Martyrs of Edessa

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS OF EDESSA, SARBELIUS AND BARBEA.

Under Trajan.

Sarbelius, Martyr at Edessa in Mesopotamia (S.) Bebaea or Barbaea, Martyr at Edessa in Mesopotamia (S.)

From various sources.

[1] Edessa, an ancient city of Mesopotamia, toward the borders of Armenia, is ennobled by many trophies of Saints. Among them is Sarbelius with his sister Barbea. The feast day of these Martyrs, Their memory is celebrated on various days in the ecclesiastical calendars: 29 January, 15 October (not the fifteenth day before the Kalends of October, as Baronius wrote here in his Annotations to the Martyrology), and perhaps also 4 and 5 September. Nor are their names always written in the same way: names, Sarbelius, elsewhere Sarbilus, Sarbelus, Sarbelos, and in Galesin's Notes Sabbellus, in Ferrarius Sarbeolus. She whom Baronius calls Barbea is everywhere called Bebaea by the Greeks, as if one were to say Constans, or Constantia.

[2] We have received the Acts of these Martyrs from the Martyrologies alone. The Roman Martyrology for 29 January reads thus: At Edessa in Syria, of the holy Martyrs Sarbelius and his sister Barbea, Acts from the Martyrologies, 29 January, who, having been baptized by Blessed Barsimaeus the Bishop, were crowned with martyrdom in the persecution of Trajan under the governor Lysias. Galesin gives a fuller account, from the Greeks, as he acknowledges: At Edessa, of the holy Martyrs Sarbelius and his sister Barbea. He was a priest of idols, vehemently rebuked for his impiety by Barsimaeus, Bishop of that city, and with the help of God's grace, heeding his words, was imbued with the Christian religion, and was baptized together with his sister. When the governor Lysias learned of this, he had Sarbelius seized and first beaten with rods, lacerated with a scraper, and scorched with fire; then enclosed between two pieces of wood and sawn apart: and finally commanded that he, together with his sister, who had previously been most grievously and variously tortured, be beheaded under the Emperor Trajan.

[3] But the Greek Menaea read: On the same day (29 January), the commemoration of the holy Martyrs Sarbelus and his sister Bebaea, from the Menaea on the same day, who suffered at Edessa. They lived in the reign of Trajan. S. Sarbelus was a sacrificing priest of diabolical error and impure victims, who, when at a certain festive celebration of the demons he had begun the impious rites in the accustomed manner, was rebuked by Barsimaeus the Bishop and sharply reproved, as one who had been the cause of ruin to many, and was pricked in his heart by the grace of Christ; and induced by the Bishop's words, he embraced the divine faith together with Bebaea, his own sister, and was cleansed by the same Bishop with the saving waters. Then, brought before the governor Lysias for examination, Sarbelus was first beaten with rods, then cut with knives, then his face was shaved, and with his hands bound behind his back his belly was beaten, then suspended by one hand he was again lacerated, and finally various parts of his body were burned with applied torches: and at last he carried away the crown of martyrdom, when he was placed in a certain machine and crushed and split from the head, and finally struck with an axe. His sister Bebaea was also beheaded by the command of the same governor.

[4] But on 15 October, the same Menaea record these events somewhat more distinctly: from the same, 15 October. On the same day, of the holy Martyrs Sarbilus and his sister Bebaea. In the times of Trajan, S. Sarbilus, a priest of idols, was taught the mysteries of the faith and baptized by the holy Bishop, together with his sister Bebaea. Having been denounced as a Christian before the Prefect of the city of Edessa, he was brought before his tribunal, and the Prefect first ordered him to be beaten with rods. But when the Saint made many jests against him and his idols and the Emperor, the enraged governor had him beaten with ox-hide whips not once or twice, but seven times in alternating rounds, lacerated with hooks, and burned with torches. While these things were done, and the Saint, fixed upon God, prayed, the Lord of hosts mitigated his pains. Observing his noble spirit in enduring tortures, the tyrant again ordered him brought forth, and had nails driven into his head, then ordered him sawn apart. But when the Saint had emerged unharmed from both torments by divine power, those standing by were astonished. When his sister Bebaea saw these things, she openly professed herself a Christian before the Judge. He, having cruelly lacerated her with scourges, shut her in prison. And seeing that the Saint, suspended by one hand and with the skin of his body torn off, was still breathing, he ordered both to be beheaded. But certain of the faithful, having secretly taken up their bodies, committed them to the earth, praising and blessing God, Amen.

[5] The Menologion published by Henry Canisius reads: On the same day, the commemoration of the holy Martyrs Sarbilus and his sister Bebaea under the Emperor Trajan. from the Menologion, But Baronius cites a Menologion in which their martyrdom is thus described: Sarbelius, a priest of idols, was converted to the faith of Christ together with his sister Barbea through Barsimaeus, Bishop of Edessa, and both were seized: after the most grievous torments, Sarbelius was bound between two pieces of wood and sawn apart; and his sister was beheaded. If these things are found thus in that manuscript of Sirletus, which Baronius elsewhere acknowledges he used, it is manifest that it differs greatly from the Ingolstadt edition which Canisius published. Galesin records the same day: At Edessa, of the holy Martyrs Sarbelius and his sister Barbaea; and Galesin. who, under the Emperor Trajan, being accused of the Christian religion, were brought to trial before the Prefect of that city, were first grievously tortured, and then, noble for their illustrious confession of faith, received the palm of martyrdom by the severing of their necks. Ferrarius also records them on that day.

[6] These appear to be the same persons, certainly they suffered the same things, who are celebrated with Thatuel on 4 September in the same Greek Menaea. For they read thus:

Both Thatuel and Bebaea being cut down / Found a sure life in place of a false one. / Zarbelus, not venerating impure worship, / Is pelted with stones by the hands of impure men. Whether the same on 4 September in the Menaea,

They lived under the Emperor Hadrian. Thatuel was a priest of diabolical error: but being rebuked by a certain Bishop, he yielded to the faith. For this reason, by Augarus the prince, his face was beaten with rods, with his hands bound behind his back he was burned, and his belly was beaten. Suspended by one hand, he was shaved, and with fire placed beneath he was burned. Then, placed in a carpenter's machine, he was sawn from the head downward, and finally by the sword completed his contest.

[7] The Roman Martyrology as augmented by Baronius has Thamelus in place of Thatuel. On the same day, he says, of SS. Thamelis, formerly a priest of idols, and his companions, Martyrs under the Emperor Hadrian. and Menologion? Baronius in his Notes calls him Thamuel, citing the Menologion, in which he is called Thatuel. For it reads thus: On the same day, the Birthday of the holy Martyrs Petronius, Charitina, Zarbelus, Thatuel, and Bevaea, who shed their blood for Christ under the Emperor Hadrian. Of these, Thatuel, when he was a priest of demoniacal falsehood, was converted to the faith of Christ by a certain Christian Bishop. For this reason, by Augarus, the governor of that region, he was beaten with rods, his eyes were burned, and with his hands bound behind his back he was struck on the belly, suspended by one hand he was lacerated; afterward, with a mason's instrument, he was sawn from the crown of his head together with his sister Bevaea, and finished by the sword.

[8] Who would not suspect the same Bebaea, the same Sarbelus, and Thatuel to be Sarbelus's brother, or Sarbelus himself under the double name Sarbelus Thatuel, or by the single word Sarbelthatuel? For as to the fact that these are said to have suffered under Hadrian, those under Trajan: perhaps they were seized under Trajan and put to death under Hadrian: or the persecution was ordered by Trajan, and the execution carried out afterward by Hadrian or his governors. Both certainly attacked nations toward the east. That the latter group -- Sarbelus, Bebaea, and Thatuel -- were of Edessa, whether they are the same or different from the former, we conjecture from the name of Augarus, or Abgarus, Abgari, or Augari, Kings of Edessa, the governor: that name was familiar to the rulers of Osroene, whose capital was Edessa. Hence Augarus the Osroenian, allied to the Romans by treaty under Pompey, later favoring the Parthians, was the cause of Crassus's disaster, as Dio records, book 40. Another, about eighty-five years later, was the most celebrated Abgarus, the prince of Edessa, who sent messengers to Christ the Savior and received from him the image not made by hands, of which there is frequent mention in ecclesiastical writers. Then this Augarus, in the times of Trajan or Hadrian, opposed our religion, which S. Thaddaeus had brought to Edessa when the earlier Abgarus had been healed and baptized, perhaps to gain favor with the Romans. Whether Lysias held the prefecture of the city in his own name or in the name of the Emperor is uncertain. This is perhaps the same Abgarus of whom Julius Capitolinus speaks in his Life of Antoninus Pius: He removed King Abgarus from the Eastern regions by his authority alone. There was also an Abgarus, King of the Persians, subdued by Severus, as Spartian attests. Finally, Xiphilinus, the epitomator of Dio, in his account of Antoninus Caracalla writes: When Augarus, King of the Osroenians, had come to him as to a friend, he broke faith with him, seized him, and threw him into chains, and took Osroene, now deprived of its king.

[9] Moreover, those whom the Menaea and Menologion celebrate on 4 September, Thatuel and Bebaea, Galesin records on the following day, Acts from Galesin, 5 September, with these words: In Greece, of the blessed Martyrs Thatuel and his sister Bebea. She, under the Emperor Hadrian, inflamed with the ardor of the faith, turned very many from false worship by her exhortations. She was therefore thrown into custody, first cruelly beaten; then lacerated with scrapers down to the bone, and finally pierced through the throat with a lance. He, for his part, having always professed the faith of Christ the Redeemer with the utmost freedom of speech, not moved from his resolution by any of the torments with which he was variously and horribly afflicted, was at last raised upon a wooden frame and sawn asunder in the middle with an iron saw, and bore away the palm of a noble martyrdom. Galesin writes that he translated these from a Greek book. Petronius, who is joined with these Martyrs on 4 September in the Menologion, is said in the Menaea to have been a disciple of S. Paul the Apostle, and, after the death of S. John, the spiritual father and teacher of piety for S. Hermione the Virgin, daughter of Philip the Deacon, and does not pertain to the Osroenians. Charitina (unless she is the one venerated on 5 October, or on 12 June, or perhaps Charis, whom, though obscure, we gave on 28 January) is unknown to us. We shall treat of Barsimaeus, who baptized Sarbelius and Barbea, on 30 January.

ON S. CONSTANTIUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR, AT PERUGIA IN ETRURIA.

Under Marcus Aurelius.

Constantius, Bishop of Perugia in Etruria, Martyr (S.)

[1] Perugia, once reckoned among the twelve chief cities of Etruria, and indeed the head of its peoples, according to Livy, together with Cortona and Arezzo; although exhausted by Octavian Caesar in a harsh siege and, as Florus says, by a shameful and all-consuming famine, then by indiscriminate slaughter, S. Constantius, Bishop of Perugia and afterward deformed by a terrible fire; was nevertheless so swiftly restored and inhabited that it deserved a Bishop at the very cradle of the Church, and was, in the age of Justinian, as Procopius attests, the chief city of Tuscany. Among the earliest of its Bishops was S. Constantius, whose feast is celebrated on 29 January. The Roman Martyrology says of him: feast day, At Perugia, of S. Constantius, Bishop and Martyr, who together with his companions received the crown of martyrdom under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius for the defense of the faith. He is also mentioned by the Carthusians of Cologne and by Molanus in their additions to Usuard. Constantius Felicius, Constantine Ghini, Philip Ferrarius in the Catalogue of Saints of Italy; and even the most ancient manuscript Martyrology of S. Jerome, in which the following is found: At Perugia in Tuscany, of Constantinus. Some others also call him Constantine.

[2] The German Martyrology in its second edition reads thus: Likewise at Perugia, of the holy Bishop and Martyr Constantius, who was a disciple of S. Herculanus the Bishop, and was killed for the faith along with six other Germans. Galesin: At Perugia, of S. Constantius, Bishop and Martyr, who, being a disciple of Blessed Herculanus the Bishop, after his death was made Bishop, the date wrongly assigned, and was killed for the faith by the Goths together with six others who had journeyed with him from Germany to that city on pilgrimage. We shall treat of S. Herculanus I on 7 November. S. Herculanus II is venerated on 1 March, and he was killed by the Goths in the times of Justinian. The question of the age and companions of the earlier Herculanus will be examined in its proper place. Volaterranus provided Galesin with the occasion for error, book 14, where he lists three Constantii, of whom the third, he says, was a Martyr together with six brothers, among whom were Bivignatus and Reinaldus, who had journeyed from Germany to Perugia on pilgrimage, and were killed in that city when it was taken by the Goths. The date of Constantius has been grievously confused, because the two Herculani, of whom he was perhaps the successor of the first, have been conflated into one.

[3] But who were the companions of S. Constantius? Mentioned in the Acts are Crescentius, Anastasius, and Carpophorus; but there is no mention of their death, unless perhaps Carpophorus is the one companions, whom the people of Spello claim for themselves, and whom others join as a companion to the elder Herculanus. SS. Pontianus and Concordius, who were bound in friendship with Constantius, belong to other days. Did Baronius add companions to Constantius on the authority of Galesin and Volaterranus? The Perugians venerate Bivignatus as a monk and Confessor, not a Martyr, on 14 May. There is nowhere any commemoration of Reinaldus. In a more recent manuscript, the following is found under 14 October: At Perugia, of S. Constantius with seven companions. But who were they? We have learned from experience that not much credence should be given to that manuscript: for it is neither ancient, nor does it contain anything except additions to the Cologne Supplement of Usuard, appended without any citation of authorities.

[4] We give a threefold Life of S. Constantius. The first two Cardinal Baronius had received from the Church of Perugia, Life, and from his library Cesare Spada, a distinguished man, had shared them with Heribert Rosweyde. The first was divided into Lessons, whose number we have noted in the margin. We have collated the second with another Perugian codex, and with a manuscript of the monastery of S. Gall, which is much more correct. The third had already been published by Surius, prepared by Giovanni Andrea Palazzi from the most ancient copies preserved at Perugia, partly in the cathedral church, partly in the church of S. Peter. Zacharias Lippelous also wrote a Life of S. Constantius; in Italian, Gabriel Flamma and Silvanus Razzi. Baronius mentions his martyrdom in volume 2 of the Annals, at the year 175, number 7.

LIFE from the manuscript of Cardinal Caesar Baronius.

Constantius, Bishop of Perugia in Etruria, Martyr (S.)

BHL Number: 1938

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER 1. The miracles of S. Constantius. The conversion of many.

Lesson I.

[1] The Creator and Fashioner of all things, Almighty God, taking pity on the ruin of the human race, coming as the Word of life from the throne of the Father, assumed from the Blessed Virgin Mary his life-giving flesh. Since indeed he deigned to bear our image, it is therefore all the more necessary for us to increase our service to him. Truly he has imparted to us many benefits; let us render him many services. For at the beginning of the world he created us in his own image and likeness, as he himself said: Let us make man in our image and likeness. Genesis 1:26. The Word of God incarnate for our restoration. But the ancient enemy, who was the first to fall to the depths, seeing himself everywhere conquered, began by various devices to circumvent our first parent; whom through the tasting of the forbidden tree and at the persuasion of his spouse he miserably deceived. Therefore God, foreseeing that man would be irrecoverable without his own Incarnation, for this reason descended from heaven and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary: he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. He therefore assumed the form of a servant, in order to redeem the form that was sinful: by the same means by which our first parent was deceived, by those same means we were redeemed by the mercy of the Lord: through the tasting by the first man, behold, we fell into evils; through the Virgin Mother and her only Son we were mercifully restored. Indeed he restored us through various orders by his own ordinances: for before his coming there were Prophets, holy Teachers, who foretold the birth of our Redeemer.

[2] S. Constantius of Perugia Again, after his birth he chose twelve Apostles, who through their saving doctrine might gather to him an acceptable people. By the knowledge of God and of these men, like the morning star, Blessed Constantius, whose homeland was Perugia, began from his infancy to serve the Lord: he afflicted his flesh daily with fasts of two and three days: because he was wealthy, he continually fed many poor people from his resources. A certain woman named Astasia had lost her sight for many days, and as soon as she heard the fame of Constantius, the servant of God, and of his virtues and miracles, she asked a certain person to lead her to his feet. He gives sight to a blind woman: Brought before his feet, she began to weep greatly. But when he saw her weeping and lying at his feet, he said to her: Rise, woman. Then when she had risen she did not cease crying out with tearful voice: Man of God, Constantius, by your God I beseech you, restore my sight, that I may see, and I shall know that the God of the Christians is great. To whom S. Constantius said: If you are willing to believe in Christ, he himself will restore your sight. And she said: Grant, Lord, that I may see. Already I believe that your God is the true God. Then the holy man, bending his knees, prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord God, who opened the eyes of the man born blind, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, open the eyes of this woman, that she may truly know that you are God, who alone work wonders and endure through ages of ages. And when all the Christians had responded, Amen; she immediately received the most brilliant light, and believed, and was baptized; he converts many: and many became Christians through her. Then the company of Christians grew and multiplied with the Lord, through the signs and wonders which the Lord worked through Constantius.

Lesson II.

[3] A certain man named Crescentius had for many years had his feet folded against his legs, so that he could not walk at all. When he heard that the sick were being healed by Blessed Constantius, he ordered himself to be carried to him in a cart, he obtains the ability to walk for a lame man: and said with tearful prayers: O S. Constantius, restore to me the ability to walk. When S. Constantius saw him, trusting in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, he prayed and said: Lord Jesus Christ, who give life to all things and restore all things, give back to this man the ability to walk, that he may know and believe that besides you there is no God, who when you will make new signs and wonders. At this voice, as if by the rays of the sun, a splendor fell upon him and remained upon him for about half an hour. Then that man, trembling and crying out with loud voice, said: Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy. Immediately he raised himself up, and his legs and feet were made strong; and at once he ran to the water and brought it before Blessed Constantius. And he baptized him in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He converts 120 pagans. And through those miracles about one hundred and twenty of the pagans were baptized on that day. Then there was great rejoicing among the Christians, and they glorified God saying: Blessed be the God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people.

CHAPTER II. The first examination. The conversion of the guards. Flight.

[4] Then it was reported to Charisius, the chief man of the city, that the worship of their gods was being emptied out, In the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, and the religion of the Christians was multiplying: and he was greatly angered and ordered that Christians be sought out, so that wherever they were found they should be bound and led before him. For at that time there was at Rome the most impious Emperor Antoninus, who had sent his soldiers throughout the whole world to destroy the sect of Christians and to magnify the worship of their gods. Then a certain Lucius, one of the great Consuls of the Romans, was dispatched to Perugia. And the aforesaid Lucius came to Charisius and said to him: Charisius, send your soldiers through the cities and through the neighboring provinces all around, he is seized with Crescentius: so that if Christians are by chance found in those same provinces, they should be brought before us with their hands bound behind their backs and in chains. Then the executioners carried out the commands, came to the house of Crescentius, whom Blessed Constantius had recently healed, and having broken down the doors they entered. Then they seized them and led them before the presence of Lucius and Charisius.

Lesson III.

[5] When Lucius the Consul saw them, he said to him: Of what condition are you? Slaves or freeborn? Blessed Constantius answered: We are servants of our Lord Jesus Christ, who emptied himself, was made a little lower than the Angels, and took the form of a servant, that he might rescue us from the servitude of the devil; He confesses Christ: and therefore the highest liberty is to fulfill the service of the Lord, who created us and deigned to die for us, that he might free us from death. Then they answered with great fury and said: Do you not know that Antoninus, the Prince of the Romans, has sent us for this purpose, that we might expel all worshippers of Christ from his kingdom; and cause to be worshipped above all our magnificent gods, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, and many others through whom the Roman empire flourishes, and the statues of the Sun and the Moon? Therefore I admonish you to worship our gods, and to place incense before the god Sun, and to offer him a worthy sacrifice. Then Blessed Constantius said with a smile: He mocks the gods. The elements of this world, which the Lord created for our service, I do not worship, nor do I offer them sacrifice; but only the maker of all things, our almighty God, with his only Son our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, I worship and revere in the Trinity, and I offer an immaculate sacrifice.

[6] He is beaten with fists and clubs: Lucius and Charisius, angered, ordered him to be struck with fists and his back beaten with clubs. But he sang psalms saying: I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth, and in the midst of many I will praise him; who stands at the right hand of the poor to save my soul from persecutors. But Lucius and Charisius, seeing that they accomplished nothing, but rather that he and the other Christians magnified the Lord more and more, who saves those who trust in him and does not abandon devout hearts; he is enclosed in the baths, then they ordered the Bath before the palace of Maximian to be heated sevenfold more than usual, and they put Constantius inside with the other Christians who were with him; and they sang psalms saying: You have tested us with fire, and no iniquity has been found in us. And again: Deliver me, Lord, from the evil man; from the wicked man, deliver me, Lord. And again: Confirm my heart, O God, in your testimonies, and not in avarice.

Lesson IV.

[7] Then, having made the sign of the cross, the Christians entered the Bath: but although there was much heat within, none of them feared the heat; and all the Christians prostrated themselves on the pavement and prayed, saying: Blessed be the Lord God, for he alone has done great wonders: and blessed be the name of his majesty forever and ever. While the holy men were singing these psalms, God surrounded them with so great a light that no one would have thought it was night, but rather as if the full splendor of the sun were shining in the bath. And when the soldiers who were divinely illuminated who were guarding the bath saw so brilliant a light, they entered in and prostrated themselves at the feet of Blessed Constantius, imploring pardon and saying: Lord, S. Constantius, man of God, free us from earthly desires, and wash us with holy baptism, that we may deserve to be partakers of eternal life. Then S. Constantius instructed them in every divine mystery, and baptized them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, he converts the guards: Amen. And each one returned to his own home, and they brought much money, and their sons and daughters and wives, and led them before the presence of the most blessed Bishop Constantius; and about fifty persons of both sexes were baptized; and they said to the most blessed Constantius: Come forth from the bath, and let us go to the forest which is called the Hill, and there let us call upon the Lord our God. He goes out of the city with them. Straightway S. Constantius went out of the bath, and departed with a few Christians, and with the guards of the bath who had become Christians through his preaching; and they came to the place called Monticellus, and there they remained for many days with Anastasius the servant of God, and with the gathered company of many saints, singing psalms and saying: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

CHAPTER III. The second examination. The conversion of other guards. Flight.

[8] At that time Lucius, Consul of the Romans, by the command of the Emperor Antoninus, ordered Charisius, Prefect of the city of Perugia, to conduct an inquiry concerning Blessed Constantius and the other Christians who were with him. But Charisius, eager to carry out the commands of the Consul Lucius, sent men to search for the guards of the bath, and when they did not find the Saint of God they hastily returned to Charisius the Prefect, reporting to him: They are sought: The guards of your bath have become Christians with all their households, and they have gone out of the city; and we do not know in what direction. Then Charisius, the most impious Prefect, filled with deceit and anger, ordered many soldiers to go after them, who, having gone out and searched far and wide, at length found one pestilent pagan, who said to them: In the forest, in the place called Monticellus, there they gather and hold their assemblies. If you truly wish it, I will lead you there. Then they unanimously asked him to lead them to where S. Constantius was with many Christians, singing psalms and blessing the Lord.

Lesson V.

[9] And when they came to the Saints of God, they said to them: O Constantius, why have you deceived these men, so that they should not worship their gods and fulfill the commands of the Emperor? Wherefore now come to the Prefect Charisius, and he will teach you how you ought to obey the most unconquerable gods, and not believe in vain in Christ your God, who for his crimes was seized by the Jews; and having afflicted him with scourges they delivered him to Pontius Pilate, and he ordered him to be hung upon a gibbet; and wounded and pierced with nails, he at last died on the cross; to whom when one of the thieves who were crucified with him said: Save yourself and all of us, he did not save himself, nor was he able to save others. At this word S. Constantius, they rebuke the blasphemers: and Blessed Anastasius, and the Christians who were with them, said with one voice: O enemies of God and of truth, how have you dared to speak such things of so great a Lord? Who, when he was led willingly to the gibbet of the cross, and the blind Jews surrounded him with swords and clubs, the Lord said: Whom do you seek? And they said: Jesus of Nazareth; at this blessed word they fell to the ground and became as dead men. John 18. And to Judas on that night when he was about to betray him, he said: What you do, do quickly. Now, wretches, learn how great is the providence of God, who made manifest his betrayer and all things that had been prophesied concerning him. John 13. When he willed he was tempted, when he willed he was crucified, when he willed he died, when he willed he despoiled hell, when he willed he rose again, and when he willed he ascended into heaven; whence he shall come on the last day to judge the living and the dead.

[10] Then the soldiers of Charisius, angered and filled with fury, rushed upon the Saints of God, they are seized and brought before the governor, and seizing S. Constantius the Bishop, a most distinguished man, and Anastasius, a most illustrious man, and Carpophorus, a true servant of God, and many other Christians, they bound them and led them in chains to Charisius the Prefect; who, when he saw them from afar, said to them: O Constantius, deceived by the trickery of the Christians, S. Constantius freely professes the faith: why did you not think about your salvation while in the bath? Had you offered sacrifice to the immortal gods, you would not lose your most beautiful youth out of reverence for the Priesthood and the sect of the Nazarenes? To whom Blessed Constantius said angrily: Wretch, it is a long time that I have patiently endured your insane words; now do you also, if you will, patiently hear my sane words: There is one God almighty, who created all things from nothing, made heaven and earth, and established the seas, as David the Prophet sang, saying: You have established all the boundaries of the earth; summer and spring, you have fashioned them. Psalm 73:17. Now, villain, believe in your Creator; and render to him what he gave you, namely understanding and intellect, so that you might have the knowledge to discern good from evil, and reject what is shameful and pursue what is beneficial. And moreover hear the aforesaid Prophet, who singing said: He himself made us; and not your gods, whom you wickedly worship, made us. Psalm 99:3. Convert to the Lord your God who made you, lest by worshipping wickedly here, you perish in the world to come. At this, Charisius, angered by the zeal of the devil, he walks over burning coals: ordered him to be led with bare feet over glowing coals, and to have the embers poured over his naked body. But the Christians, seeing this, cried out to the Lord saying: Lord, let not those who wait for you be put to shame through us, O Lord God of hosts, and let not those who seek you be confounded through us, O God of Israel.

Lesson VI.

[11] And S. Constantius said with a loud voice: For your sake, Lord, I will bear reproach; deliver me from bloodshed, O God, God of my salvation. And Charisius, opening his mouth, said: Wretch, do you not see how punishments press upon you from every side? Cease, and recover at last from your madness, and remove from yourself the title of Christianity, lest you lose the flower of your youth before your time, and while you say you have eternal life, you leave behind the temporal one, and never find the one you hope for. S. Constantius answered and said: Seducer of the wicked, undaunted in torments, and enemy of truth, I have already told you, and I say again: your punishments do not terrify me, because I have my Lord Jesus Christ the Savior, who will deliver me from all your fury. Then Charisius the Prefect ordered him to be shut up in prison, he is thrown into prison: and said to him: Constantius, reflect within yourself during these six days about your salvation, lest you die the most shameful death, and the Christ whom you praise not deliver you. And while the executioners were leading him to prison, he went singing psalms and saying: Lord my God, in you have I hoped, deliver me from all who persecute me, and rescue me: make your face to shine upon your servant, and save me in your mercy: Lord, let me not be confounded, for I have called upon you.

[12] Meanwhile S. Constantius was placed in prison, and night came; he heals the sick by his prayers: and that night many Christians came to the window, bringing with them lepers, the wasted, the blind, the lame, and those afflicted with various diseases, whom the most illustrious man S. Constantius healed by his most holy prayers. Then the three jailers, seeing the miracles which God performed through him, he converts three guards: he is released by them, believed in him, and were baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they drew him out of prison, and came with him to the gate of the city, and by the road which leads to Campania; and they crossed the river called the Tiber, and went by the road called the Salarian.

CHAPTER IV. The third examination. Heavenly consolation.

[13] And behold, most impious men had been sent by the Emperor to destroy men of this religion throughout every province. When S. Constantius saw them, he greeted them, saying: Joy be to you, brothers. To whom they answered and said: Where are you from? From what province do you come? And he said to them: I departed from Perugia, but I am directing my steps elsewhere, that I may see my brothers Concordius and Pontianus, and we may speak together of heavenly things. He is seized again: To whom they said: As we perceive, you are a Christian. He answered and said: Indeed I worship Christ, and I desire to follow in his footsteps, that I may deserve to be a partaker of his kingdom. Then, filled with fury, they seized him, and with his hands bound behind his back they led him to the house of Duritius, and began to question him about the title of Christianity, saying to him: What power do Christians have? To whom he said: Our power is from God, and as much as he himself grants to us, so much are we able to profit in his service; and I call the service of the Lord no less voluntary, because he does not desire coerced service. But still it is read in the Gospel: If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. Luke 9:23.

Lesson VII.

[14] Then they answered with great fury and said: Remove from yourself these empty words that you speak. He is beaten. And saying this they struck him with slaps and blows, saying: We thought to terrify you with various punishments and beatings, and to recall your mind to the worship of our Gods, and neither by punishments nor by beatings can we correct you. Now indeed nothing else remains except that you be hung on the rack and afflicted with various punishments, and furthermore we will wound your body with these spears, so that at least in this way you may withdraw from your madness; for we were sent by the Emperor for this purpose, that we might destroy men of this religion. He laughs at their threats: Now then choose what you wish: either sacrifice to our Gods, or you shall be afflicted with various punishments. To whom he said: I make known to you that I neither worship your gods, nor do I refuse the service of Christ, but rather I choose to die for him. Then the soldiers said to him: It would be better for you to die than to destroy many men with your magic art. To whom Blessed Constantius said: I am not a magician, but I confess my God with my whole heart and mouth. And if you wish to do the same, you can still recover eternal life; but if not, you shall perish together with your gods.

[15] Then one of them, striking him, said: We think to destroy you together with your religion, and you wish to persist in your error. For the Emperor did not send us here to worship a Christ who was mistreated by the Jews, but concerning whomever of you we find, we have been commanded to kill them, lest by their magic arts the Christians empty out the worship of our gods, through which the whole world is sustained, and lest our state perish when our gods are wrongly offended. Then Blessed Constantius said to them: Cursed are all who trust in idols, which have hands and will not feel, have feet and will not walk, have eyes and will not see, have ears and will not hear, they shall not cry out in their throat. But they, greatly angered, seized him again, and binding his hands said: Let us turn back and lead him with us, and against his will make him abandon Christ. And they returned to the river called the Clasius, and stretching him out, they beat his back with clubs. But he prayed, saying: He is beaten with clubs: Lord, hear me in tribulation: I am prepared to die, that you may receive me in your kingdom: do not forsake those who hope in you: have mercy on me and hear me: my heart has said to you, I have sought your face; your face, Lord, I will seek: do not turn your face from me, and do not turn away in anger from your servant: be my helper, do not forsake me; but make with me, Lord, a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be confounded, for you are just, strong, and merciful. Psalm 26.

[16] After this an Angel of the Lord came strengthening him and saying: Do not fear; he is healed and encouraged by an Angel, for I have been sent from heaven by the Lord, that I may heal you of your wounds. For behold, it is near that the Lord will repay you with a reward for your great labor, and that you may receive with the holy Angels and Apostles, and also with all his elect, the most luminous mansions. Hearing this, Blessed Constantius was made cheerful and said: I give you thanks, Lord, that you have sent your Angel to me, that I might know that you do not forsake those who hope in you. Then the Angel of the Lord said: Do not fear, but arise and walk to the place where you shall render your spirit to your Creator: I will not leave you until I receive your spirit and bear it before the presence of the Lord, that it may remain with him forevermore.

CHAPTER V. Martyrdom. Burial. Miracles.

Lesson VIII.

[17] After this the executioners said among themselves: Come, let us kill him, lest by his magic art he destroy us and take from us the bound Christians He is beheaded. whom we are leading with us. And they said: Let us do so. They came therefore to the crossroads of Foligno, not far from that city itself, and said: Behold, the time has come to kill him and cut off his head with the sword. And they beheaded him, and left his body in that place. His body shines, Immediately a wondrous splendor appeared, which did not depart from him until many of the pagans believed in the Lord on account of that light.

[18] For there was a venerable man in the aforesaid city named Levianus, whom the Angel of the Lord called in a dream and said to him: Rise at dawn and go to the crossroads of Foligno, and take up the body of S. Constantius, and carry it with you, and take care to bury it with spices in a good place. and by divine warning it is taken up from there. Then Levianus, waking early in the morning, arose and went to the place which the Lord had shown him in a vision, where the body of S. Constantius lay, and he fell on his face praying and saying: Lord Jesus Christ, show your great power, and give me comfort for carrying the body of the holy man. Then Levianus, rising from prayer, lifted up the body of S. Constantius and walked swiftly with it.

[19] And while he was carrying it, two men quarreling with each other met him and said to him: Where are you bringing that body? Perhaps he was a Christian. And he said: Indeed he is a Christian and a servant of God. And they said to each other mockingly: Swear to me by that body, and I will release you from the talents which you stole from me. But the other was greatly pleased, thinking that what his colleague demanded was not a real oath. Then he swore, saying: By this body which Levianus is carrying, Two pagans who mock it lose their sight, and by its God, who was crucified by the Jews, and I am not such a one as this dead man is, I do not have your talents. And when he had finished these words, immediately both were struck with blindness. Levianus lifted up the body of Blessed Constantius again and went on his way carrying it and singing psalms. But those blind men, who had been made blind by mocking the body of the Saint, cried out after Levianus, saying: Levianus, most faithful man, set down the holy body of the holy man, and intercede for us to God, whom he served in life, that we may receive back the sight which we lost through our own fault, they receive it back; and whatever you command, we shall do. Then Levianus set down the body and led those same blind men to it, and they promised to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the merits of Blessed Constantius they deserved to receive back their sight.

[20] And as Levianus was carrying the body of the Saint with great reverence, two other blind men met him (and from the body there exhaled a most sweet fragrance): who, as soon as they perceived the scent of the wonderful odor, fell to the ground and worshipped, and said: This is a holy man of God; as do two others also. and they asked Levianus to set down the body on the ground. When he had set it down, they worshipped prostrate, saying: Lord, enlighten our eyes, that we may believe in you. And behold, a splendor from heaven came upon them, and immediately both were given sight. They, magnifying the Lord, together with Levianus lifted up the body of S. Constantius and brought it to Perugia with hymns and psalms, and buried him with many Christians, He is buried: not far from the city, in the place called the Areola, where blessings abound to the present day, he is renowned for miracles, to the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory forever and ever, Amen.

ANOTHER LIFE from the manuscripts of S. Gall, Perugia, and Baronius.

Constantius, Bishop of Perugia in Etruria, Martyr (S.)

BHL Number: 1939

From manuscripts.

PREFACE.

[1] Hear, Brothers, the memorable works of the most blessed Constantius, whose birthday we celebrate today, which, recollecting them in brief speech, we set forth. He, though he was a venerable Confessor of the blessed Martyrs, nevertheless, by handing over his body to violent men for slaughter, earned the palm. The deeds of the Saints are to be read and imitated. We can note, dearest Brothers, in commemorating the most glorious deeds of the holy Fathers, that inasmuch as they profit us for the salvation of eternal blessedness if we willingly imitate them, so much do they harm us if we spitefully reject them. They indeed, following the precepts of the Lord who commands, collating the series of the Old and New Testament to the full measure, happily arrived at that blessed homeland, which is followed by no narrative of times, no setting of death, no solicitude of anxious fear; but there always life, always glory, always the happiness of blessed joy abounds.

[2] Whence the Saints indeed, taking heed of what the Lord had commanded through Moses, steadfastly did it. For he had commanded that if anyone, cleansed from his leprosy, should go forth on the seventh day from prison, he ought to offer two sparrows to the Priest in the temple, of which one, washed in the blood of the other, he should release alive to fly into the field. Leviticus 14. The fruit of patience. For what are we to understand by the two sparrows, as sacred Scripture frequently attests, if not the soul and the body? Of which one in the blood of the other, that is, the soul vivified through the passion of the body, ought to return to the eternal homeland. To which the saying of Truth itself, in harmonious response, says: If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24. For he well imitates the Lord, bearing his own cross, and striving to walk as he himself walked, who takes care to lay down his soul in love of him, as he himself did for us. But he who, running the course of his life in a manner otherwise than the standard of the Christian profession requires, does not strive to imitate Christ, let him believe that he will be judged all the more strictly by divine judgment, inasmuch as he sins, conscious of his own iniquity, though recalled through grace. But lest we depart too far from the path of the work we have begun, let us hear more attentively what Blessed Constantius did.

CHAPTER I. The lineage, character, and episcopate of S. Constantius.

[3] S. Constantius, distinguished in lineage and character, He, being sprung from the stock of freeborn lineage of the city of Perugia, seemed from the first reckoning of his age to have been devoted to the practice of such great zealous service in the service of Christ, that nearly all the people marveled at the prudence and the renown of his holiness. Since he had grown up as a celibate with the advance of greater age, and had now enjoyed approximately thirty years' course of temporal life, by divine judgment the Bishop of that same city died. Immediately all the Clergy, he is made Bishop of Perugia, and the people of both sexes, moved by heavenly inspiration, proclaimed with one voice Constantius as Bishop, choosing him as Pontiff of the vacated See. Since he alone at that time was regarded as fit to receive the honor of so great a position.

[4] His virtues: He was indeed of lofty lineage, his appearance was of wonderful radiance, and his fame was everywhere spread abroad in the neighboring regions; worn out by fasting, day and night persisting confidently in prayers, steadfast and strict in every work of the Divinity, so that he was rightly called Constantius both by merit and by name; most chaste also, and so estranged from every wantonness of the flesh, chastity, that he had begun the beginning of chastity from his cradle as an infant. Established in the ways of ecclesiastical institution, he was mild, peaceable, simple in the purity of meekness. moderation of tongue, So also in all works, in all ways, in all things was he so well-behaved, that no one ever heard him sin even in a word of the tongue. An outstanding shepherd also, so watchful over his flock, care for his people, that he did not have any of those whom God had entrusted to him led astray by the assault of the enemy.

[5] contempt of the world, What more? To pass over in silence many of the things he did: he used temporal goods as though he were not of this world, nor did he consider anything of its possessions as pertaining to himself at all. He gave what was his own, he did not covet what belonged to others, according to that Apostolic saying: As having nothing and yet possessing all things. 2 Corinthians 6:10. They indeed have nothing and possess all things who have left the world, in whom God dwells, and makes them strong to fight the assault of diabolical fraud; of whom under the figure of the holy Church Solomon speaks, saying: Who shall find a strong woman? Far off and from the uttermost borders is her price. Proverbs 31:10. Far off and from the uttermost borders came the price of our redemption, because from the highest heaven was his going forth, who came to redeem us by the price of his blood. Song of Songs 1:1. Whence in the Song of Songs: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. This the holy Church says of Christ, that is: he who so many times through his Prophet had promised me his coming, let him now come, and speak through himself. In the fortitude of this price, therefore, Blessed Constantius, steadfast and strong, gloried not in himself, but in God.

CHAPTER II. Arrest. Beating.

[6] When, after three years had passed, he pleased God and all the people as a venerable pastor; there went forth an edict and a promulgated sentence of impiety from the most impious Emperor Antoninus, In the persecution of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus that wherever a Christian, or anyone who invoked the name of Christ, should be found, he should be afflicted with various torments and diverse punishments and led bound into his presence. And when the impious king commanded this, the devil, always hostile to the human race and a plotter against human salvation, at whose instigation he had done this, eagerly ran throughout the provinces of all regions, leading the soldiers and executioners of that impious tyrant to the destruction of Christians.

[7] Now Blessed Constantius, hearing that this persecution had blazed forth against the Christians in the city of Assisi, where S. Concordius and Pontianus were already held bound by the chains of those soldiers, joyfully prepared himself for the palm of martyrdom, he offers himself to God for death: which he wished to receive with a devoted mind: and prostrate with tears, beseeching God at length, he prayed, saying: Lord God Almighty, who showed forth your only-begotten, beloved of you, Creator to the creature, and sent the invisible one, made tangible, to be immolated for the salvation of men; deign to number me, a sinner, among the company of your most blessed Martyrs.

[8] He goes from Perugia to Assisi: And having said these things, rising from prayer as if in secret, lest he be detained by the entreaties of his subjects, he went out of the city alone (for he went singing psalms) gloriously: he went to meet the soldiers, that he might deserve to receive the palm of his martyrdom. And at that very hour, by God's disposition, it came about that soldiers departed from the city of Assisi seeking him. Thus it happened he meets the soldiers, that the soldiers encountered Constantius, and Constantius the soldiers, as if unexpectedly, in the place called Danabus. For S. Constantius, lest he might happen to pass by those he sought, if perchance they were seeking him, as indeed they were, went with intent eyes, casting his gaze all around. He greets them of his own accord: He was the first to see the executioners: and when he had seen them, he judged them to be those whom he wanted, and forthwith he spoke words of greeting, saying: Joy be to you, brothers; we congratulate you on having arrived well.

[9] They indeed, gazing at him, marveled at the beauty and confidence of his greeting, from whose mouth words of wisdom flowed. Recognized, he confesses himself a Christian: Whence they perceived that he was the one they sought: for the things they had heard about him before were in no way discrepant from what they then saw and heard in his presence. In his presence, with the sly fraud of treacherous judgment, flattering him craftily, they ask: Who are you? Where are you going? For what reason does a man of such great prudence travel alone? To whom Blessed Constantius, who now wished to receive what they were feigning to offer, declaring with open mouth, said: Though a sinner, I am called Constantius, Bishop of the city of Perugia, and I am seeking my companions, Concordius and Pontianus, servants of my Lord Jesus Christ, with whom I am accustomed to rejoice in divine works.

[10] Hearing this, the soldiers said to him: And you today shall have the same joy they have, who, bound in prison, must undergo a capital sentence. He is seized: Perhaps you do not know that we have power from the King, so that whomever we find invoking that name which you confess, we lead them, afflicted with various torments, into his presence? And when they had said this, rushing upon him they bound him, he is beaten: seized and dragged him out, and beat him along the way. But he, conscious of his impending end, went willingly, as if invited to a feast.

[11] And when, returning, they were dragging him beyond the river called the Clasius, they looked into his face, seeing that the more he was beaten, the more he prayed, dragged along and beaten, he prays: and the more cheerfully he walked, and they said: Did we not tell you that whoever invoked that name would not escape unpunished from our hands? And you persist all the more fiercely in your obstinacy, and more boldly, proclaiming and invoking him with reckless mouth. Truly, they said, if that invocation can snatch you from our hands, you will see it.

[12] Immediately they threw him down on the bank of the river, and so tore him apart with clubs and stakes he is cruelly beaten with clubs: that they thought his body lifeless and his spirit departed. Thus placed, Blessed Constantius, pressing more keenly into his prayers, raised his palms and eyes to heaven, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, whom I praise, whom I confess and bless, whom I believe came to the gibbet again he prays to God, so that those who believe through you might be saved, have mercy on me your servant, since all who wait for you shall not be confounded. For you yourself said: I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live. Ezekiel 33:11. I indeed, converted to you, await the help of your mercy at my end. Be with me, lest the pestilent prince of darkness be able to assail me: for you are God, strong and mighty, beyond whom there is no God.

[13] And when he had said this, looking up he saw an Angel of God from heaven, who stood over his head saying: He is strengthened by an Angel: Constantius, do not fear; know that your prayer has come before the presence of the Most High. Today, made a friend of Almighty God, you shall remain in the heavenly dwellings with his elect; as he himself says to the Father for his followers: I will, Father, that where I am, there also my servant may be. John 12:26 and ch. 17:24. I indeed, his Angel, have descended from heaven, sent to guard your soul. Wherever you go, I will not leave it, until I have brought it back to the eternal homeland into the sight of the Creator. He gives thanks to God: Blessed Constantius, sustained by the angelic discourse and by the constancy of his faith, said with tears: Lord God, the strength and fortitude of believers, through whom all things were made, without whom nothing is stable, nothing upright, nothing blessed; who recalled me to your mercy, whom you redeemed by the price of the Lord's blood; I give thanks to you, because through your Angel you deigned to visit me in my anguish.

[14] But the hostile soldiers, hearing him enjoy angelic conversation with someone they could not see, asked one another who was speaking to him. And looking all around, they could see no one his wounds are healed: besides Constantius alone, whom they held. And examining the scars of the wounds they had made on him, which shortly before had been innumerable, they found no mark of injury, his body being completely whole and intact; they said: This man, who by magic arts speaks to himself as if to another, the soldiers, leaving him, flee, whence did he recover the soundness of his body? Terrified by this, and fearing that what they had committed against others might be turned against them, they abandoned Constantius and made for the city of Assisi.

CHAPTER III. SS. Concordius and Pontianus, companions in prison. The martyrdom of S. Constantius.

[15] He exhorts SS. Concordius and Pontianus to constancy. S. Constantius therefore, entering to visit Concordius and Pontianus, who had long been held there in chains and in prison, encouraged them with such words, urging upon them perseverance in constancy. My dearest brothers, be strengthened in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and take courage. The day of salvation has come, and the acceptable time, which once lost will be recovered with difficulty. Let no dread of a punishing death terrify you; let no allurement of temporal life flatter you, which both those who flee and abhor it, and those who strive to embrace it, equally lose. If you believe that there are things more lasting than the momentary and more excellent than the fleeting, let no comparison of mortal life be made with eternal blessedness. 1 John 4. But he who fears, as the Apostle attests, is not perfect in love. Love indeed, which excels all virtues, casts out fear: surely he does not die whom, as he departs, the entrance of perpetual life closely follows.

[16] eager for death: To this, Concordius and Pontianus, who had been set on fire by the Holy Spirit, said: If there were no remedies of another and better life, the joys of this present one, however wretched and deceitful, would necessarily, if possible, have to be prolonged and clung to. But we, who know the way of truth, and who are striving toward that homeland from which, with divine mercy aiding us, we originally came before we entered the exile of this life, ought rather to fear lest this course of misery be prolonged, than if the passion of the body draws near. For he who desires to have life in heaven should not at all fear dying on earth. For if, daily expecting that life, we cry out: Thy kingdom come, it is infinite misery to wish to remain here longer, so that we profess one thing with our mouth and another with our heart. Ecclesiasticus 2:14. Whence it is said: Cursed is he who walks in two ways.

[17] But the soldiers, by whom they were held, when they heard the Saints thus encouraging one another with such words, said: They are brought out of prison together. What is this obstinacy of the madness of the Christians, that the more they are afflicted, the more they grow stronger in the praise of their God and endure with greater austerity? Therefore let us lead them into the presence of the Emperor, where they may sacrifice before all to the immortal gods from whom they have departed; and if by chance they refuse, as the Imperial Majesty shall decree, let their life incur peril. And they brought them out of prison and began to proceed.

[18] But the Saints, praising and blessing God, did not cease to go gloriously with their torturers. They come to Spello. Thus at length they arrived at the city called Spello, where S. Constantius, placing his knees on the ground, prayed to heaven. And behold, the Angel of the Lord, his guardian, The guardian Angel foretells his imminent death to Constantius, who had already spoken to him on the way, appeared with an exceeding brightness of light; and there the Angelic voice resounded: Arise, Constantius, and proceed gloriously, for the Lord Jesus Christ walks with you, who never forsakes those who hope in him: and you shall proceed joyfully until you arrive at that place where you shall expire, rendering your soul, which I must present before the sight of the Most High. Then all who were present, beholding the light that had flashed forth, and hearing the words of the angelic discourse, cried out with one voice, saying: Those present praise God: Truly the God of Christians, whom Constantius preaches, is the one and powerful God in heaven.

[19] But the soldiers, blinded in mind, wishing to please the most impious tyrant concerning the death of the Saints, the soldiers attribute it to magic arts, who had sent them to destroy the souls of these men, began to say that the things they saw had been accomplished by S. Constantius through magic arts. Urged on by them, rising from the prayer he had made, S. Constantius is led to death: like the gentlest lamb he hastened gloriously to the slaughter. And as they pressed on not far from the city, terrified by the angelic discourse they had heard, they took counsel to kill him before they arrived at the King to whom they were leading him. One of them, speaking to the rest, said: Lest this magician whom we drag along destroy us by his arts, let him be slain; for he speaks to himself as though two men were heard conversing; he also pretends to cause light to shine forth by his prayers. Therefore, taking off his head, we shall see what profit the miracles he seemed to have performed will be to him. He is beheaded. Immediately, brandishing the sword, they cut off his head; and the body was left on the road called the Foligno road. And departing, they led Concordius and Pontianus back to the most cruel Antoninus in the city of Spoleto. Concordius and Pontianus are led to Spoleto.

CHAPTER IV. The finding of the body. Miracles.

[20] Now there was in the city of Foligno a certain magnificent man, named Levianus: Levianus is admonished by the Angel to bury him: whom the guardian Angel of Blessed Constantius addressed that same night, saying: Believe, Levianus, that the time has come when God will repay the reward for the good works which you have always done. Arise and go to the road called the Foligno road: you will find there the body of a certain blessed man, committed to you by divine disposition for burial, through which you will happily obtain the blessings of both this life and the next: this will provide you the joy of exultation: this also will give you the prize of eternal life. Hearing this, Levianus awoke and, rising between hope and fear, anxious yet terrified when he hesitates, he is admonished a second time and led there: lest he be deceived by a phantastic illusion, he laid himself down again in his chamber; to whom the Angel, splendid with a snowy countenance, appeared a second time: urging him with both reproaches and blandishments, he compelled him to rise quickly, and led him as a traveler before dawn to the place where the body of Blessed Constantius lay.

[21] Before he could approach within a stone's throw, looking up he beheld angelic choirs, radiant with lightning-bright light, he sees his soul being carried to heaven by Angels: going to and returning from the body of the holy man: whose soul, performing their obsequies, rejoicing and exulting in the heavenly mysteries, they were hastening to bring back to the heavens. Seeing this, shaken by extreme terror, judging himself unworthy of the height of so great a brightness, he wished to draw his foot back, as if into hiding. In his ears the voice of the Angels, crying out, resounded repeatedly: Levianus, most faithful man, do not be afraid; for God has committed to you the body which you see, for burial: approach with confidence, since the Lord has remembered you, and, taking pity on the burdens of your poverty, through what you see he heaps up the fullness of your happiness. Therefore it is fitting to take up the lifeless body which you behold with the same joy with which you see us receive the soul.

[22] Then Levianus, seeing that the mercy of God was with him, putting aside all fear, glad and exulting, filled with the immensity of exceeding joy, ran so swiftly with such happiness that he seemed not even to have touched the ground with his feet. And the Angels, bearing the soul of Blessed Constantius, departed rejoicing and exulting with heavenly praises, returning into heaven. He takes up the body: And having received the body, Levianus prayed on his face, saying: Lord God, almighty King, who revealed the treasure of heavenly wisdom, hidden from the noble and the wise, to the lowly and the humble; if this your servant, whose sacred body you have shown to me through your Angels, has been pleasing to you, through the glory of your name show the power of the Divinity, show the relief of your clemency for carrying the burden of this weight, which I have received to be committed to burial according to the command of angelic instruction. And when he had said this, he lifted him up, subjecting himself to the burden, and as his strength sufficed, he was seen to proceed on his way swiftly.

[23] Forthwith two men, quarreling and contending with one another over a deposited sum of money, appeared before him, saying: What are you carrying, Levianus? You seem to be straining under a burden. Who ordered you to carry an unburied corpse in the darkness of the night? He is seen by two men who meet him; Levianus, responding suitably to their words, said: This was a most Christian man, who from his youth walked faithfully in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom I learned by angelic testimony to have been a Christian, whose body I am carrying in the name of him whom he worshipped, for burial, since I found him killed and unburied by executioners who were travelers. Not unbidden do I hasten to commit him to the earth. And when they had heard, they rebuked him, mocking and insulting Levianus with ridicule of the Christian religion and profession.

[24] The moneylender indeed, who had made the deposit, speaks ironically and mockingly to his debtor, saying: who, swearing ridiculously by the Saint, Swear to me by this Christian body, and by him whom he worshipped, that you owe me nothing, and keep secure the talents you deny, and I, if you escape unpunished, will no longer demand them of you. That fool, who had not yet experienced, nor fully known, how great is the glory of Christians, whom the accumulation of his own iniquity had already driven to the harm of an illicit oath, burst forth into a wicked utterance, and smiling said: By that which Levianus carries, and he says while carrying it that it was a Christian, and by the name of him whom that Christian worshipped and served, I owe you nothing. And when he had said this, the vengeance of divine retribution struck both of them, and their eyes were suddenly darkened. For both had, by rash presumption, made mockery against a Christian. They are made blind: Wherefore equally, just as they had been deprived of the light of the heart, so they remained blind in the light of the brow.

[25] And when they had been left blind, knowing that they had lost their sight because they had sinned against Levianus, the Saint of God, whom they had previously insulted, groping about they sought him, calling out and saying: Levianus, Levianus, to whom God revealed the ample treasure of the blessed body, They implore the help and prayers of Levianus: have mercy, we pray, by that very thing which you carry, and by the name of him whom he served in life, we beg: stay your step, set down the body of the blessed man, for we have remained blind who insulted you as you were carrying it. Intercede for us through him before him in whom he believed, that he may restore to us the sight which we lost through our own fault, and whatever you command us, we shall willingly do. And Levianus, opening his mouth, said: If you wish to know the glory of God, so that through him you may believe in the name of him whom he himself worshipped; I trust in God, who is wonderful in his Saints, that you shall see by the light of both the eyes and the mind, which is more important. They indeed, finding it necessary, protesting that there is one God, [By touching the body of S. Constantius they receive their sight and are converted,] whom the Christians worship, to the knowledge of whose mercy they professed they had come to wish, through the intercession of Blessed Constantius. And Levianus, hearing these things, drew them by the hands, that by touching the body they might recover their sight; through which, just as before, by insulting Christians they had made mockery, so now, pledging that they wished to believe in the Lord Jesus, they made their promise. And they deserved to receive their sight from the Lord in that hour.

CHAPTER V. Other miracles. The burial of the body.

[26] While these men were deserving to receive their sight from the Lord, behold two others, Two other blind men meet them: who from their cradles had not seen the light, coming along the same road, perceived a fragrance of such sweetness from the body of Blessed Constantius, as if all aromatics they perceive a sweet fragrance: and precious balsams were exhaling there, and they said: Truly either God is in this place, or something of great worth from which these fragrances exhale, such as we have never perceived. And Levianus, hearing the conversation of the blind men, addressed them saying: From the body of a certain blessed man, which I am carrying in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ, the sweetness of these fragrances which you speak of proceeds.

[27] Encouraged to hope by the former blind men, And those blind men who had already received their sight could not remain silent, and said: You too, if you do what Blessed Levianus shall advise you, from the Lord Jesus Christ, just as we did, who were blind and came to know the way of truth, you shall have the light of mind and body today, with the mercy of God aiding you. The blind men indeed, hearing something wonderful and unexpected, yet hoping and attending to what they heard promised to them, asked: And who are you who promise us such things, that if we do what Levianus commands, we may deserve to receive our sight? Certainly if what the words of your promise tell us could come to pass, we would willingly follow not only the instructions of Levianus but yours as well. And they in turn, narrating to them all things that had been done, and recounting from the beginning what the Lord had done for them, revealed with faithful heart that they had seen the light through grace. Those blind men, who were expecting the light of their eyes, now with the light of their heart growing bright, said to the boy who was attending them as a companion: Come, lead us to the body from which the sweetness of the fragrances proceeds, and from which the light of our eyes is promised. They touch the sacred body, And when they had arrived at the body, handling with their hands him whom they could not yet see with their eyes, they said: O most just man, whom we have never seen, never heard, whose body we have deserved to touch with our hands, intercede for us sinners to the Lord your God, that he may deign to pour forth the light of his mercy upon us, as we have heard he did for many others. We promise you that whatever Levianus shall command us we shall do, and building your sepulchre we shall bury you with the pomp of Christians. And saying this, they kissed his footprints, rolling before the feet of Blessed Constantius they clung fast. And immediately so great an earthquake occurred in that same place that the whole earth seemed to break apart from its foundations, and when an earthquake occurred, and torn up by its roots seemed to go downward. Amid the tremor of that shaking, something like scales fell from the eyes of the blind men, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, they perceived the brilliant light they receive their sight: which they had not seen from their childhood.

[28] Having received their sight, they immediately fell on their faces, giving thanks to God, and said: Lord Jesus Christ, glory of the Christians, whom we have never seen, They give thanks to God: never worshipped, never further known, we give thanks to you, who deigned to enlighten us through Blessed Constantius. We ask you, desirable Father, anxious about the place of burial that just as you showed the light of your mercy to our eyes and minds, so you may deign to show us where the most blessed body, through which you showed us mercy, ought to be buried. We indeed, seeking the light of your clemency, have promised to carry it and commit it to burial, but unless, by the same mercy through which we came to know our salvation, it be shown to us whither we ought to carry it, we are wholly ignorant. And when they had said this, They are commanded by the Angel to bury him at Perugia: the same Angel who had been his guardian even while he lived appeared to them, saying: Seek out the place of his birth, from which he was Bishop and guardian while he lived, so that he may be the protector, defender, and intercessor before the Lord Jesus Christ of the same people who by divine counsel chose him as their pastor. For there a seat and resting place for this body was prepared by the Lord before the world was made.

[29] Having heard the angelic discourse, with what rejoicing and the joy of exultation they raised up the body for carrying, They carry it to Perugia and bury it there, no one is able to say. Of those who had been enlightened through his intercession, two going before and two following, they carried the body. Levianus indeed, going ahead by the straight path, needing no earthly signs, walked thus. So, singing psalms and glorying, they arrived at the destined place of the diocese of Perugia, whence he had first been the venerable pastor while he lived, where he was laid to rest in peace. And Levianus and those who had come with him led their lives gloriously in that place in the service of God until their death. It was done on the fourth day before the Kalends of February, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever, Amen.

ANOTHER LIFE, by Giovanni Andrea Palazzi.

Constantius, Bishop of Perugia in Etruria, Martyr (S.)

BHL Number: 1940

Author: Giovanni Andrea Palazzi.

PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] S. Constantius, citizen and Bishop of Perugia, drew his origin from the most noble family of the Barzi. He was a man endowed with such constancy of soul, faith, and piety, that his holiness shone among other men like a certain gem: S. Constantius, noble in lineage and virtue, he loved humility, fled glory, spurned honors, embraced Christ Jesus and his Cross with all his heart, nor had anything more important than to please God and to help his neighbor. Wherefore he gave much money to the poor, and daily immolated himself as a living sacrifice: for he most constantly restrained his flesh, and for the faith of Christ and the preaching of the truth he endured many injuries not only with patience but even with a joyful spirit, desiring also to face death for the name of his God and to be consummated by martyrdom: which indeed came to pass. For, with the divine will assenting to his prayers, in the persecution which the Emperor Marcus waged against the Christians, after beatings and imprisonments, after fires and various tortures, which he had gladly received and overcome for the faith, with his head severed from his neck, he flew away to heaven.

[2] The deeds, manifold sufferings, and finally the martyrdom itself of this blessed man, he is proposed for imitation, I have resolved to write, as far as the weakness of my talent allows, so that the devout people may more easily find, on so great a solemnity of their Bishop, suitable praises with which to celebrate him: yet we shall not pursue with our pen all the glories, virtues, and miracles of so great a Father, and the holiness of his entire life; but we shall run through only certain things, whatever we shall think able both to impel the pious reader's spirit to imitating his virtues, and to stimulate his mind to conjecture concerning his other illustrious deeds.

CHAPTER I. The lineage of S. Constantius. His episcopate. His virtues.

[3] Sprung from the Barzi family, In the reign, therefore, of Antoninus, surnamed Pius, the family of the Barzi flourished at Perugia, both abounding in wealth and very distinguished for the nobility of its lineage, but far more illustrious because it was ennobled by the marks of Christ. From this family Blessed Constantius was born, like a fragrant cedar from a royal garden. His parents took care that the newborn infant should be raised with all zeal and diligence, and they especially applied themselves he is imbued with virtue and learning: to imbuing him with the sound faith of Christ, and accustoming him to be humble, patient, merciful, chaste in all fear of the Lord, calling him back from all association with the pagan boys, of whom the city was indeed full, lest the diabolical tares of the pagans should choke the wheat of piety and faith sown in the Lord's field, that is, in the boy's sacred breast. Afterward they entrusted him to the most learned teachers to be educated in both secular and sacred letters.

[4] He is distinguished for abstinence, But when he had now grown up and his parents had departed from this life, he began, as one well trained, to serve the Lord in excellent service; he afflicted and subdued his flesh with daily fasts, long vigils, and all the duties of true piety. No frequent cups, no sumptuous and delicate foods were set before him: but scarcely after long fasts at last would he sit down with the poor at a most frugal table, about to take the cheapest food. The holy faith which the holy boy had drunk in with all his heart, he daily stirred up and increased with pious and religious works and the offices of perfect charity. He preferred to take upon himself the dispensation rather than the possession of the riches handed down to him by his parents: for liberality to the poor, for he promptly bestowed them on the poor of Christ, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and providing assistance to anyone in need. Thus the blessed man grew day by day, as in age, so more and more in constancy of soul and virtue. He was chaste in body as well as in mind, sweet in speech, mild, for chastity, for meekness, and humble of heart, adorned with lovable and most agreeable manners, and already then bearing the good character of a good shepherd and showing the example of a perfect Christian, he was looked up to by all and cultivated with singular devotion by all the faithful.

[5] Now in the meantime the Bishop of his homeland died: and although there were perhaps others worthy He is proclaimed Bishop, to whom that office might be committed, nevertheless the people and the entire clergy looked to Constantius alone, all with one mouth proclaimed Constantius as Bishop: for no one failed to see that Blessed Constantius would be of the kind which the Apostle describes as befitting a Bishop, namely without crime, as a steward of God, not proud, not wrathful, not violent, not eager for base gain: but hospitable, kind, prudent, sober, just, holy, continent, embracing the faithful word which is according to doctrine, that he may be able to exhort with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict. Titus 1:7. Blessed Constantius, therefore, adorned with these and similar divine gifts, was elected and consecrated Bishop of the city of Perugia, being about thirty years of age, at the age of thirty: so that he might begin the function of the episcopal office at that year of his age at which both the divine Prophet Ezekiel began his prophecy, and Christ Jesus himself began to teach and preach, so that in that very number of years, which consists of three tens, it might be signified that the holy man would be a preacher and an outstanding worshiper of the commandments of God and of the undivided Trinity alike.

[6] He performs the episcopal office excellently: Now the man of God undertook the performance of that office, not as some arrogant and insolent person, but as the gentlest of lambs. To all he exhibited that appearance of true humility and that gentleness of character which he had been accustomed to display even as a private individual: he was altogether more vigilant in prayer, he devoted himself with greater assiduity to fasts and other things conducive to restraining the flesh; he fed his flock with that threefold dish of which Jesus commands the Pastors of the Churches in the person of the Apostle Peter, when he says to him once, twice, and a third time: Feed my sheep -- namely, with bodily food, with the preaching of the word of God, and with the most salutary example of a life entirely free from fault. John 21.

[7] He feeds his people by his liberality, For he was, first of all, more lavish in giving alms than before he had obtained the episcopate, to such an extent that his house was a refuge for the poor, and seemed like a certain storehouse of the destitute. Then, as a most faithful Pastor, since he knew very well by exhortation, that a Christian man does not live by bread alone, but rather by hearing the heavenly teaching and by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, he instructed his people in all those things which pertain to evangelical piety, teaching them to frequent the salutary sacraments of the Church, to meditate often on the benefits of God, to emulate charity, to possess peace, and especially admonishing with the Apostle, that all bitterness, and wrath, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy be taken away from them with all malice: and that they be kind to one another, merciful, forgiving one another. Ephesians 4:31.

[8] by good example. The third dish, finally, with which S. Constantius fed his people, was the good fragrance of his life, which shone before all like a certain mirror of perfection. He converts many. For the holy priest was endowed with such great integrity, faith, and holiness, that his admirable life before the episcopate had been a most choice flower; but this later life proved to be a most abundant fruit. Moreover, the blessed man preached the word of faith to the Gentiles, of whom the city was full, with such fervor of mind and such force and knowledge, that many by his efforts converted to the faith of Christ, and having been washed with the salutary wave of baptism, abandoned their idols and worshipped the living and true God.

CHAPTER II. Miracles. The conversion of the Gentiles.

[9] While he governed the people entrusted to him with much counsel and much wisdom, and himself grew daily in virtue and in grace before God and men, his name was spread abroad and celebrated in all the neighboring regions: all marveled at the teaching of the man, looked up to his virtues, were astonished at the miracles which were performed daily through the blessed Bishop: and although these are many and illustrious, I have nevertheless resolved, lest I be too lengthy, to touch upon only one or two, from which you may easily conjecture what and how great the rest were. A blind woman implores his help. There was at that time a certain woman named Attasia; she, having been deprived for many years of the most precious sense of sight, having heard of S. Constantius's integrity of life and his truly divine power of performing miracles, did not hesitate, impelled by burning faith and hope, to approach him. She went, she cast herself at the feet of the most holy man, uttering no word indeed, but pouring forth a great flood of tears with sobbing. The Bishop, looking at her, with the kindness that was his, immediately commanded her to rise, to check her weeping, and to open confidently the feeling of her heart. Encouraged thereby, when she had collected herself, she said: Have pity, Lord, on my calamity, for I am a most unhappy woman: for many years now I have lost the use of my eyes, and I cannot behold any part of this most sweet light, nor am I able to find any remedy for so great an evil: no charms, no skill of physicians, not even all the gods and goddesses to whom I have often made vows have helped. But now I have come to you, the last consolation of my hope, that through you I may deserve at last to recover salvation. I beseech you first by those wonderful signs of things which you everywhere produce, trusting in which I have come here to you; then I beseech and adjure you by the Lord your God, that you be willing to make me a partaker of your virtues, and not be reluctant to display a miracle in me as well, restoring the light of the eyes to one who is blind.

[10] Then S. Constantius, who perceived that the woman was deprived not only of the light of her eyes but also of her mind, since she was a pagan and an idolater, desiring to remedy both ills at one and the same time, addressed her thus: She obtains her sight, O woman, if, having spurned the idols, whose force and power (as you experience in yourself) is plainly nothing, you bring your mind to believe in my Lord Jesus Christ, he can truly, dispelling the darkness, open the eyes of both body and mind at once, and lay open the way to eternal life. And she said: Grant, Lord, that I may see: I already believe that your God is the true God. Thereupon the holy man, bending his knees, prayed in this manner, not without tears: O fount of all light, Lord Jesus Christ, true light, who illuminates every person coming into this world, open, I beseech you, the eyes of this woman, both those of the mind and those of the body, so that when she has seen the creatures, she may more and more celebrate you the Creator, and at the same time recognize you as the Redeemer. When this prayer was completed, the most desired light was immediately restored to the woman. And she, exulting, prostrate at the feet of the man of God, and he converts her, is said to have uttered these words: Blessed be your God, O Constantius, who has restored to me the desired light. Blessed also are you, his worthy minister, through whom so great a good has befallen me. Farewell now, gods of the nations, works of the hands of men. I now indeed acknowledge one God, living and true; him I humbly adore, to him I surrender and dedicate myself entirely: may you now, man of God, enroll me in this service, sealing me with the saving sign. Then Blessed Constantius thought no delay should be interposed before baptizing her, and baptizes her: and so he dismissed her, freed from a double disease.

[11] But now it is time to set about explaining another no less remarkable miracle. There was at the same time in Perugia a man named Crescentius; he was so contracted in both feet He obtains the ability to walk for a lame man, that the sole of each foot was twisted upward toward the knee: for which reason he could not only not walk, but could not even stand leaning on a staff. If ever he wished to go out of doors and depart somewhere, he had to use a litter or a sedan chair. He therefore, having learned by report that S. Constantius promptly cured various diseases, employing no charms and no medicines, hoping that he could, if he wished, also bring him aid, arranged to be carried to him. Brought to him, he begged the man of God with many prayers and many tears not to be reluctant, just as he had healed very many others, likewise to restore to him the straightness and firmness of his feet. The kind and holy man, taking pity on his calamity, when he had raised his eyes and hands alike to heaven, prayed in this manner: Lord Jesus Christ, who give life to all things and restore all things, binding up the broken and strengthening the weak; restore, I beseech you, to this your creature the proper position and use of his limbs, that he may know that you alone are the true God, who work wonders. Scarcely had the holy Father spoken these words when behold, a great light descended from heaven upon the sick man: by which he was terrified, trembled, and cried out as loudly as he could: Constantius, Constantius, help a wretch. To whom he said: All is well, brother: do not fear, be of good courage. At length, when the light departed, it appeared that each of the man's feet had been restored to its proper place and had obtained the firmest strength: as a result, Crescentius, no longer using any support, immediately leaped from the litter, he baptizes him and 120 others, and, prostrate at the feet of Blessed Constantius with the utmost devotion, arranged for water to be brought, urgently requesting baptism with great piety. Here the holy man, from excessive joy of heart, could not contain his tears, and he interposed no delay before baptizing the man according to the rite of the Church. Moved by this truly admirable deed, the Gentiles flocked on all sides to the faith of Christ, so that on that very day as many as one hundred and twenty received the sacrament of baptism from Blessed Constantius.

CHAPTER III. The first arrest. The conversion of the guards. Departure from prison.

[12] By which report, perhaps greatly stirred, Marcus Antoninus, who had succeeded the other Antoninus, In the persecution of Marcus Aurelius, but an impious one to the Pious, resolved to persecute the Christians most fiercely. Sending some in one direction, others in another, he also sent the Consul Lucius to Perugia with this mandate: that whoever he should learn professed the faith of Christ, he should compel them to worship the gods of the nations; and that those who refused to do so, he should put to death after tormenting them with every kind of punishment. Lucius therefore, having set out for that place, immediately communicated the Emperor's edict to Charisius, who was the governor of that city. And he, eager to comply with the Emperor's will, ordered his soldiers to run through the city and the entire countryside, and to bring in chains before him and the Consul as quickly as possible whoever they encountered who were adherents of the Christian sect. This was the general order; He is seized: but privately, burning especially against Blessed Constantius, knowing that by his work and power many were daily becoming Christians, he charged the same soldiers above all to search diligently for the Bishop himself, and to drag him in chains before him. They therefore, wicked servants of a most wicked governor, searched for all others, but especially for S. Constantius, with every zeal: at length, having heard that he was accustomed to be frequently at the home of Crescentius, whom he had blessed with health, they went to his house, broke down the doors, burst in, and found there the most holy man together with Crescentius, pouring forth pious prayers, seized them, bound them, and straightway led them in chains to the Consul and Charisius.

[13] When the Consul Lucius saw them, he said: It is the duty of good citizens to obey the commands of their Princes, he responds fearlessly to the Consul: in other matters and especially in those which pertain to the worship of the gods. Since therefore the piety of the Roman Emperor and the integrity of the Senate have long since decreed that due honor be given to the immortal gods by all who are under their rule, we cannot sufficiently wonder why you, as we hear, spurning the gods of the nations, worship I know not what Jew, who everyone knows was an obscure man, and because he arrogated to himself the divine name, was crucified by his own people, and thus exchanged his life for death not without disgrace. We wish therefore to hear from you yourselves what the condition of your life is, and whether you are prepared, in accordance with the Emperor's decree, to abandon the worship of the crucified one, and to offer libations to those who are truly gods. To this Blessed Constantius answered boldly, trusting in God, in this manner: The condition of our life, O Consul, is this: to serve at all times him whom to serve is to reign, our Lord Jesus Christ. But as for the Emperor's decrees in this matter, we neither can nor wish to obey: for it is not consonant with reason that, setting aside our Creator and Redeemer, the living and true God, we should follow those who are not gods, but truly demons. Then the Consul Lucius, angered, said: Are you therefore so impudent and demented that you fear neither our presence nor the gods themselves? Go now, and offer sacrifices to our gods without delay. But, answered Blessed Constantius: We do not worship the elements of this world, which God created for the sake of men, nor shall we ever bring ourselves to sacrifice to them: but it is certain and resolved in us to render all worship and honor to him who created the elements, and heaven and earth, and all things that are in them, from nothing by his inexplicable wisdom.

[14] Hearing this, they, more and more inflamed with anger, ordered the body of the most holy man to be beaten with straps in the sight of all the Christians who were present. But he in the midst of the scourging did not cease to glorify the Lord, and to sing with the divine Bard: I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth, and in the midst of many I will praise him, who stands at the right hand of the poor, he is scourged: to save my soul from those who beat and scourge me. Psalm 108:30. Here Lucius, interrupting him, said: Let those things go, wretch; deny Christ, and laying aside your magic arts, sacrifice to the gods. To whom the holy man said: I indeed know nothing of magic arts, nor do I approve of them in any way: but my Christ, since he is the true God, he mocks the gods: I will never deny. But the Consul had a statue of Jupiter brought, and turning to the Bishop said: Look now, and sacrifice to great Jupiter. Blessed Constantius, smiling, said: O Lucius, though most people celebrate you as a prudent and learned man, yet you are not ashamed to attribute divinity to a piece of wood, which certainly would not have this form unless hands of a craftsman had fashioned it, and who, had he pleased, could have made a footstool from the same material.

[15] With others, enclosed in the baths, he is not harmed: Here the Consul seemed to be suffused with a certain shame: which Charisius perceiving, and at the same time understanding that the Bishop could be bent neither by threats nor by beatings, ordered the man to be taken away and shut up, together with Crescentius and the other Christians, in the baths, heated far more intensely than was customary. But when they had fortified themselves with the sign of the Cross, they were not affected by any distress from the heat at all, but joyful and rejoicing they glorified God, singing: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonderful things; who, just as once he mitigated the flames of the fire for the three boys, the place being illuminated from heaven, so today for us his servants he has made the heat of this bath mild. Daniel 3.

[16] While they were being held there, behold, on a certain night a great splendor, illuminating the entire place, was poured upon them from heaven: which when the soldiers who guarded the place saw, they said to one another in astonishment: Surely the faith which these men hold is true, and Christ whom they preach is the true God; and immediately rushing inside, they cast themselves at the feet of Blessed Constantius, and asked him for holy baptism: the guards with their families are converted: which having obtained, each went to his own home and informed his family of what had happened. Then they led their wives and children there, about fifty in number: all of whom the pious Bishop, having duly baptized them, restored to their Creator and Redeemer.

[17] When these things had been accomplished, the soldiers asked Blessed Constantius to be willing to go out of the baths together with his people, all are released from prison, and to betake himself to some more suitable place, where he could better instruct them, still raw in the faith, in Christian teachings. But he said: Shall I flee from the fight which I have long desired and now at last obtained? I shall not indeed do so: here I have resolved to die for the faith and for God. The soldiers, however, begged the same of him again and again with tears, saying that he could be of secure mind about himself, since the crown of justice was surely reserved for him, but that he ought by every means to look after them, as new soldiers of Christ, lest the seeds of faith which he had lately sown in their hearts should perish. At length persuaded by these and similar prayers, they come to Monticellus, the Bishop, having left the baths and even the city with all the others, came to Monticellus, and there, having stayed for several days with Anastasius, a truly humane and pious man, he diligently taught those whom he had adorned with the marks of baptism all things whatsoever pertaining to the true service of Christ.

CHAPTER IV. The second arrest. Beating. Liberation.

[18] Meanwhile Lucius and Charisius, having been informed of all that had happened, sent other soldiers, whom they considered more faithful, hither and thither, Seized again, he is brought before the governor: with the command to search for the Bishop of the city and all his followers, and to bring them before them by whatever means possible. They, having been guided by a certain man hostile to the faith of Christ, when they arrived at the house of Anastasius, making a sudden assault, first seized the Bishop, then the rest: among them the host Anastasius himself, and Carpophorus, a most distinguished man, they seized, bound, and straightway brought before Charisius: who, being impious and cruel as he was, sharpening his spirit and tongue against S. Constantius, said: O sacrilegious one, to escape the punishment you deserved, were you not ashamed to subvert my soldiers by your most wicked arts and to take flight with them? How much better you would have provided for your salvation, if you had brought yourself to abandon Christ and to pass over to the true worship of the gods!

[19] To this Blessed Constantius, with his characteristic meekness, responded thus: Your soldiers, O Governor, I did not subvert, he walks over glowing coals: but Christ converted them to himself: and for my salvation, as in any other place, so also in the bath, I provided excellently. For Christ is my salvation: to him I have devoted myself entirely, him I venerate, him I have resolved to serve perpetually. Then Charisius, incited by fury, ordered burning coals to be brought, and compelled the most holy man to walk upon them with bare feet: moreover, he ordered glowing coals to be applied to his entire body, which was stripped bare. But he, easily overcoming the heat of the fire by the fervor of divine love, sang psalms: You have tested my heart, Lord, and visited it by night; you have tested me with fire, and no iniquity has been found in me.

[20] Then Charisius, seeing that the Bishop could not be diverted from his purpose by any terrors or torments, shut up in prison he heals many sick: ordered him to be thrust into prison, wishing to bring him before the Consul's tribunal on a set day. Blessed Constantius meanwhile did not cease to pray, persevering in vigils, psalms, and spiritual hymns, and although his body was held in custody, his power nevertheless was not bound. For when many of the faithful, and even pagans, came by night to the prison, carrying the sick with various diseases, they received them all back healthy, healed by the prayer of this most holy man. Drawn by the fame of this, not a few every day, abandoning their idols, passed over to the worship of the true God, and even the guards of the prison themselves, witnessing the frequent miracles of Blessed Constantius, the guards, baptized: they lead him unwillingly out of prison, embraced the faith of Christ, and received baptism in the prison itself. And not long after, judging it unworthy that such great virtue should lie in the vilest prison, having deliberated among themselves, they led the Bishop, though unwilling, out of custody and even out of the city, desiring to place him in some safer location.

CHAPTER V. The third arrest. Tortures. Martyrdom.

[21] But when they had arrived at the River Tiber, and there Blessed Constantius had learned that Concordius and Pontianus, most holy men, with whom he had the closest bond of friendship, He goes to Assisi to visit SS. Concordius and Pontianus: were being held in chains at Assisi, he was kindled with an incredible desire to visit them and to carry off the crown of martyrdom, if it pleased God, together with them. Driven therefore by this desire, secretly withdrawing from his companions, he proceeded to Assisi: and when he had arrived at a certain place called Danabus, here he was met by a band of soldiers, who had been sent from the Emperor himself, then residing at Spoleto, to persecute the Christians. When the most holy and most courteous man saw them, he meets the soldiers: he greeted them kindly. But they, suspecting what was the case, namely that he was one of the Christians, stopped and asked him who he was, where he came from, and where he was going alone. To whom the holy and simple man, concealing nothing, responded in this manner: I am Constantius, unworthy Bishop of the city of Perugia; I come from Perugia, I am heading to Assisi, not alone, as you suppose, but well accompanied, namely by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ. He openly reveals who he is: The reason for this journey of mine is to visit two most humble servants of God, Concordius and Pontianus, who are being tortured there with chains and every kind of punishment for the name of Jesus.

[22] Then they, smiling, said: We ourselves shall take care that today you be together with them in prison, where you will be tortured with punishments even more severe than theirs, unless, using sounder counsel, you bring yourself to deny your Christ. And thereupon they led him bound to the house of a certain Duritius, and omitted nothing which they thought could move his mind and purpose: but when they accomplished nothing, at length they came to the River Clasius, and there also, first with blandishments, then with threats and terrors, they strove to divert the man from his purpose. He is beaten nearly to death: But since he was so steadfast that he truly seemed to have found his name from constancy, firmly remaining in the purpose once adopted and the resolution taken, the soldiers, burning more and more with anger, afflicted the most holy man with so many and so great torments that they left him half-dead. When therefore Blessed Constantius's strength was already failing him, turning to God with his whole heart, he prayed: Receive now my spirit, Lord; let it rest in you, which for you, with your help, has labored at all times.

[23] He had scarcely uttered these pious words when behold, the Angel of the Lord was at hand, comforting the afflicted man with these words: Do not fear, Constantius, I am the Angel of God: Christ has sent me to apply healing to your wounds, and henceforth to be with you in all your ways: and immediately every wound was healed. He is healed by the Angel: Then he, refreshed by the angelic consolation, said: I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, who through your Angel have comforted me in my anguish and healed my wounds: now I truly know that you never forsake those who hope in you. But the soldiers, hearing him speaking with another yet seeing no one, and also observing that the wounds which they had inflicted on his most chaste body had suddenly closed over with scars, terrified with fear, they hastily led him to Assisi and shut him in the prison, in which, besides many other Christians being held, were those two eminent ones we mentioned above, Concordius and Pontianus. And when they saw one another, they immediately rushed into mutual embraces, he is shut in prison with SS. Concordius and Pontianus: and mutual kisses vying with one another, giving immortal thanks to God, by whose gift they were together, as they hoped, about to undergo the glorious contest for Christ; to which they also piously encouraged the others, saying: Great thanks, brothers, must be given to God, that we have been deemed worthy to suffer insult and torments for the name of Jesus. Acts 5.

[24] But the soldiers, eager to deliver to the Emperor himself all the Christians they had captured, as a most desired prize, brought Blessed Constantius and the rest, extracted from prison, to Spello, he is led to Spello: and resolving to remain there until the next day, they held the Christians all night long, bound in chains, in the open air. Here the Angel of the Lord appeared again to S. Constantius, surrounded by a great splendor, foretelling to him that the time was now at hand when, his fight consummated, he would receive the crown of martyrdom. Many of the inhabitants of Spello, having seen that splendor, ran to the place, and there, hearing also the voice of the Angel, they began to cry out: Truly the God whom this man worships is the one he is taught by the Angel of his imminent martyrdom: and true God, powerful in heaven and on earth. The holy man by no means let this occasion pass, but opening his mouth and beginning from the Scripture, he evangelized Jesus to them, and converted not a few to the true faith. Acts 5.

[25] He converts many: The soldiers bore these things very ill, and attributing everything to the magic art, sought to turn the people away from him: but when they made little progress, they led S. Constantius together with his companions out of Spello, dragged him bound toward Foligno, and while traveling they considered that if the holy man lived any longer, he would, not without danger to themselves, attract a great multitude of Gentiles to himself, and they formed the plan to kill the man as soon as possible, unless he should be willing to embrace the worship and religion of their gods. When therefore they had arrived by night at the crossroads, which they call the Foligno crossroads, he is beheaded, situated not far from the city of Foligno itself, by whatever arguments they could, they strove to lead Blessed Constantius from the true faith of Christ to the false and empty fables of the gods. But when he no less steadfastly than before refused to do so, affirming that his life was Christ himself, that him alone he embraced, and that in him alone all his hopes were placed, the soldiers, inflamed with fury, with drawn swords attacked the man's throat. But he, with a great and upright spirit, was singing: My protector and my refuge, Lord, receive my spirit, and do not permit me ever to be separated from you, my life, my light, my salvation; you have I loved, you do I desire, you may I find, Lord Jesus Christ. Amid these pious and holy words the savage soldiers cut off his head from his neck, and immediately departed.

CHAPTER VI. The translation of the body. Sight restored to four blind men.

[26] Levianus is commanded by an Angel to bury his body: Now there was at Foligno a certain Levianus, a man preeminent among the other Christians in faith and good works. To him an Angel appeared in his sleep, saying thus: The Lord, Levianus, has not rejected the good works which you do, but rather offers you today an occasion for heaping up your merits. There lies at the crossroads they call the Foligno crossroads the body of a most holy man, who has suffered martyrdom for the name of Christ: the task of burying him is committed to you especially by God. Levianus, waking up, rose from his bed. But when he seemed to doubt whether that vision had been real, behold the Angel, of extraordinary beauty, appeared again and commanded him, having cast aside all hesitation, to attend diligently to the command of God.

[27] Then he, without any delay, hastened to the place shown beforehand: and as he was now approaching it, he seemed to see an unaccustomed splendor, and drawing nearer, he beheld the holy body of Blessed Constantius there, and at the same time a great choir of rejoicing heavenly spirits around it. Frightened by these admirable sights, Levianus, He sees his soul being carried to heaven: not attributing so much to himself that he could worthily mingle with angelic spirits and touch the holy body, which he beheld the Angels themselves attending, began to draw back his foot. But the Angels, crying out, said: Stay your step, Levianus, there is nothing for you to fear: this care of the burial is yours: we have been commanded, after guarding the body of this most holy man until your arrival, then at last to lead his most blessed soul to heaven, which they also straightway performed with the greatest congratulation and joy. O truly blessed soul, which, while it was enclosed in the frame of this body, deserved for its extraordinary piety and purity to enjoy the ministry of Angels, and now, released and free, was deemed worthy to be escorted to eternal rest surrounded by angelic choirs.

[28] When therefore Levianus had approached nearer to the most holy body, he lifts the body onto his shoulders: bending his knees, he prayed in this manner: Lord God Almighty, who revealed this precious treasure not to the rich of the world, but to me, your humble servant, supply, I beseech you, the strength to carry it, and show the place where such great relics are to be laid to rest. Then, embracing and kissing the body with the devotion it deserved, he lifted it from the ground, putting his neck under the most holy burden.

[29] But as he was now on his way, two men, quarreling and contending with each other over a deposit of money, met him, saying: What is this, Levianus? You seem to be straining under a burden. Who commanded you to carry an unburied corpse in the darkness of night? He is seen by two men who meet him; Levianus, responding suitably to their words, said: This was a most Christian man, who from his youth walked faithfully in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom I learned by angelic testimony to have been a Christian, whose body I am carrying in his name for burial, since I found him killed and unburied by executioners passing by. Not unbidden do I hasten to commit him to the earth. And when they had heard, they began to mock and ridicule the man, together with the profession of the Christian religion, insulting Levianus.

[30] Then Levianus, pious and mild as he was, said: If you are willing to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, I trust that, with this his Martyr as intercessor, touching his august body with due reverence, you shall altogether recover the light you have lost. Why should we not believe, they replied, in him whose great power we have experienced in ourselves? We now openly confess that he whom you worship is the one true God. Here Levianus, taking them by the hand, They invoke S. Constantius and receive their sight, led them to the body of the most holy Martyr, which they indeed, venerating and kissing it with the utmost devotion, prayed: S. Constantius, although our offense deserves no pardon, yet it will be for your glory to kindly bring help and mercy to us now that we repent: the light which by our own fault we lost in contempt of you, we beseech that by your kindness, with your intercession, we may receive back. Having prayed this from the heart, they were immediately restored to their former condition.

[31] And now, as day was dawning, Other blind men perceive a sweet fragrance, another miracle, not unlike this one, followed. Two young men, blind from infancy, following the guidance of a boy, were traveling along the same road: and as they were now approaching the place, perceiving a certain wonderful sweetness of fragrance, they said to each other: O how divine is this odor which is carried to my nostrils: surely either some god is here, or something plainly divine. When Levianus heard their words, he said: The fragrance which you perceive, dearest brothers, is breathed forth from the body of Blessed Constantius, Bishop of Perugia, who was put to death for the faith of Christ this night in this very place. I have come here to bury his body, warned by God in my sleep. Then they said: O how blessed we would be, if it should happen that we might enjoy the sight as well as the presence of him whom we perceive by his fragrance. And those encouraged to hope by the former blind men, to whom the sense of sight had been restored shortly before, said: You will be able without difficulty to obtain what you desire, provided you bring yourselves to obey the instructions of this man who has addressed you: for we too have just now, with God's help, obtained the same.

[32] Hearing this, they too came into hope of recovering the sense of sight, most precious of all, by the same means, and they promised that whatever should be commanded them by Levianus, they would promptly carry out. And when they had been brought by him to the most holy body, an earthquake occurred so terrible that the blind men were shaken with great terror. But Levianus, encouraging them, said: Do not fear, brothers: be of good courage; this sign is of favor, not of wrath: believe in Jesus, and pay due honor to this his glorious Martyr, and you shall see wonders today. Then they said: We believe they are illuminated at the body of S. Constantius, that Jesus Christ is the one true God, and we plainly profess that we shall pay due honor to this his glorious Martyr: and immediately, prostrate on the ground, they reverently kissed the body of S. Constantius, striving with the utmost prayers that they might be allowed to enjoy the long-desired use of this most sweet light, through his intercession, which they also immediately obtained. O truly venerable body, by whose touch four men, in the space of a few hours, were freed from blindness both of the eyes and of the mind.

CHAPTER VII. Burial. Veneration.

[33] In order to show themselves mindful and grateful for this benefit in some measure, they asked Levianus to grant them the task of carrying the body to burial, and that he merely serve as guide for the way. Here he prayed, begged, and implored God that, just as he had supplied helpers for carrying the body in a plainly divine manner, so he would be willing to show the place in which it should be laid to rest. Having prayed this, he suddenly heard a voice from heaven, commanding thus: Return the body of the blessed man to Perugia, his homeland, It is commanded by a divine voice that the body be returned to Perugia, so that the people who had him as their Pastor and parent in this life may obtain him after death as their Patron and defender. They indeed, eager to fulfill this command of God, cut wood from the trees that first presented themselves, and constructing these in the form of a bier, first placed upon them the trunk of the body, then attached the most holy head to it as fittingly as they could.

[34] These things having been arranged, those four men to whom the health of both eyes and mind had been restored went ahead carrying the bier, while Levianus followed, blessing God in hymns and psalms. Meanwhile certain persons, who were themselves traveling to Perugia by the same road, The Perugians come out to meet them: having brought the bitter news about the Bishop to their fellow citizens, a great number of them, not only from their own Barzi family, which was large, but also from the rest who professed the faith of Christ, came out to meet him all the way to the Tiber. When Levianus saw them from a distance, he suspected what was the case, ran to them, and having joined the crowd, he briefly set forth both the other things that had happened and especially explained diligently the miracles that had been performed through Blessed Constantius even after his death. While he was relating these things, they reached the bank of the river: they venerate the sacred pledge, to which, not long after, those who were carrying the bier also arrived, and being asked, they set it down. You would have seen them then all running in eager competition to venerate and kiss the most holy body, weeping, agonizing, lamenting, calling him their parent, shepherd, teacher of life, doctor of wisdom.

[35] When they had satisfied this duty of piety, Levianus bade them withdraw from the bier, so that they might proceed to complete the rest of the journey. Then each vied to put his shoulders under the most holy burden, which however those who had carried it up to that point by no means permitted, lest they should seem to have shirked the task assigned by God: but again they lifted up the most holy body, from which indeed so great a sweetness of fragrance was continuously breathed forth that it filled all the hills round about with the utmost admiration of the people. He is buried: When therefore all together had approached the walls of the city, they did not enter the city itself, God so inspiring them, but chose for the place of burial that spot outside the gate of S. Peter which they still call the Areola, and there they arranged a sufficiently ample funeral for the most devout Martyr. When these things had been done, all the Christians who were present, bending their knees at the sepulchre, humbly commended themselves and their whole homeland to S. Constantius, praying that he who had been their good Pastor and best father on earth might be their benign patron and intercessor in heaven.

[36] Finally, having piously kissed the tomb, each returned to his own home, except Levianus and those four men to whom the light had just been restored through the intercession of Blessed Constantius: for these, having built a small hut there, persevering in prayers, fasts, and other good works, he is visited from all quarters on account of the frequent miracles, spent the entire remaining time of their lives at the monument of the holy Martyr: whose fame and glory, on account of the many and very great miracles which were performed there daily, grew so much more and more each day that a great multitude of pious people flowed together from various places to visit and venerate his sepulchre. Nor indeed even today is the glorious Martyr of Christ without great honor and veneration, both elsewhere and especially at Perugia, A feast and a church at Perugia dedicated to him, where indeed an anniversary feast day is celebrated in his name in a church, long since dedicated to him there at great expense, with the utmost pomp of religion, on the fourth day before the Kalends of February. S. Constantius obtained the palm of martyrdom under the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, as we said at the beginning, who indeed began to reign in the year 163 from the birth of Christ our Lord, to whom be honor, glory, and dominion, forever and ever, Amen.

ON S. SABINIANUS, MARTYR, S. SABINA, VIRGIN, AND MANY OTHER MARTYRS, AT TROYES IN GAUL.

Under Aurelian.

Sabinianus, Martyr at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Sabina, Virgin at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Many other holy Martyrs, at Troyes in Gaul.

From various sources.

Section I. The public veneration of these Saints.

[1] Rilliacum, a small town of Gallic Champagne on the River Seine, four leagues from the city of Troyes, ennobled by the martyrdom of S. Sabinianus, was afterward called S. Savinianus from his name, and is now known by the name of S. Lyria, as Nicolas Camuzat attests in the Storehouse of Sacred Antiquities of the Diocese of Troyes, in his Notes on the Life of S. Sabinianus. The feast of SS. Sabinianus and Sabina in the sacred calendars on 24 January. His sister Sabina, admonished by a divine oracle to go to her brother, fell holily asleep not far from there, within sight of the city of Troyes, and was also deemed worthy of heavenly honors along with her brother. In the very ancient manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of S. Martin at Tournai, the memory of both is joined on 24 January thus: On the same day, at Troyes, the passion of S. Sabinianus, Martyr, and the deposition of S. Sabina, Virgin, his sister. The very ancient manuscript of Laon likewise: On the same day, at Troyes, the passion of S. Sabinianus, and the deposition of S. Sabina, his sister, Virgin. and of Sabinianus alone on that day. Nicolas Des-Guerrois testifies in the History of the Saints of Troyes that the feast of S. Sabinianus is celebrated on that day throughout the entire diocese of Troyes. On which day the Carthusians of Cologne mention him in their supplement to Usuard, with these words: In the territory of Troyes, of Sabinianus, alias Savint, Martyr, whom the Emperor Aurelian ordered to be bound to iron bars and beaten, and a fiery helmet to be placed on his head; then placed in the fire but not harmed in any way, he ordered him beheaded. Canisius has nearly the same. But the Cologne Martyrology: At Troyes, of Blessed Sabinianus, Martyr, who, after the iron bed, after fire and other torments of various kinds, was beheaded; through whom also more than nine thousand of the Gentiles, confessing Christ, suffered similar martyrdoms. Maurolycus and Felicius report the same. Saussay celebrates his deeds in a rather lengthy eulogy in the Gallican Martyrology on this same day, the ninth day before the Kalends of February, on which day he is said in both versions of the Acts to have suffered; so that we suspect a typographical error crept in where Camuzat says he died on 27 January, a day on which we find his name in no Martyrologies.

[2] On the day after his death, that is, 25 January, the name of S. Sabinianus is thus inscribed in the Florarium of the Saints: and on 25 January. In the territory of Troyes, the birthday of S. Savianus, alias Sabinianus, Martyr, who by order of the Emperor Aurelian, after innumerable tortures, was beheaded. And the Saint, rising, carried his head forty-nine feet to the place where he now rests. He suffered in the year of salvation 277. In the Viola of the Saints he is celebrated with a longer encomium taken from his Life, and Sanianus is written erroneously (as are many things in that book). In the ancient manuscript of the Professed House of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp, which bears the name of Bede: At Poitiers, of S. Sabinianus, Martyr. Whether this is to be understood of our man, and Troyes read in place of Poitiers (since below in the same manuscript S. Sabina is again mentioned), or whether he is Sabinus, or Savinus, who is venerated with S. Cyprian at Poitiers on 11 July, is hidden from us.

[3] In other Martyrologies he is recorded on this 29 January, on which day he is said to have died in the Acts related by Mombritius and on the 29th, and Vincent of Beauvais. On that day the manuscript Martyrology of Bede from the monastery of S. Riquier has thus: In the territory of Troyes, of S. Sabinianus, Martyr. Usuard, Bellinus, and the Roman Martyrology add: Who by order of the Emperor Aurelian was beheaded for the faith of Christ.

[4] In several manuscript copies of Usuard, he is called Sabinianus, Sabianus, and Fabianus. Hence Peter de Natalibus, supposing them to be two persons, writes thus, book 3 of the Catalogue, chapter 42: Sabianus the Martyr suffered in the territory of Troyes under the Emperor Aurelian; who, while he was residing in the parts of Spain and Gaul and had arrived at the city of Troyes, had Sabianus, who had been arrested and was preaching Christ, beheaded, and he was buried there on the fourth day before the Kalends of February. And again, book 7, chapter nor is Fabianus a different person from him, 134, of S. Sabinianus the Martyr and S. Sabina the Virgin, he narrates their Life at greater length. Galesin records on this day: In the territory of Troyes, of S. Fabianus the Martyr, killed under the Emperor Aurelian for the faith of Christ. In the same place on this same day, of S. Savianus the Martyr, killed by the sword under that same emperor in the greatest constancy of confession. He cites in his Notes for Fabianus a manuscript codex and Peter de Natalibus (in whom Sabianus is read in our copies); for Savianus, Usuard, Vincent of Beauvais, and others. Maurolycus and Felicius, who had previously recorded S. Sabinianus on 24 January, write thus on this day: In the territory of Troyes, of S. Fabianus, beheaded by order of the Emperor Aurelian, and likewise of S. Sabina, Virgin, sister of S. Sabinianus the Martyr. Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of Saints: At Troyes in Gaul, of the holy Martyrs Fabianus, and Sabina the Virgin, sister of S. Sabinianus the Martyr, under Aurelian. He adds in his Notes that these are treated in the Passion of S. Sabinianus. But that he is mistaken will be clear below from the Acts. Saussay, after treating of S. Sabinianus on 24 January, adds thus: On the same day, at Troyes, of S. Fabianus the Martyr, a follower of the same S. Sabinianus and companion in his palm, whom the same Aurelian killed there by the sword.

[5] Of Sabina alone there is mention on this day in the ancient manuscript Martyrology of the monastery of Celles near Troyes: In the territory of Troyes, in the place called the Island of Germanica, The feast of S. Sabina on 29 January. of S. Sabina the Virgin, who, having undertaken a most laborious pilgrimage for the love of Christ, glorious also in virtues and miracles, rested in peace. And in the manuscript Martyrology of the Society of Jesus at Antwerp: On the same day, the birthday of S. Sabina the Virgin. And that she died on this day will be clear below in the Life. Camuzat and Des-Guerrois attest at the Life of S. Sabina that her feast day is celebrated throughout the diocese of Troyes on this 29 January with public solemnity everywhere.

[6] Concerning S. Sabinianus again on 8 June, Saussay writes: At Troyes, the solemnity of S. Sabinianus the Martyr, crowned under Aurelian, The commemoration of S. Sabinianus on 8 June. who completed his triumph by a glorious contest on the ninth day before the Kalends of February. What the origin of this repeated solemnity was, he does not indicate. Did he begin to be venerated at the same time, or was his cult joined with the celebration of S. Lyria? For she is honored on that day with an innumerable concourse of pilgrims, as will be said there; and when Saussay had treated of her, he adds a repeated eulogy of S. Sabinianus: Likewise at Troyes, the repeated celebration of the holy Martyr Sabinianus himself, whose glorious passion brought a new trophy to heaven on the ninth day before the Kalends of February, the day on which he completed his contest. Did Saussay take from S. Sabinianus what Camuzat writes at his Life about the festivity of S. Lyria?

[7] On 29 August S. Sabinianus is recorded by Ferrarius: At Troyes in Gaul, of S. Sabinianus the Martyr, under Aurelian. Cited in the Notes are Peter, in the Catalogue, book 7, chapter 134, and Maurolycus, who celebrate him together with his sister. of both on 29 August. The words of Maurolycus are: In the city of Troyes, under Aurelian, of Sabinianus the Martyr, and his sister Sabina, who, having undertaken a most laborious pilgrimage for the love of Christ, rested in peace, glorious in virtues and miracles. Felicius agrees with Maurolycus. Several Martyrologies record only Sabina on that day. Usuard: In the district of Troyes, of S. Sabina (in some manuscripts Savina) the Virgin, who, having undertaken a most laborious pilgrimage for the love of Christ, rested in peace, glorious also in virtues and miracles. The same is read in the Florarium, the Brussels and Utrecht manuscript Martyrologies, and others. Bellinus, published at Paris in the year of Christ 1536: In the district of Troyes, of S. Sabina the Virgin. Galesin: In the district of Troyes, of S. Sabina the Virgin. She, burning with love for Christ her spouse, having piously and devoutly made a pilgrimage, flourishing in the glory of a most chaste life and of miracles, fell asleep in the Lord. The Roman Martyrology: In the district of Troyes, of S. Sabina the Virgin, glorious in virtues and miracles. She is celebrated with a longer encomium in the German Martyrology: so that it is surprising that she is nowhere treated in the Gallican Martyrology of Saussay, especially since in the Supplement for 29 August he celebrates S. Sabina, Virgin and Martyr of Rome, with whom the authors, ignorant that this Sabina died on this 29 January, seem to have joined this Sabina.

[8] Finally, on 5 September, both are recorded by the Carthusians of Cologne in their supplement to Usuard: and on 5 September. At the city of Troyes, the commemoration of SS. Sabina the Virgin and Sabinianus the Martyr, her brother. The same is found in the German Martyrology.

[9] Now we must inquire concerning the companions of S. Sabinianus. In the first version of the Acts, number 2, it is said that one thousand and eighteen believed with Blessed Sabinianus, Who are the companions of S. Sabinianus? and one hundred and nine souls were baptized by the hand of the Saint himself. In the other version of the Acts from Camuzat, number 4, one thousand and ninety men are said to have been converted to the Lord. Viellius and Des-Guerrois agree. But Peter de Natalibus says that 1,108 men believed in the Lord. These seem to be treated in the Cologne Martyrology quoted above: More than nine thousand of the Gentiles, confessing Christ, suffered similar martyrdoms. Maurolycus and Felicius also state: Through Sabinianus, nine thousand and more of the Gentiles, confessing Christ, were afflicted with the same punishments. Nor have we read anything else about so many Martyrs. Below in the Acts, number 5, forty-eight soldiers are said to have been converted by S. Sabinianus and to have completed their martyrdom by being beheaded for the faith of Christ. The Acts in Mombritius, volume 2, and in Vincent, book 11, chapter 105, agree. In the later Acts from Camuzat and in Des-Guerrois only twelve are recorded. Three additional men, reproaching the cruelty of the Tyrant, are said in both versions of the Acts to have been beheaded, and thus on account of the grace granted to Sabinianus to have ascended to the kingdoms of heaven.

Section II. Acts. Relics. Date of death.

[10] We give a twofold Life of S. Sabinianus: the first and older from a very ancient codex of the monastery of S. Maximin at Trier (which we have collated with a manuscript copy Life of S. Sabinianus, twofold; sent to us from Rouen by our Frederic Flouet); the other from the Antiquities of Troyes of Nicolas Camuzat, somewhat more prolix and for the most part more elegantly polished from the former. Camuzat testifies that he had a third, fuller and more ample history of the Acts of S. Sabinianus, but written only in the form of a paraphrase, which he deliberately omitted. We have received the Life of S. Sabina from the same codex of S. Maximin at Trier: to which a nearly equal one, and of S. Sabina, somewhat even more elegant and briefer, is reported by Camuzat from the Breviary of Troyes. Mombritius, volume 2, and Vincent, book 11, chapters 105, 106, and 107, present a condensed Life of both. Peter de Natalibus, book 7, chapter 134, in which Baronius says much worthy of censure is found, in his Notes at 29 August. Viellius and Des-Guerrois largely reproduce the second Life of Sabinianus, and have perhaps added some things from the third cited by Camuzat.

[11] All the Acts and Martyrologies attest that Sabinianus suffered under the Emperor Aurelian. Baronius, volume 2 of the Annals, at the year The date of S. Sabinianus, of Christ 275, number 6, writes thus: In the Gauls indeed, among many other Martyrs, those who suffered under the same Emperor Aurelian at Troyes are recorded on the twelfth day before the Kalends of August: Claudius, Justus, Jucundinus, and five companions: likewise in the same place on another day, namely the twelfth day before the Kalends of February, S. Patroclus. For Flavius Vopiscus relates in his Life of Aurelian that Aurelian set out for the Gauls this year to repel the invading barbarians and to liberate Augusta Vindelicorum, which they had besieged. And shortly after: Sabinianus the Martyr is also found to have suffered in the territory of Troyes, whose birthday is inscribed in the catalogue of Martyrs on the fourth day before the Kalends of February. Following Baronius, Camuzat, Des-Guerrois, and others assign his martyrdom to the same year 275. In the manuscript Florarium quoted above, he is said to have suffered in the year 277. But Aurelian had already died by then. What we said above at the Life of S. Patroclus on 21 January is relevant here.

[12] Concerning the date of S. Sabina, Camuzat determines thus: Since she is said to have been dipped in the sacred bath of baptism at Rome by Pope Eusebius, who, installed in the Apostolic chair in the year 310, of S. Sabina, presided over the whole Church; S. Sabina herself could have arrived at Troyes around the year 313, and thirty-eight years after the death of S. Sabinianus. Des-Guerrois places her death in the year of Christ 310.

[13] The relics of S. Sabinianus, as Camuzat attests, were preserved for a very long time at Rilliacum: Relics of S. Sabinianus, at length they were transferred to the principal church of Troyes; where they are venerated with due reverence, inserted in a reliquary which is partly of gilded bronze, partly of silver, and covered with many small images, also of gilded silver, all of which are wrought with very fine craftsmanship.

[14] But, as he further relates, in the western suburbs of the city of Troyes stands a shrine consecrated to the memory and name of S. Sabina: Relics of S. Sabina and her body is kept in the Celles monastery, not far from the aforesaid shrine, placed in the high altar on the south side; while that of S. Frodobert is on the other side, as Des-Guerrois writes. The origin of this church is thus related in the Life of S. Frodobert, Abbot of Celles, on 8 January, number 1: Ragnegisilus, an Aquitanian by nation, and church, the seventeenth Bishop of the said city of Troyes: of whom it is reported, among other things, that he built the basilica of S. Sabina the Virgin on land belonging to him by right, making the Church over which he presided his heir, and in which he lies honorably buried. Camuzat attests that the stone coffin in which he was interred nearly a thousand years ago still exists. Des-Guerrois adds that these suburbs, with the parish church of S. Sabina, were given by Count Theobald of Champagne to the monastery of Celles at the request of Abbot Bernard; the donation was confirmed by Philip, King of the French, on 15 August 1071.

ACTS OF S. SABINIANUS from two ancient manuscripts.

Sabinianus, Martyr at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Sabina, Virgin at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Many other holy Martyrs, at Troyes in Gaul. BHL Number: 7438

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER I. The baptism of S. Sabinianus, his preaching, imprisonment. The martyrdom of 48 soldiers.

[1] At that time, when S. Sabinianus was in the city of Samon, earnest in prayer, ready in fasting, S. Sabinianus preaches Christ though not yet baptized: generous in almsgiving, and freely declared the glory of God, his sound went forth into all the land, and it was reported to the Emperor that Blessed Sabinianus stood firm in angelic revelation and with the most glorious words preached God who dwells in heaven. Then the Emperor spoke to Crispinus the Governor in his wrath, that he should go forth running in his fury, and that leading soldiers throughout the whole world should root out Christians and destroy them, saying: Wherever you find them, if they do not sacrifice to our gods, subject them to these punishments: wheels of bronze, and iron hooks, cutting off their heads from their necks. When many who had shortly before said they were Christians heard this report, they began to deny God.

[2] But Saint Sabinianus did not despair of God's patronage, but fasted and prayed continually, and gave food to the hungry. A small man named Julian came out and said: Most holy Sabinianus, do you wish to prepare your soul for battle? He departs from his homeland: Or have you not heard what has been prepared for Christians? Flee from the mouth of our enemies, or let your praise be spoken in the praise of the Saints. Then Blessed Sabinianus, with humble heart and resolute mind, trampling desire underfoot, visited many regions, that he might find a place where he would deserve to receive the crown. After a short time, provoked to honor by prayer and fasting, he came at length to the city of Troyes, and went about it; He comes into the territory of Troyes: and when he had gone down below upon the River Seine, he found a most precious place prepared for him, and he gave thanks to God, and prostrated himself on the face of the earth, and made prayer, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, who placed many kinds of animals in the ark of Noah, and established them in the pools of waters; grant me your servant baptism, that my sins may be washed away. When he had prayed this, behold a cloud descending from heaven shone upon him, He is baptized: and a voice from heaven said to him: Sabinianus, chosen servant of God, you have found the grace of your Lord; love what you wished to find, for you have been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and many through you shall be baptized in the Holy Trinity. S. Sabinianus said: Glory to you, O Christ, who convert the ignorant and lead them to the way of truth. And when he had been baptized, by the miracle of a staff bursting into flower taking a reed in his hand, he fixed it in the ground, and prayed to the Lord, and said: Lord my God, make my rod to flower, and to have good branches and to produce beautiful leaves, that this people may believe in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. He converts many. And many, seeing that rod flower, believed with Blessed Sabinianus, one thousand and eighteen; and one hundred and nine souls were baptized by the hand of the Saint himself.

[3] The Emperor, hearing these things, that a great part of the people believed through S. Sabinianus, When soldiers do not dare lay hands on him, ordered Crispinus the Governor to come to him with ninety soldiers, to bring him before the Emperor in chains. When they came to the Saint of God, they found him praying, and they were afraid to approach him. The Emperor, hearing that they had accomplished nothing to harm the servant of God, again sent another hundred and ninety to him, and they found him in the same manner completing his prayer, and they too began to pray with him. When S. Sabinianus had completed his prayer, he rose, and the Governor spoke to him: Sabinianus, were you cast out from your homeland, or what are you doing in this place? S. Sabinianus answered him: I was not cast out from my homeland; but I sought God, whose power I came to know, and I found grace. And the soldiers said to him: Sabinianus, our Lord the Emperor desires to see you. S. Sabinianus answered them: If it is my will, I come; if not, I do not come: nevertheless I go with you. He goes willingly to the Emperor: And he commended his petition to the Lord, and proceeded to the Emperor.

[4] And when he had come to the city of Vienne, they entered the palace. But when the Emperor saw that he was a great man and a Christian, he was afraid, and immediately ran to his consistory, where seventy-two demons sat, to whose counsels he had recourse. After a short time he returned, sitting on the tribunal, and questioned him, saying: Who are you? Or where are you from? Or what is your name? S. Sabinianus answered him: I am from the city of Samon, and from my birth I am called Sabinianus. And the Emperor said to him: Wild beast, ugly face, He responds to him nobly, will you not sacrifice to my gods? Or in what places do you dwell? S. Sabinianus answered him: Truly you have spoken well, Aurelian, for you are a portion of death and like your father the devil: and your gods, to whom you say one should sacrifice, are vain; nor can they help those who worship them: and you, like a fool, worship them. If only you would hear me and worship my God, who made heaven and earth, who has power to deliver you from fire and to forgive all your sins. But he, like a fool, thought within himself, saying: How can I do this, since you were nurtured among wild beasts? I cannot overcome this man except by the most exquisite torments.

[5] Then he ordered S. Sabinianus to be put in prison; forty-eight soldiers came to guard him: and when they saw S. Sabinianus, 48 soldiers, converted by him, are killed, they were converted and laid down their weapons on the ground, saying: We too believe in the Lord of Sabinianus, and we worship him. And the Emperor said to them: Are you also accursed, that you wish to follow him? Come and worship my gods, and I will give you gold and silver, and I will establish you in the greatest honor. But the soldiers said to him: May your money be with you for destruction; we have all been baptized and we believe in the Holy Trinity. And the Emperor, angered, ordered them to be beheaded. And they, on account of the grace granted to S. Sabinianus, completed their martyrdom.

h Vincent: 120.

CHAPTER II. The torments inflicted on Sabinianus. The martyrdom of three men.

[6] But the Emperor, angered, said in his heart: If I do not destroy this accursed man with his sorceries, and Sabinianus is beaten: he will draw all the people to himself. Then the Emperor ordered S. Sabinianus to be brought before him, and said to him: Wild beast, ugly face, how long will you persevere in this faith? How long shall I keep you in custody until you sacrifice to my gods? To this S. Sabinianus answered: I would wish to lead you to the good faith, that you might abandon the devils and worship my Christ, who has power over your life and death. And the Emperor said: Are you still standing in this folly? And S. Sabinianus answered and said: I am not a fool, but a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ; but you are like a fool and senseless, who do not confess my Lord, but confess Satan your father. The Emperor, angered, ordered his hands and feet to be bound and beaten at iron bars, He is tortured with a fiery helmet, and a fiery helmet to be placed on his head. Then three men said: You would have been blessed, Aurelian, if you had never been born, who have ordered such torments to be inflicted on a servant of God. And the Emperor, angered, ordered them to be beheaded: and they, on account of the grace granted to S. Sabinianus, three men who reproached the tyrant being killed for it: ascended to the kingdoms of heaven.

[7] Then S. Sabinianus said to him: If you can inflict more torments on me, do so; for they are life to me, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Then the Emperor ordered an iron bench and furnace to be made according to his stature, He is placed on a burning bench: that is, twelve cubits, and it was done according to the command of the Emperor; and they placed them in the middle of the city, and he ordered S. Sabinianus to be bound, and much wood to be placed beneath with fire, and to burn him: and he commanded forty casks of oil to be brought and poured upon the flame of the fire. S. Sabinianus threw himself into the midst of the flame, saying: Through these torments which you inflict upon me, your shame and your gods shall be consumed. I have told you that I do not fear your torments, nor your anger. When he had said this, from the intensity of the fire the bench became like wax. And the Emperor came and saw S. Sabinianus standing in the midst of the flame and praying; He remains unharmed; and his face was like a rose and a lily descending from heaven: and when the Emperor saw him, he fell on his face from great fear, from the first hour until the ninth hour. The Emperor is terrified: And after he rose, he said to him: Wild beast, are not the sins of the souls you have led into error enough for you, and you would not allow them to sacrifice to my great gods, but have drawn all the people to yourself? S. Sabinianus answered and said: Yet many souls have still to believe in God through me, and you yourself. And the Emperor, like a fool, blasphemed and said to him: Do you wish to lead even me into your sorceries? So may my gods do to me and so repay me, if by this hour tomorrow I have not destroyed your soul, and I will make you come as an example to all.

[8] And on another day he ordered S. Sabinianus to be brought. And when he had been brought into his presence, he said to him: Now sacrifice to my gods, or understand my words, lest torments be added to you. S. Sabinianus said: I have told you He cannot be pierced by arrows: that I do not fear your torments, nor your anger; because I have my faith, which I obtained through the grace of baptism. Then the Emperor ordered a great piece of wood to be brought according to his stature, and to be placed before the palace, and soldiers were summoned, and they came in order, and they shot three arrows each at him, that he might be killed more quickly. And the Emperor supposed that all the arrows would be fixed in his body: but the arrows were suspended by the wind to his right and to his left, and not even one touched his body. After sunset he ordered him to be guarded by soldiers, lest the Christians suddenly come and he be released during the night.

[9] And on another day a great multitude of people were watching, to see the power of God. Then the Emperor said: Let us go and see that accursed one, what is his situation. And the Emperor came and said to him: Where is your God? One arrow bouncing back into the Emperor's eye, Let him come and deliver you from my hands, or from these arrows. And one of the arrows, bouncing back, entered the eye of the Emperor and blinded him. Then S. Sabinianus said: I say to you, fool, if you believe in my God, He is ordered to be thrown into prison: you shall see the light of God. But the Emperor, angered, ordered ninety soldiers to put him in prison and to guard him more carefully in iron chains, and on the morrow to take his head from him. While S. Sabinianus was being led to prison, he offered this prayer, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, He is snatched away by divine power, who led your people out of the Red Sea and freed them from the gods of Pharaoh, free me your servant from these fetters, and command me to be transferred to that place where I deserved to receive the grace of baptism. When he had prayed this, the soldiers were blinded, and the iron chains were broken, and S. Sabinianus, swiftly making his way, arrived at the place where he had received baptism.

CHAPTER III. The death, burial, and miracles of S. Sabinianus.

[10] The Emperor, hearing this, ordered soldiers He is sought by soldiers: to search for him, saying: Wherever you find that magician, behead him. And the soldiers going forth met a poor old man, but not a Christian. Then he spoke to them: The other day at the fourth hour a Christian was seen being carried by his feet against the rising sun, like the wind from the face of the earth. And the soldiers pursued him. S. Sabinianus came first to the bank of the Seine, and he was glad to cross the great river, and he looked back. And many enemies were rising against him. S. Sabinianus there prostrated himself in prayer, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, for I hated the congregations of the wicked, and I declared your power, Lord, He walks upon the waters: grant your servant by secret revelation to enter this place where I received baptism. When he had prayed this, the water became like rock, and the Saint himself walked on foot to the place shown to him. The soldiers, seeing the great expanse of water, were confounded. S. Sabinianus again prostrated himself on the face of the earth, and made a great prayer before the Lord: Lord Jesus Christ, who from my youth have deigned to govern me, show your power in me, He prays to become a Martyr: and more swiftly command me to be crowned with whatever crown you shall ordain, and grant me your servant, that whoever in this place, where you have delivered the crown to me, shall pour forth prayer and invoke my name for the sake of your name, may be heard in his prayers and may deserve to be saved.

[11] When he had prayed this, he raised his eyes and saw certain soldiers who, with drawn sword, were running swiftly to behead him: but the soldiers were afraid to approach him. He himself encourages the hesitating soldiers: To this S. Sabinianus spoke to them: Come, and turn, and gather from my blood, and bind it in a linen cloth, and carry it to the Emperor Aurelian, that he may see the power of God. And when he had been struck, a drop of blood fell upon the head of the executioner, He is beheaded, and carries his head in his hands, and they were converted, and cried out with a loud voice, saying: Lord, spare our sins, for we have been baptized by your holy blood. S. Sabinianus, taking his head, carried it forty-nine feet. The soldiers are converted. And the soldiers gathered from his blood, and bound it in a linen cloth, and carried it to the Emperor Aurelian. When it came into his presence, the linen cloth being opened, that blood became like a rose and a lily, and in that very hour the eyes of the Emperor were opened, where the arrow had been fixed, By his blood the Emperor's sight is restored, and he saw the light of God, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying: How good and glorious is the God of the Christians, who does the will of those who fear him!

[12] Hearing this, a certain woman named Syria, who had sat blind in her eyes for forty years, said to her parents: Lead me to the delightful joy, where the most holy Sabinianus won heavenly glory. S. Syria receives her sight at his tomb, But her parents abandoned her and were unwilling to go with her. A little boy from their family came out and went to her, and taking her by the hands they walked in her ways, and they did not know where to find the holy passion. And when they had come to where S. Sabinianus rested, their feet were held fast, and they could go no further, because they had arrived at the holy place. She with humble heart began to bend her knees to the ground and to pray confidently, saying: God of the Christians, and S. Sabinianus, who obtained for yourself a precious crown adorned with precious stones, show your power in me. When she had prayed this, in that hour her eyes were opened, and she saw the light of day and the sepulchre of S. Sabinianus. And a great multitude of people hastened to see the power of God. Then Syria spoke to them: She builds a cell. Let us cherish this burial place, and let us build a great cell, where S. Sabinianus did not lay down his life but exchanged it. These things were done under the former Emperor Aurelian on the ninth day before the Kalends of February, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory and power both now and forever and ever, Amen.

OTHER ACTS, by an anonymous author, from the Antiquities of Troyes of Nicolas Camuzat.

Sabinianus, Martyr at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Sabina, Virgin at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Many other holy Martyrs, at Troyes in Gaul. BHL Number: 7439

By an anonymous author, from Camuzat.

CHAPTER I. The conversion, pilgrimage, and preaching of S. Sabinianus. The martyrdom of 12 soldiers.

[1] S. Sabinianus devotes himself to study: Blessed Sabinianus, the venerable Martyr of Christ, was born in the city of Samos in Greece, of a pagan father named Savinus, who had him instructed in the study of the liberal arts. And Blessed Sabinianus, now a philosopher, when he had come to know that the gods of his father were nothing, and rightly perceived that God was one, the creator of all things, desired and sought him with all his might. He reads the Scripture, Whence it came about that, in reading the psalter, he read this verse: You shall sprinkle me with hyssop, etc., turning it over again and again, and like a fish on a hook, so the blessed boy was held fast by the Holy Spirit. Psalm 50:9. The meaning is taught him by an Angel: And the Lord, seeing the tears, the desire, and the prayers of his future servant, sent him his Angel, who explained that very verse, saying: You shall be cleansed as you desire, and made whiter than snow, when you have been washed in the sacred font of baptism: and having said this the Angel vanished.

[2] But Sabinianus from that time, having assumed the vigor of faith, though not yet baptized, preached the Gospel teaching to the people. He preaches Christ: When his father heard this, he was kindled with anger, and dissembling his anger he summoned him, inquired the cause, and found the truth. For he found his son confessing Christ, wherefore he was stricken in mind, made threats, threatened punishments; then he flattered with words, He is variously tested by his father: attracted with promises, heaped up riches, multiplied honors. But the blessed young man was neither shaken by threats nor seduced by promises; yet he feared lest, overcome, he might succumb to the laws of nature. He consulted Christ through his Gospel, left his father and his homeland, and naked followed Christ. And so he went as a pilgrim, yet not alone, He flees from his homeland: for God was always with him.

[3] Having traversed many places, he was directed by divine will all the way to Troyes, where the harvest was great but the laborer rare; He comes to the territory of Troyes: where the field was fertile but the seeds of the word were few: and there by the revelation of the Holy Spirit he chose his dwelling place and built a habitation above the River Seine, not very far removed from the city, nor yet very close to the city. And although, as we believe, he had already been baptized by the Holy Spirit, desiring to be reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, he prayed on bended knee that he might deserve to obtain the grace of baptism from the Lord: He is miraculously baptized: whereupon a cloud immediately descended upon him, and from the cloud a voice came to him: What you ask, Sabinianus, you shall obtain. And straightway he who spoke from the cloud baptized him. And being reborn, he devoted himself to fasts, vigils, and prayers. Then his wonderful holiness began to shine forth everywhere, because a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14.

[4] But since the people are more quickly converted to the faith if a miracle follows the preaching, by a staff putting forth leaves, the Saint fixed in the ground the staff which he carried in his hand, and having made a prayer, caused it to produce fronds and leaves. And those who were present, seeing the miracle, were converted to the Lord, He converts many, one thousand and ninety men in number.

[5] But the sower of all evils, seeing the army of his followers greatly diminishing, went around the workshops of the raging, and fanning the flames of anger, sharpened hatreds against the holy man. For he ceaselessly urged the Emperor Aurelian and gravely incited him to the death of the holy man. There was therefore a great tumult in the palace about Sabinianus, because he blasphemed the worship of the gods, saying they were not gods but the works of hands. Crispinus is sent to seize him. Caesar therefore, angered by these and other such things, inspired by the ancient serpent, took the poisonous counsel that the Saint of God should be seized and brought to him, who was then at the city of Vienne. So the Governor Crispinus was sent with some armed men to Troyes, to bring the Saint of God. Coming therefore to Troyes he sees what grieves him, and hears what wearies him. He sees, I say, shrines destroyed, altars overturned, and statues trampled underfoot. He also hears that the people have become Christians, having cast aside the worship of the gods. At this he is disturbed, at that he is inflamed. And so, like a lion seeking whom he may devour, so Crispinus seeks where Sabinianus may dwell.

[6] Having therefore gathered a company of his men, in the spirit of great fury he proceeded to the dwelling of the man of God. The soldiers are driven back by divine power: They found him prostrate in prayer, and desiring to seize him they were unable, because they felt something divine, and fell backward. Wherefore those who had come raging hastened to depart in fear. When the Governor came to Aurelian and narrated the wonderful event, Caesar was angered; he accused the Governor of having fled; he rebuked his fellow soldiers for having feared; he charged all with not having brought him. Wherefore he sent more men than before again: who, when they had come to the Saint of God others pray with him, and observed him praying, gave themselves also to prayer. These are your works, O Lord. For persecutors came, and with the one who prayed they became those who pray.

[7] When the prayer was ended, Sabinianus, said the Governor, since you are a stranger and a foreigner, why have you come to these places? Were you perhaps expelled from your homeland for some crime, and do you preach something new to the nations? No violence, said Sabinianus, expelled me from my homeland; but rather the love of God drew me to himself, serving whom in faith I sow his seed in the field of the nations. And the soldiers who had come with the Governor exhorted him with many a prayer and they ask him to come to the Emperor, not to be unwilling to come with them all the way to the Emperor. And S. Sabinianus, hearing this, exulting in spirit, said to the soldiers: A soldier deserves nothing good from his Lord who trembles to offer his breast to battle; nor is he worthy of the palm who is fearful at the wounds of the fight. Therefore I hasten the way with you, because I know that I shall shortly receive the crown of eternal life. Sabinianus therefore set out with them to Vienne, where the Emperor Aurelian was present. Who, when he had gazed upon him, indeed distinguished in form, He is brought before the Emperor Aurelian: tall in stature, recalling also that he had heard him to be famous for holiness, having paid him respect, withdrew into the palace; where sitting on the tribunal, with the Senators of his Council assembled, gazing at Blessed Sabinianus, he said: What is your name, and of what region and religion? To whom Sabinianus responded, saying: By name I am called Sabinianus, born at Samos, and I am a Christian. Henceforth, said Aurelian, we must reason about the religion in which you are known to err more than all others. For you dare, in your madness, to despise the gods by whose wisdom the world is governed, the seasons are ordered, and the human race is ruled, and you presume to blaspheme them. Consult therefore the ancient ages, and they will teach you what you ought to believe: moreover, Rome, mistress of the nations, full of wise men and philosophers, observe what she does, lest you reject what she approves; lest you revile the gods whom she herself venerates and loves. Accept therefore counsel and follow the world.

[8] To whom Sabinianus replied: Thus far, Aurelian, you have said very much; but you have sown altogether upon sand: you have offered me counsel, but utterly pestilent counsel. Accept the counsel which I give you, and you shall recover salvation from the Lord. It is impious, Aurelian, to say, and much more to believe, that those are gods and goddesses whom you profess to worship. In divinity there is no sex, which exists in things for this reason, that mortal beings which fail by dying may be repaired from their seed. In the Deity nothing dies, nothing is repaired from seed, nothing is found from the contaminations of the flesh. He mocks the gods: But your divinities -- Jupiter, Venus, and other monsters -- are polluted by embraces, mixed by intercourse; some are impregnated, some are begotten; wherefore it is impious to believe that they are even gods. Yet you venerate their images as certain divinities: you offer them incense and libations: and the block which an artisan fashioned for himself at home, you worship as suppliants. In doing this, are you not more insane than those who are insane? Therefore accept salutary counsel, and leaving your idols, follow the Lord Jesus Christ.

[9] When Aurelian heard this, understanding that his words had accomplished nothing, he decided that punishments should be applied: so that what words had effected less externally, punishments might more sharply execute internally. While therefore the punishments were being arranged, thrown into prison, he converts twelve guards: Sabinianus was handed over to the depths of the prison; and twelve soldiers were assigned to guard him: to whom Blessed Sabinianus preached the word of life, announcing that remission is granted in baptism. When they believed and renounced the pomp of the devil, he baptized them in the faith of salvation. When Aurelian heard this, kindled with excessive fury, he ordered them to be brought before him; and he said to them: It is grievous for me to hear that you have attached yourselves to that sacrilegious Sabinianus, having changed your faith. What is your madness, he said, which has so changed your minds that you set aside the certain for the uncertain, the ancient for the new, and even prefer the gods to a mere man? Let it be judged by an equal judgment. Who is more worthy of worship, God or a man? Was not Christ a Jew, crucified by Jews? But those soldiers answered and said: Your opinion, excellent Emperor, pleases us very much: and would that what pleases you yourself might come to pass! For nothing is truer than what you assert: none other than God is to be worshipped. If therefore Christ is a mere man, as you suppose, what you say is true, that he is not to be worshipped. But since he is God and man in one person, it is certain that he ought to be worshipped by every creature. But your divinities are not gods but demons. Psalm 95:5. For it is written: All the gods of the nations are demons; they are beheaded. therefore they are not to be worshipped by you, but execrated. Aurelian, hearing this, ordered them to undergo a swift capital sentence.

CHAPTER II. The torments inflicted on Sabinianus. The martyrdom of three men.

[10] When these therefore had been glorified, by the command of Caesar, the man of the Lord was dragged from the depths of the prison; and Aurelian, gazing upon him, said: O Sabinianus, behold death and life are before your eyes; choose what pleases you. For if you sacrifice, you shall live and not die; but if not, life will fail you sooner than monstrous punishments will fail us. To whom Sabinianus replied: You can indeed overcome my flesh by killing it, but you cannot steal my soul by making it consent. And Aurelian, overflowing with the evil spirit, ordered the man of God to be beaten with clubs. Sabinianus is beaten with scourges and clubs: Torturers run up from every side, they traverse each limb with scourges, so that nothing in the body might remain uninjured: the air resounds with blows, but from the suffering Martyr no groan is heard.

[11] Aurelian said: These are for you, Sabinianus, the beginnings of pains; be obstinate in your error, and I shall be much more obstinate in your persecution. To whom the Martyr of God replied: Fruitful earth, the more it is cultivated, the more abundant are the fruits it produces: be therefore a stern farmer, furrow the earth of my body more deeply with the plough of beatings; bake it with the fire of every tribulation, so that whatever rust is in it may sweat out. He is tortured with a glowing helmet: Then the impious Aurelian had a bronze helmet heated red-hot and placed on his head, so that either death would follow from it, or all his senses would be endangered. But the merciful Lord did not fail his Martyr, and delivered him safe from that very danger. Then three men who were present, illuminated from heaven, said to the Emperor: Three men, reproaching the tyrant's cruelty, are slaughtered. He deserves eternal perdition, whoever persecutes someone for the sake of justice: the due fires of eternal death await you, who so mortify a man of God for the truth which he preaches. At these words Aurelian ordered their end to be hastened: straightway he commanded them to be beheaded there.

[12] And Blessed Sabinianus, seeing that the tyrant had raged against his own men, while the soldiers of Christ had ascended to heaven, exulting and rejoicing, blessed God, who had once said to his own: Be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. John 16:33. And he, now desiring to finish his course, sighing for the crown of justice laid up for him, like a good soldier, having resumed his strength, advanced readily to battle. What are you doing, he said, Aurelian? Where is your ferocity? Where your madness? Where your frenzy? Do you not see, wretch, how great is the fortitude of the soldiers of Christ, and how powerless is the fury of those who rage against them? Aurelian, inflamed by these words, devised a torment more grievous than every torment. For what is more grievous than fire? By eternal fire souls are tormented in the underworld, He is stretched on an iron bed with fire placed beneath, because no kind of torment is more monstrous than this kind. An iron bed was therefore swiftly prepared, upon which the venerable Martyr of God was stretched out, that with fire placed beneath he might be burned. And indeed, so that the fire might burn to their satisfaction, oil was abundantly poured on, by the monstrousness of whose heat the iron bed began to melt. And the impious King, full of fury, kindled with anger, rebuked the torturers, goaded the executioners to raise up the flames, to stir the fires, so that the rebel and the obstinate one might at last, being overcome, find rest. But what happened? The Lord of hosts was indeed at hand for his soldier in so great a danger of conflagration, He is not harmed: as once for the three boys in the furnace of burning fire. And since in the midst of the fire he was not scorched, he made known to all how wonderful God is in his Saints. But Aurelian, thinking concerning the Martyr that he was entirely consumed, gazing joyfully among the balls of flame, saw him whom he had supposed reduced to ashes, cheerful and unharmed, blessing God. O unhappy tyrant, why do you not in this imitate Nebuchadnezzar? For when he saw those men whom he had cast into the furnace unharmed, he gave glory to God and blessed him who lives forever and ever.

[13] But Aurelian again addressed the Saint of God, saying: Why, Sabinianus, do you not have pity on yourself? Why do you throw away your life? Do not persist in your sorceries, which will yield to punishments: let it be enough for you to have already given so many of your fellows to death. To this the Saint said: If only you understood, Aurelian, that your living is death, but their dying is life: He exhorts Aurelian to embrace the faith: for our religion requires that we love even our enemies in God: and although you threaten me with death, yet I wish you life and eternal salvation. Believe me, and be baptized; and by a blessed exchange you will trade an earthly empire for a heavenly one. Do not, said Caesar, try to seduce me, Sabinianus, do not weave your deceits for me. Let your trifles cease now, and let our punishments speak. Aurelian therefore commanded that a great beam be fixed in the ground, He is ordered to be pierced with arrows; to which Sabinianus, being bound, should be pierced through on every side with arrows. And the word was done without delay: yet martyrdom was unwillingly delayed. For none of the arrows that were shot could touch the man of God: He cannot be touched, since God was protecting him on every side under the cover of his hand. But a certain arrow, shot from a strong bow, rebounding by divine judgment, grazed the impious Aurelian in the eye: yet Aurelian, thus wounded, did not attend to the miracle, one rebounding wounds the tyrant's eye, but rather ordered holy Sabinianus to be shut up in a dreadful dungeon.

[14] The holy Sabinianus therefore, chained in the fearsome prison, poured forth prayers and tears to the Lord, and begged that he would give him rest: not, however, except through the bloody palm of martyrdom, which he wished to receive, and not elsewhere than where he had obtained the grace of baptism: and also that he might be a patron, present in body, to his children, whom while living he had adopted for Christ by holy regeneration. Sabinianus departs from prison. The divine power was therefore at hand, breaking the chains and striking the guards with blindness. The holy man, perceiving that he was set free, going out from the prison, found no impediment. That holy man therefore withdrew, not fleeing from enemies, nor declining the death which he hoped would be for his glory; but lest his children should mourn the death of an absent one whom they had greatly loved when alive and present.

CHAPTER III. The death, burial, and miracles of Sabinianus.

[15] The wicked King, hearing this, and burning for the martyrdom of the holy man no less than one greatly hungering for an abundant feast; and desiring his death no less than one in the greatest heat supremely thirsting for a fountain; gathered chosen soldiers, filled with every cruelty, and sent them to pursue the holy man in haste; He is sought: not to hold him and bring him back, but to seize and kill him. They, instigated both by the King's command and by their own malice, pursued the servant of God as an enemy, ran through passable ways, searched out byways. At length they came to the Seine, whose channel, swollen excessively by winter rains, He walks upon the waters: was not easy for anyone to cross on foot. But holy faith upheld the holy man as he entered, carrying him over the waves to the lands of the other bank without any danger. O venerable and praiseworthy power of God, which, to the wonder of nature, renders waves walkable!

[16] And by this power the man of God came to the place of baptism which he desired, having prayed that he might arrive at the palm of martyrdom, and he prepared the effect of the vow for which he aspired. For the holy man, raising his eyes to the other bank of the Seine, beheld the crowd pursuing him standing there, who had a great desire to cross but no ability. But as the man of God prayed, the crossing became very easy. For the Seine became a ford for them by the merit of the man of God, not by the quality of the season. And when they had arrived, yet not accosting him, Blessed Sabinianus addressed them thus: By his prayers he renders the river fordable for his persecutors: What are you doing, soldier, swift until now but now sluggish? Behold me whom you seek: carry out the purpose for which you have come. We, obeying our Emperors, shall surely be deemed worthy of their praise; you indeed by pursuing me, and I by dying. And each of us awaits the rewards of his own merits; He willingly offers himself to them: me indeed eternal life, but you perpetual death: and me perennial blessedness, but you everlasting confusion. Yet your guilt is the crime of another: and your commission is the eternal ruin of your King. Do not therefore delay my joys, nor postpone my rewards any longer. Draw your sword, and pour out my blood, and taking up some drops of my gore in a garment, you shall carry them to Aurelian as a blessing from us; so that when his eye is touched thereby, and his sight restored, he may confess, even at this late hour, the wonders of Christ. He is beheaded, And one of those who had come by the King's command, warmed by the admonition of the man of God, striking manfully with a single blow, beheaded the blessed Martyr. From the outpouring of whose blood, as the holy man had foretold, the garment of the executioner was stained.

[17] But Blessed Sabinianus, showing forth in himself that word of the Lord, He who believes in me, even though he has died, shall live, He carries it in his hands: retained his severed head, performing the office of one still living. For bearing it in his own hands before the very persecutors, he carried it a considerable distance to a place suitable for burial, and there, having set it down together with his body, that blessed spirit ascended to heaven, crowned with laurel, receiving the crown of justice which the King of eternal glory had laid up for him. And when the people of God's possession, that is, the entire Church of Troyes, heard this, they were shaken with excessive sorrow and at the same time lifted up with the greatest joy. They grieved indeed at having lost so great a patron, but they also rejoiced that the blessed Martyr had triumphed in such great afflictions: hence sorrow, hence joy, tears and joys accumulated upon one another. He is buried by the people of Troyes. Therefore people of every sex and condition ran together, entombing the holy body with honor and reverence where he himself had chosen the place of burial. There also, through his merits interceding, very many benefits are bestowed upon suppliants by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever and ever, Amen. The venerable Martyr suffered on the ninth day before the Kalends of February; at whose passion the citizens of heaven rejoice and praise the Son of God.

[18] And the persecutors, returning to Caesar, and touching his eye with the blood-stained garment, By his merits sight is restored to Aurelian; when sight was restored, all burst forth in praise. For seeing the power of so great a miracle, the King and the others standing by gave glory to our God. For many years the body of the blessed Martyr lay hidden, because of the excessive persecution of the Christians; the place of his burial was known to God alone. Other miracles occur: Therefore that field became flowery with miracles and fragrant with virtues: on account of which those at a distance were aroused by the fragrance, those nearby were attracted by the sweetness: the sick came together and departed exulting in the health they had received.

[19] When therefore the report was spreading, a certain woman named Syria, having eyes lacking in light, seeking with her whole heart the hidden treasure of the blessed Martyr, also begged him that she might recover her sight. Seeking therefore him whom she desired in her heart, she invoked Christ with lamentations and besought the holy Martyr with prayers. She came to the place, and her prayer was not yet completed, and behold the woman was already heard: S. Syria receives her sight: for her eyes were restored to use, and the darkness being driven away, they were reformed for sight. O how many praises and thanksgivings she rendered to God and to the blessed Martyr!

[20] Therefore, when the miracle was published abroad, the citizens ran together, all hastened, all rejoiced together, and praises resounded to God with their voices, because he had deigned by so illustrious a miracle to reveal his Martyr to his people. Therefore by common resolution, A church is built for him; with Blessed Syria greatly urging it, a holy church was fittingly constructed. When it had been diligently built, not unmindful of the benefit received, Blessed Syria vowed to serve God and the blessed Martyr: there, afflicting herself with many fasts, devoting herself to prayers and vigils, she immolated herself as a living sacrifice to the Lord. Where Syria lives in holiness. And thus, by living justly and holily through the immense martyrdom of life, and through the service of great devotion, she deserved to attain the fellowship of the holy Martyr in heaven, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God through all ages of ages, Amen.

LIFE OF S. SABINA from an ancient manuscript of Trier.

Sabinianus, Martyr at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Sabina, Virgin at Troyes in Gaul (S.) Many other holy Martyrs, at Troyes in Gaul. BHL Number: 7408

From manuscripts.

CHAPTER I. The homeland, education, and flight from homeland of SS. Sabinianus and Sabina.

[1] Sabinianus and Sabina, born of noble parents. Savinus, a nobleman and wealthy man in the town of Samos, having lost his father and mother, was raised in the family home; and as he grew up, although he was a pagan, he was a man just in his works. When he had come to a lawful age, he took a wife born of ... parents: and she was very noble, and her name was derived from his own, Saviniana. And having lost his wife, he took another wife from the city of Pelopia, of the race of the Chaldeans, and she was very wealthy, and he had thence a son, and he called his name, and the name of his daughter, Sabinianus and Sabina; They are instructed in letters, yet both were raised in the paternal home in their studies.

[2] Then S. Savinus, clothed in good works, fasted and prayed continually, Sabinianus devoted to good works, and whatever he could take from the paternal home, he distributed to the poor. When he had read in the Davidic psalm: You shall sprinkle me, Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; you shall wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow; he sought within himself and could not find the meaning of the words. Psalm 50:9. And one day he entered his chamber, and put on the bolt, and clothed himself with ashes and sackcloth, and prostrated himself upon the face of the earth, and said: Death is easier than life, if I cannot find the meaning of the words. He is instructed by an Angel: That same night the Angel of the Lord entered the chamber, holding in his right hand a golden candlestick, and illuminated that chamber, and it was filled with a fragrance of sweetness, and he said to him: Sabinianus, do not afflict yourself unto death; for you have found grace with the Lord, and I will tell you the meaning of the words, You shall sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be cleansed: when chrism shall have been sprinkled upon your head, you shall be cleansed from the greatest offense: when you shall have been washed with living water, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be whiter than snow, which is baptism, the second regeneration through the washing of the font.

[3] The Angel of the Lord withdrew from him; and he arose and showed himself with a cheerful face. And entering the paternal home, he greeted his father and mother according to custom: and his father rebuked him and said: Have you come to me for this purpose, He flees from the paternal home, son, that you might destroy us and our houses? It is easier for me to destroy you alone than for you to destroy all of us. But he, having been rebuked, departed and took other ways unknown to him. His father sought him, and when he could not find him, he did not dare rebuke his daughter; but he summoned her with blandishments, to show her the gold of Arabia and precious stones, but she was unwilling to accept any single thing, or even to look at them. For she was afflicted with grief and desire for her brother.

[4] Sabina therefore mourning, And every day she took a flask of oil and incense, and went to her father's idols; and she wept there bitterly, and did not take food except in the evening. And one day she went to the idol according to her custom and wept there bitterly: She sacrifices to the idols in vain, then she placed her head upon a stone, and she was overcome by sleep through angelic power: and the Angel of the Lord stood before her and said to Blessed Sabina: Do not weep, for the Lord has heard the voice of your weeping, but it is necessary for you She is warned by an Angel to flee thence: to be snatched away from these wicked men who worship vain things, and you shall find your brother established in the greatest honor; for thus says the Lord: He who leaves father or mother for my sake shall be worthy of me: and he who leaves house, gold, silver, and many possessions, which is the vanity of this world: I will give him treasure in heaven, which rust does not consume nor moth destroy. Luke 18:29; Matthew 6:19. The Angel of the Lord withdrew from her.

[5] And she arose and said to her foster-sister: My dearest Maximinola, did you not perceive something? And she said: I did perceive, my Lady; She reveals her vision and her plan to her handmaid Maximinola: I saw a man unknown to me standing before me, clad in a white garment, and the wind did not stir his clothing, and thus he was speaking with you, his lips were moving, but I do not know what he was saying to you; and my soul was filled with a fragrance of sweetness. Then Blessed Sabina said to her: My dearest Maximinola, will you agree with me, and will you not publicly reveal what I shall ask of you, so that it comes to the ears of my parents? And she answered: Far be it from me, my Lady, that I should reveal your secret; only do not let me consent that you destroy yourself, for I see you afflicted. For the rest, whatever you shall undertake, so be it for me.

[6] And on the next day she walked to the idols according to her custom, She flees with her: and she did not permit the other handmaids to walk with her, but only Maximinola her foster-sister, most silently. At the third hour of the day she took to high and unknown, hard and rough ways: and her foot left the ground as if coming, and she was strengthened on her way. She heard the voices of singing Angels before her from afar, and she herself sang psalms.

[7] Her father and mother, relatives, friends, and servants sought her, She is searched for, through mountains and valleys and every thicket. When they could not find her, then Savinus stretched out his hands to heaven and said: If you are God, who have power in heaven and on earth, and there is no other God besides you; if you have power to save us, send down and strike the idol which I have worshipped until now, which did not save my children for me: or if I had lost them by death, Her father cursing the idols, I would have gone to their tombs and my soul would have been refreshed; because I do not know for what reason they have been taken from me. Then the Lord thundered from heaven and struck the idols and shattered them from top to foundation, they are cast down from heaven, and their golden images, which they worshipped there, he shattered like dust. Then there was a plague of pestilence throughout that whole region until the day of King Abgarus: and many through this began to believe in God.

CHAPTER II. The journey of S. Sabina to Rome, Ravenna, and into Gaul.

[8] Then after a long time had passed in her travels, Blessed Sabina came to Rome, S. Sabina comes to Rome: and she saw the blessed sepulchre of S. Peter and said to her handmaid: We must pray here and receive baptism in the name of the Lord. She attached herself to a certain handmaid of God named Justina; and they devoted themselves equally to prayer, so that neither the course of the day nor of the night passed them by unused. She adopted her as her daughter, She is baptized: and swiftly prepared baptism for her, and she was baptized by that holy and venerable man, Pope Eusebius: and while she was still in her white garments, she performed these miracles.

[9] By the sign of the Cross she heals the blind and the lame. Two blind men, and two disabled, and one man who was blind, lame, and disabled (his father carried him on his neck like an image), speaking with one voice, said: Blessed Sabina, have mercy on us. And she raised her eyes to heaven, saying: God is powerful, compassionate, and very merciful. Then she prostrated herself on the face of the earth and prayed: Lord my God, who rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling, since you are the true light, grant through the hand of your sinful handmaid that health be restored to those who are fettered, on account of those standing by. When the prayer was completed, she arose and made the sign of the Cross on their foreheads, and to those who had not seen she gave the light of day; and those who had not walked she made to walk; and he who neither saw, nor spoke, nor walked, stood upon his feet and said: Most blessed Sabina among all virgins. Those standing around, seeing this, fell at her feet, magnifying God; each one bestowed upon her from his goods, and she distributed them to the poor. She was there for about five years.

[10] Warned by the Angel to go to her brother, One feast day, after the morning vigils, when she had laid down on her bed, the Angel of the Lord stood before her and said to her: Blessed Sabina, what have you done? You have despised father and mother and the paternal home, and now here you feast with delights, and you do not persevere in your pilgrimage? Arise, go to the city of Troyes in Champagne; there you will find your brother, whom your soul desires, clothed with a crown of precious stones. The Angel of the Lord withdrew from her; and she arose, and trembled all over, and was greatly afraid, even unto death. Then, strengthened in prayer, she said to her handmaid: My dearest, we ought not to dwell here. And Maximinola said: My Lady, what do you wish to do? If it happens that you die as a pilgrim on the journey, and there is no one to commit your body to burial? And the citizens here greatly rejoiced because of you. Then Blessed Sabina said to her handmaid: The Lord will provide all things for those who hope in him: do not be unbelieving, but be wise. Take two white loaves of bread, perhaps we shall find someone hungry; and one barley loaf for our own use. She departs from Rome with Maximinola: She did as her Lady had said, taking the accustomed road. The citizens sought her with mourning, and the holy and venerable man made inquiry as to who had offended her; but no one could find anyone.

[11] After some time had passed, she came to the city of Ravenna: She comes to Ravenna: she found the only daughter of a certain wealthy man prepared for death. When the holy and most blessed woman had come before the house, behold, she said to a handmaid coming out of the house: Return to the house, and tell the master of the house that a pilgrim here requests lodging. The girl said: My Lady, how can you have lodging here, since the daughter of the masters is prepared for death, and there are lamentations over her there? Blessed Sabina said to her: Return, tell them; she will not die on my account. The girl returned and said to her mistress: My Lady, a pilgrim here requests lodging. The mother rejoiced, running to meet her, and said: My Lady, come and see with what cruelty our daughter is prepared for death, and we cannot obtain mercy from God, that we might die and she might live. Taking her hand, she led her beneath the roof of the house. She greeted the household; then approaching the bed of the innocent girl, she prostrated herself on the face of the earth and prayed thus: My God, She heals a dying girl by her prayers: who have the power of killing and giving life, whose mysteries I cannot declare; who raised Lazarus from the tomb on the third day, already decaying; grant through the hand of your sinful handmaid that the innocent one be restored to her parents. She arose, and taking her hand she raised the girl; and she who had not spoken for three or four days said: For this reason you have come, handmaid of God, that you might lead me out of the underworld and gladden my parents: but give me to eat and to drink from your hand, that I may never hunger nor thirst: and taking your garment you will veil my head, for it is necessary for me to be with you in my life. Blessed Sabina said: Because of the beauty of your appearance you cannot walk with me, but if you persevere to the end, you shall always be with me in the glory of God. She does not allow her to go on pilgrimage with her. They pressed her to remain there, accompanying her with lamentation for joy all the way to another city.

CHAPTER III. The death, burial, and miracles of S. Sabina.

[12] When she had learned through other cities that the city of Troyes was now near, She comes within sight of the city of Troyes: she hastened more quickly to approach. When she had already come near the city, seeing the constructed walls (for they were among mountains), she said to a certain shepherd: Tell me, what is that which appears before us? And he said: Who indeed does not know that this is the city of Troyes? She raised her eyes and said: Lord, I give you thanks, because you have not defrauded the desire of my soul, and you have caused my steps to endure. When she had come a mile from the city, she said to her handmaid: My dearest Maximinola, let us sit here a little; perhaps someone will come out of the city who will gladden us and make us more certain. And while she was sitting near the beginning of the road on the pavement, behold a venerable man named Lucerius, coming out of the city, said to her: Where are you from? Blessed Sabina answered: My Lord, I am from another city than here. The venerable Lucerius said: Why have you lied to me, for your appearance From Lucerius she learns of the death and tomb of her brother: and speech indicate to me a pilgrim? And she said: My Lord, you have said it, for I am a pilgrim, and I am seeking my brother Sabinianus, who, departing from the paternal home, nowhere appeared before us; and it was indicated to me that he was here in this city. The venerable Lucerius said: The man you seek was here, but is not: a short time ago he was beheaded by persecutors for his good works, by order of the Emperor Aurelian and the Governor Valerianus; but may the Lord avenge his blood. If you wish to know more certainly where he is buried, go twelve miles from the city above the River Seine: there a certain woman built a cell over him, and he is buried; when you enter the cell on the east side, there is the stone where the one who built the cell itself is buried. And on the right hand there are two large stones: in the whiter stone, which is next to the wall, there is buried the one you say is your brother. Go there and return to us; you shall dwell with us for the rest of your life, and it shall be well with you.

[13] When he had passed by, Blessed Sabina prostrated herself on the face of the earth and prayed: Lord my God, who from my youth deigned to govern me, if indeed you know that I come to you intact, and I have not transgressed your commandments, command that you receive what you entrusted to me; do not permit me to be wearied further on hard journeys, She dies piously: and command my unworthy body to be committed to burial; and do not permit me to be moved from here; and I commend to you my handmaid, who has endured so much on my account, and my brother, whom I was not able to see in this world -- may I at least deserve to see him in your kingdom. When the prayer was completed, she breathed forth her spirit, and was received by Angels into heaven. The handmaid, sitting at her feet, wept bitterly, saying: My Lady, why did you not listen to me? Where is the water with which to wash your body? Where is the stone where I should lay your body to rest? For I have no ability to dig, nor to whom have you commended wretched me? Where do I seek the help of life?

[14] While she was weeping, behold the venerable Lucerius, returning to the city, saw that she whom he had seen alive just a short time before was now dead, and said to the handmaid: Do not weep, for I will go quickly and return to bury her. She is buried with honor: He went quickly to the city, and entering his house, opening the chests of his vestibules, he prepared choice garments, and a great stone for burying her. Then he sent a herald to cry through the city: Priests, servants, and pilgrims, come to bury a pilgrim woman who has died outside the city. Immediately there was great mourning in the entire city, so that neither man The body cannot be brought into the city, nor woman who could walk on foot remained there; but they hastened to bury her, and they tried to bring her into the city; but they could not move the blessed body.

[15] And behold, a certain woman named Eleutheria, who was blind and seemed to have withered hands, A blind woman recovers her sight by touching her garment, could not approach her on account of the multitude of the crowd, and said: I beseech you therefore to permit me to approach the blessed body, for I am not worthy to touch even the garment with which she is clothed. And when she had approached the blessed body and touched her garment, immediately her eyes were opened, and her withered hand was restored to its proper form.

[16] Recognizing therefore the power of God, they buried her in that very place. The venerable Lucerius prepared so much from his own goods that all were satisfied and each one returned to his own home. And when the venerable Lucerius was weighed down by infirmities, he turned his eyes to the wall and prayed confidently: Lucerius, summoned by a heavenly voice, dies. Lord God, you know how I have walked in the way of truth; grant refreshment to my soul, and permit me to build a cell over her. Then the voice of the Lord spoke to him, saying: Lucerius, you are about to depart, and your reward is with you; afterward a man, a ruler of the Church, will come who will build over her: then your brightness shall appear in the heavens, which you have prepared on earth by your works. This handmaid of God lived forty-eight years. She died in peace on the fourth day before the Kalends of February, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory, power and dominion, forever and ever, Amen.