ON SS. IRENAEUS THE DEACON, MUSTIOLA THE MATRON, AND OTHER MARTYRS,
AT CHIUSI IN ETRURIA.
A.D. 275.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
On the Acts, the age, the memory in the calendars, and the cult.
Irenaeus, Deacon and Martyr, at Chiusi in Etruria (S.)
Mustiola, Martyr, at Chiusi in Etruria (S.)
Their Companion Martyrs, at Chiusi in Etruria
BY THE AUTHOR J. B. S.
The Acts of these Martyrs Papebroch deservedly praised on the twenty-third of June, illustrating there in a few words their earlier part, which pertains to St. Felix the presbyter. As presidial, sincere, and select, Ruinart did not acknowledge them, The Acts are next to sincere, who in his collection made no mention of them. Nor do Tillemont or other critics admit them as authentic or free from blemishes: nevertheless they praise them, as written in a grave and modest style, clothed with no incredible circumstances; ancient and sufficiently sound, so as to merit some measure of credit. Nay, a great measure, since in them, examined, so to speak, by fire, almost nothing has been found that might be greatly reprehended. Yet we are compelled to confess that they are not primitive, that is, written by an eyewitness, as at least the epilogue shows, framed in this phrase: Where his prayers flourish even to this present day, etc.; whence you may easily gather that the writer treats of things long since done, the notice of which he received from others, unless perhaps someone augmented and interpolated more ancient Acts with such a conclusion and with other things.
[2] they seem able to be exempted from censure. That this has happened more than once, while the Church enjoyed peace under the Christian Emperors, we hold as ascertained, perhaps in the fifth or sixth century, although for the rest I have long wondered that it escaped the diligence of Bede, Florus, and Ado, who gathered the Acts of so many other Martyrs, as I observed not obscurely on Usuard. Concerning the age of our Martyrs Papebroch disputes, and thinks that they suffered not under Aurelian, but under Valerian and Gallienus. But he did not sufficiently notice, I think, that St. Mustiola is distinctly called the cousin of the Emperor Claudius, who, since he is later than Valerian and Gallienus, would require an anachronism by no means necessary. Nor does the other difficulty press so heavily, drawn from the prefectorial dignity, on the occasion of which he there learnedly inquires into other matters: for Turcius is not said to have been prefect of the City, but that this dignity was given to him for a time as a Vicar, that he might afflict the Christians in Etruria. In the title of Vicar Tillemont finds another scruple, volume 4, page 682, but how easily can the harmless prolepsis be excused.
[3] For the rest, among the classical Martyrologists, of the aforesaid St. Felix and of the two of this day, The Saints first marked by Usuard. the first to make mention was the praised Usuard, whom his whole progeny followed, except two notable codices, on whose account I have opened my mind clearly enough on Usuard. But whether the aforesaid Saints are truly Usuardine, or came to Usuard from elsewhere, they are announced in the modern Roman Martyrology almost in his phrase: At Chiusi in Etruria, of the holy martyrs Irenaeus the deacon and Mustiola the matron, who under the Emperor Aurelian, tormented with divers and atrocious punishments, merited the crown of martyrdom. I know not whence it became known to the author of the manuscript additions of the Carthusians of Brussels to Greven, that Mustiola the virgin was called by another name Dulcissima—or was it because she drew her name from must (musto)? Especially to be noted is the text of Galesinius, who makes a virgin out of a matron: At Chiusi in Etruria, of the holy martyrs Irenaeus the deacon and Mustiola the virgin. She, inflamed with zeal for Christian piety, because she supplied food to those who were in chains for Christ, was so sharply beaten with leaden rods, under the Emperor Aurelian, that she rendered up her soul to God: he, because he had buried the body of Felix the presbyter and martyr, was torn with iron claws, then scorched with torches, and passed to Christ with an ardent confession of faith. There is no need to relate the other more recent Martyrologists; for either they copy Usuard, or they involve the matter rather than explain it.
[4] Among these is to be numbered Ferrari, calling upon the monuments of the Church of Chiusi and I know not what other manuscripts, Mustiola was a matron, not a virgin. from which he substituted another summary of her life, other Acts, for those which he had read in Surius; observing in his annotation that the Roman Martyrology makes Mustiola a matron, not a virgin, following Usuard—why not the most ancient Acts themselves, both in manuscript and as published by the praised Surius? But some manuscripts, he says, hold her a virgin: as such the Church of Chiusi, of Siena, and elsewhere where she is venerated, revere her. I have already said that by those contrary writings of the more recent authors the sacred histories are involved rather than illustrated. That those Acts which were the guide of Usuard are far more ancient, and which Baronius followed in the present Roman Martyrology and in his Annals under the year 275, I hold as most persuasively established; from which accordingly I shall not be moved by Galesinius, Ferrari, or any others whatsoever, unless they produce monuments evidently more sincere than these of ours, which have been received for so many centuries. We therefore judge our holy Mustiola to have been a matron, not a virgin, whose Acts, and those of St. Felix the presbyter and St. Irenaeus, we shall presently subjoin entire.
[5] We have the manuscripts themselves, unearthed by Rosweyd from the codex of St. Salvator of Utrecht, The Acts are given from the Utrecht manuscript. and from another of Trier, of the illustrious monastery of St. Maximin, which differ moderately among themselves. Whence Surius obtained them, he does not explain distinctly enough: for the rest, he prefixed this title to those he published: The Martyrdom of Felix the presbyter, Irenaeus the deacon, Mustiola the most noble matron, and others, as it is had in excellent manuscript books, but for the reader's sake Brother Laurence Surius changed the style. How little that liberty of Surius is approved by us, is sufficiently explained elsewhere; I have chosen from among them the Utrecht manuscript, and compared it with the St. Maximin codex and the edition of Surius, noting the discrepancies which seemed of at least some moment. In all there appears that simplicity of style and that candid gravity in narrating things, that, if a few blemishes were absent, they would come very close to the presidial Acts. The prelate of Equilium, Peter, saw them too, and abridged them not badly; but it is better, as I promised, to represent them entire and uncorrupted, when first I shall have indicated what things pertaining to the glory of St. Mustiola I have here found in manuscript.
[6] The cult of St. Mustiola at Pesaro, on account of a victory won. After the lections on the life of St. Michelina, sent to Bollandus and printed on the nineteenth of June, it was read in Italian that a certain Pandolfo Malatesta, lord of Pesaro, in the year 1324, having attacked the people of Urbino, was repulsed by them, not without slaughter: but that these, using their victory, a few days after, by a secret assault, through the sea-gate penetrated as far as the market-place of Pesaro. But then the citizens, kindled with incredible ardor, repulsed the hostile enemy, cast him out of the city, with very many of them slain, with whom they filled a well, thence called the well of the Despoiled of Urbino (del sacco). The city, afterward, freed from so great a peril, willed that day to be forever solemn, with the celebration of the feast of St. Mustiola, on which day it had obtained so great a victory; on which account the shoulder-bone of the holy Martyr is there honored in the temple of St. Cassian. The authentic memory of this matter is exhibited by the Latin statutes of Pesaro, book 1, Rubric 3, on the feast of St. Mustia (so I judge she is there called) to be celebrated every year. Thus the text runs: Likewise it is decreed, that the feast of St. Mustia ought to be celebrated solemnly and kept, under penalty and ban upon anyone acting contrary. Provided in the statute concerning the Lord's day. And that the Podestà on the said day be bound to go to honor the feast, with all the officials and the general council, with one pallium and one wax-candle: and the said offerings ought to be spent and converted to the adornment (concio) of the aforesaid church, by those elected over the offerings of the greater church of Pesaro. The Italians call pallia the cloths given as a prize or gift. By concio understand the adornment.
[7] On ancient Chiusi. Of the city of Chiusi we have said nothing here; let Ughelli be seen, volume 3, columns 665 and 666, proclaiming its antiquity, its ancient wealth and power; by which it is said to have flourished up to the year 458 from the founding of the city of Rome, with which for some time it contended over boundaries and the extension of empire: but afterward, agitated by various vicissitudes, today, by a notable example of changing fortune, from a most opulent city, and once the queen of that whole province, it has been reduced within narrow and almost desolate walls, to two thousand inhabitants. See there more; this makes especially to our purpose, that St. Irenaeus rests in the cathedral church, but St. Mustiola the faithful venerate not far from the city, laid in a marble ark, in a temple dedicated to her name. Ughelli mentions there also, adjacent to the temple of the same St. Mustiola, a celebrated provostship of Canons regular, which by chance had also been an abbey, of which the same Ughelli makes mention, volume 2, column 952, now changed into a monastery of the Franciscans of the observance, where many sepulchers of ancient Christians have been dug up. Then indeed, column 673, The veneration of both Saints. in the times of Bishop Artaldus, in the eighth century, he mentions that the temple of St. Mustiola was set up by Gregory and Aresibutus, citizens of Chiusi. The time, he says, and the pious deed, most ancient verses exhibit, there inscribed on a marble tablet, which Giovanni Battista Piccolomini, of illustrious memory, Bishop of Chiusi, our friend, transmitted to me. The verses are:
Noble, thou shinest, revived, O vast fabric of the temple. The excellent offspring adorned thy heights beautifully, Gregory, radiant in life, pious, apt in every place, This work they wrought in the time of King Liutprand. By a path right enough Ariadus prevails on high; Let Mustiola go before, thou after in the joys; Let Celsus everywhere grant prosperity to his own by their prayers, Soon shall it be given peacefully, if he has doubted nothing, wandering— O Martyr, kind, be mindful of poor little Arisebutus.
[8] We read besides, says the praised Ughelli there, at the marble tomb of the same Saint, Metrical elogia very rude. placed in that temple, these acrostic verses:
Ughelli further advises that he read of St. Mustiola Acts far different from those which are commonly circulated, in a most ancient membrane codex of the abbey of St. Salvator of Monte Amiata. These would please more than the unpolished little verses; but since we lack any others besides the common ones, these must now be exhibited.
THE PASSION
From manuscripts collated with the edition of Surius.
Irenaeus, Deacon and Martyr, at Chiusi in Etruria (S.)
Mustiola, Martyr, at Chiusi in Etruria (S.)
Their Companion Martyrs, at Chiusi in Etruria. BHL Number: 4456
In the times of Aurelian a Augustus a savage persecution arose against the Christians, and when he had understood that the Tuscan city b flourished in the Christian religion, St. Felix comforting the Christians, so great a greed seized Aurelian Augustus, that he directed a certain Vicar named Turcius c, having given him prefectorial dignity, to the examination of the Christians. Now Turcius, coming into a certain city named Falisca d, began to seek out the Christians. Meanwhile, when an inquisition had been made in that same city, it happened that in that region a Christian was found, named Felix, who, hearing that a persecutor had come, began to gather the Christians and to comfort them, saying: Parents and brothers and children, let not this mist trouble you, for it is brief, but the perpetual darkness is to be feared. Stand and fight manfully, for better is one day in the courts of the Lord above thousands of gold and silver. Turcius the prefect, hearing the fame of blessed Felix, seized him and consigned him to custody.
[2] And so, rising on the next day, he ordered a tribunal to be prepared for him in the city of Falisca, and the presbyter
Felix to be presented to him; he is seized by Turcius and put to martyrdom. whom he thus interrogates, saying: What is your name? He answered: I am called Felix. And so Turcius said: What warfare do you follow? Felix the presbyter answered: Though a sinner, yet a presbyter of Christ. Turcius said: Why do you make conventicles in divers places and seduce the people, that they may not believe in the gods and sacrifice according to the ancient ordinance and the command e of the Princes? Felix the presbyter answered: And what is our life, save that we may preach our Lord Jesus Christ and rescue the people from the uncleanness of the idols, that each one may enjoy life eternal? Turcius says to him: What is eternal life? Felix the presbyter answered: That God the Father be feared and worshiped, and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Then Turcius, angered, ordered his mouth to be crushed with a stone, saying: Batter him who seduces the people. And when he had long been beaten, he gave up his spirit; whose body he ordered to be cast into the street, which a certain Deacon gathered up and buried near the walls of the city f on the ninth day before the Kalends of July.
[3] Turcius, hearing this deed, that Irenaeus the deacon had buried the body of Felix the presbyter, Then Irenaeus, led to Chiusi, sent and seized Irenaeus the deacon, and went thence into the city of Eusina g of Tuscia, and led him bound with iron chains before his carriage on bare feet. And coming into the city of Eusina, he sat in it for many days; but Irenaeus the deacon he shut up in prison, and began to make inquisition concerning the Christians. Mustiola the most Christian matron, hearing these things, that many Christians were shut up in prison, came by night and gave money to the keepers of the prisons, and entering, consoled them, and washed their feet and anointed those who were wounded from the chains, and by night ministered to all victuals and covering. Then came a certain man, Torquatus by name, to Turcius and made him a suggestion, saying: A most noble matron, a cousin of Claudius, named Mustiola, ceases not from the custody of the prison day and night to comfort the accused with her persuasions.
[4] where Mustiola, consoler of the bound, Turcius was vehemently angered, and because he had heard that she was of the family of the Emperor Claudius, he sent and seized her, and ordered her to be presented to him. When he had seen her, he began to marvel at her beauty, and coming into the house of Mustiola, he began to inquire concerning her nobility. Then holy Mustiola, fervent in the Holy Spirit, answered him: Our nobility is not from the splendor of abundance, but from the humility of the holy Christians. Turcius says to her: And why do you not answer according to the examples of your parents? Holy Mustiola answered and said: Because they, being ignorant, perished, at the devil's persuading, and me, a humble one, our Lord Jesus Christ has deigned to call to the heavenly kingdoms, and not only me, but all who hope in Him.
[5] she answers the governor nobly, Turcius said to her: Use my counsel, and do not throw away your most noble birth. Mustiola says to him: If you knew the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, you would not throw away the eternal light. Turcius says to her: What is the eternal light? Holy Mustiola answered: The Spirit and the power. Turcius said: What is this madness of life, that you should so frequently go in to the bound, and enjoy their friendships with affection? St. Mustiola answered and said: For the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whose love they too endure the chains of the prison. Turcius said: Lay aside this madness and hear me, and do not neglect or deride the precepts of the Princes. The holy one answered: What are the precepts of your princes? To whom Turcius said: These are the precepts, that you sacrifice and live, and enjoy your riches. The holy one answered and said: You have blasphemed foolishly.
[6] Hearing this, Turcius ordered the heads of all the Saints who were in prison to be cut off, at last crowned together with Irenaeus. and Blessed Irenaeus the deacon to be hung upon the rack. To whom, in the voice of a herald, he thus spoke: Sacrifice to the gods. Irenaeus said: As I see, you are estranged and made mad, that you say things which are not fitting. Turcius, filled with fury, ordered his sides to be scraped with claws and set to the flames. Irenaeus cried out, saying: I give thanks to you, Lord Jesus Christ, that I have merited to enter before your face; and saying these things he gave up his spirit in the sight of Mustiola, which holy Mustiola, seeing, said to Turcius: Wretch, why do you butcher the blood of the innocent? They indeed pass to glory, but you shall have your dwelling in eternal fire. Hearing these things, Turcius condemned her by a written sentence h, and in his own sight caused blessed Mustiola to expire under the blows of leaden scourges: who, when she was most grievously beaten, delivered up a worthy spirit to God on the fifth day before the Nones of July, whose body a servant of God, named Marcus, gathered up and buried near the walls of the city of Eusina, where her prayers flourish even to this present day, and i miracles, through Christ our Lord.