ON ST. ROMULUS THE BISHOP,
AND HIS COMPANIONS MARCHITIANUS, CRESCENTIUS, DULCISSIMUS AND CARISSIMUS,
MARTYRS, AT FIESOLE AND VOLTERRA IN ETRURIA.
FIRST CENTURY.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Romulus, Martyr, in Tuscany (S.)
The Companion Martyrs, in Tuscany (SS.)
By the Author C. J.
§ I. The various Acts. The ancient cult. The episcopate of Romulus.
That St. Romulus was a disciple of St. Peter the Apostle, and by him ordained first bishop of Fiesole, and sent from Rome to Fiesole to preach there the evangelical doctrine to the nations, is commonly the opinion of writers after St. Antoninus of Florence: The various Acts of St. Romulus, Franciscus Cataneus Diaccetius, bishop of Fiesole, in the Life of St. Romulus, published in Italian at Florence in the year 1578; Scipio Ammirato among the bishops of Fiesole, printed there in 1637; Philippus Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy; Placidus Puccinellus in the life of Bl. Andrea Scoti, printed at Milan 1645; Ughelli in Italia Sacra, and others who treat of St. Romulus.
[2] It is fitting to consult more ancient monuments concerning matters of such antiquity and doubt. We have various manuscript Acts of St. Romulus, of which those that seem the oldest were transcribed for us from a parchment Passional manuscript of the monastery of Bödeken, of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, in the diocese of Paderborn, containing the month of July; and they begin: There was in the Roman city a certain man, from the Bödeken manuscript codex, by name Argoltus, having a daughter, who was called Lucerna. When in the course of time she had come to the marriageable years of age, a servant of her father, by name Cyros, of quite comely appearance, was vehemently inflamed in love of her, and at length, having gained his wishes, ravished her. Of whom was born, as is there said, Romulus, who by the command of an Angel was exposed as an infant in a wood outside the Roman gates, and there was nursed by a she-wolf; in nearly the same manner as Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.
[3] Acts similar to these, in manuscript and indeed twofold, are held in the Strozzi library at Florence; from a twofold Strozzi codex, the one in a codex marked no. 5, the other no. 11. The former agree from the very beginning with the Bödeken; the latter have contracted the whole beginning into fewer words with this opening of the pages: When the blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, desiring to increase the Church committed to him, had come to Rome by divine revelation, and there had sustained various tribulations from the worshippers of idols for the name of Christ; and when his fame, by the power of miracles, had grown on every side, together with a throng of believers; the blessed Romulus, sprung of a certain noble lineage of the Romans, already bereft of both parents, still a youth of small age, yet held in the error of unbelief, upon seeing and hearing so many signs of miracles, clave to the most blessed Peter, and asked to be baptized by him: whom Justinus the presbyter, by the command of the Apostle, catechized in the accustomed manner and baptized by a threefold immersion in the name of the holy and undivided Trinity. But blessed Peter, made the father of his reception, raised him from the sacred font of baptism.
[4] from the Fiesole codex, This second Strozzi Life is in all respects similar to that which the learned man Franciscus Maria Florentinius of Lucca, having received it in the year 1655 from a parchment codex of the Cathedral church of Fiesole, inserted into his Origins of Etruscan Piety; which posthumous work his son Mario Florentinius—a son worthy of such a father—published at Lucca in the year 1701. Now as this Life of the Fiesole codex agrees at the beginning with the second Strozzi, so both agree in their progress with the first Strozzi and the Bödeken, except the openings, which here are shorter; yet they are recognized to be contracted from the longer openings of the other Lives, all those things being passed over which most manifestly convict the first author of fiction and falsity, and which, known as such by his followers, were on that account cut away, lest the reader should hold the whole Life, from its feigned beginning, suspect of fiction. Which suspicion, nevertheless, even with the beginning of the Life changed, can remain in the minds of the more prudent concerning the rest; who will judge that the things which were begun by a manifest fabulist are not ended without fables.
[5] from the Naples codex, The remaining Lives which we have in manuscript are not so much Lives as panegyrics, delivered in oration in the 15th century. One such was sent to us by P. Antonius Beatillus at Naples in the year 1640, under this title, The Nativity of St. Romulus, bishop of Fiesole. And immediately follow these verses:
Standard-bearer of the eternal King, hear us, O Romulus, And guard together this thy people, O Holy One. By the powers of the Thunderer-King, we all believe, And by thy merits, thou now enjoyest God by his mercy. Wherefore we ask, that the gate of heaven, By thy holy prayers, may be opened for us. Suffer us not, we beg, to go into gloomy Orcus, O prelate of God and venerable Father. But those whom sin drives from paradise, May thy kindly deeds lead thither.
Whether these verses, such as they are, be the Orator's own, or set before by another, I indeed know not, nor does it matter to know. The panegyric begins thus: We know, most dear Brethren, that as often as we celebrate the natal day of the Saints unto the honor of Christ, whose precept they followed, we do not augment their joys or honors, but help ourselves. For they possess full and perfect joy in Christ, with whom they reign; as he himself promised in the Gospel, saying,
saying: I will, Father, that where I am, there also may my minister be.
[6] Another panegyric was pointed out to me not long ago by the very reverend Father Dominicus Maria Sandrini, of the Order of Preachers, from the Florentine codex of St. Mark, writer of the Ecclesiastical History of Florence, saying that it is preserved in his library of the Convent of St. Mark, delivered to the people by Master Simon de Bertis, of the same Order, in the year 1430. He died, as is read in the Dominican Library of Altamura, in the year 1491; so that he must have recited his panegyric while quite young. Now he recited it at Florence, of which city too he makes St. Romulus the bishop; but the other panegyric is recognized to have been recited at Fiesole. Neither can teach anything new that pertains to history: both teach that in the 15th century the cult of St. Romulus was more celebrated, both at Fiesole and at Florence.
[7] The church of Bamberg in Franconia, in its Breviary from the Bamberg codex, printed at Dillingen in the year 1575, celebrates on 19 April the feast of the holy martyrs Dulcissimus and Carissimus, and recites concerning them proper Lessons, extracted, as it appears, from the longer Acts of St. Romulus and his Companions, insofar as in these there is discourse concerning the aforesaid Dulcissimus and Carissimus. But why the people of Bamberg venerate these two singly, apart from St. Romulus or the other Companions, and why on 19 April, I wished to investigate; and I wrote to the reverend Father Adam Heidt, Rector of the College of our Society in that place; who, by himself and by his own, upon the questions proposed by me, after a diligent inquiry made at the distinguished Chapter of the Cathedral church, gave a response, which I shall more conveniently explain in the following section, here only observing that the Lessons of the Bamberg breviary, and the brief manuscript Acts from which those were composed, which we too formerly had, can bring no aid to the truth of the history. Nor can the Acts printed by St. Antoninus, by Franciscus Cattaneus, by Silvanus Razzi, by others, bring anything further. For all are drawn from the more ancient Acts, which we give.
[8] These things concerning the various Acts of St. Romulus and his Companions had to be noted beforehand, that the antiquity and authority of them might more easily be discerned. The antiquity of the Acts Of all the Lives hitherto enumerated, therefore, let the oldest—as it is the fullest—be that which, in nn. 2 and 3, we indicated from the Bödeken codex and the other Strozzi. But when they were first written is another inquiry. The style is not ancient, but rather savors of the 11th or 12th century, when many writings of this kind concerning ancient Saints are known to have been collected from tradition of whatever sort or from the obscure memory of the common people, of whom otherwise no mention exists among the more ancient writers: as recently, that is, on the preceding day, we also saw in St. Stephen, whom the people of Reggio in Calabria believe to have been made the first bishop of their city, consecrated by St. Paul the Apostle. Hitherto certainly no writer has been found by me, nor cited by others, so far as I know, who, making mention of St. Romulus, is older than the 11th century, except that the church of St. Romulus is named in the privilege of Zenobius II, bishop of Fiesole, given in the year 966, in Ughelli. To none certainly of the Martyrologists, who before that time gathered their Saints from every quarter, is our St. Romulus known: which surely would be a wonder, if any Acts of his had existed in their time.
[9] Add that in the Acts themselves the city of Volterra is named Antonia, not great. just as it is also named in the Acts of Saints Justus and Clement, Patrons of Volterra, which you will find illustrated on 5 May of ours; and from this very head, that Volterra is there called Antonia, you will see it proved that the Acts themselves were not written before the 11th century (because that name Antonia for Volterra was more recently introduced, unknown to all antiquity), although otherwise they were commonly believed to be very ancient. Indeed, from the same head, the Acts of St. Romulus seem to have been compiled about the same time as the Acts of Saints Justus and Clement of Volterra, whose city is not far distant from Fiesole: so that by a common zeal each city at the same time thought the deeds of its Patron Saints, which until then were popularly narrated, ought to be consigned to writing; and they collected (as often happened in those times) those things which would be more to the admiration of the readers than resting on sure report agreeably to truth.
[10] The more recent [writers, who did not mention Romulus,] After such a Life of St. Romulus was published, others and others were successively extracted from it, such as we indicated above: and all are shorter, those narrations being cut away which could appear the more fabulous to anyone. Antoninus certainly, already cited, in his compendium of the Acts of Romulus scarcely touched any of those things which at first glance are recognized to be fictitious: but the rest, which he contracted, he so chastened that of themselves they can seem not to be feigned. But from such compendia, the fiction or veracity of the first Acts cannot be judged. After the age of St. Antoninus, the biographers and Martyrologists who next followed—Boninus Mombritius, Peter of Natalibus, Belinus of Padua, Franciscus Maurolicus, Joannes Molanus—made no mention as yet of Romulus, much less of the Companions.
[11] others who did mention them Yet mention was made, perhaps while Antoninus himself was living, by the Florentine manuscript codices, the one Medicean, the other Strozzi, indeed also the printed Martyrology of the year 1486, in the private additions to the Martyrology of Usuard, in this manner: In Tuscany, at Fiesole, the Passion of Saint Romulus, bishop and martyr of that city, and of his companions, namely Carissimus, Marchitianus, Crescentius, and Dulcissimus, who had been disciples of the blessed Apostle Peter, and were sent by him to that same city to preach the word of God. The Strozzi Codex continues: Now the aforesaid Saint Romulus, and, indeed, Galesinius at greater length, consecrated bishop of the aforesaid city by St. Peter, together with his Companions under the tyrant Repertianus, sustaining grievous and horrible torments, and at length suffering death for the name of Christ, obtained the crown of martyrdom, and were buried there at the foot of the mountain on which the aforesaid city of Fiesole is situated.
[12] About the same time a certain Anonymous writer noted and from him the Roman Martyrology in our manuscript Florarium these few words on 6 July: In Tuscany, of Romulus, bishop and martyr. A little after, the Carthusians of Cologne in their additions to Usuard noted somewhat more: In Tuscany, of Romulus, bishop and martyr, disciple of the blessed Peter; of Marcianus and others. Then Peter Galesinius, who had seen the first Acts, or those contracted from them by St. Antoninus, wove thence a more prolix elogium: At Fiesole in Etruria, St. Romulus, bishop and martyr. He, a disciple of the blessed Peter prince of the apostles, first of Fiesole, third bishop of Bergamo, imbued the Fiesolans with the sacred things of Christ; then, having disseminated the Gospel at Brescia and other places, and by things done divinely and wonderfully, when he had converted a great multitude of men to the faith, at the admonition of an Angel he returned to Fiesole; where, for the glory of Christ, under the Emperor Domitian, he was crowned with martyrdom. From Galesinius the same Saint flowed into the Roman Martyrology with a more contracted elogium: At Fiesole in Tuscany, of Saint Romulus, bishop and martyr, disciple of the blessed Apostle Peter, who, sent by the same to preach the Gospel, when he had announced Christ in many places of Italy, returning to Fiesole, under the prince Domitian was crowned with martyrdom together with other companions.
[13] All these things, although they do not augment the authority of the first Acts from which they are taken, nevertheless prove that from time immemorial a public cult was rendered to St. Romulus. The ancient cult of Romulus and his churches, And that this was done in the most ancient times is taught by the churches formerly dedicated under his invocation. For Zenobius, second of his name, bishop of Fiesole, in his Precept charter in Ughelli, volume 3, column 276, says which already in the year 966 that in the year 966 he came into the church of Saint Romulus the confessor, where his most holy body rests buried; which church was then desolate and laid in ruins. From which it can be gathered that it was founded some centuries before. It survived, however, still in that place, perhaps repaired by Zenobius himself, until the times of Jacobus Bavarus, bishop of the same See, and the year of Christ 1028, when he transferred it, together with the episcopal See (for it was the cathedral) and the body of St. Romulus, into the city, substituting in the former place the monastery of St. Bartholomew.
[14] It will be worth the while to subjoin the Precept of the Bishop, which Ughelli in column 288 described in full, and in 1028 they threatened ruin. insofar as it pertains hither. In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand and twenty-eight… I, Jacobus, bishop of the church of Fiesole, … with all my intention and studious labor turned toward repairing the honor of my church, as if already lost and despaired of; I attended to the salvation of souls; since, as is manifest by true reasoning, trodden underfoot outside by wicked men, and within befouled by neglectful squalor, it remained uncultivated by the order of the clergy. For the episcopate was far from the aforesaid town, and, by the difficulty of the journey, along the side of a sloping mountain, was rarely frequented by the clergy. In this church, indeed, the body of the blessed Romulus the martyr, with many other martyrs and confessors, was resting. I therefore decreed with myself, and having first taken the counsel of prudent men, with the Lord's help, I set my church in order within, and, removing the seat of the episcopate from the place in which the holy body of the aforesaid martyr had been, with the clergy and laity willing, I placed the cathedra of the episcopate within the city of Fiesole, together with the sacred body of the aforesaid martyr.
[15] And let these things suffice for proving the cult of our Saint, even the most ancient: not likewise for proving the truth of the Acts; in which, since many things are certainly fabricated, others most uncertain, inasmuch as they were first compiled a thousand years after the martyrdom, Whether Romulus was ordained Bishop by St. Peter, you would scarcely find in them anything that can prudently be believed to be true, except perhaps a few things which could more easily be propagated by tradition to posterity in those places where they were done. Such are: that Romulus with some companions was crowned with martyrdom at Fiesole, and there obtained burial at the foot of the mountain. But could it so easily be known by tradition, after a thousand years, which Roman Pontiff ordained Romulus Bishop and sent him to preach the Gospel? The Acts indeed attribute this to St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles: but they also attribute to the same other things which are certainly false. I, that I may believe that first to be true, nevertheless will not believe it on the authority of the Acts: which likewise assert that the same Romulus, born of rape, at the admonition of an Angel exposed in a wood near Rome, there nursed by a she-wolf, and taken by St. Peter, in the reign of Nero, in a solemn hunt together with his nurse the she-wolf (after Romulus had spent three hundred days with her), etc. Whoever believes these things from the Acts, let him also believe, from the same source if he please, that the same Romulus, lately an infant of three hundred days, was ordained bishop for the church of Fiesole by the same Peter, while he was still living at Rome. No one man has fixed the dwelling of Peter the Apostle
at Rome beyond 25 years; but from the beginning of the Neronian reign, under which Romulus is said to have been born, Peter did not survive more than 13 years. Within these 13 years, therefore, it would be necessary that Romulus was both born and ordained bishop; if he was ordained by Peter the Apostle.
[16] and indeed for some determinate church. That Romulus, nevertheless, was a bishop when he was sent to disseminate the word of God, is altogether credible, by whatever Roman Pontiff he was at length sent. But whether he was ordained bishop for some determinate church may rightly be doubted. For both the people of Volterra and of Florence, and of Pergo or Bergamo in Insubria, equally as the Fiesolans, make the same Romulus their bishop; for no other cause, indeed, than that he is read to have preached the faith in those cities. And how could Romulus be singly ordained bishop for any one of those churches, where there was then no church; seeing that he, with his own companions, is said to have been the first sent from Rome to the conversion of those nations, and indeed by St. Peter the Apostle? Whence the Fiesolans do not seem to make Romulus their first bishop by a better right—as though ordained for their church only—than the rest of the cities which I have named; unless perhaps because he lived last at Fiesole, and there died by martyrdom. But these things must be ascribed to chance. He could have closed his last day at Volterra, at Florence, at Bergamo, or elsewhere than at Fiesole. Nor indeed can the death of a bishop, met in a certain place, bring it about that he be reckoned the proper bishop of that place from his ordination.
[17] The quality of the Acts What now must be done concerning the first and entire Acts, I can scarcely resolve. Should I give them as they are, or by compendium? It can turn to the discredit of the Acta Sanctorum, if I give them entire. If I do not give them, the truth cannot be known. But for the sake of this we both illustrate our Acta Sanctorum, and the truth ought not to be an offense to readers, even to those whose interest here is greatest. Let us therefore give those Acts, which hitherto have not been printed, that anyone may from them judge for himself of the author's genius and of the compendia of others: They are from the beginning mere fables. Who would presume better things of what follows? Where [are] so many names unknown to the Romans of that time: so many miracles, done in nearly the same manner in various places: so many prayers poured out by the Saint to God for the healing of the sick; which could scarcely have been known by a contemporary writer. Finally, where there is narrated at the end the prodigy of the well, which ministered good water to the Christians, but blood to the pagans, after a certain maidservant, drawing thence, had denied water to Romulus passing that way to the place of martyrdom and asking for it, out of fear of the guards.
[18] A Religious man, learned and a collector of the ecclesiastical history of Florence, wrote to me on that matter also from the judgment of a Florentine annalist. in the year 1711, that he approved little of the most ancient Acts of St. Romulus. We have, he says, very many Acts, and those which are older are in the Laurentian library, which teem with many faults, similar to those which in the matter of St. Justus of Volterra you corrected excellently. These too put "Antonia" for the city of Volterra; and the like things which they exhibit prove the work to have been drawn up after the year one thousand: from this autograph later writers took their own, and put down similar things concerning the holy Martyr. The event of the water of the well turned into wine (is it so read in the Laurentian manuscript codex? All of ours have that the water of the well was turned into blood, but only for the pagans who drank, not for the Christians) I reckon little secure, although the well is still inspected in the cathedral of Fiesole; but in the first nine and ten centuries, before that church was built on the mountain, it lay unknown, approved by no monument of ancient veneration or sign. Therefore the opinion of such a miracle, which is now held for truth, first flowed from the genius of him who first feigned the Acts, a thousand and more years after the martyrdom of the Saint.
[20] The same Religious man in the same letter of his noted for me the following: When the Life was written, and by whom. I found in an ancient manuscript codex of Senator Carlo Strozzi, that among the writers of the Life of St. Romulus was Guido, Canon of the church of St. Romulus of Florence, who lived in the year 1100. Perhaps he it was who wrote the first Laurentian Life. This is quite probable to me too, who have already above intimated that the first and primary Life seems to have been written about that time. One thing might be objected: that he who wrote in the year 1100 ought to have made mention of the translation of St. Romulus, made with celebration in the preceding century from his ancient church at the foot of the mountain, about midway between Florence and Fiesole, to the new one within the walls of Fiesole. That indeed would have been fair. Yet the writer passed it over. If you ask the reasons, I will give conjectures. He affects in every part of his writing an air of antiquity. For he brings forward nothing which he did not think was done while Romulus was living; the things done after his martyrdom he touches not even by a word. Next, he may have thought it would be less honorable to his church of St. Romulus of Florence, of which he was a Canon, if he had handed down to memory that the body of the Saint, which had always rested nearer, had been translated farther away, even to Fiesole, to the detriment of his church of Florence. However it be, he himself wrote what he wished, concerning antiquity only. Let us inspect his writings, as they were first written.
§ II. On SS. Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius separately.
[21] The master of St. Romulus, who instructed and baptized him at Rome by the command of St. Peter the Apostle, and who then, with him, was sent by the same Peter for the sake of announcing the Gospel to Sutri, Who they were and having proceeded thither, taking with him two other religious men, Marchitianus and Crescentius, and thence again returned to Rome with his disciples, is called in the Acts Justinus the Presbyter. Soon in the same place Romulus, already ordained bishop by St. Peter, is bidden to set out on the journey to Fiesole with the aforesaid Marchitianus and Crescentius, but to turn aside to the city Antonia (which is Volterra) and to learn how the Disciples Dulcissimus and Carissimus fare, already before sent thither. But when they had done illustrious things at Volterra, Romulus with his companions is said, turning aside from Fiesole on account of the savageness of the inhabitants, to have gone on to Brescia and thence to Bergamo, and at last to have come to Fiesole, where he found martyrdom. A doubt hence arises: who on this journey from Volterra all the way to Fiesole were Romulus's Companions—whether only Marchitianus and Crescentius, whom he had received at Rome; or also Dulcissimus and Carissimus, whom he had found at Volterra; or others. I indeed would decide nothing here; yet it will be permitted to opine that Romulus did not wish to leave the new planting of the faith at Volterra without evangelical cultivators, who should further water and cultivate it, lest it be choked among the weeds.
[22] The Companions of St. Romulus; Of the aforesaid Justinus the Presbyter, companion of St. Peter the Apostle and baptizer of Romulus, I have as yet found nothing of older writing than the Acts of Romulus, and these are silent concerning his death, the place and time of his martyrdom, and his cult. The Companions of Romulus, the Fiesolans think, were crowned with martyrdom together with him among themselves and buried with him. The people of Volterra meanwhile claim for themselves the bodies of his Companions, namely of the holy Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius, as of those who suffered among them. In the Acts Romulus is indeed said to have proceeded with his companions from Volterra, Brescia, Bergamo, all the way to Fiesole; but throughout this whole journey and time no name of those Companions is expressed. Only in n. 13 it is recorded that Romulus, having at last entered Fiesole, found there Marchitianus and Crescentius, who had already then suffered much from the inhabitants for the preaching of the faith. Whether they too underwent martyrdom with Romulus and his companions, whom he had brought from Bergamo to Fiesole; or whether, their former Master being now present there with other companions, they themselves bestowed their labor and preaching elsewhere, cannot be understood from the Acts. But neither in the translation of the old church of St. Romulus, situated at the foot of the mountain, made in the 11th century by Bishop Jacobus Bavarus to the new one within the city of Fiesole, is mention made of any Saint resting there by name, except of St. Romulus alone: it is only said (as is to be read in our Commentary) that in this old church the body of the Blessed Romulus the martyr, with many other martyrs and confessors, was resting. Whence then posterity have it, that the holy Dulcissimus, Carissimus, Marchitianus, and Crescentius suffered by name at Fiesole and were buried with Romulus, I desire to learn.
[23] their bodies, The monuments of Volterra seem to have more certain grounds, by which they claim for themselves the bodies of the holy Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius, reported in the authentic instrument of the public visitation and recognition of the holy Relics of their city, instituted in the year 1647. It is read there, that when in the year 1491 the ancient church of St. Justus at Volterra was being restored, the masons uncovered a well, full of the bodies of Saints, whose lid, when it was lifted, so great a fragrance of odors was diffused thence through the whole church, that all marveled. Among other bodies of Anonymous saints found there, were three, which from an ancient inscription set beside them, written on papyrus, bore the names of Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius: and these Dom Justus, then Abbot of the monastery of St. Justus, with the greatest reverence and pomp replaced in the same church and enclosed in a marble chest together with the aforesaid ancient inscription, to which he also added his own, in memory of posterity, of this tenor.
[23] where they were laid. In the year of the Lord 1491, while restoring this altar, we found a well, full of Relics, uncovering the stone, rolled back in a wonderful manner; whereat there was so great an abundance of perfumes through the whole church, that the builders and all who were present in the said church marveled exceedingly. Among others they recognized the most holy Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius, disciples of the blessed Apostle Peter, sent before into the city Antonia. This inscription is simple enough: yet it testifies with certainty—inasmuch as of religious persons who were present and saw and smelled—that the finding of the bodies happened in the year 1491, and that the names of three were found, indicated by the ancient papyrus, Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius: whatever be the case concerning their discipleship of St. Peter, and the appellation of the city Antonia, which the authors of the Inscription could not see or know of themselves, following the opinion of the common people, which was then current, founded on the Acts of St. Romulus.
[25] That finding of the three bodies other visitations subsequently confirmed: Various visitations of the three bodies; one of which was made in the year 1579 by Guido Serguidi, bishop of Volterra, who found the same relics with the same inscriptions, recognized them, and, with a festive lustration of the clergy, drew them out from the great marble chest and placed them in the altar of St. James beneath the bells in the same church, in a case made of walnut, with a square plate of lead, witnessing this deed. In the year 1612 that walnut case, on account of the presence of the Grand Duke Cosimo the Second and his family, was again opened and
inspected. Likewise in the year 1627 the sacred bones were inspected, and enclosed in a new and more elegant case (because, the old church of St. Justus, where they rested, threatening ruin, a new one had to be built up) and were translated for a time into the church of St. Mark; and thence were brought back into the new and magnificent church of St. Justus. Finally in the public visitation, which I mentioned, in the year 1647, on 8 January all things were again examined and approved with fuller testimony.
[26] There is one who, wishing to favor the Fiesolans, yet not daring to deny the finding of the aforesaid bodies at Volterra, what can be said of them, for the Fiesolans takes refuge in the times of Jacobus Bavarus, bishop of Fiesole, who in the year 1028 translated the cathedral church of St. Romulus from the foot of the mountain into the city together with the body of St. Romulus; as though he also at that time dug up the bodies of SS. Dulcissimus and Carissimus, and there gave them to Godfrey, or another, bishop of Volterra; and so that from that time the aforesaid bodies of the Saints were only at Volterra, though they had suffered at Fiesole. This indeed is a slight conjecture. The people of Volterra will reply, that their Saints, found in the well with other anonymous ones in the year 1491, had inscribed the names not only of Dulcissimus and Carissimus, but also of Crescentius; and that this is established from the most ancient inscription, found there at the same time. They will say, it is most uncertain whether any of their bishops, whether Godfrey or another, was present at the translation of St. Romulus at Fiesole: besides that the series of their bishops through those times is so obscure, that Ughelli found none for the year 1028, saying only that Guido flourished in the year 1026, and that Gaufridus lived in the year 1034, so that he leaves it in the middle whether either of them presided in the year 1028, or some third, or whether the see was vacant.
[27] The people of Volterra will reply moreover, that Jacobus Bavarus, and for the people of Volterra, although above, in n. 14, he says generally that many bodies of Martyrs and Confessors rest in the ancient church of St. Romulus, says likewise that he translated to the new church the body of St. Romulus only, no mention anywhere being made of Dulcissimus or Carissimus, much less of Crescentius. They could also reply, if the bodies of the said Saints had in the 11th century been carried from Fiesole to Volterra by the gift of Bishop Jacobus, how did that bishop, whether Gaufridus or another, not at once expose them to public veneration? How could the memory of so great a treasure be at once obliterated, and remain obliterated until the year 1491, when the bodies were at last found? How (which ought to seem more incredible) could the same bodies have penetrated into a subterranean well, known to none until the end of the 15th century, when it was found by chance, filled also with the bones of many anonymous martyrs?
[28] to those claiming them for themselves, I indeed will opine, until another shall teach more certain things, that that well in the times of the pagan emperors was a receptacle of men slain indiscriminately for Christ; above which well, the persecutions ceasing through Constantine the Great, the Christians built a church for the sake of veneration, which, in the lapse of time made larger and larger, new foundations being dug around, retained in the midst of itself under the earth the well, which little by little also, by the rubble of the former building cast over it and the earth dug from the new foundations, was pressed down deeper. Until at last in that place, that a new altar might be set, the earth had to be dug deeper; and thus the well was uncovered, still closed with its own lid. If you ask why three names only, of Dulcissimus, Carissimus, and Crescentius, were ascribed to their bodies, not to the others; the cause may seem to be, that they were not of the indiscriminate throng of Martyrs, but the Apostles of Volterra; inasmuch as, first sent from Rome, they announced the Gospel of Christ there, which the Acts of St. Romulus also say; and that matter, publicly known and worthy of memory, could more easily be propagated to the times of the Writer of the Acts, than the individual names of those who there were miraculously healed, converted, and baptized by Romulus.
[29] On the office of the Martyrs, I said above in number 7 that in the breviary of the imperial church of Bamberg, printed in the year 1575, on 19 April an office is celebrated of the holy Dulcissimus and Carissimus. Desirous of knowing more, I lately consulted on that matter, through various questions, the Rev. Father Adam Heid, Rector of our College at Bamberg, who, after a careful inquiry made by himself and his own among the Canons, replied on 23 December 1718 in this manner. That there are today the bones of the said Saints in the cathedral church, very many, enclosed in an arched and gilded casket, with this inscription: The Bodies of the Holy Martyrs Dulcissimus and Carissimus, and Disciples of St. Peter the Apostle. That the office of them, from the time that the church of Bamberg about 30 years ago, having abrogated its old breviary, assumed the Roman, is no longer said: yet was said up to that time perhaps for two hundred years, and that on 19 April. That an instrument concerning the manner and time in which the Relics were brought to Bamberg is not found: but that it is thought that they were brought with other Relics of the Saints by St. Henry the emperor, founder of his church.
[30] and relics, This opinion (although the rest be said most truly) concerning the arrival of the Relics from the time of St. Henry, cannot be true. For either they were brought from Fiesole, or from Volterra. For in one or the other place those Saints suffered and were buried. But in neither place were their Relics exposed to public cult in the time of St. Henry; lying hidden until then in their ancient sepulchres, not yet raised thence. The Fiesolan Bishop, Jacobus Bavarus, first placed the body of St. Romulus from his ancient cathedral, and translated it into the new one in the year 1027 after the death of St. Henry the emperor; and it is not known that he at the same time raised the bodies of SS. Dulcissimus and Carissimus; nay, it was not known whether they truly rested there. Much less could St. Henry have translated those Relics from Volterra: seeing that they then still lay hidden in the ancient well, whence they did not emerge before the year 1491. What then? That there are Relics of those Saints, and very many bones, in the church of Bamberg, and that they were there honored with an ecclesiastical office, cannot be denied: they could not have been translated by St. Henry: at Fiesole there is no certain memory that the Saints suffered there and rest: at Volterra it is established that the sacred bodies were found there in the year 1491; thence, therefore, about that time the Bamberg Relics must have been brought, by whomsoever at length it was done.
APOCRYPHAL ACTS
From a manuscript codex of the monastery of Bödeken, diocese of Paderborn, collated with others.
Romulus, Martyr, in Tuscany (S.)
The Companion Martyrs, in Tuscany (SS.) BHL Number: 7334
FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS.
CHAPTER I.
The conception, upbringing, capture, and baptism of St. Romulus.
There was in the Roman city a certain man, by name Argoltus, having a daughter, who was called Lucerna. The conception of St. Romulus, When in the course of time she had come to the marriageable years of age, a servant of her father, by name Cyros, of quite comely appearance, was vehemently inflamed in love of her, and at length, having gained his wishes, secretly ravished her: and when she knew that she had conceived by him, greatly fearing her parents, from whom for this cause she hid herself, the time of birth now pressing, she held the intention of her heart with inmost prayers toward the Lord, who alone is the refuge of the wretched: and this prayer with most abundant tears she poured out to him: God, creator of heaven and earth, his birth; by whose nod all things subsist, and in whose name my Father was baptized, free me from his hands, that through the help of thy ineffable mercy I may be able to escape the death which is justly owed to my excesses. When she directed these and such words of prayers frequently to the Lord: Behold, on a certain night an Angel of the Lord said to her in a vision: Lucerna, slay not the infant whom thou hast in thy womb, but seek out midwives, who, after thou hast borne him, may carry him outside the city, and, placing him beside a bramble in a hidden place, may return to the city. For my Lord Jesus Christ will have care of him, and will mercifully, as thou hast asked, free thee from the imminent peril.
[2] After, therefore, the little infant, according to the Angel's word, was set down outside the city by the midwives, his exposure in the wood; immediately a she-wolf coming threw herself over the boy; and, cherishing him most zealously in the manner of a nurse, going out, she displayed the care which the Lord had promised to his mother. A marvelous thing: but nevertheless to be believed with full faith. For what is impossible to God? Who also once, by a raven, appointed daily food for Elijah; if he willed also that this his servant, through whom he was to work many virtues, be reared by a she-wolf? But these things being passed over, let us bend the point of our narrative to the order of the matter done. In those days the huntsmen of the Emperor Nero, going out from the city of Rome, found the she-wolf and the infant with her, wandering about through the byways of the woods, and, struck with wonder, stood considering the Neronian hunt for him, how the she-wolf drew to herself sheep and other beasts, and ministered to that little infant as to her own offspring. And when they had returned to the city, and had announced these unheard-of wonders to their Lord, he, calling to himself the Proconsul: Send, he says, messengers through the whole city of Rome, that all the huntsmen be gathered together; and when these had come thither into one place, the King said: Go, and skillfully seek out the she-wolf and the infant, and bring them captured together to me. But they, departing, came to the wood: and after the weariness of a long investigation, they saw from afar the boy standing in a field with the she-wolf. But as they surrounded them on every side, the she-wolf leapt forth swiftly, the boy following it a; and thus they escaped the hands of their pursuers. For two days, therefore, pursuing them, they could not seize them.
[3] But on the third day, returning, they announced to the King how they had seen them, also another [message of St. Peter the Apostle] and had not been able for two days to capture them. Which heard, the King sent his Prefect to Peter the Apostle b, to relate to him these wonders. St. Peter, therefore, hearing the account of such a matter, gives thanks to God and said: Lord Jesus Christ, who didst deign to call me to thee at the shore of the sea; send thy Angel to me, who may lay open to me the truth of this. And behold, the same night an Angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying to him: and it [was marvelous.] Arise, Peter, and call together all the Christians who dwell in this city, charging them, that, taking their nets, they go with thee to the wood, to capture the she-wolf and the boy of whom thou hast heard. And Peter, arising, did what had been bidden him from heaven. And when they had long sought them in the fields, and could not find them; Peter the Apostle said to them: Stand outside the wood and diligently watch, lest perchance they pass by secretly. I will enter the shady dens of the wild beasts, to beat the woods. And going forward a little, he bent his knees, praying to the Lord and saying: Lord, who didst send thy Angel to me, to enjoin upon me this hunt, send the boy to me, that I may seize him:
and at once there appeared before him the she-wolf and the infant.
[4] Then the Apostle said to the boy: I adjure thee by the living Lord, The infant of 300 days is captured that if thou art begotten of a wolf, thou flee from my eyes: but if of a man, that thou come to me, that I may hold thee with my hands. Soon, the she-wolf fleeing, the boy came to him; whom he, taking up into his arms, kissed; and going out, he cried to his companions, saying: Come to me, all of you, and see, that the Lord has care of this one. Stretch out therefore now your nets, that we may capture also her who nursed him; with his nurse the she-wolf; whom, when they had seized, they placed the boy beside her, and she suckled him, as one begotten by herself. Which the Christians seeing with great wonder, glorified the Lord and his Apostle Peter: and they returned to the city, leading with them the she-wolf and the boy. Peter, therefore, put both into custody, sending sheep to them, and charged the keepers to observe cautiously what they did with the sheep. So when they were together, the she-wolf, rushing upon the sheep in her wonted manner, tore their flesh, which the boy, together with his mother, began to devour raw. This seen, the keepers announced all these things to Peter the Apostle, who, coming, found the she-wolf and the infant together eating raw flesh; and entering the chamber, he charged that the she-wolf, led outside the walls, be permitted to depart unharmed; but the boy he handed over to blessed Justinus to be baptized, after he had spent three hundred days with the she-wolf.
[5] After these things Justinus the presbyter, placing a vessel full of water upon a rock, and he is baptized, sanctified it and said to blessed Peter the Apostle: By what name shall he be called? To whom, hesitating over the appellation of a name, Justinus the presbyter said: Let us confirm him in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and let his name be called Romulus. So, both agreeing in this, the boy was baptized Romulus by Justinus the presbyter. he is instructed. But Peter received him with his hands from the laver. Then, commended to a certain noble woman to be nursed, when he had remained with her two years, he was recalled by the Apostle Peter. Now the boy was fair of aspect, eloquent of mouth, and, as much as boyish age allowed, already then apt for good works. But when he was brought forth before the sight of Peter the Apostle, he took him in his arms, giving him the kiss of peace, and saying: I bless and confirm thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that thy mouth, filled with the Spirit of wisdom, may be able freely to preach our Lord Jesus Christ. Saying these things, he summoned to himself Justinus the priest, and, commending the boy to his trust, asked that he teach him thoroughly letters and all the discipline of the divine law c.
ANNOTATA.
CHAPTER II.
He preaches at Sutri, Volterra, Brescia, Bergamo; and miracles wrought everywhere.
And when for five years he had perceived the knowledge of letters with vigilant mind, and, now abundantly imbued with the knowledge of the word of God, He preaches, the new recruit sowed among the peoples of the Roman city the seeds of life a; and also healed the sick in the name of Christ; this was announced to a certain man, who was called Charisius, who had two sons, of whom the one, Vicinior by name, was grievously vexed by a demon: the other, called Pensior b, was tormented by an incurable languor. he works miracles. Grieving therefore over the infirmity of his sons, Charisius came to the Apostle Peter, and, prostrate at his feet, with tears said: Lord Father, if through thee my two sons be restored to health, of whom the one is tormented by a demon, the other by grievous pain of limbs; at once I will withdraw from the worship of idols; and I will begin to believe, with all my house, in the God whom thou servest. But if thou thyself art too slow to come with me, send thy disciple Romulus, of whom I have heard that he too works virtues in thy name. Blessed Peter therefore said to Romulus, his disciple: Go in the name of the Lord, and, having laid thy hand upon the sick, restore both to their former health; that all that house may be converted to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is their savior and deliverer. Straightway obeying the words of his Master, Romulus went with Charisius to his house; and, prayer being made, he freed both his sons from the impending languor: which seen, Charisius believed in the Lord with all his house, and was baptized in that same hour c.
[7] He is sent to Sutri with Justinus, Nor long after, Peter the Apostle, seeing the grace of God co-operating with his disciple Romulus, sent him with Justinus the presbyter to the city of Sutri, that they might teach there the word of God. Who, taking their journey, took to themselves two religious men, Marchitianus and Crescentius; and coming to a certain city, which is called Nepi, they heard there boys and girls conversing concerning Justinianus the bishop, who daily preached the word of life in the same city; whom, questioning, Justinus the presbyter said: By what name is this city called d? And they answering, Nepi; he added, What God do you worship? Some, say they, believe in Jesus Christ; others not. Then the servants of Christ, going to the house of Justinianus e the bishop, remained with him that night; and the next day they came to the city of Sutri: where, when they had entered the house of a certain rich man, by name Pergamus, and were preaching in it the word of God, Pergamus questioned them and said: From what city have you come forth? They answered: We are sent from the city of Rome to this place, that we may announce to you eternal life; which, if you wish to attain, let first each one of you be baptized in the name of the holy Trinity. who baptizes there 50 persons, To this Pergamus: And is there, he says, a life besides this? Justinus said: If there were not another life, it would seem foolish, if of spontaneous will we should wish to lose this: but since there is another, immortal, where there is no pain, no toil, where no weariness at all is found; why do we not let go this wretched and fleeting one, which lies subject to divers chances, and hasten to that, where perennial life abides, where the instruments of the angels resound unceasingly, where from the sole vision of the Creator the souls of the Saints are filled in abundance of gratuitous mercy? Hearing these things, Pergamus threw himself at the feet of Justinus the presbyter, saying: By Christ I conjure thee, baptize me, that I may deserve to be made a partaker of that life. Justinus the presbyter therefore baptized Pergamus, and with him fifty persons of both sexes in his house.
[8] and Romulus heals the mute daughter of Caristia, But while they tarried in the same city, there came to Justinus the presbyter a certain widow, by name Caristia; and she threw herself at his feet with tears, saying: Come, Lord, to the house of thy handmaid, and lay thy hand upon my daughter, who has been deprived of the office of the tongue now for a long time, and if thou restore her to health, I will believe in thy God: and of my goods, whatever shall please thee, I will dispose. At this voice of the supplicating widow, Justinus the presbyter, inclined, sent Romulus with her, admonishing that in the name of Christ he restore to the ailing girl the use of speech. Who, as soon as he came to her house, bending his knees, prayed to the Lord and said: Lord Jesus Christ, who through thy Apostle Peter didst make me come to the knowledge of the truth, open the mouth of this girl, that in the restoration of her health she may know thee her creator: let her magnify thy holy name unto the ages of ages. and baptizes many. As he was saying these things, immediately the bond was loosed with which the mouth of the girl was constrained: and beginning to speak in plain speech, she asserted that the God whom his servant Romulus and his companions preached was the true God. But the pagans, seeing so great a miracle, renouncing their idols, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and were baptized together with Caristia and her daughter.
[9] Meanwhile certain of the chief men of the city, led by zeal, Cast out thence, they return to Rome, accused the servants of God before the duke of that region, who was a petty-king under Nero the Emperor: exasperating his mind against them by divers suggestions, they at length cast them out of his borders, threatening that they would tear their flesh with divers torments, if thereafter they should find them within the walls of their city. Returning therefore to the city of Rome, Justinus and his companions, after they had tarried in the city of Sutri one hundred and forty days, related in order to the Apostle Peter all the things which the divine grace had shown around them in their preaching: who, when he had heard how many had received the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, gave praises and thanksgivings to the divine mercy, and after these things said to them: and they are sent to Fiesole. It is now a long time since I directed two of my disciples, Carissimus and Dulcissimus, to the city Antonia f, that they might refresh the hearts of the men dwelling there with the food of life, and convert them to the faith of Christ, as far as by his bounty they should prevail; of whose preaching, since from the time that I sent them thither I have known nothing certain; I wish thee, brother Romulus, with thy fellow-soldiers Marchitianus and Crescentius, to direct thy way to Fiesole, that thou too mayest preach the Gospel of the kingdom of God: and in the aforesaid city diligently inquire how our brethren fare.
[10] Gladly undertaking the office of this legation, blessed Romulus, Romulus turns aside with his own to Volterra, by the imposition of the hands of blessed Peter, was consecrated Bishop; and at once with his two helpers he set out on the journey: and when they had come to the city which is called Antonia, and were drawing near the gate of the city, they met a certain youth, whom questioning, they said: Tell us, O good Youth, if any preacher of the name of Christ has preached the word of life in these parts. To this he: There came, he says, to this city two men, in age indeed flourishing, but great in wisdom; by whose preaching our citizens, moved, having grievously beaten them with rods, expelled them from the city. But we have heard what hiding-place they cherish, on the side of a mountain set near. where he finds two other companions; Hearing these things, blessed Romulus swiftly with his companions hastened to the mountain pointed out: and finding there the confessors of Christ, Carissimus and Dulcissimus, he greeted them with peaceful words: to whom, amid kisses and mutual embraces, announcing the causes of his journey, he led them back with him to the city; and they entered the house of a certain man, who was called Victimus; with whom, when they tarried some days, his son fell into a most grievous sickness, so that both his mother and all his kinsfolk, uttering mournful cries unspeakably, night and day lamented over him;
condoling with whose lamentations, blessed Romulus said to his father: If thou wilt believe, O Victimus, in the Lord Jesus Christ, he heals the sick one, and baptizes his whole household. he is able to heal thy son. Scarcely had the servant of the Lord completed his words, and behold, Victimus, prostrate at his feet, promised that he would renounce his idols, if in any manner he might have his son sound. Then blessed Romulus poured out a prayer to the Lord, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name my Master Peter works very many virtues, command this man to be healed, that he may know thee the true Lord, deliverer of souls and bodies. Saying these things, he placed his hand upon the body of the sick one, and immediately he arose as if he had never suffered any evil. Which seen, the father and mother with great devotion believed in the Lord, and were baptized in the same hour with all their household.
[11] Passing beyond Fiesole, preaching at Brescia and Bergamo, he raises the dead. When therefore holy Romulus had remained in the same city many days, and had recalled the souls of many from the worship of idols by the constancy of his preaching and the efficacy of his virtues, learning that the pagans who dwelt at Fiesole were of such savage manners, that they would give assent to no one's preaching, he chose rather to migrate to other places for preaching, than to sow the seeds of the word of God upon thorns in vain; and, seizing his journey, he came with his companions to the city of Brescia, in which he raised up the son of a certain widow, and, converting many to the Lord, snatched them from the jaws of the ancient enemy. After these things, coming to Bergamo, he tarried there a year and a half, where, when blessed Romulus had raised two dead men, and had done many other virtues, many believed in the Lord.
ANNOTATA.
CHAPTER III.
At the admonition of an Angel he goes to Fiesole, is thence cast out, beaten with cudgels: going out again, he is put into prison and undergoes martyrdom with his companions.
Then, when he deliberated with himself that he wished there to approach the contest of the struggle, and to pass to the Lord with the palm of martyrdom; and no longer to migrate to other places for preaching, Thence, an Angel commanding and leading, he goes to Fiesole; behold, an Angel of the Lord in sleep vehemently rebuked him, and compelled him, though unwilling, to fulfill his Master's precept. And in the very middle of the night, rising from his dream, he called his companions, and related to them the vision and the angel's rebuke; and making no delay there, with the Angel as guide, they came to the city of Fiesole: and when they drew near the city, blessed Romulus, prostrate in prayer, said: God, creator of heaven and earth, send the knowledge of thy name to the men of this city, that, the error of unbelief being left, they may be converted to our Lord Jesus Christ. And his companions, answering, said: Amen.
[13] Now there was standing upon the walls of the city a girl, who, having heard the prayer of Romulus, He is received in the house of a certain Adrianus; ran to her father, saying: Before the gate of the city I have heard men drawing near, praying to heaven, whose speech I know not; yet I know that they are worthy to be brought into the city. Send therefore and lead them into thy house. Then blessed Romulus and his companions, entering the city, came to the house of Adrianus, who was the father of the aforesaid girl, and were received with honor by him. And the girl, the daughter of Adrianus, said: This man I saw before the gates of the city praying; and the father of the girl said to him: What is thy name? He answered: Romulus. Whence, he says, comest thou? From Rome I come, he says, with my companions, wishing to show you the way of truth: that you may leave the worship of idols and worship and adore your creator, our Lord Jesus Christ, and he finds his companions who had set out with him from Rome, who was crucified by the Jews. Adrianus said to him: There came to us also two young men from the city of Rome, preaching the name of Christ, of whom the one is called Marchitianus and the other Crescentius; whom our citizens, seizing, having afflicted them with most grievous punishments, expelled from the city. But I received them into my house, and had care of them. Now Marchitianus and Crescentius, hearing this, rejoiced indeed at the coming of the Saints; but they were ashamed to disclose their sufferings, which they had endured without fruit for others. When therefore the reception and mutual recognition were accomplished, blessed Romulus consoled them and strengthened them in Christ.
[14] These things thus done, Adrianus, seeing the devotion and faith of the Saints, and he baptizes Adrianus with his household, said to Romulus: What is the virtue of thy God? Romulus answered: The virtue of my God is such, that, his name being invoked, we raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, and work very many other virtues through Christ. In whom if thou wilt believe, thou shalt obtain the power of such signs, and shalt be able to have the joys of eternal life. Then Adrianus, having heard the words of blessed Romulus, said: Truly I know that Christ speaks through thy mouth. And without delay, Adrianus, forsaking his idols, and prostrate at the feet of blessed Romulus, asked that he might deserve to be baptized. Holy Romulus therefore, having instructed him in the faith, baptized him with his wife and sons, and all his household. Many others also that same day, through his preaching, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
[15] as also the boy Celsus, freed from a demon, with his household of 90 persons. There was a certain young man in the same city, who was called Celsus, and was vexed by a demon. Hearing this, holy Romulus came to his house, and found the father and mother, all his neighbors and acquaintances, weeping over him; and seeing him most fiercely vexed, he said to his parents: Why weep you? If you will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, your weeping shall be turned into joy. So the father and mother of the young man, approaching, prostrated themselves at the feet of blessed Romulus, praying with tears that he would free their son from the unclean spirit. All also who were present constantly asserted that they would believe in Christ, if by his prayers they should see the boy freed from the demon. And blessed Romulus, turning to his companions, namely Marchitianus and Crescentius, Carissimus and Dulcissimus, said: Let us pray, brethren, to the Lord Jesus, that he may deign to free his creature, which he willed to be like to his own image, from the unclean spirit; that the bystanders, having seen this miracle, may believe in him and be baptized; and that he may make them fellow-citizens of the heavenly city. And when they rose from prayer, blessed Romulus placed his hand upon the head of the boy, saying: In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I command thee, demon, that thou go out from this man: and immediately, uttering a howl of a dreadful voice, it left the boy. But all who were present, praising the power of God, believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom blessed Romulus preached. And that same day the boy who had been freed from the demon was baptized, and his father and mother, and others of both sexes to the number of about ninety.
[16] He is expelled from the city, beaten with cudgels, Then blessed Romulus began to ordain clerics throughout that whole city, who should both strengthen in the faith those who had believed, and diligently take care to bring back the unbelieving to the way of truth. Meanwhile Repertianus, who was count of the city of Fiesole, hearing that Romulus with his companions was destroying the worship of idols, and had introduced a certain new sect into those parts: having sent officers, he commanded them to be brought to him. And when they had been brought, the Count said to blessed Romulus: We have heard that thou actest against our laws; and therefore we wish that either thou offer libations to the gods now in our presence, or depart from this city with thy companions as quickly as possible. To this holy Romulus answered: Neither will I offer libations to thy gods, nor will I forsake the sheep which my Lord has here given me. The Count, therefore, moved over this speech, ordered the sides of the Saints to be violently beaten with cudgels; and, thus beaten, to be expelled from the walls of the city. Which when it had been done, blessed Romulus poured out this prayer to the Lord for his enemies: Lord Jesus Christ, who didst send to me thy Angel, that he might bring me back to this city, incline the hearts of its inhabitants to thee, and remit to them the injury which they have inflicted on thy servants.
[17] This prayer completed, when now the sun was tending to its setting, and entering again, he secretly entered the city with his companions, and, hiding in the houses of the faithful, poured the seeds of life into the hearts of his hearers. Now there was in the same city a certain woman, by name Vienna; who, coming secretly to blessed Romulus, said to him: I ask, Lord, that thou come to the house of thy handmaid, and restore to health my son, now for many days held by a grievous infirmity. Moved by this voice of the supplicating woman, holy Romulus came to the house of Vienna, and, looking upon the ailing boy, called him by his name and said: Nimior, in the name of the Lord arise, and stand upon thy feet. And without delay, the boy arose and, together with his mother, was baptized. Many also, having heard this miracle, believed in the Lord, and were baptized in the house of Vienna with all her household.
[18] But when it was announced to Repertianus the count, that Romulus with his companions had returned into the city, he is put into prison with his own. filled with wrath, he ordered them, seized by the executioners, to be strongly bound and thrust into the lowest custody of the prison: and when the blessed soldiers of Christ had been thrust down, about midnight a certain young man, coming to them clothed in a snowy garment, I am, he says, Jesus Christ, for whose name you suffer these things: be strengthened and fear not, for I will not desert you; but I will make you come to the heavenly kingdoms through martyrdom. their chains are loosed divinely. These things said, he who spoke disappeared; and at once all the chains were loosed with which the soldiers of Christ had been bound. Three days after these things being completed, the count Repertianus said to his soldiers: Let us go to the prison and cause the enemies of our gods, now consumed by the atrocities of their punishments,
to be cast outside the city. When therefore they had drawn near the prison and heard the voices of those singing psalms there; the Count was vehemently angered against the keepers who guarded them; thinking that they too had believed in their Lord, and therefore had loosed the chains from the hands of the condemned. But when the certainty of this matter was heard from the keepers themselves; Let these rebels, says the Count, be led outside the walls of the city; and if they scorn to sacrifice to our gods, let their flesh be afflicted with punishments so long, until they be compelled miserably to migrate from this life.
[19] The well, because a drink was denied to Romulus, So while the ministers were fulfilling the commands, when the athletes of Christ were being dragged through the streets of the city and most grievously beaten with cudgels; blessed Romulus saw a certain girl drawing water from a well; and he asked that a drink be ministered to him by her: but the girl, terrified by fear of the executioners, refused to give the water which the man of the Lord sought. Whence it came to pass that that well was turned into blood, is turned to blood for the pagans who drink, but not so for the Christians. namely thus, that to the pagans drawing thence it became blood; but to the Christians, a fountain of most sweet savor. After, therefore, the holy Martyrs were led outside the city, and could by no persuasions be called back from the intention of their heart, they all together received the capital sentence; and happily came to the heavenly kingdoms with the trophy of martyrdom, whose bodies the Christians, gathering, buried at the foot of the mountain of that same city on the day before the Nones of July, in the reign of the King of all kings, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.