CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS OF TREVI: AEMILIANUS THE BISHOP, HILARIANUS THE MONK, HERMIPPUS, AND DIONYSIUS.
Under Diocletian.
PrefaceAemilianus, Bishop, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Hilarianus, monk, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Hermippus, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.) Dionysius, Martyr at Trevi in Umbria (S.)
[1] Trevi is a city of Umbria, now commonly called Trevi, situated between Spoleto and Foligno on a lofty hill, not far from the river Clitumnus. It venerates S. Aemilianus, Bishop and Martyr, as its special patron and bishop, as Ferrarius writes in his Notes on the general Catalogue of Saints, and testifies that he read his Acts at Spoleto, The natalis of S. Aemilianus on 28 January. where he is also venerated, and on that account he is thought by some to have been Bishop of Spoleto—which, says Ferrarius, is contradicted by the Acts. He himself recites a summary of them in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, where he also adds the companions: Hilarianus the monk, and the noble youths Hermippus and Dionysius, concerning whom, he says, we have learned that their feast is kept at Trevi. But in his new, or general, Catalogue he omits them too and commemorates only Aemilianus the Bishop and Martyr, citing the calendars of the Church of Trevi, in which perhaps, as is customary, the office is celebrated only for the primary patron.
[2] A learned man from Umbria informed us that a Life of S. Aemilianus had been written by Ludovico Jacobilli and another author, which we have not yet been able to see; and that he is considered to be the same person whose memory is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on 8 February in these words: also on 8 February? "In Lesser Armenia, of SS. Dionysius, Aemilianus, and Sebastian, Martyrs"; and that these were his disciples and companions in martyrdom. But if this is so, why is the title of Bishop not given to Aemilianus, which is scarcely ever omitted? Why in all the Martyrologies are they ascribed to Lesser Armenia and not to Umbria? How is it that to S. Jerome, Usuard, Bede, Ado, Notker, Bellinus, Maurolycus, Galesinius, and others, the region which bore them into the world was better known than the one which, having bestowed the laurel of martyrdom, sent them to heaven?
ACTS FROM PH. FERRARIUS.
[1] S. Aemilianus preaches at Spoleto: Aemilianus, an Armenian by nationality, born of Christian and honorable parents, eager to preach and suffer for Christ, came to Italy when Diocletian and Maximian were emperors; and first he settled at Spoleto, the metropolis of Umbria. He becomes Bishop of Trevi: After he had devoted himself there for some time to prayers, vigils, and preaching, he was created Bishop of Trevi by the Roman Pontiff. With Hilarianus the monk, who had been his teacher in the sacred scriptures, and with Hermippus and Dionysius, noble youths recently converted to Christ, he came there and began to win many to Christ by his preaching.
[2] But having been accused by the priests of the idols, he was seized; and when before the Governor he had discoursed on the Christian faith—not without the admiration of the Governor and those present—and had promised to prove it by a deed, they came to the miracle. he heals a paralytic: For a paralytic placed in the middle of the forum, whom the priests of the idols, having invoked the gods, had been unable to heal, was immediately healed by Aemilianus upon the invocation of the name of Christ.
[3] he is variously tortured: But the Governor, perhaps fearing the decrees of the Emperors, threatened Aemilianus with terrible punishments unless he sacrificed to the gods. When he refused to do so, the Governor ordered him to be hung upon the rack, and burning torches to be applied to his body. But when the fire was divinely extinguished and the hands of the torturers failed, the angry Judge, attributing it to magic arts, ordered the holy Bishop to be thrown into a frying pan full of molten lead, then to be plunged into the river Clitumnus with a stone tied to his neck, and finally to be thrown to the wild beasts. safe after the torments. When the Martyr was divinely rescued from all of these, while the people cried out that the God of the Christians was great and true, an enormous wheel was prepared by the Governor's order to tear him apart. This, shattered by divine power, killed about five hundred of the pagans.
[4] His companions are beheaded; Meanwhile Hilarianus, Dionysius, and Hermippus, when they refused to sacrifice to the gods and the images of the gods had fallen at their prayers, were struck by the sword at the Governor's command. After them, Aemilianus, tempted in vain by blandishments and undaunted by new torments proposed to him, and he himself, not without miracles. was led outside the city and received the capital sentence. From his body, they say, milk flowed instead of blood, and the trees put forth flowers and fruits.
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