a school of Christian doctrine, ^a gentle model of piety, ^a light of nourishing goodness. He was pleasing to the world from his earliest infancy; he had been from his mother's womb more pleasing to heaven; he is in the heavens pleasing to both. Here, having suffered raging beasts, he tramples upon monstrous lions, he masters bears: but first, conquering, he overcomes the raging anger of the Governor. Dead to the world, to Satan, to his parent, and to himself; to heaven, to the Blessed Ones, to the Thunderer, the illustrious Potitus lives as the Lord's Martyr forever. Therefore, if such ^a life has shone for you in this world, reigning above the stars for us, obtain the pledge of the wished-for peace, the good things and the joys of heaven. As the white rose blooms when touched by dew, as the lily with open petals blooms in the dew, so blooms the hyacinth drenched in dew. Made ^a light to his father, he opens forth better teachings by his living example: what he did first, he commands his companions to do by his deeds. Whence, for the death of Christ, choosing ^a bloody death for yourself, like ^a lamb to the sword you bent your neck, O pious Martyr, O my blessed Potitus. O pious, O blessed soul, O beatified spirit, leaving behind the spoil of the fleeting earth and flesh, you ascend triumphant to the heights above.

The pious liquid does not harm, nor the oil so white as ivory limbs, nor does the fire touch ^a single hair: the flame respects his modesty. O Martyr, from the highest heaven, I pray, may the Author of the world, through you, graciously grant grace, and favour the sacred maidens with propitious power. May the olive trees yield ^a hundredfold; through the fields may the seed flourish into crops; may the vineyards pour forth Falernian wine tenfold, at your prayer, O pious Martyr. Refresh us with sweet peace, provide wholesome air, and by whatever prayer you can, purge the guilt of sins, O Martyr, before the wrath of the Judge. For your merits, protect the Latin kingdom from famine and from war, I beseech you; I beseech you to preserve it from plague, from thunder, and from flashing lightning.