CONCERNING THE HOLY MARTYRS SATURNINUS, THYRSUS, VICTOR, THARSICIUS, ZOTICUS, AMMONIUS, CYRIACUS, GEMINUS, GELASIUS, HIPPOLYTUS, URSINUS, PELIANUS, AND OTHERS, AT ALEXANDRIA AND ELSEWHERE.
CommentarySaturninus, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Thyrsus, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Victor, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Tharsicius, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Zoticus, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Ammonius, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Cyriacus, Martyr elsewhere (S.) Geminus, Martyr elsewhere (S.) Gelasius, Martyr at Alexandria or elsewhere (S.) Hippolytus, Martyr elsewhere (S.) Ursinus, Martyr elsewhere (S.) Pelianus, Martyr at Alexandria (S.) Other Martyrs at Alexandria and elsewhere
[1] It is difficult, when Acts are lacking, to establish with certain faith the feast days of holy Martyrs, when the place where they attained the palm is frequently either omitted or incorrectly expressed by scribes, or when several are rashly reduced to one; when companions are now omitted, now taken from elsewhere through neglected punctuation, They are commemorated in the sacred Calendars, SS. or wrongly repeated through the similarity of names. Since all these considerations weighed upon our minds, we did not even have enough that was clear to form a conjecture. We shall present the words of the Martyrologies, so that if anyone discovers something more certain, he may inform us.
[2] Saturninus, Thyrsus, Victor, Only Saturninus, Thyrsus, and Victor are commemorated in very many MSS. and printed editions. Thus very many hand-written copies of Usuard and those published in print, likewise Bellinus of Padua, Canisius in the first edition, Constantius Felicius, Maurolycus, and the MS. Florarium: "Likewise at Alexandria, of the holy Martyrs Saturninus, Thyrsus, and Victor." Very many MSS. of Usuard and those bearing the name of Bede add, as does the Cologne Martyrology: "whose acts are extant." Would that we had them! Ado, the published Bede, and certain MSS. omit the place: "Likewise of SS. Saturninus, Thyrsus, and Victor." So also Wandelbert:
"Saturninus, your distinguished trophy, and that of Thyrsus, And of Victor as well, mark the close of January's course."
The Roman Martyrology contains these same.
[3] Others add Tharsicius, Zoticus, and Ammonius. The published Bede: Tharsicius, Zoticus, Ammonius, "And the natalis of SS. Tarsus (in the printed text it reads 'Rarsus'), Zoticus, Ammoninus, and Publius." Concerning Publius, more shortly and separately. The MS. of S. Mary at Utrecht: "On the same day, of Tharsicius, Ammonius, and Zoticus." The Carthusian of Cologne: "of Tharsicius, Zoticus, and Ammonius." Others express the place. Rabanus: "At Alexandria, of Tharsicius, Zoticus, and Ammoninus." The MS. of S. Maximin has the same, except that it reads "Tarseus" for "Tharsicus." The MSS. of S. Martin at Tournai and of Laetium: "At Alexandria, of Thyrsicus, Zoticus, and Ammonius."
[4] The Roman Martyrology joins Cyriacus to these, and other unnamed companions: Cyriacus, "In the same city (of Alexandria), of the holy Martyrs Tharsicius, Zoticus, Cyriacus, and their companions"—whom Baronius acknowledges he restored from the most ancient Martyrology of the monastery of S. Cyriacus in Thermis. The same, and the rest except Pelianus, were presented to us by the most ancient MS. Martyrology of S. Jerome, but assigning some to another place: "At Alexandria, the natalis of Tharsucius, Zoticus, Ammonicus. Geminus, Gelasius, Hippolytus, Ursinus, And elsewhere, of Commomus, Cyriacus, Geminus, Gelasius, Eppolitus, Ursinus." What "Commomus" means is not entirely clear to us. Perhaps this Eppolitus is the Hippolytus of whom we treated from the same Martyrology and others on 30 January? The Brussels Martyrology also has Gelasius, in these words: "And of Gelasius the Bishop." But the Carthusians of Cologne in the additions to Usuard: "Likewise, of Publius, Gelasius, Hippolytus, and Julius, Confessors." In a certain copy of the additions of the Carthusians of Cologne to Usuard, we found inscribed in the margin by someone: "and of Ursina and others." This is perhaps the Ursinus mentioned in the MS. of S. Jerome.
[5] Galesinius adds Pelianus, and following him, Canisius in the second edition and Ghinius: Pelianus. "On this very day, in the same city (of Alexandria), of the holy Martyrs Saturninus, Thyrsicus, Gelasius, Thyrsus, and Pelianus: who, men of the clerical order, variously and grievously tortured in the persecution of Decius, with their spirits confirmed in a wondrous manner in the confession of the faith, were granted the heavenly crown." In his Notes he acknowledges that he received these names partly from MS. documents and partly from Bede and Usuard. Whether he learned the time of their martyrdom and the profession of their sacred ministry from those same documents, or divined them by some reasoning, we do not know. That a certain Pellianus, or Pellicanus, is recorded by others on 30 January, but as having suffered in Africa, and different (as we believe) from this one, we stated there when we treated of SS. Felicianus, Philippianus, and their companions.