Phocas

ON ST. PHOCAS, MARTYR AND BISHOP.

AT SINOPE IN PONTUS.

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND CENTURY.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Phocas, Bishop and Martyr, at Sinope in Pontus (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR G. C.

§ I. Various Saints called by the name of Phocas are set forth beforehand, that a tangled question may be unraveled.

I find that he was no vain augur who, in Usuard—illustrated not so long ago—treating of St. Phocas at July 14, thus speaks: I see a thorny and interwoven wood, whose proper place, whether for clearing or for cutting down along with Baronius, [To illustrate a difficult question, there is first described St. Phocas, Martyr of Antioch;] Florentinius, and others, will be in our Acts. For now that we have arrived at this place, so many and so tangled thorns everywhere offer themselves to me that I feel myself unequal to rooting them out entirely. Yet this dense wood of difficulties, if I cannot cut it down altogether, I will at least try to clear. But let us approach the matter itself. That the controversy to be decided in the following paragraph may be more clearly understood, I shall set forth beforehand the various Saints marked with the name of Phocas. The first of this name, in the order of the Calendar, is the Phocas honored with the laurel of martyrdom at Antioch, of whom the Roman Martyrology speaks on March 5 in this manner: At Antioch, the birthday of holy Phocas the Martyr, who, after the many injuries which he suffered for the name of the Redeemer, in what manner he triumphed over that ancient serpent is even today declared to the peoples by this miracle: that if anyone has been bitten by a serpent, so that, believing, he has touched the door of the martyr's basilica, at once, the power of the venom being emptied out, he is healed. Concerning this martyr, from Gregory of Tours, Ado, Usuard, and others, together with the Roman Martyrology, our predecessors have treated in Volume I of March, page 366.

[2] The second is Phocas, Bishop of Sinope in Pontus, whom the Roman Martyrology records to have suffered in that same city, then two holy Phocas martyrs of Sinope, on this day in these words: At Sinope in Pontus, holy Phocas the Martyr, Bishop of that same city, who under the emperor Trajan, overcoming prison, chains, sword, and fire for Christ, flew up into heaven: whose relics, carried to Vienne in Gaul, were laid in the basilica of the holy Apostles. The third Phocas, unknown to the Latin martyrologists, was Sinopean by origin and a martyr near that city, but in his manner of life altogether different from the Bishop of Sinope. For, according to St. Asterius, Bishop of Amasea in Pontus, his pursuit in life was the cultivation of a garden, which, possessing it there before the gate of the city at the mouth of the isthmus, he diligently tended, that it might be a comfort of life to himself and to the needy. And with a ready and eager spirit he wished his small and poor house to lie open also to guests. Since, moreover, he dwelt upon the public road, whatever was at hand he brought forth in common for those who came. This man, after openly professing the Christian faith, and after a wondrous kindness toward his own executioners, was beheaded in his own house and obtained the palm of martyrdom, as the same St. Asterius relates at greater length. The epoch of the martyrdom is not expressed by Asterius, although he asserts that the deeds of the Martyr, done in his own time, were known to all, so that his memory then seems to have been rather recent. Certain moderns are of the opinion that he obtained the crown of martyrdom under Licinius. Tillemont indeed, from certain congruities, probably shows that he suffered after the times of Trajan; yet we cannot fix him to a certain time, unless they should bring forward ancient monuments or solid reasons in testimony of their opinion. But these things and others pertaining to this holy gardener will have to be discussed more accurately at September 22, on which he is venerated by the Greeks.

[3] [Phocas, whom the Greeks venerate on July 23, is adorned with an elogium belonging to another,] The Greeks on July 23 venerate with solemn Office a certain Phocas, whose fatherland, arena of martyrdom, and profession of life they pass over in silence. I suspect that this is the same one whom the Latins say suffered at Antioch on March 5, and whom the Greeks have adorned with the Acts of Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, since concerning this holy Antiochene they knew nothing beyond his martyrdom. The reason for my suspicion is that in certain Latin manuscript codices I see the same Acts, though longer, brought forward on March 5, on which the memory of the Antiochene Phocas is celebrated by the Latin Church. Now receive the Greeks' elogium of him, which is a compendium of the Acts to be given after this preliminary Commentary. This, edited in Greek from the synaxarion of the emperor Basil at the end of Volume I of July, I thus render into Latin. Phocas the holy martyr, under the reign of Trajan, shone with blameless conduct and with virtues of every kind. When therefore he had been seized, he was brought to the prefect Africanus, and when he was interrogated, he confessed Christ. But the prefect, resisting him with words and attempting to blaspheme Christ and to torment him, when an earthquake had occurred, suddenly falling with his soldiers, lay lifeless. But when the Saint had prayed, he raised him and the soldiers. And when he had again been seized, bound, he was sent to Trajan. When even before him he preached Christ, and ran through the whole of his incarnation, being hung up he was torn, and persevering the more in the confession of Christ, he was cast into living lime. When he had come forth from it unharmed, he was led into a bath violently boiling and heated, in which, glorifying God, just as the three youths in the dewy furnace, he gave up his spirit.

[4] The printed Menaea and the Menologion of the Greeks edited by Cardinal Sirleto have nearly the same things. and perhaps he is the same as the Antiochene. The Horologion, which is said to have been extracted from a very ancient typicon, and was printed in Greek at Rome in the year 1677 for the use of the monks of St. Basil, adds to this Phocas companions in martyrdom on July 23, thus declaring: Τοῦ ἁγίου ἱερομάρτυρος Φωκᾶ καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ. Of holy Phocas the martyr and his companions. But the Supplement to the Menaea, collected from the synaxarion of Sirmond and the manuscript of Chifflet, thus adds on July 23: Μνήμη τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Φωκᾶ τοῦ νέου. Memory of holy Phocas the martyr, the younger. Why he is here called the younger, whether on account of a more recent passion, or for distinction, I have not ascertained. Then these two little verses are subjoined: Φωκᾶ τὸ λοῦτρον μίγματος παντὸς δίχα· Λοῦτρον γὰρ ἦν ἀγῶνος, οὐ καθαρσίου. Twice, holy Phocas, you enter a mingled bath; not a bath of washing, but of combat. Allusion is made, as I think, to the double bath: one bath (if it may be so called) of living lime, the other of boiling water, of which mention is made in the Acts. Then it follows thus: Οὗτός ἐστιν οὐχ ὁ κηπουρὸς, ἀλλ᾽ ἵτερος ἐπὶ Τραιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀμέμπτῳ πολιτείᾳ καὶ παντοίαις ἀρεταῖς διαλάμπων. That is: This is not the gardener, but another, who under the emperor Trajan shone with irreproachable conduct and various virtues. It would be strange that a Martyr, illustrious in life and death by so many miracles, which we read in his elogium, should be unknown to all the Latins, unless he is the same as the Antiochene, to whom later Greeks, ignorant of the manner and time of his death, ascribed the Acts of another, and those sufficiently marvelous. But there will be a place for speaking of these things elsewhere.

[5] Besides these more celebrated martyrs called by the name of Phocas, Two holy Phocas in the Menaea, whose memory is more obscure, I find certain of their namesakes, whose memory is more obscure. First, in the printed Menaea on August 2, it is thus read: Μνήμη τοῦ ἁγίου μάρτυρος Φωκᾶ. Memory of holy Phocas the martyr. I observe in passing that here the title ἱερομάρτυρος is omitted, which the Greeks commonly attribute to the preceding ones. But whether on that account he is a different martyr, or a repeated commemoration of the former on account of some translation or festivity, who could divine? Furthermore, in the Menaea on December 18 there occurs the memory of the holy martyrs Phocas and Hermylus, who were slain by the sword. The Greeks describe their holy contest as to who should undergo martyrdom first in these two little verses: Ἔγωγε τμηθῶ πρῶτον Ἑρμύλος λέγει· Οὔ, φησι Φωκᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Φωκᾶς Ἑρμύλε. I first, says Hermylus, will fall by the sword. No, says the other; but Phocas will fall first, Hermylus. This Phocas seems to be different from the former ones on account of his companion Hermylus, of whom no mention is made in the Acts or longer elogia of the others. Yet who, relying on that conjecture alone, could define this matter safely enough?

[6] Finally, St. Gregory Nazianzen in the Billian edition, Poem 51 to Vitalian, [St. Gregory Nazianzen mentions a certain Phocas; likewise another is found in the Hieronymian Martyrology.] says that the name of Phocas is illustrious, and that it belonged to a certain disciple of Christ. I agree with James Billius, who in his scholia on this poem of Nazianzen judges that the word disciple of Christ is here to be taken in a broader signification, namely for any Christian whatsoever. In the same sense, unless I am mistaken, Phocas the gardener of Sinope is called by Asterius a true disciple of Christ. The Hieronymian Martyrology also mentions a certain Phocas on December 21, in which I read thus: Elsewhere the passion of holy Phocas, of Florus, and of Honoratus, bishop and confessor; on which words Florentinius thus notes: Concerning St. Focas or Phocas we have said some things at March 5 and July 14. Yet I would think this to be another, from his companion Florus.

[7] Now I had resolved to put an end to this paragraph,

when there came upon me the thought of inquiring [Tamayus on this day foists upon us a certain St. Phocas, whom he attempts to distinguish from St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope.] whether perhaps the pseudo-writers of Spain, after their manner, might claim some one of these more celebrated Phocas for their own country. And behold, while I inspect Tamayus's Spanish Martyrology at July 14, I read the following words: At Lugo in Galicia of Spain, St. Phocatus, bishop of that same city, who after great clods of virtues flew away, a renowned confessor, to the Lord, for whose love he languished. In the Notes on this passage of his Martyrology, he first tries to show from the name that this one is different from those who are called by the name of Phocas. Ours, he says, is by name Phocatus, that one Phocas. But this difference of name does not settle the matter. For besides Notker and Usuard of D. Du Cheval, who express the name of the Bishop of Sinope in exactly the same letters, very many and most ancient codices of Usuard call him the same, Focatus. Then Tamayus assigns a great distinction (if only it be true) between this one and the others in these words: Ours a bishop and confessor; those, the one a bishop and martyr, and the other a secular martyr. Ours lived to the year 385; that one to the year 101; ours in Spain at Lugo in Galicia, that one in Pontus at Sinope in Greece. I see here that everything he narrates about his bishop rests on the sole authority of Pseudo-Dexter, which, since with us it is none at all, I shall justly proceed to suspect that from Phocas, or Phocatus, bishop and martyr of Pontus, there has been made Phocatus, a Spanish bishop and confessor. Having formed this judgment, lest perhaps I should be deceived, or rather lest I should neglect anything, when in the year 1722 I was at Toledo in Spain, through the Reverend Dom Barnabas de Salazar, canon of the church of Toledo and kinsman of the Bishop of Lugo, I sent to the Most Illustrious and Reverend Lord Bishop of Lugo in Galicia several doubts, pertaining to the age, cult, and deeds of St. Phocas. To these indeed a most courteous reply was made; but since nothing was brought forward beyond the authority of Dexter and his followers, thus far I cannot change my judgment.

[8] A likely error of Peter de Natalibus concerning St. Phocatus, Peter de Natalibus in his Catalogue indeed says that on the day before the Ides of July a certain Phocatus, a bishop, died, but of Spain or of the place of his death he makes not even a word. Wherefore not without reason Nicholas Antonius, a most learned Spaniard, in his posthumous manuscripts, which in the year 1721 at Madrid I in great part copied, suspects that St. Phocatus was excerpted by Pseudo-Dexter from Equilinus and attached to Spain. Why should not Equilinus himself, who in many other matters is not rarely wont to be deceived, on account of the slight variation of the name by which in various codices on the same day the same martyr is signified, have wrongly thought Phocatus to be different from Phocas? Whatever it may be, at least I cannot sufficiently marvel that none of the more ancient martyrologists mentions this St. Phocatus, bishop of Lugo. Nay, Tamayus himself freely confesses that concerning his deeds there is deep silence among Spanish and foreign writers. I know not, then, whence the authors of the Spanish Martyrology dug up "great clods of virtues," and called St. Phocatus in their Martyrology "a renowned confessor." Whatever it may be, whether all these Phocas are different, or some of them are the same as the former ones, at least from what has been said in this paragraph it is clear that the name of Phocas was common enough in the first centuries of the Church, so that no one ought to marvel if three or four different Saints of this name are found. The chief question now is whether among the three former Phocas, of whom we have treated in numbers 1 and 2, no confusion has been made. This tangled matter we shall try to unravel in the following paragraph.

§ II. A threefold Phocas is most probably to be distinguished.

The manner in which this question has been discussed is set forth, Before I report and refute the opinions of others, I think that the sentiments of my mind, which I had conceived before the full discussion of this controversy, ought to be candidly expressed. While, inquiring into the St. Phocas inserted into the Roman Martyrology on July 14, I find three more celebrated Saints of this name, all martyrs, all illustrious for miracles, all having suffered in the first centuries of the Church, I began to suspect that among them, as not rarely happens in similar cases, some confusion had been made. When first I run through the ancient martyrologists, I see everywhere the episcopate of Sinope constantly ascribed to one Phocas, a martyr. Then, unrolling the oration of St. Asterius, I behold in it depicted in living colors another Phocas, a martyr of Sinope indeed, but in the manner of his life and death utterly discrepant from the Bishop of Sinope. Therefore, moved by the authority of St. Asterius and of the ancient martyrologists, I resolved that these two Sinopean martyrs must be separated from one another. Nor was I deterred from embracing this opinion by the fact that the arena of martyrdom had been almost the same for both. For I knew from the Roman Martyrology and from our Acts that many martyrs of the same name had suffered in the same cities, among whom nevertheless there was an immense difference.

[10] Concerning the third Phocas a great doubt remained. Wherefore I resolved to examine him more diligently. and how the suspicion of a confusion of the holy Phocas, I had indeed read in certain more recent martyrologists that he had undergone martyrdom at Antioch; but this assertion of theirs moved me little: for I thus reasoned within myself. Since concerning the Acts, fatherland, manner of life, time and kind of martyrdom of that Antiochene Phocas nothing is established, he could easily have been confused with either of the two Sinopeans. Perhaps, I said, the relics of one or other of the Sinopeans, carried to Antioch, shone with so many miracles that the hagiographers of later centuries thought this city had been honored by his sacred contest. This suspicion of mine was confirmed by the narrative of St. Asterius, in which he asserts that the relics of the holy gardener of Sinope, divided among many places, are honored with a great concourse of people, and, to the full glory of the blessed Martyr, are made illustrious by God through very many miracles. There occurred indeed the contrary argument, namely that by Asterius no word is made of the wondrous power against venom, which by all is attributed to the Antiochene Phocas. But this, though it lessened my suspicion, did not yet altogether remove it.

[11] Thus therefore, wavering in mind, I had recourse, after our manner, to the most ancient writers who had made mention of him; and first indeed I found Gregory of Tours, was at last removed. who says that St. Phocas, illustrious for miracles against venomous bites, rests in Syria. But since he did not clearly express that he had there been crowned with martyrdom, not yet was every doubt utterly removed. At last I inspected the Hieronymian Martyrology, in which on March 5 I found these words expressed: At Antioch, the passion of St. Focas. This expression all the martyrologists of the ninth century follow. Then, all things being maturely weighed, I judged that I would act rashly if I preferred my conjectures to the authority of the most ancient Martyrology. Therefore I judged that three Phocas must be distinguished: for the same reasoning which divides Phocas the gardener from the Antiochene also distinguishes the Antiochene from the Bishop of Sinope. There is added to this, that all, so far as I know, easily grant that the Bishop of Sinope differs from the Antiochene martyr. Here you have a candid image of my doubting mind, and of its determining upon the more probable opinion. Now let us weigh the arguments of our adversaries.

[12] Baronius, in the Notes on the Roman Martyrology at March 5 and on this day July 14, contends that the things Against Baronius it is shown that two Phocas of Sinope are to be distinguished, which St. Asterius narrates of Phocas the gardener of Sinope pertain to Phocas the Antiochene martyr. But (be it said with the peace of that most eminent and most learned man) we judge that the testimony of St. Asterius, both for its antiquity and for the nearness of the places, is to be preferred to his reasons. For St. Asterius flourished under Julian the Apostate, and perhaps toward the end of the fourth century was bishop of Amasea, the metropolis of Pontus, to which by metropolitan right the city of Sinope was subject, and so he could not have been ignorant of what had happened in places so near and at times not so remote. And this especially, since at the beginning of his oration he professes that concerning a Martyr most well known to all he wishes to say only those things which belong to him alone.

[13] from St. Asterius, Bishop of Amasea in Pontus. But let us hear Asterius himself, in the Auctarium of the Greek Fathers edited by Combefis, page 171, thus discoursing: But these things I have set forth, that I may show the man who has furnished us the occasion of today's assembly more illustrious than his fellows and combatants, who sweated out the same contests. For some indeed are neither known to all, nor have their virtue celebrated in the discourse of men. But Phocas there is no one who does not know: rather, as the ray of the sun is displayed to the eyes of all, so also the fame of this Martyr has resounded in the ears of all; and, to say it in few words, as many as have known the Lord Christ, these also have known his faithful servant. But indeed, leaving aside, if it seems good, those praises which he has in common with others, I will recount to you, lovers of martyrs, the special praises of the Martyr. Who would believe that a Martyr so celebrated and known to all had been mingled by Asterius with another, the Antiochene? If anyone should wish to know more fully the authority of this holy prelate, let him consult Volume VII of the Councils of the Labbean edition, where in the seventh general synod, his writings for the cult of images having been read out, thus among others speaks Theodore, bishop of Catania: The blessed and God-bearing teacher Asterius, like a bright star, has illumined the hearts of us all.

[14] [To the conjectures of the more recent critics the authority of the Martyrologies is opposed.] Certain more recent critics, among whom Tillemont, also think that Phocas the gardener and Phocas the bishop are one and the same martyr; and this they try to prove by conjectures not to be despised. Perhaps, they say, the Greeks of later centuries ascribed to Phocas the gardener of Sinope, of whom they knew nothing certain, the episcopate, just as to the same bishop they attribute many things which St. Asterius expressly narrates of St. Phocas the gardener. Afterward perhaps some more skilled person, finding the true Phocas in Asterius, and reading the same one adorned with episcopal dignity in the fictitious Greek Acts, thought them different, and, having composed a double elogium, inserted them into the Menaea as distinct martyrs. These and things like these do they say. But to these conjectures I oppose Bede augmented by Florus, Ado, Usuard, and other ancient martyrologists, who all acknowledge Phocas, Bishop of Sinope. It would be strange indeed if all these had confused the bishop with the gardener. Nay rather, the Little Roman, which Ado, a martyrologist of the ninth century, calls venerable and most ancient, has on July 14 the memory of Phocas, bishop of the city of Sinope. But the Hieronymian Martyrology on the same day suggests Focus (doubtless corruptly for Phocas), a bishop, although it does not express the place of the episcopate.

[15] The conjecture of Tillemont is refuted, Tillemont then presses the same argument by another way. If, he says, St. Phocas the bishop had at that time been known to the Sinopeans, certainly St. Asterius too, the metropolitan of the province, ought to have known him. It is strange, therefore, that, running out into a long oration in praise of St. Phocas the gardener, he made not a word about the other of the same name, a martyr and bishop in the same city. Leaving the force of this conjecture (so he himself calls it) to the judgment of the reader, he intimates that the Phocas of Sinope are not to be distinguished. But this negative argumentation of a man otherwise learned moves me not at all.

For what, I ask, forbids some saint to be praised, even though in the same city another of the same name is venerated, most well known to all, and adorned even with a greater dignity, of whom at that time there is deep silence in the panegyric? The most learned Asterius pursued his own aim, which was to extol with praises Phocas the gardener, whose anniversary day perhaps then, or the translation of whose relics, or some other festival, was being solemnly celebrated, as can not obscurely be gathered from the very opening of the oration.

[16] Does not daily experience teach us that the same thing is done by our own orators? For who, adorning with praises St. Peter, the martyr of Cordova, certain examples being adduced, is wont to mention the other St. Peter, a martyr in the same city? Yet the people of Cordova know both martyrs, and accurately distinguish them, although both were slain at Cordova around the same times by the same nation hostile to the Christian name, in hatred of the faith. So the Milanese in their own city venerate a twofold St. Eustorgius, differing greatly in times and in deeds. If it were worth the trouble, this matter could be confirmed by innumerable examples. One out of many I shall bring forward. At Rome, besides Paul the Apostle, there is venerated every year a St. Paul, who, with John, in his own house, afterward converted into a church, was slain under Julian the Apostate for the faith of Christ. This one has obtained a far more celebrated cult than the other St. Paul, martyr and bishop, whom also ancient monuments record to have been crowned with the laurel of martyrdom at Rome under Decius, although his proper Acts have perished. Certainly Paul the bishop differs from the other Paul, a martyr in the same city of Rome; and yet in the later Acts of SS. Paul and John no mention is made of the former Paul the bishop. Let the studious reader compare these things among themselves, and he will see that the matter in the two Sinopean Phocas is not so dissimilar. But enough, and more than enough, on this argument of Tillemont.

[17] That my opinion of three distinct Phocas may be more confirmed, and more clearly understood, I set forth, as it were under a single view, the several elogia of the several Saints of the same name. The elogium of St. Phocas, the Antiochene martyr. First occurs that in St. Gregory of Tours, book On the Glory of the Martyrs, chapter 99. Focas, he says, also a martyr, and himself joined to these martyrs by region (that he speaks of Syria is gathered from what precedes and what follows), rests in Syria, who, after the many injuries which he suffered for the name of the Redeemer, in what manner he triumphed over that ancient serpent is even today declared to the peoples. In short, if in any of these places a serpent, fastening its bite, has poured out its venom, immediately he who has been struck, when he has touched the door of the hall in which the Martyr rests, the swelling being compressed, the power of the venom emptied out, is saved. Of these, some, as is a celebrated and common report, already swollen by the stroke of the evil beast, already with the venom thickening through the whole body, blown up so as to breathe out their spirit, carried in men's hands and placed in the hall, have been healed. Nor is it ever permitted that a man should die on account of this poison, if full of faith he has touched the sacred threshold. Nothing of these things does either Asterius proclaim of his own Phocas the gardener, or the Greeks and Latins of Phocas, Bishop of Sinope. But since they relate very many miracles of each, who would believe that they would have omitted so continuous and manifest a miracle of driving off venom? For these and other reasons set forth above, that Phocas the Syrian is to me another than the two Pontic ones.

[18] Let us pass on to Phocas, Bishop of Sinope. In our manuscript synaxarion, A compendium of the life of St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, collected by order of the emperor Basil, I find on September 22 the following elogium, afterward to be printed in Greek type, which here meanwhile I faithfully translate into the Latin tongue. The title is such: The contest of holy Phocas the martyr, Bishop of Sinope. Then it is subjoined: Christ's holy martyr Phocas was under the reign of Trajan, born and educated in the city of Sinope. Being a boy, he received from God the gifts of miracles. For he put demons to flight, raised the dead, and saved ships in peril. Setting out from Sinope into the city of Amasea, he did similar things. Then he came to Amisus, there too working miracles and confirming many in the faith of Christ. After these things, having returned to Sinope, he was elected its bishop, and through miracles converting many of the gentiles to Christ, he baptized them. Then he interpreted his own passing from a dove: for he saw in a dream a dove coming and sitting upon his head, and offering him a crown, and even saying: Receive, Phocas, the symbol of your end. A little after, the emperor Trajan, sending, seized him, and, when he had first tortured him much, at last beheaded him, and then delivered him to the fire.

[19] and of St. Phocas the gardener of Sinope. The third Phocas, namely the gardener, St. Asterius describes at length. His history, drawn from Asterius, the Greeks hand down in the Menaea, and in the Menologion edited by Combefis they thus summarize it. The title is: Memory of holy Phocas the gardener. Then follows: This man was born of the city of Sinope, ancient and noble, in that province. His pursuit was the cultivation of a garden, to which he devoted himself; and, exercising it, he set out in common whatever was at hand. But he made more account of the cultivation of the soul. Therefore he did not long lie hidden, but, as a true servant of Christ, was denounced to the emperor. When therefore the officers had come, they lodged with the very man whom they were seeking. When he had kindly received and refreshed them, he asked who they were, and for what cause they had come into that city. They then declared the secret, namely that they were seeking Phocas for punishment. The servant of the Lord heard it, and, having prepared what was needful for burial, made himself manifest to those who sought him. They were astounded in their minds. But he asked further that they should boldly perform what they had been commanded. And so, beheaded, he was offered as a sacrifice pleasing to God. You see here a threefold Phocas, as I think, distinct. Now let us establish the cult of the holy prelate of Sinope, whom on this day, together with the Roman Martyrology, we have undertaken to illustrate, from which also the aforesaid distinction of the Phocas will receive greater light and confirmation.

§ III. The cult, relics, and miracles of St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope.

The Menologia of various nations commemorate St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, The sacred monuments of almost all nations commemorate this holy martyr of ours. The Calendar of the Copts on September 22 has thus: Of the martyr Phocas, disciple of John. I think here is indicated St. John the Evangelist, whose disciple he could have been, if you regard the nearness of time and place. Yet I assert nothing, because in the ancient writers I find nothing of this matter, and I know not whence the Copts dug this up. The Slavo-Russian Menologion thus commemorates him: Of the holy martyr Phocas in the year 102. Concerning the epoch here determined by the Russians, what is to be judged, we shall say hereafter. The Index to the Typicon of St. Sabas, the index to the printed Menaea, the Lesser and the Greater Horologion—in a word, all the sacred Fasti of the Greeks, whether printed or written by hand—have some commemoration of this holy Martyr.

[21] The Latins with equal consent celebrate our holy prelate. The Hieronymian Martyrology thus announces: Of St. Focus the bishop. and the more ancient Latin martyrologists. The Little Roman: In Pontus, of Phocas the bishop of the city of Sinope. Bede augmented by Florus: Of St. Phocas, bishop of Pontus, who under the emperor Trajan, the prefect being Africanus, overcame prison, the claws, sword, and even fire for Christ; whose relics are held in the basilica of the Apostles in Gaul, in the city of Vienne. Ado in his Martyrology has all the same things, except that he distinctly adds that he was bishop of the city of Sinope. Usuard thus contracted Ado: In Pontus, the birthday of blessed Focas, bishop of the city of Sinope, who under the emperor Trajan overcame prison, chains, sword, and even fire for Christ. Wandelbert adorns our holy Martyr with this verse: On the day before, the prelate and martyr Phocas seeks the heights of heaven. I omit the more recent martyrologists, who drew their material from the same sources. Nor do I observe the various formations of the name and the variations of the codices, which any curious person will be able to find on this day among the Auctaria of Usuard, illustrated not so long ago with sufficiently great labor.

[22] Now we have seen that Bede, or rather Florus, in the commemoration of this Martyr and bishop also mentions the relics, His relics were translated into Gaul. which are held in the basilica of the Apostles in Gaul, in the city of Vienne. The same has Ado in his Martyrology; but in his Chronicle, at the year of Christ 101, he thus writes: In those times, in Pontus, Focas, bishop of the city of Sinope, most gloriously accomplished his martyrdom, whose most sacred relics were translated into Gaul, into the city of Vienne, and there placed in the church of the holy Apostles. I do not grasp how, after such ancient and manifest testimonies of Florus and of Ado, bishop of Vienne, Peter de Natalibus, book 6 chapter 98, narrating the passion of our Phocas, could have written the following. But the body of the holy Martyr was carried into a city of Armenia in Gaul, and there buried.

[23] That this error may more manifestly appear, I add the Bull of Innocent IV, the Roman Pontiff, found among the manuscripts of Nicholas Chorier, The Bull of Innocent IV concerning the relics of St. Phocas, which he himself also mentions in his printed booklet on the antiquities of Vienne. The Bull is of the following tenor. Innocent … to the Abbot and convent of the monastery of St. Peter outside the gate of Vienne … Although it comes from the gift of him to whom it belongs that he be worthily and laudably served by his faithful, and by the abundance of his piety, which exceeds the merits and desires of suppliants, he requites those who serve him well with much greater things than they can deserve, nevertheless, desiring to render to the Lord an acceptable people, we invite the faithful of Christ to please him and, as it were by certain enticing gifts, namely by indulgences and remissions, that they may thereby be rendered more fit for divine grace. Since therefore, as you have taken care to set forth to us, our beloved sons H. (Hugo) of St. Sabina, and Willermus of the basilica of the Twelve Apostles, cardinal presbyters, once revealed, at our command, the body of the blessed Phocas, martyr and pontiff, which had been laid in your monastery; We, desiring that your monastery, out of reverence for that Saint, be frequented with fitting honors, to all who are truly penitent and confessed, who shall venerably visit that monastery on the anniversary day of the revelation of the aforesaid Saint, trusting in the mercy of Almighty God and in the authority of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, mercifully relax forty days of the penance enjoined upon them. Given at Lyons, on the tenth of the Kalends of April, in the seventh year of our Pontificate. Of these indulgences granted by Innocent IV, John a Bosco also makes mention in the Antiquities of Vienne, sacred and profane, from the Library of Fleury, page 23. They were given in the year 1250.

[24] and other testimonies concerning the same. The Breviary of Vienne, printed in the year 1522, in the Rubrics of the Saints of the month of July thus prescribes: Of St. Focas, bishop and martyr. Let it be done as in the common. Prayer: Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty. I think his feast was then celebrated on July 14, although the day is not appended. But in the manuscript Order of the Saints of the church of Vienne, which Father Chifflet sent to us, I read the following at the day

of January 13. The translation of the relics of St. Phocas, bishop and martyr, from the city of Sinope of Pontus in Asia Minor to the city of Vienne in Gaul. These, laid up in the basilica of the Apostles, are to this very time venerated, full of miracles. On this account John the Fourth (perhaps it is an error of the copyist for Innocent the Fourth) mercifully bestowed forty days of indulgences on those who piously visit them, on that same day recurring each year. It is established that all these things pertain to Phocas, Bishop of Sinope. But it is doubtful of which Phocas St. Chrysostom treats, when he testifies that his relics were in his own time translated with solemn pomp, in the edition of our Fronto Ducaeus, homily 71. The title of the homily is this: On holy Phocas the martyr… Then the opening of the oration is such: Splendid was our city made yesterday, splendid and illustrious; not because it had columns, but because it had a martyr advancing in procession, who has come to us from Pontus. From which it is sufficiently gathered that he speaks of one or other of the Sinopean Phocas, inasmuch as his sacred remains were brought from Pontus.

[25] [It is doubtful of whose St. Phocas St. Chrysostom treats when he mentions relics,] The whole difficulty is whether these things are to be ascribed to Phocas the bishop or to the gardener. The difficulty is increased by the fact that St. Asterius in his oration on Phocas the gardener thus affirms: His relics, divided among many places, everywhere keep for the thrice-blessed man the entire renown of his name. Our own Fronto Ducaeus indeed suspects, in the Notes on this oration, that St. Chrysostom treats of Phocas the bishop, because in the inscription of the treatise he is called ἱερομάρτυς, by which title bishops or presbyters adorned with martyrdom are more often marked by the Greeks. But this suspicion, resting on so uncertain a foundation, cannot extort from me a sure judgment: for, besides that I see the title ἱερομάρτυρος prefixed to Phocas the gardener in the Combefisian edition and in the Royal Codex, experience, though not long, has taught me that by this name martyrs are addressed by the Greeks even when conspicuous for no ecclesiastical dignity. And so, destitute of the weight of solid reasons, I can be bent to neither side, and am forced to leave this dispute undecided.

[26] and to whom the churches erected in honor of St. Phocas belong. Nor is it permitted me to define more certainly whether to our holy bishop pertain those things which Cedrenus, Porphyrogenitus, Chalcondylas, and other Greek historians have handed down concerning various churches and monasteries built in honor of St. Phocas. Already at the beginning of the sixth century, that at Constantinople a monastery marked with the name of St. Phocas existed is clear from this, that Julian, Ἀρχιμανδρίτης τοῦ ἐν ὁσίοις Φωκᾶ, subscribed the little book of the monks to the synod under Hormisdas. And Anselm Banduri, in the Constantinopolitan Antiquities, volume 2, book 3, page 733, mentions a monastery built and endowed by Basil the Macedonian in honor of St. Phocas, citing these words of Porphyrogenitus: In Stenon also, that is, at the neck of the Euxine, a church of St. Phocas, exceedingly to be venerated, piously and religiously built by himself, and converted into a monastery pleasing to God, and abundantly enriched with buildings and possessions, he gave to a company of pious monks, gathered by himself, and designated it to be a healing workshop of souls. Our Fronto Ducaeus, in the place before cited, reports from Chalcondylas that a church of St. Phocas was dedicated near Trebizond. But in these things I find no characteristic mark by which I might discern to which of the three saints of the same name this honor was rendered.

[27] Du Cange, Constantinopolis Christiana, book 4, page 133, thus writes: [A church seems to have been begun by the emperor Phocas in honor of St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope.] A church of St. Phocas the martyr, whose feast the Greeks celebrate on September 22, the tyrant Phocas built in the Milion, at a place called Dihippion; which, before he could roof it, he was slain by Heraclius, who afterward dedicated this to St. John the Theologian. From these things I gather that at least of one or other of the Sinopean martyrs the discourse here is, since the Greeks celebrate the feast of both on September 22. It must now be seen whether from elsewhere no light can be brought, so that we may vindicate for our Sinopean bishop this sacred church, begun by the emperor Phocas in honor of the Saint of his own name. I find in the Supplement to the Menaea, collected from the Synaxarion of Sirmond and the manuscript of Chifflet, after the brief elogium of St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, these words: Τελεῖται δὲ αὐτοῦ σύναξις ἐν τῷ ἁγιωτάτῳ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίῳ, τῷ ὄντι ἔνδον τοῦ ἁγίου ναοῦ τοῦ πανευφήμου Ἀπιστόλου καὶ Εὐαγγελιστοῦ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Θεολόγου, πλησίον τῆς ἁγιωτάτης μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας. Which I thus interpret: But his festivity is celebrated in his most holy martyrium (a martyrium here is a place in which some martyr is venerated) which is within the holy temple of the glorious Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian near the most holy great church. But that the church of St. John the Theologian was situated ἐν τῷ διιππείῳ, the Menaea, Synaxaria, and Byzantine historians attest. From these things therefore, compared with one another, I seem prudently able to conclude that in this church sacred to St. John, Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, was venerated.

[28] Panciroli in the Hidden Treasures of the Fostering City of Rome, page 367, says that the body of St. Phocas is preserved at Rome in the church of St. Marcellus, [The Roman church and relics more probably pertain to St. Phocas the gardener of Sinope.] and that it was there visited in the year 1594 by Clement VIII. I scarcely doubt that the Roman relics are those of St. Phocas the gardener of Sinope, since St. Asterius testifies that the sacred head of this martyr was honored with a great concourse of the Roman people, and with a temple of remarkable beauty. Baronius indeed judges that these things were said by Asterius hyperbolically, and are to be attributed to the Antiochene Phocas the martyr. Perhaps he judges that St. Asterius here used hyperbole, because no traces of so celebrated a cult and of so beautiful a temple now survive at Rome. At least I would not dare to contradict St. Asterius, who expressly affirms this of his gardener. Certainly the most diligent investigator of antiquity, Holstenius, in his Animadversions on the Roman Martyrology, defends the assertion of St. Asterius, and says that these things are to be understood not of Phocas the Antiochene, but of the Sinopean; nor did the holy prelate speak hyperbolically, since there was at Rome a church of St. Phocas even in the time of Pope Gregory VII. In agreement with Holstenius is Fioravante Martinelli in Roma sacra, page 386, where, having cited the testimony of St. Asterius, he adds this: Baronius … thinks this was said by rhetorical amplification; but the Brief of Gregory VII granted to the monastery of St. Paul of the City mentions a church of St. Phocas, which formerly had been under the jurisdiction of St. Anastasius. But since these things do not pertain to our bishop, let us not dwell on them longer.

[29] The miracles wont to be shown to sailors, Now it must be discussed whether to St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, pertain the miracles wont to be shown toward sailors in peril, with which the Greeks adorn him in their ecclesiastical Office. On the very day of his feast they thus sing at Vespers, third troparion: You illumine the whole world with the rays of miracles. Daily, father, you are a helper to those tossing on the sea. You put diseases to flight, you take away the infirmities of soul and body, having received grace from the Lord, most blessed martyr Phoca. Then after the Cathisma: The Spirit dwelling in you by grace made you a rich fount of many graces, O Phoca. Wherefore also, father, daily you help travelers who seek your aid with faith: with whom grant to us also propitiation, mighty in divine wisdom. Finally, besides other similar things, which for brevity's sake I omit, thus they pray in the Exapostilarion: Summit of prelates and ornament of victors, Phoca, and great defender of those tossed on the sea, save us who praise you, blessed man. These things the Greeks say piously enough, if truly enough. But that I may candidly open my mind, unless God has made both Phocas of Sinope illustrious with miracles toward the shipwrecked, I suspect that these things have been ascribed to Phocas the bishop by error: for I cannot give as much faith to the Greeks who composed these Offices—being more recent, and often stumbling in ecclesiastical history—as to St. Asterius, who already many centuries ago commemorates these benefits bestowed upon sailors by Phocas the gardener.

[30] are not so certainly to be attributed to St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope. I would think that the simple sailors did not so exactly distinguish the two Phocas of Sinope, but, moved by the fame of the miracles, as is wont among the common people, invoked Phocas θαλασσοθαυματουργὸν in the perils of the sea, and felt his aid, whether he was Phocas the bishop or the gardener, which I would believe they did not much care about. Nay perhaps the same thing happened at Sinope which I have intimated to have happened at Rome in the preceding paragraph; namely that, as at Rome after Paul the bishop, who suffered under Decius, there arose another most celebrated Paul, a martyr under Julian, so also at Sinope, after the elder Phocas the bishop, another Phocas underwent martyrdom, whom the people followed with a more celebrated cult, and whom God made illustrious with more miracles, which afterward the more recent Greeks preferred to grant to Phocas the bishop, either because they knew little of him beyond his episcopate and martyrdom, or because they had read in the Basilian Synaxarion that Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, in his youth, among other miracles, had saved ships in peril, as above we have seen in his elogium. These conjectures, resting chiefly on the authority of St. Asterius, as we have easily given them, so also we shall not with difficulty abandon them, if anyone shall bring more probable reasons or certain documents.

[31] The miracle of the liberated captive probably pertains to the Bishop of Sinope, It remains that the miracle which I judge to have been wrought by the intercession of the Bishop of Sinope, from the Synaxarion of the emperor Basil at the end of Volume I of July, printed in Greek, I here render into Latin. Thus it has on July 6: Leo, surnamed Pontianus, related that that Sisinius, whose surname was Robustus, sailing in the imperial fleet, was captured by the Saracens, and, bound with two chains, was shut up in prison. Surrounded by such distress, he invoked God and his most holy martyr Phocas, saying: Holy martyr Phoca, have mercy on me and free me from the distress of the chains which holds me. When therefore he had fallen asleep, he saw the Saint standing by him in the habit of a priest and saying to him: Awake and depart. And, awakened, he found the chains broken, and himself loosed, and the prison open. And fleeing he escaped all the way to his own house. He always celebrated his memory with much giving of thanks, glorifying God, who gives such graces to his Saints. This miracle I ascribe to our bishop, because he is said to have appeared in the habit of a priest, which does not seem able to suit the other Phocas. Moreover, in the manuscripts of Chifflet and Sirmond this title is prefixed to the same miracle: Μνήμη θαύματος γενομένου παρὰ τοῦ ἁγίου ἱερομάρτυρος Φωκᾶ τοῦ θαυματουργοῦ. That is: Memory of a miracle which was wrought by holy Phocas the martyr, the wonderworker. But I note that the name of wonderworker, or worker of miracles, is constantly attributed by the Greeks to the Bishop of Sinope alone, when they treat of the various Phocas.

[32] The printed Menaea indicate that various other miracles were wrought by his patronage, and various others, of which there is no distinct knowledge. when they thus conclude the compendium of his life. But many

miracles were also wrought by him even after his migration to the Lord. The manuscript Order of the Saints of the church of Vienne, cited above, hints at the same power of miracles, when, treating of the relics of our holy bishop, it uses these words: These, laid up in the basilica of the Apostles, are to these very times venerated, full of miracles. It is to be lamented that a distinct knowledge of so many miracles could not be acquired. I have not wished here to bring forward also the various translations of the relics set down in the Greek Synaxaria, because to which of the three, or at least of the two Phocas they pertain, I cannot determine even by conjecture. From all that has been said in this paragraph, it is sufficiently clear that St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, has long been honored in the Greek and Latin Church with the cult wont to be shown to the Saints.

§ IV. The deeds of St. Phocas before his episcopate, and the kind and time of his martyrdom.

Besides the miracles and journeys which we have given above from the Synaxarion of the emperor Basil, we know no deeds of our Martyr before his episcopate. Of his deeds before his episcopate few things are certain. In our manuscript codices and in Mombritius there are reported in general certain virtues, by which holy Phocas is said to have flourished in his boyish and youthful age. These Vincent of Beauvais narrates in the same manner in the Speculum, book 10, chapter 62. Thus, he says, he passed the time of infancy, that something admirable, I know not what, of divine disposition appeared in him even then. But now, when at his ripening years he entered the first threshold of adolescence, he began to show a senile wisdom, gentle in approach, sober in mind, glorious in chastity, a lover of justice, a master of mercy, an instructor of humility. This common elogium, dug up I know not whence, everyone sees can be fitted to any saint. While I peruse various Greek monuments, to inquire whether anything peculiar can be said of the youth of our holy bishop, I fall upon the Supplement to the Menaea collected from the Synaxarion of Sirmond and the manuscript of Chifflet, in which at September 22 I read thus: ἄθλησις ἑτέρου Φωκᾶ ἱερομάρτυρος, ὃς ἐγένετο υἱὸς Παμφίλου ναυπηγοῦ. That is: The contest of another Phocas the martyr, who was the son of Pamphilus, a builder of ships. Of this art of his father, in the Menologion, the Menaea, and the other Synaxaria of the Greeks, not a word is made.

[34] He is said by the Latins to have been a sailor; But behold, when I proceed to the Latins, I find that our St. Phocas has already, from the son of a shipwright, been made a sailor. Peter de Natalibus in the Catalogue of the Saints, book 6, chapter 98, speaks of him thus: This man first exercised the art of the helmsman, then by divine disposition came to the episcopate of the city of Sinope. Florentinius in the Notes on the Hieronymian Martyrology makes him a bishop from a fisherman. But Baronius in the Notes on the Roman Martyrology on this day asserts that the things which the Latin authors write of each (Phocas) are more certain and much more true, in all of whom it is read that this Phocas was made a bishop from a sailor, and that he is the very one whom sailors in tempests were accustomed with so great zeal to invoke. All those Latins are doubtless to be understood accommodately, as the philosophers say: for in most of them I have found not a word about the nautical art attributed to our Martyr. Besides, whence did the Latins of later times draw those things which they hand down so positively concerning the nautical matter and the zeal of sailors toward Phocas the bishop? Certainly St. Asterius, a writer of the fourth century, attributes this devotion of sailors to his Phocas the gardener, of which he could have been an eyewitness. Perhaps someone will allege our Greek Acts, in which similar things are indicated. But how great is the authority of these we shall see in the following paragraph. Let me here meanwhile propose a certain conjecture.

[35] but this opinion is very uncertain. What the Acts in Peter de Natalibus and others hand down concerning his art of the helmsman or sailor before his episcopate, I suspect arose from the simple piety of sailors toward St. Phocas (whoever he was), or from a misunderstood Office of the Greeks, in which the spiritual steering of St. Phocas is thus described in Ode 3: The swelling tempest of idolatry, the sea of error, you ran through by divine steering, O renowned one, becoming a most tranquil harbor for all tossed on the sea. Perhaps someone rudely changed this spiritual steering into a bodily one. Perhaps also the untutored sailors, on account of the frequent miracles of St. Phocas toward them, thought that his own art had once been practiced by him, nay, for the greater glory of the nautical craft, feigned it. Which tradition of the common people, as often happens, could afterward also be committed to writing. Whatever it may be, we know that St. Nicholas of Myra and other Saints, who were never skilled in this art, are invoked by sailors. We know that sailors, especially those of the Indies, in the perils of the sea implore and experience the aid of our St. Francis Xavier, who never had anything in common with the art of the helmsman, unless one understand the spiritual sails which he most holily plied by land and sea.

[36] The authors disagree about the kind of his death, Let us now see whether we can bring forward anything more certain about the kind of martyrdom. The Synaxarion of the emperor Basil, cited before, has thus at the end: A little after, the emperor Trajan, sending, seized him, and, when he had first tortured him much, at last beheaded him, and then delivered him to the fire. A similar exit from life the printed Menaea seem to indicate, from which the elogium of our Saint, on account of the discrepancy of certain circumstances, I shall here produce entire in Latin. Thus they have on September 22: This man (namely Phocas the martyr and wonderworker, as is in the title) was the son of Pamphilus and Maria, in Pontus at Sinope. But at once from his tender nails, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he performed admirable miracles, and persevered in doing wonders even to his last breath. Whence also he was taught that the end of martyrdom would befall him, a dove sitting upon his head, placing a crown upon it, speaking in a human manner and saying: The cup is tempered, and it behooves you to drink it; which he was even worthy to drink, being under the emperor Trajan consummated by sword and fire. In agreement is Maximus, bishop of Cythera, asserting at the end of his elogium that St. Phocas consummated the course of his life διὰ ξίφους καὶ πυρὸς, by sword and fire.

[37] Our Greek Acts and all the Latin codices have another catastrophe of his life. perhaps on account of a confusion of the Acts. For they say that St. Phocas, after various torments, was cast into living lime; and, since he remained unharmed in it, at last, shut up in a most boiling bath, gently amid prayers breathed out his soul, his body not at all scorched. All these same things the Greeks narrate of a certain Phocas, whom they venerate on July 23, as was said above in §1, where also I noted that I suspect the entire Acts of Phocas of Sinope to have been foisted upon another Phocas, perhaps the Antiochene, for the reason there set forth and afterward to be repeated. So Mombritius and Peter de Natalibus, deceived by the similarity of the name, attribute to Genesius of Arles, a martyr under Diocletian, the Acts of another Genesius, who at Rome, acting as a mime and exposing the Christian rites to mockery, was suddenly converted, and obtained the palm of martyrdom under Diocletian. So too could some unskilled man, led into error by the homonymy, attribute the Acts of Phocas of Sinope to another Phocas; whom very many, erring in good faith, have followed.

[38] Yet I would not wish anyone to infer from this that I wish to vindicate for Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, everything [A gentle death in the bath seems more conformable to the text of the ancient Martyrologies.] which is narrated in our Greek Acts: for besides many other things in them which displease me, the steering of sailors there insinuated I judge is to be ascribed to Phocas the gardener of Sinope. But that we may not leap beyond the olives; which of the two kinds of death mentioned a little before is more consonant with the truth, it is not so easy to define; especially since the Basilian Synaxarion, collected in the tenth century, disagrees with our Acts in this matter. Yet I would think the gentle death in the bath more probable, on this account, that Bede or Florus, Ado, and Usuard say that fire was overcome by St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope; which manner of speaking cannot conveniently enough be explained, if, beheaded, he was cast into the fire. Combefis thinks he has composed this dispute, interpreting the words of the Greek Menaea ξίφει καὶ πυρὶ τελειωθεὶς thus, for by sword, by fire consummated. But, besides that the expression of the Basilian Synaxarion concerning the cutting off of the head is clear, this interpretation seems to me too forced. Let us now pass on to the epoch of the martyrdom.

[39] If our Greek Acts were such that one might safely trust them, we could assign not only the determined year of the glorious contest, The epoch of the martyrdom could be known from the Acts, but even the very day, more or less. For in them it is said that St. Phocas, soon after the consummation of his martyrdom, appeared to Trajan, and foretold to him his death, to be undergone after three days, which also at the predicted time is said to have followed. But it is established from the chronologists of better note that Trajan died in the year of Christ 117, on the tenth day of August, and so, supposing the truth of the narrative, St. Phocas ought in the same year, on the sixth day of August, to have consummated his contest, if we grant Trajan three whole days after the martyrdom of St. Phocas. I have said, supposing the truth of the narrative: for I judge this whole narrative to be fabulous; and lest I should seem to have judged this rashly, receive in few words the cause of my opinion.

[40] unless they handed down a manifest fable about the death of Trajan. The Acts narrate that Trajan, having heard the prophecy of St. Phocas, struck with horror, returned to his palace, and there, seized with a fever and gnawed by worms, after three days expired. And so they seem to wish that Trajan died in the city of Sinope, in which the ancient Martyrologies record St. Phocas the bishop to have been martyred. But this place of death is repugnant to all the historians, even the most ancient, who assert that the emperor Trajan was extinguished at Selinus in Cilicia, or, as certain others will have it, at Seleucia of Isauria, by a flux of the belly. This fable therefore sufficiently betrays itself. Let us now hear the various opinions of others concerning the time of the martyrdom.

[41] Various opinions concerning the time of the martyrdom; Tamayus, as though from the tripod, pronounces that our Martyr suffered in the year of Christ 101. Ferdinand de Camargo y Salgado in his Sacred Chronology, published in Spanish, equally confidently asserts that St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, was honored with the laurel of martyrdom in the year of Christ 114. It is not worth the trouble to inquire whether they found this different year in their Flavius Dexter, because, when all antiquity is silent, we shall not give faith to this lying oracle. The Muscovites in their Menologion assign to the martyrdom of St. Phocas the year 102. In vain, I think, shall I inquire whence they too drew this determined year. From the common opinion of all, which places the martyrdom of St. Phocas the bishop under Trajan, D. Chorier greatly departs, who, without witness, without records, says in his little book on the Antiquities of Vienne, page 296, that St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, suffered under the emperor Lucius Verus. I think this man slipped in memory, and wrote one emperor for another. Baronius in the Ecclesiastical Annals at the year of Christ 114,

which ought to be 112, as is now everywhere ascertained by the learned, thus writes: But as for Julius Africanus, who in this year (as we have seen) held the consulate: him we judge to have been that Africanus who, administering the province of Pontus, that he might deserve well of the superstition of the Gentiles, among others crowned with martyrdom a man most illustrious in fame, holy Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, previously afflicted with many tortures.

[42] but the consulate of Africanus being examined, Now I had almost, as they commonly say, hand and foot descended into the opinion of Baronius, and, the error of two years being corrected, had fixed the martyrdom of St. Phocas at the year of Christ 112, had not a further inquiry concerning the consul Africanus restrained me from passing judgment. And in this more diligent examination I discovered, first, that the consul of the year 112 is not called Julius Africanus, but Titus Sextius Africanus; then, that he in this year administered the consulate not in Pontus, as it pleased Baronius, but at Rome. These things are demonstrated from Phlegon, a contemporary historian, who could not have been ignorant of the praenomen of the Roman consul and of the other things pertaining to him. Our Labbe in the Historical Chronology at the year of Christ 112 cites these words of Phlegon: ἄρχοντος Ἀθήνησιν Ἀδριανοῦ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος γενομένου, ὑπατευόντων ἐν Ῥώμῃ Τραιανοῦ τὸ ἕκτον καὶ Τίτου Σεξτιοῦ Ἀφρικανοῦ. That is: Hadrian, who became emperor, holding the archonship at Athens, Trajan for the sixth time and Titus Sextius Africanus being consuls at Rome. Although therefore many authors and various consular Fasti call this colleague of Trajan Julius or Caius Julius Africanus, you would better judge that he is to be called Titus Sextius Africanus, as Noris more fully proves in the Consular Epistle, page 71.

[43] As for the Pontic prefecture, which Baronius attributes to Africanus, and other things being maturely discussed, perhaps to defend the authority of the Acts, in which St. Phocas is introduced disputing with Africanus concerning the Christian religion; this I do not admit without a trustworthy witness, especially since Phlegon expressly notes that Hadrian held the archonship at Athens, but that Africanus administered the consulate at Rome. Nor does it become more probable to me that in the same year a double Africanus, the one at Rome, the other in Pontus, discharged the office of the consulate. Which, although it could have happened, yet is not to be rashly asserted, since no ancient history teaches it, nor does reason persuade it. For when Florus and Ado say that St. Phocas overcame various torments for Christ under the emperor Trajan and the prefect Africanus, I think nothing else is signified than that he consummated his martyrdom under the reign of Trajan and the consulate of Africanus; just as the epoch of the Martyrs, especially the ancient ones, is often wont to be designated by the emperors and consuls. Hence any not unskilled person will easily gather what I think of the various long dialogues held by St. Phocas with Africanus and Trajan, which are described in our Greek Acts and in others everywhere.

[44] Perhaps someone will argue from what has been said that the year of the martyrdom is already sufficiently certain: the year of his death is left undetermined, with Ado. for Trajan, according to all the more accurate chronologists, held his sixth consulate with Africanus in the year of Christ 112. Therefore, if by the prefecture of Africanus his consulate is to be understood, it now manifestly follows that St. Phocas suffered in the year 112. So also did I argue, when I read Baronius. But afterward I saw that this argument was not so firm as at first I had thought: since in the consular Fasti I find that the same Africanus, in the year of Christ 108, substituted for another, discharged the office of consul; whence at least the doubt remains whether the martyrdom of St. Phocas is to be placed in the year 108 or in 112. And so I seem to myself likely to act prudently if I leave the year of the martyrdom undetermined, after the example of Ado, who in his Chronicle, embracing together the events from the year 101 to 120, thus writes indefinitely: In those times in Pontus, Focas, bishop of the city of Sinope, most gloriously accomplished his martyrdom. Now let us examine the various Acts of his passion, and pass judgment on our Greek ones.

§ V. The Latin apographs being examined, judgment is passed on the Greek Acts of St. Phocas.

That, being about to examine the various Acts of St. Phocas, we may keep some order, we shall discuss first the printed, then the manuscript Latin ones, and finally our Greek ones. The printed Acts concerning St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, are examined; Vincent of Beauvais in the Speculum, book 10, chapter 62, having prefixed a brief preface, plainly discrepant from our Greek one, thus describes the passion of St. Phocas, so that it agrees with the Greek, except that in the dialogues and orations it is not so prolix. But that he ascribes it to Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, I gather from the end of chapter 65, where he has thus: Phocas, glorious by this passion, is deservedly held the first at Sinope in Pontus, which is celebrated on the day before the Ides of July. Peter de Natalibus seems to have contracted Vincent, or Acts like his, who, the prayers and dialogues being omitted, handed down a compendium of the various torments and miracles. He also says at the end that St. Phocas, bishop and martyr, suffered on the day before the Ides of July. Moreover, he betrays great ignorance of cosmography, when he calls Pontus a city, in which St. Phocas was seized, and Gaul a city of Armenia, to which his sacred relics were translated, as we observed before. Mombritius, volume 2, page 228, places in the title: The passion of St. Phocas, bishop and martyr; but is silent about the day of his martyrdom or cult. Yet I think that he meant to assign St. Phocas as celebrated on this day, since he names him bishop. The rest of his narration, except the proem, comes very close to our Greek Acts, and to certain manuscript Latin ones, from which perhaps he copied it. I pass over Surius and other more recent ones, who confess these to have been their guides. Now we must treat of our five Latin manuscripts.

[46] then five manuscripts, The first is excerpted from the Breviary of St. Peter of Vienne in Gaul, and sent to us by Father Chifflet. It agrees most closely with the narration of Vincent of Beauvais, a few things excepted, which, occurring here and elsewhere, I shall indicate in the Annotations. Yet it differs from the others at the end, where these words are added: St. Phocas the bishop was of the city of Sinope in the province of Pontus, whose most holy relics were translated to Vienne, a city of the Gauls, and laid in the church of blessed Peter with fitting honor. The second is the manuscript of Rouge-Cloître, whose preface is supplied from the apograph of St. Salvator and from Vincent of Beauvais, as Rosweyde noted in the margin. The history of the martyrdom described in it is not unlike the Mombritian edition, except that sometimes it is somewhat more verbosely adorned, and in the title is written only: The passion of holy Focas the martyr, the mention of the episcopate being omitted. The third, received from the monastery of St. Maximin at Trier, is so similar to the preceding that I judge the one to have been copied from the other.

[47] among which the two last say that St. Phocas is venerated on March 5. The fourth, which I found in the Molsheim codex, of parchment and of ancient character, scarcely differs from the others, except in the title, which runs thus: Here begins the passion of holy Focas the bishop, on the third of the Nones of March. But this title fights with itself: for it confesses St. Phocas a bishop, and meanwhile asserts that he is venerated on March 5, on which day all the Latins venerate Phocas the Antiochene martyr, but do not acknowledge a bishop of the same name, except on July 14. The fifth apograph, finally, written in an anonymous parchment codex, lacks a proem; but in the narration itself many things are contracted; here and there, however, certain things are also amplified. But the title differs from all the others, and is expressed in red letters thus: On the fifth day of March, of Focas the martyr at Antioch. From these two last manuscripts, in one of which St. Phocas is said to have suffered at Antioch, in the other he is placed as bishop and martyr on March 5, it is clear that the suspicion set forth by me above was not vain, when I said that the Acts of St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, had been ascribed by certain Latins in error to St. Phocas the Antiochene martyr. But of these rivulets drawn, unless I am mistaken, from a Greek source, let these things suffice.

[48] The writer of the Greek Acts says that he was present at the martyrdom; Now it remains that we survey the source itself, that is, that we pass judgment on the Greek Acts, to be subjoined here at once. First, their author is unknown: he intimates in them that he was not only contemporary with the martyrdom of St. Phocas, but even an eyewitness of it. Whence Leo Allatius in the Diatribe on the Writings of the Simeons, page 90, in good faith pronounces: The martyrdom of St. Phocas was written by one present and seeing. Then, as though about to bring a sure proof of his assertion, he subjoins some Greek lines taken from the Acts, which he thus interprets: For Africanus, falling to the ground, lay half-dead and stupefied. Amid these things we saw those things which God willed to show. For when a huge light, ten times greater than the sun, had shone forth, from heaven appeared three angels, seated on fiery horses, sending upon us great fear and trembling. Wherefore we all together stood astounded. He repeats on page 91 nearly the same words, to which also he prefixes the same assertion. But if that man, here too credulous, had diligently examined the several parts of these Acts, he would not so easily have given faith to an unknown writer, who concludes his prodigious narration with the fabulous death of Trajan.

[49] When I read this feigned coping-stone in the Acts, there came to my mind again and again those men, but the fable feigned concerning the death of Trajan, driven by I know not what spirit, who from one century and another published Chronicles and other books under the lying names of the ancients, that by this mask of antiquity they might impose upon the whole world, and defend the traditions of their fatherlands against manifest truth. Something similar I suspected had here been done; namely that some unskilled Greekling, after several centuries, writing the martyrdom of St. Phocas out of his own imagination, feigned himself a spectator of it, that he might procure greater authority for Acts scarcely credible from other sources. For who would easily believe that a contemporary author was so dull and leaden as to narrate a fable which he knew must at once be detected by all; nay, must be hissed off by the pagans, to the reproach of the Christians and the detriment of the faith: for no one at that time could be ignorant that Trajan, after the siege of Hatra in Mesopotamia, was seized by disease, and on the journey toward Rome expired at another place and in another manner than the Acts narrate. Hence Baronius in the Annals at the year of Christ 114 thus rejects the same fable about the death of Trajan, following three days after the accomplished contest of St. Phocas: But since in many things, so also in these we do not assent to him who says that he (namely Phocas, Bishop of Sinope) suffered three days before the death of Trajan (for there are many things which are repugnant). Among other things there is repugnant the constant opinion of all the historiographers, none of whom has it in mind to place the death of Trajan at Sinope or in any other city of Pontus.

[50] On account of this inept and imprudent figment, the rest of the narration also becomes suspect to me: for there displease me the prolix conversations with the tyrants, it renders the whole narration suspect, the clerics

publicly summoned by St. Phocas before the gentiles, the marvelous conversions, Trajan's confession about Christ, and the too-frequent miracles wont to be narrated in nearly the same manner in very many histories of other Martyrs, which our predecessors have already often shown to be quite alien from genuine and sincere Acts. The learned today, more long exercised in this critical arena than I, are wont to call such Acts pious dramas, adorned with episodes and unexpected events, in which are narrated, not the things which were done, but which probably could have been done. But the author of this tragedy has passed beyond even these limits of probability. I judge indeed, with Melchior Cano, that the deeds truly done by the Martyrs were not only ample and magnificent, but even much greater than they are reported by fame; nor was their virtue only as great as Christian writers could extol it in words, but rather so great that to noble talents the things themselves, and to the things themselves noble talents, words were also lacking to express their fortitude. Nevertheless it escapes no one that the true deeds of the Saints have been contaminated by very many fables: for which reason Pope Gelasius and other Roman Pontiffs repudiated histories of this kind, as may be seen more fully in Baronius in the Preamble of the things to be said on the Roman Martyrology, chapter 2.

[51] and, as often happens, it takes away faith from the true praises of the martyr: We nevertheless (I use the words of Pope Gelasius), with the aforesaid Roman Church, venerate with all devotion all the martyrs and their glorious contests, which are known to God more than to men; and among them the most valiant martyr Phocas, whose deeds I judge to have been known to God more than to men: for, to say openly what I feel, I think that of St. Phocas, Bishop of Sinope, few things were left to posterity besides his martyrdom, consummated through many torments under the reign of Trajan and the consulate of Africanus. Then perhaps, after several centuries, some Greek idiot, thinking it unworthy that the memory of this holy Martyr should be so obscure, undertook to embellish this history, and brought Trajan with Africanus onto the stage at Sinope, that he might the more easily adorn his drama with long disputations and marvelous varieties of events. Let no one take it ill if in this matter I perhaps seem somewhat of a critic: for to a lying man (the words are Melchior Cano's, book 11 On Theological Topics, chapter 6) we are not wont to believe even the truth. Wherefore those who by false and lying writings wished to stir up the minds of mortals to the cult of the Saints, these seem to me to have done nothing else than that faith should be taken away from true things on account of false ones, and that the things which have been strictly published by plainly truthful authors should also be called into doubt.

[52] thus many things have been feigned, so that, by one Prudently therefore I seem to myself able to fear that the writer of the Acts, in one thing manifestly convicted of imposture, has feigned many others, and on that account I have also denied him to be contemporary. But if anyone should contend that the reasons brought forward do not altogether suffice to deny this, and should wish him to have been contemporary with, nay even present at, the Passion, I shall not so greatly resist. But let him then at the same time remember that there were also, in the first centuries of the Church, Christians who believed it pious to feign for religion's sake. If anyone doubts of this matter, let him only inspect the Roman Breviary at the Feast of St. Luke, and there, from the book of St. Jerome On Ecclesiastical Writers, he will read the following: Therefore the journeys of Paul and Thecla, and the whole fable of the baptized lion, we reckon among the apocryphal scriptures. For how is it likely that the inseparable companion of the Apostle, among his other deeds, should have been ignorant of this alone? But Tertullian too, neighbor to those times, reports that a certain presbyter in Asia, a lover of Paul, convicted by John of being the author of the book, and having confessed that he did this out of love of Paul, on that account fell from his office.

[53] or another example, I add also another example, which not lightly confirms my opinion. When in the year 1722 I was staying in the Escorial library near Madrid, I fell upon the Acts of St. Marina or Margaret, written, as at first I believed, by a contemporary and eyewitness, in an ancient parchment codex. Thinking therefore that I had found a treasure, I began to copy them; but shortly I repented of my labor, when I read in them the following: Then, while she remained in prison, I, Teotimus, ran to her with food, looking through the window of the prison where holy Marina was detained. I saw all the things which happened to her. And while these things were being done, I looked; and behold, suddenly there came forth from the corner of the prison an intolerable dragon, crested with various colors, on whose head there seemed to be, as it were, hairs of a beard, and ears in the likeness of a man. Then he charmingly depicts that dragon from head to claws, and after many things at last subjoins: And while she prayed incessantly, the dragon, with open mouth, swallowed her down. Then the virgin of God, who bore the cross of Christ on her forehead (the cross of Christ itself grew in the belly of the dragon, and he was divided into two parts), appeared unharmed, as if she had suffered nothing.

[54] Of the writer of these Acts, Metaphrastes himself, otherwise not so hard to believe, it is declared, complains, in Surius on July 20, in the prologue to the Acts of St. Marina or Margaret, a little after the beginning writing thus: It must be known that not a few of those which contain the deeds of the martyrs have from the beginning been adulterated by narrations, as having been corrupted perhaps by gentiles, or by heretics and profane men deprived of the understanding of truth, and either defiled and befouled with trifles and most vain follies, and profaned with the most evident doctrines of demons and the execrable figments of a depraved and wicked mind, and composed to the contumely of Christ and of his Saints. And therefore they so shake faith henceforth, and bring such detriment to it, that on that account no one thereafter assents even to the truest; but either altogether rejects and repudiates them, or, as being doubtful, despises them or makes less of them. In which manner also the martyrdom of the excellent virgin and martyr Marina was adulterated by a certain contumely of our enemy, tares having been cast by the common enemy of all into the true narration of her passion, as into pure grain: by that demon, I say, who is there feigned to have been in the midst of her contest and to have spoken with her; so that those who hear, attending to how ridiculous and absurd is that demoniac speech, doubt also of the very martyrdom of the excellent victress Marina. For he who assailed the martyrs of Christ while yet living, and was held by an insatiable desire of putting them to death, no wonder if, after they have departed to the master of the contest and been pronounced victors, he tries to lie in wait for their glory through impious men, who speak falsehoods, mingling lies with the commentaries of the deeds of the Saints.

[55] the reader being left the liberty of judging. I could demonstrate this by more examples, if it were needful. For many similar things are found among the Acts of the martyrs, substituted for the true ones, either never written or lost, as Baronius proves by various examples in the place just cited. Let now the fair appraiser of things determine of the writer of our Acts what he please: for whether he was contemporary, or nearly so, or much later, it suffices us to have detected in him an insipid invention, by which the credit of his whole writing not a little totters. Now it is time that we exhibit the Greek Acts themselves, such as they are, with our interpretation, in which we wish rather to render the whole matter faithfully than to translate more elegantly.

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. PHOCAS, BY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR.

From the Greek manuscript of the Vatican Library, codex 797, page 384, collated with various Latin manuscripts.

Phocas, Bishop and Martyr, at Sinope in Pontus (S.)

FROM THE GREEK MANUSCRIPT.

PROLOGUE.

Επειδήπερ πολλάκις καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς καθόδου τῆς τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας, ἀόκνουτε καὶ φιλευσπλάγχνου, καὶ ἰσχυροῦ καὶ ἰατροῦ, ποιμένος τε καὶ διδασκάλου, θεοῦ τε καὶ κυρίου, τὸ περιβόητον καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον, ὅσιόν τε καὶ ἄμεμπτον μυστήριον τῶν τὴν ἐλπίδα ὁσίως κατεχόντων, καὶ ἐπισφραγισαμένων Χριστιανῶν, διὰ πολλῆς τε καὶ μεγάλης θλίψεως, νηστειῶν τε καὶ διωγμῶν, φυγῆς τε καὶ παραμονῆς, ἀτιμίας τε καὶ τιμῆς, ἀδοξίας τε καὶ δόξης, πλειστάκις οἱ ὅσιοι καὶ ἄμεμπτοι καὶ σχεδὸν ἰσάγγελοι ἀπόστολοι παθόντες ὑπέρ τοῦ διαβοήτου, καὶ ἐπιδόξου μυστηρίου, παρέδωκαν ἡμῖν τύπον τῶν τοῦ κυρίου παθημάτων, καὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως ἀμέμπτου καὶ ἀκλινοῦς· ἀναγκαῖον καὶ ἡμῖν ἐγένετο, πᾶσι καὶ πανταχοῦ τὴν ἄμεμπτον, καὶ περικαλῆ ἔνδοξον πολιτείαν τῶν τὴν ἁγίαν ἀρετὴν καὶ ἄθλησιν τελειωσάντων μαρτύρων, ἐπὶ ὑπομνήμασι διὰ τῶν δὲ τῶν γραμμάτων ὑμῖν σημάναι, ἀδελφοὶ, ἵνα μιμηταὶ γενόμενοι τῆς ἐκείνων ἀθλήσεως καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐφάμιλλοι ἐσώμεθα.

[2] Μεμνημένοι γὰρ αὐτῶν τοῦ διὰ πυρὸς, καὶ ξίφους, καὶ σταυροῦ, καὶ ποικίλων βασάνων, καὶ θηρίων διάλυσιν, σπαθισμῶν τε καὶ πολλῶν στρεβλώσεων, νουθετούμεθα ἐπὶ πλείοσιν ἀγαθοῖς, καὶ κρείττοσιν αἰτίοις, οἷς χρὴ ἡμᾶς προσδοκᾷν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· πολλῷ δὲ δήπου καὶ πλεῖον ἐπιδεικτικὸν, καὶ κατάλληλον ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνδραγαθίας καὶ ὑπομονῆς τοῦ μακαρίου Φωκᾶ, ὅς οὑ μόνον ἐπὶ τῆς πυρᾶς, καὶ τῶν αἰκισμῶν· άλλὰ γὰρ δὴ καὶ περὶ ὧν ἐν τῷ βίῳ σεμνῶς καὶ ἀγνῶς τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐπολιτεύσατο, πρὸ ὀφθαλμὸν ἔχων ἄει τὸν σωτῆρα Χριστόν. Νέος μὲν γὰρ ὢν οὐκ ἠπατήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ λοιμεῶνος ὄφεως, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς περιστερὰ κυρίου ἀγνός τε ὑπῆρχεν, καὶ ἄσπιλος ἀπὸ νεότητος, εὐσεβής τε καὶ πᾶσι περιβόητος ἐγένετο. Καὶ γὰρ τοῖς μὲν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐνδεέσιν οὐ μετρίως ἐπήρκει, πλουσίοις δὲ παρῄνη, καὶ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι ἁπλῶς ἐγένετο· τὰ γὰρ τῆς ἀθλήσεως αὐτοῦ κατ᾽ ἀξίαν οὐδεὶς ἀνδρῶν ἠδυνήθη συγγράψαι. Διὰ βραχέων δὲ, πῶς καὶ ὡς ὁ νοῦς ἐπιβάλλει, σημάναι προεθυμήθημεν.

The author indicates the cause of his writing, Since often, after our Savior Jesus Christ also—the tireless one, having bowels of mercy and a mighty physician, shepherd and teacher, God and Lord—withdrew his presence through the Ascension, which is the celebrated and ineffable and holy and irreproachable mystery of those who holily hold the hope, and of the Christians sealed with the seal, and through much and great tribulation, fastings and persecutions, flight and perseverance, ignominy and glory, contempt and honor, were signed ^a; since, I say, often the holy and irreproachable and almost angel-equal Apostles, who suffered for the celebrated and glorious mystery, handed down to us a type of the Passion of the Lord ^a and of the irreproachable and unwavering faith toward him; it was necessary for us also to signify to you in writing, brethren, in commentaries, everywhere and to all, the irreproachable, beautiful, and glorious conduct of the martyrs who accomplished holy virtue and the contest, that, becoming imitators of their contest, we too may be rivals of them.

[2] and enumerates some virtues of St. Phocas For remembering their vexations and many torments through fire, sword, cross, the tearing apart of wild beasts, and various tortures, we are admonished

on account of the many good and excellent authors, in whom we ought to trust before our Lord Jesus Christ; much more manifestly indeed and more nearly through the fortitude and patience of blessed Phocas, who not only on the pyre and in the scourgings, but also in his whole life, grave and pure, practiced virtue, having ever before his eyes the Savior Christ. For while he was young, he was not seduced by the pernicious serpent, but like a dove of the Lord was chaste and immaculate, and pious from his youth became known to all. He also succoured not moderately those needy of the things pertaining to life; the rich he admonished, and all things in all were done by him simply. But the things which pertain to his contest, no man could write down according to their worth. But we have resolved in our mind to declare them in few words, as the mind suggests ^b.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER I.

The disputation of St. Phocas with the prefect Africanus.

Πολλῶν γὰρ συναρπασθέντων, ἐκ τῆς ἀγέλης τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ὥσπέρ τις πολύτιμον λίθον ἀναζητεῖ μετὰ φίλων αὐτῷ καὶ συγγενῶν, οὕτως ἐζήτουν τὸν εὐσεβῆ καὶ ὅσιον ποιμένα· τοῦ δὲ Ἁγίου ἀχθέντος ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα, Ἀφρικανὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπεν· Οὗτὸς ἐστιν Φωκὰς, ὁ λέγων μὴ εἶναι θεοὺς, μήτε τὸν αὐτοκράτορα Τραἳανὸν θεὸν; Ἢ οὐχὶ πᾶν πολέμιον ἔθνος ὑπὸ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ διεφθάρη; Τίς οὖν ἕτερος θεός ἐστιν; Φωκὰς ἐσιώπα. Ἀφρικανὸς ἔπαρχος εἶπεν Τί λέγεις πρὸς ταῦτα; οὐκ ἀποκρίνεις οὐδεν, οὐκ οἶδας, ποῦ ἥκεις; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Εἰ μὲν ἦν περὶ θεοῦ σε λέγειν, ἐστὶν Θεὸς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· εἰ δὲ περὶ ἀνθρώπου λέγεις, μηδ᾽ ὅλως προσδέχου τι παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἀποδέχεσθαι. Ἀφρικανός εἶπε· Οὔκ εἰσιν οὖν οἱ αὐτοκράτορες θεοί; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Οὐ μόνον γὰρ ἕως τούτου ἀρκεῖται Τραἳανὸς βασιλεύς ἀκούειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἀνυπέρβλητον ἑαυτοῦ ὄνομα περιτίθησιν;

[4] Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· Σοὶ ἤδη οἱ Χριστιανοὶ ἀνάκεινται ὡς Θεῷ; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Μὴ γέννοιτο τοῦτο ἐν νῷ λαβεῖν μηδενὶ ἀνθρώπῳ· ἄνθρωποι γὰρ ἐν αἵματι πεφυρμένοι καὶ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις μεμιγμένοι, καὶ θανάτῳ ὑποκείμενοι καὶ χρεωφειλέται λόγων τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τῆς πολιτείας, καὶ τῆς πράξεως, ἧς ἐνθάδε ἔπραξαν, καὶ ὑπὸ κρίσιν Θεοῦ ἀοράτου πολιτευόμενοι, πῶς δύνανται τοῦτο τὸ τηλικοῦτον ὄνομα κυρίως φορέσαι; Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· Πῶς οὖν ἡ περί σου φήμη καὶ ἕως τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος ἥκει; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Ἀλλ᾽ ὡς Θεοῦ, ἀλλ ὡς ἀνθρώπου Θεοὕ, ὅθεν οὐκ ἀπαυτομολῶ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐαρεστίας· ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸν, ὅν ὁρᾶς οὐκ ἄξιον γενόμενον ἐπίσκοπον, οὐχ ὡς Θεὸν, ὤσπερ σὺ λέγεις, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ποιμένα λογικῆς ποίμνης τιμῶσιν· Ἤ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ σὺ τὸν ἔπαρχον παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἐπιστεύθης παρὰ, τοῦτο Θεὸς καλεῖσθαι θέλεις; Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· Σχολαστικῶν χρεία ἐν ταῦθα, ἵνα δύνανταί σοι ἀντιλέγειν. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Εἰ τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς τοὺς σχολαστικοὺς ἀγάγοις, οὐκ ἂν ἄξιοι εὑρεθείησαν πρὸς ἕνα τὸν τοῦ κυρίου μαθητῶν ἀποκρίνεσθαι.

[5] Ἀφρικανὸς εἷπεν· Τοιούτῳ διδασκάλῳ τίς προσέχει ἐσταυρωμένῳ; Φωκὰς εἶπεν Ὅρα ταύτην μᾶλλον τὴν ἀνυπέρβλητον αὐτοῦ σοφίαν· εἰμὴ γὰρ πάσης ἦν σοφίας ὑπερβολὴ, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πάντες οἱ σοφοὶ (εἰ μὴ παρ αὐτοῦ ἔλαβον) οὐκ ἂν ην γεγραμμένον· Ὁ διδοὺς σοφίαν τοῖς σοφοῖς· Καὶ πάλιν· Ὁ δρασσόμενος τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν τῇ πανουργίᾳ αὐτῶν· Καὶ, ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν, καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν ἀθετήσω. Ἄραγε ἐπιγινώσκεις, ἃ λέγω; Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· Μὴ γάρ σοι περὶ νόμων, ἢ σοζητήσεως ἀπεστάλην λέγειν, ἀλλὰ περὶ πειθαρχίας καὶ νόμων βασιλικῶν. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· ἐγώ σοι περὶ νόμου καὶ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ λέγω, καὶ οὐ πείθω σε· σὺ δέ μοι περὶ ἀνθρώπου ἀνόμου, καὶ ὁμοιοπαθοῦς μοι, ὃς σήμερον μέν ἐστιν, αὔριον δὲ ἀποθνήσκει, καὶ ὤφελόνγε καλίστως, καὶ μὴ κακίστως. Ἄραγε πεῖσαί με δυνηθείης; Ἀφρικανὸς. Εἶπεν· Τὴν πολύτεχνον, καὶ πολυποίκιλόν σου ταύτην λέξιν ῥίψας ἀπό σου, φιλοσόφησον τὴν εἰς τὴν τῆς ζωῆς ἀλήθειαν· ἵνα μή με ἀναγκάσῃς διὰ πολλῶν ἀναγκῶν πεῖσαί σε.

[6] Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Ἐπὶ καλὸν δεῖπνον καλούμενος ἄπειμι, καί τοι τῆς ὥρας ἤδη προβεβηκυῖας. Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπε· φονεῖς καὶ φαρμακοὶ, οἳ οὐκ ἄξιοί εἰσιν οἴκτου, ζῆν ἀξιοῦσιν, καί σου ἡ τηλικαύτη σοφία καὶ φρόνησις εἰς μωρίαν πεποιθυῖα θανεῖν βούλεται; Νὴ τὸν ἥλιον, τάχα καὶ Ἀριστοτέλους σοφώτερος ᾖσθα. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· φιλοσοφεῖν οὐκ ἀξιῶ, ἀλλὰ φιλόχριστος εἶναι θέλω· τοῦτον γὰρ καὶ κύριόν μου, καὶ Θεόν μου καὶ βασιλέα γνωρίζω. Ἀριστοτέλης μὲν γὰρ φιλοσοφίαν καινὴν, καὶ ἀπατηλὴν ἐδίδαξεν· Χριστὸς δὲ θεολογίαν, καὶ πολιτείαν ἐνάρετον, σωφροσύνην τε, καὶ ἐγκράτειαν, εὐσέβειάν τε καὶ ἀθανασίαν τοῖς πιστεύουσι δι᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐχαρίσατο τῷ μόνῳ σοφῷ Θεῷ. Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· Κατάδηλον ἐποίησας τὴν σεαυτοῦ ληρίαν, ἐσταυρωμένῳ προσέχων. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Ἀμέλει, τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ σκανδαλίζον ὑμᾶς· γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ· Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον, ἔθνεσι δὲ μωρία· ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς πιστοῖς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ δύναμις, καὶ Θεοῦ σοφία.

[7] Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· ἐστὶν οὖν Θεὸς ἐσταυρωμένος; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· εἰσὶ δὲ θεοὶ, καὶ θεαὶ λίθινοι χειροποίητοι; Τὰς γὰρ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὁδοὺς, οὐδεὶς ἀνθρώπων σαρκοφορῶν ἐξιχνιάσαι δύναται. Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· ἀνάνηψον καὶ θέασαι πόλον, καὶ φωσφόρον ἥλιον, μήνην, καὶ ἀστέρων διαφορὰς, ἅτινα ἀπολείπειν θέλεις. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· ὁρᾶς πόλον καὶ δαδοῦχον ἥλιον, μήνης τε καὶ ἀστέρων θέσεις, καὶ τὸν τούτων δεσπότην οὐ κατανοεῖς, οὐδὲ εἰκάζεις· οὐ γὰρ ἤλιος σελήνην ἐποιήσεν, οὐ δὲ σελήνη ἄστρα, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα τὰ ὁρώμενα ἐν λόγῳ Θεοῦ καὶ Χριστοῦ γεγέννηνται· Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· πάλιν οὖν καὶ τὸν φωσφόρον καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν ὑπὸ ἄλλου γεγενεῖσθαι φάσκεις, καὶ μὴ δὲ αὐτοῖς ὑπήκειν; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· μὴ γέννοιτο τὰ στοιχαῖα θεοῦς καλεῖσθαι. Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· δεῖξον οὖν μοι τὸν Θεόν σου, κᾀγὼ τὸν αὐτοκράτορα πείθω. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· οὐ προεῖπόν σοι περὶ ἀοράτου Θεοῦ; ὃς γὰρ ἐπάνω τῶν οὐρανῶν καθέζεται, πῶς ἀνθρώπῳ ὠφθῆναι δυνατόν; εἰ δὲ θέλεις γνῶναι Θεὸν, παρακολούθει τοῖς ὁρωμένοις οὐρανὸν ὁρᾶς, ἥλιον, σελήνην, καὶ ἄστρα καὶ νέφη, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὅτε θέλει οὐρανὸς βρέχει, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν κελεύηται· ἥλιος οὐχ ὅτε θέλει ἐκπυροῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν κελεύηται· μήνη καὶ ἄστρα οὐχ ὅτε θέλουσιν καταυγάζουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν ἐπιτάττονται, καὶ ἁπλῶς ἑνὶ ἑκάστῳ ὑπὸ τῆς ἄνωθεν προνοίας στρατηλατοῦνται.

[8] Τοῦτον οὖν Θεὸν γινώσκειν χρὴ, καὶ προσκυνεῖν καὶ δοξάζειν, τὸν εἰπόντα διὰ τοῦ προφήτου· Ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ, καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω. Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων τούτων Θεὸς ὁ ἐσταυρωμένος; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· σὺ μὲν τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ ἀκήκοας, τὴν δὲ δύναμιν τῆς ἀναστάσεως αὐτοῦ οὐ κατανοεῖς· πόθεν δέ σοι ἐπῆλθεν καὶ τὸ ἐσταυρωμένον ὁμολογεῖν, καὶ τοῦτο γάρ σοι μέγα· εὶ θέλεις δὲ πιστεῦσαι, λαβέ τὰς θεοπνεύστους γραφὰς, καὶ γνῶθι τὸν κτίστην σου, καὶ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορός σου, καὶ τότε γνώσῃ, τίς ἐστὶν Θεὸς ὁ Πατὴρ, καὶ ὁ τούτου Υἱὸς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς καὶ κύριος, ἐσταυρωμένος μὲν κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον, ἀναστὰς δὲ τῇ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ δυνάμει, καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνελθὼν, καὶ ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ Πατρὸς καθεζόμενος· Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· πολλήν σου περίοδον ἀκήκοα λόγων, ὡς τάχα μηδὲ τὸν Δημοσθένην τοσαῦτα ἀπηγγελκέναι· ἀλλὰ τὸ λοιπὸν πείσθητι, καὶ θῦσαι θέλησον, ἵνα μή με ἀναγκάσῃς ἐπὶ δειναῖς κολάσεσι διὰ πυρός σε ἀναλῶσαι. Ἤ οὐκ οἶδας, ὅτι πλείω πεντακισμύριοι ἄνδρες ἵστανται ἐνταῦτα, καὶ τὰς ἐπαρχίας σὺ ἀνατρέπεις, μὴ θύειν.

[9] Φωκὰς εἶπεν· καὶ πῶς μᾶλλον ἐμὲ προάγεις, ὡς λέγεις, τεθνᾶναι, ἢ κόσμον ὅλον διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν παρανομίαν ἀπολέσθαι; Ἀλλὰ καὶ γεγηθὼς προσέρχομαι τῇ πυρᾷ, ἵνα μὴ δι᾽ ἓν πρόβατον πᾶσα ἡ ἀγέλη σπιλωθῇ· τοιαύτας γὰρ παραγγελίας, καὶ ἐντολὰς ἔλαβον παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπεν· εἰ ἦς προβεβηκὼς, ἔλεγον ἂν ὅτι ληρεῖς, εἰ δὲ ἦς ἐνδεὴς, πάλιν καὶ τοῦτο ὑπόπτευον ἂν, ὅτι διὰ τοῦτο θέλεις ἀποθανεῖν. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· πάντων τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον κτημάτων καὶ χρημάτων ἀπηλλάγην, ἵνα τὸν ἕνα μαργαρίτην κτίσωμαι· εἰ οὖν δοκεῖς σοι βασανίζειν μὴ μιαροθοῦντα με βασάνιζε· Ἀφρικανὸς εἶπε· ἡμεῖς καθαροῖς καὶ ἀμέμπτοις θύομεν θεοῖς, καὶ σὺ μιαροὺς αὐτοὺς εἶναι λέγεις; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· οὐ μόνον μιαροὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀλαζόνες, καὶ γόητες, καὶ μοιχοὶ, καὶ ἱερόσυλοι καὶ δαίμονες ἄψυχοί εἰσι, οὐ μόνον αὐτοὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ λέγοντες ἕτερον Θεὸν, πλὴν τοῦ ἐπάνω παντὸς Θεοῦ, ἑνὸς, παντοκράτορος, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

[10] Τοῦ δὲ πλήθους τῶν ὄχλων ἀναπεμψάντων Ἀμὴν, ἐγένετο ἦχος ὡς ὑδάτων πολλῶν βιαίως ἐξερχομένων, καὶ σεισμὸς φοβερός τε καὶ ἰσχυρός. Ἀμέλει καταπεσὼν Ἀφρικανὸς ἡμιθανὴς ἐπὶ τὸ ἔδαφος, καὶ ἀχανὴς ἔκειτο, καὶ πᾶς ὁ περὶ αὐτὸν στρατὸς· ἐν οἷς ἴδομεν, οἷς ὁ κύριος ἐβουλήθη δεῖξαι· ἐκλάμψαντος γὰρ φωτὸς μεγάλου δεκαπλάσιον ἡλίου οὐρανόθεν, προσὲν φόβον καὶ τρόμον ἐνιόντες ἡμῖν· ὁμοθυμαδὸν δὲ πάντες ἀχανεῖς ἔστημεν; αὐτοὶ δὲ προσειπόντες τῷ μακαρίῳ Φωκᾷ, εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ᾤχοντο· μετὰ δὲ τὸ ἡμιώριον γενέσθαι, δραμοῦσα ἠ γυνὴ Ἀφρικανοῦ Τερεντίνα μετὰ τῶν ε᾽ τέκνων, καὶ πάσης τῆς θεραπείας αὐτῆς προσπεσοῦσα τῷ μακαρίῳ Φωκᾷ ἐλιτάνευεν χαρισθῆναι αὐτῇ τὸν ἄνδρα· αὐτὴ δὲ πανοικεὶ πιστεῦσαι τῷ Κυρίῳ. Ὁ καὶ ἐποίησε τότε ὁ μακάριος Φωκὰς· προσκαλεσάμενος γὰρ ἅπαντα τὸν κλῆρον ηὔξατο περὶ αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ παραδόξως διασωθεὶς ὤχετο δηλῶσαι τῷ βασιλεῖ τὴν περιβόητον δύναμιν τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ ἐλπίδα τῶν Χριστιανῶν.

When many had been snatched away from the flock of the Christians, just as someone seeks a precious stone with his friends and kinsmen, St. Phocas is seized and interrogated by Africanus, so did they seek the pious and holy Pastor. But when the Saint had been led to the tribunal, Africanus the prefect said: Is that Phocas, who says that there are no gods, nor that the emperor Trajan is a God? Was not every hostile nation destroyed by his hands? Who then is another God? Phocas was silent. Africanus the prefect said: What do you say to these things? Do you answer nothing? Do you not know where you have come? Phocas said: If indeed you speak of God, there is a God in the heavens; but if you speak of a man, expect nothing at all to be admitted by me. Africanus said: Are the emperors not therefore gods? Phocas said: Is it not enough that Trajan be called only emperor? Does he even attribute to himself an insuperable name?

Nay, does he even attribute to himself an insuperable name?

[4] Africanus said: The Christians now prostrate themselves before you, as before a God. Phocas said: Far be it that this should come into the mind of any man: he teaches him that men cannot be called gods. For men, contaminated with blood, conceived in sins, subject to death, debtors of the words uttered in life, of the conduct and action which they have done here, and to be brought to the judgment of the invisible God—how can they properly bear such a name? Africanus said: How then did the report about you come even to the emperor? Phocas said: Not as of God, but of a man, a servant of God. Whence I do not desert the good pleasure of the Apostles of God. Since even him whom you see, become an unworthy bishop, they honor not as a God, as you say, but as a shepherd of a rational flock. Since you too have been appointed prefect by the Lord, do you therefore wish to be called a God? Africanus said: There is need here of scholars, that they may be able to contradict you. Phocas said: If you should bring the scholars of the whole world, they would not be found worthy to answer even one of the disciples of the Lord.

[5] Africanus said: Who cleaves to such a teacher, a crucified one? Then to him who objected the passion of Christ, Phocas said: See rather this insuperable wisdom of his: for unless he abounded in all wisdom, and more than all the wise (since they received it from him), it would not have been written: He who gives wisdom to the wise. And again: He who catches the wise in their own craftiness. And: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject. Do you understand what I say? Africanus said: I was not sent to speak with you about religion or inquiry, but about the obedience to be rendered to the magistrate and to the laws of the emperor. Phocas said: I speak to you of the law and of the invisible God, and do not persuade you; but you speak to me of an unjust man, subject like myself to sufferings, who today indeed is, but tomorrow dies, and would that it were most nobly and not most basely. Could you persuade me? Africanus said: Casting from you this artful and manifold speech of yours, philosophize about the truth unto the preservation of your life, lest you compel me by many pains to persuade you.

[6] he answers; Phocas said: I depart as though called to a good supper, since the hour is now far advanced. Africanus said: Murderers and poisoners, who are not worthy of compassion, beg to live; and does your so great wisdom and prudence, trusting in folly, wish to die? By the sun, perhaps you would be wiser even than Aristotle. Phocas said: I disdain to be a philosopher, but I wish to be a lover of Christ: for him I acknowledge as my Lord and my God and King. For Aristotle taught a new and deceptive philosophy; but Christ granted theology, and a conduct endowed with virtue, and temperance, continence, piety, and immortality to those who through him believe in the only wise God. Africanus said: You make plain your own folly, cleaving to a crucified one. Phocas said: Certainly: for this is what scandalizes you: for it is written in the law: To the Jews indeed a scandal, but to the gentiles folly; but to us who believe, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

[7] and proving that idols are vain, Africanus said: Is he then a God, who was crucified? Phocas said: Are there gods and goddesses, made of stone by hands? For the ways of Christ Jesus no man bearing flesh can trace out. Africanus said: Come to your senses, and behold the pole, the light-bearing sun, the moon, and the differences of the stars, all which you wish to forsake. Phocas said: You see the pole and the resplendent sun, and the positions of the moon and stars, and you do not acknowledge their Lord, nor attain to him: for the sun did not make the moon, nor the moon the stars; but all these visible things were made in the word of God and of Christ. Africanus said: Do you then again say that both the light-bearer and the heaven were made by another, and that we are not to obey them? Phocas said: Far be it that the elements should be called gods. Africanus said: Show me then your God, and I will persuade the emperor. Phocas said: Did I not tell you before of the invisible God? For he who sits above the heavens, how can he be seen by man? If you wish to know God, attend to the visible things. You see the heaven, the sun, the moon, the stars, and the clouds. But the heaven does not rain when it wills, but when it is commanded. The sun does not give heat when it wills, but when it is commanded. The moon and stars do not shine when they will, but when they are commanded; and simply each one is governed by the providence from above as in an army.

[8] he shows that Christ is God, This God therefore it behooves us to acknowledge, adore, and glorify, who said through the Prophet: I will kill and I will make to live. Africanus said: Who then in fine is this crucified God? Phocas said: You indeed have heard of his passion, but you do not understand the power of his resurrection. But whence did it come to you even to confess him crucified? for this too is great for you. If you are willing to believe, take the divinely inspired scriptures and acknowledge the creator of you and of your emperor; and then you will know who is God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ and Lord; crucified indeed according to his humanity, but who rose again by the power of his divinity, went into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father. Africanus said: I have heard a long circuit of your words, so that perhaps not even Demosthenes set forth so many; but for the rest, obey and sacrifice, lest you compel me, besides horrible torments, to consume you with fire. Or do you not know that here stand more than fifty thousand men, and that you turn the provinces away from sacrificing?

[9] Phocas said: Why do you not rather drive me to die, as you say, than that the whole world should perish through my iniquity? and of his own accord seeks his punishment. But even rejoicing I enter the fire, lest through one sheep the whole flock be defiled: for such admonitions and precepts I received from our Lord Jesus Christ. Africanus said: If you were advanced in age, I would say you were raving; but if you were needy, again I would suspect this too, that on this account you wish to die. Phocas said: I have given up all the possessions and moneys which pertain to life, that I might possess the one pearl. If therefore I seem to you to be tortured, torture me not as one defiled by sacrifices. Africanus said: We sacrifice to pure and irreproachable gods; and do you say that they are defiled? Phocas said: Not only defiled, but also proud, poisoners and adulterers, sacrilegious and lifeless demons they are; and not only they, but also those who say that there is another God besides the supreme God, one, omnipotent, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

[10] When the multitude of the crowds repeated ^a Amen, there arose a sound as of many waters violently rushing forth, The prefect is prostrated by a tempest of the air. and a terrible and mighty earthquake. Then Africanus, falling half-dead upon the pavement, lay stupefied, and all the army about him. Meanwhile we saw those things which the Lord willed to show. For when there had shone forth from heaven a great light ten times ^b greater than the sun, there appeared three angels, seated on fiery horses, who struck upon us much fear and trembling. At the same time we all stood astounded. But they, when they had addressed blessed Phocas, ascended into heaven. After half an hour, Terentina ^c, the wife of Africanus, running with her five children and all her household, and falling down before blessed Phocas, entreated that he would give back to her her husband; but she with her whole family believed in the Lord. Which blessed Phocas also did: for when he had summoned all the clergy, he prayed for him. But he, unexpectedly saved, departed to make known to the emperor the famous power of the Lord, and the hope of the Christians.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

The conversation of St. Phocas with the emperor Trajan, his miracles, torments, and death.

Τότε Τραἳανὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς μεταπεμψάμενος τὸν μακάριον Φωκὰν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν· Σὺ εἶ Φωκάς; Ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν· ἐγώ εἰμι· Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· καὶ οὐκ ἔγνως τήν αὐτοκρατορικὴν μου δύναμιν; Τίνι πεποιθὼς, ἢ τίνα Θεὸν σεβόμενος, οὐ πειθαρχεῖς μοι; πλὴν ὡς νομίζω τὴν τοιαύτην ἡλικίαν μὴ ὀφείλειν συμβούλου χρήζειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτῷ συμβουλεῦσαι καὶ μὴ παρακούειν· εἰ μὴ γὰρ ἑαυτοῦ γένῃ καὶ τῆς ὑπολήψεώς σου, γνώσῃ, τίς ἐστι. Εἶπεν· ἐξόν ἐστι εἰπεῖν ἐνώπιόν σου, βασιλεῦ, καὶ οὕτως τὸν προκείμενον τρόπον διαδραμεῖν; Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· ἔξεστί σοι λέγειν, καὶ μάλιστα, εἴ τι συμφέρον· Φωκὰς εἶπεν· ἡ μὲν ἀρχὴ τῆς βασιλείας σου παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δέδοται, εἴγε ἐπέγνως τὸν δωρησάμενον· Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· ἡ ἐμὴ βασιλεῖα ἀπὸ θεῶν μοι δέδοται, διὸ καὶ ὀφείλομεν θύειν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἑαυτῶν σωτηρίας· Φωκὰς εἶπεν· ὅσιόν ἐστι, βασιλεῦ, Θεῷ παντοκράτορι πειθαρχεῖν, καὶ τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ προστεταγμένοις ἐμμένειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως καὶ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς· ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πρὸς ἀσέβειαν. Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· φιλοσοφεῖν ἐκλήθης, ἢ θῦσαι; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· τίνι ἔχω θῦσαι, ἢ ποίῳ Θεῷ; Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ· Φωκὰς εἶπεν. Καὶ ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός σου, ἵνα ἴδω. Ἐλθόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ ναῷ, Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Ἴδε οἱ Θεοὶ, οἱ τὴν οἰκουμένην συντηρήσαντες· Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Σοὶ λέγω λίθινε, θέλεις φαγεῖν; θέλεις πιεῖν; θέλεις ἐνδύσασθαι; θέλεις ὀσφρανθῆναι; χρήζεις θυσιῶν; ἴδε, βασιλεῦ, ἀργοί σού εἰσιν οἱ θεοὶ· ἵστανται καὶ οὐ καθέζονται· καθέζονται καὶ οὐκ ἀνίστανται· Κυθαρίζουσιν καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀκούει. Τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν ἀνέῳγε, καὶ οὐ λαλοῦσί τινι· κράζομεν, καὶ οὐχ ὑπακούουσιν· οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν ὁρῶσι, αἱ δὲ χεῖρες οὐκ ἐπιλαμβάνονται τῆς θυσίας. Κελεύεις, βασιλεῦ, ἕνα ἐξ αὐτῶν καταβάλω; καὶ οὐ λαλεῖ, οὐχ ὀλεῖ, οὐκ ἀντιποιεῖται, οὐ καλεῖ τὸν αὐτοκράτορα εἰς βοήθειαν, εἰ δὲ καὶ καλέσῃ, θεὸς ἐπιδεὴς γίνεται· Θεὸς ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων ἐκδικεῖται; καὶ πῶς ἄνθρωπον σώσῃ; ἴδε σου τὰ σεβάσματα, βασιλεῦ; Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Ἐξέστησας ἡμᾶς Φωκᾶ, οὐχὶ ναυτηλὸς ἦς, καὶ τὸν Ποσειδῶνα ἐσέβου; Φωκὰς εἷπεν· Ἐρὼ οὐ μόνον ναυτηλὸς, ἀλλὰ καὶ κυβερνήτης ὑπὸ τοῦ πάντων δεσπότου κυβερνώμενος, αὐτῷ τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἀεὶ προσήνεγκα θυσίαν.

[13] Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Ἴδωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς, τίνι θύεις, ἢ τίνι προσκυνεῖς· Εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ ἅγιος Φωκὰς· Οὐ δύνῃ σὺ γνῶναι· γέγραπται γὰρ· Μὴ βάλλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Ἡμεῖς οὖν χοῖροί ἐσμεν, ὡς σὺ λέγεις, βιωθάνατε; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Εἴθε ἄλογα ζῶα ἦτε, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ὑπέστητε κρίσιν, λίθοις θύοντες, ὧν τὰ ἄλογα ζῶα οὐδεμίαν αἴσθησιν ἔχει· Τίς οὖν βελτίων, σὺ ὁ κατέχων τηλικοῦτον κράτος, ἢ οὗτοι οἱ μηδὲν ἀποκρινόμενοι πρὸς τὰ λεγόμενα; Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· κελεύω σε μετεωρισθῆναι ἐπὶ

ξύλου, καὶ ἴδωμεν τί σε ὠφελήσει ἡ κενή σου φιλοσοφία· Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Ἐγὼ μὲν ἐὰν ἐπὶ ξύλου μετεωρισθῶ ὑπεράνω παντὸς ὄρους, καὶ ἀέρος, εἰς οὐρανοὺς σὺν Κυρίῳ ἔσομαι, σὺ δὲ μετὰ τῶν θεῶν σου εἰς τὸν ᾅδην, καὶ εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον ἀπενεχθήσῃ, καὶ τότε γνώσῃ, ὅτι Θεὸς ἐπουράνιος ἰσχύει.

[14] Σπαθιζομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶν μέλος, καὶ μὴ ἐξαρνουμένου, οὐδεμία ἀπόφασις ἐγίγνετο, εἰμὴ μόνον τὰ χείλη αὐτοῦ ἐδονοῦντο εὐχομένου. Ἀναπέμψαντος δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ Ἀμὴν, ψόφος μέγας ἐγένετο ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ φωνὴ ἦλθεν αὐτῷ λέγουσα· Θάρσει Φωκᾶ, ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι μετά σου, καὶ ἰδού σοι μὲν ἐτοιμάζεται τόπος ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ μετὰ πάντων τῶν πατριαρχῶν, καὶ τῶν μὴ ἀρνησαμένων ἐμέ τε καὶ τὸν Πατέρα μου. Τραἳανός δὲ ἐν ᾧ προσέταξας τόπῳ ἀπαχθήσεται, καὶ ἀπολάβῃ τὴν ἠτοιμασμένην αὐτῷ κρίσιν ἀδιάλειπτον. ἔμφοβος δὲ γενόμενος Τραῖανὸς, ἐκέλευσεν κατενεχθῆναι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀπαχθῆναι ἐν τῇ φυλακῇ, κελεύσας τέσσαρσι στρατιώταις φυλάσσειν αὐτὸν, καὶ ἑνὶ κεντουρίωνι, ὀνόματι Πρίσκῳ· Οἱ δὲ παραλαβόντες αὐτὸν, ἤγαγον εἰς τὸ δεσμοτήριον ὑμνοῦντα καὶ δοξάζοντα τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἀσφαλισάμενοι αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ, κλείσαντες τὰς θύρας ἀσφαλῶς, καθεζόμενοι ἐτήρουν αὐτὸν ἔξω.

[15] Περὶ τὸ μεσονύκτιον προσηύχετο λέγων· Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ Υἱὲ, τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ἄῤῥητον ἐν ἀνθρώποις ὄνομα, τὸ κυβερνητικὸν ἐν πελάγεσιν ὄνομα, τὸ ποιμαντικὸν ἐν ὄρεσι ὄνομα, Θεὸς ἀγγέλων, Θεὸς ἀρχαγγέλων, Θεὸς παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου, ποιμὴν τῶν λογικῶν σου προβάτων, τήρησόν σου τὸ ποίμνιον ἄσυλον, ἀπελάσας τὸν πολύποδα λύκον, τὸν πλάνον, τὸν ἅρπαγα· μὴ δῷς αὐτῷ χώραν εἰς τοὺς σοὺς τόπους· μὴ δῷς ἀπολέσθαι τὴν σὴν ἀγέλην, ἣν πολλοῦ, καὶ τιμίου αἵματος ἐκτίσω· Εὐχαριστῶ οὖν σοι, κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστὲ, εὐχαριστῶ καὶ δοξάζω τὸν Πατέρα σου διά σου, καί σε δι᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα καταξιώσῃς σήμερον μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ δειπνῆσαι· ἀμώμητος γὰρ ἦλθον εἰς τὸν παστόν σου· μὴ ἀποβάλῃς με σήμερον ἐρχόμενον πρός σε· ἀλλὰ τήρησόν μου τὴν ψυχὴν, ὡς πατὴρ, ὡς Θεὸς, ὡς ποιμὴν, ὡς δεσπότης, ἵνα μὴ συρήσῃ ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ ὁ δράκων, καὶ οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ἵνα μὴ καυχήσωνται ἐπ᾽ ἐμέ. Οὐ γὰρ ἀργυρίῳ ἢ χρυσέῳ ἔπεισέν με ἀπολέσαι τὸν πολυτίμητον μαργαρίτην, ἀλλ᾽ ἰδοὺ πάντα προσέλιπον, ἵνα σε κτήσωμαι, τὸν πολύσπλαγχον, τὸν ἐπιφανῆ Κύριον· πρόσαξόν με πρὸς τὸν σὸν Πατέρα, εἰσάγαγέ με διὰ τῆς στενῆς σου θύρας είς τὸν βασιλικὸν οἶκον· Ὁτι διά σου ἡ δόξα τῷ μεγάλῳ Θεῷ, καὶ Πατρὶ σὺν ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι νῦν καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας.

[16] Καὶ τελέσαντος αὐτοῦ τὸ Ἀμὴν, ἀνεῴχθη τὸ δεσμοτήριον, καὶ λαμπάδε πλείω μυρίαι ἦσαν ἐν τῷ ὀχυρώματι, ὡς ἀναπηδῆσαι τοὺς στρατιῶτας, καὶ προσπεσεῖν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ, αἰτουμένους τὸ λουτρόν· οὓς παραλαβὼν, καὶ παραγενάμενος εἰς τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ σφραγίδα, οἷς καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἑαυτὸν ἐνεφάνησεν· πορευθέντες δὲ καὶ ποιήσαντες τὰ κατὰ τὸν νόμον, εἰσῆλθον πάλιν εἰς τὸν Ἅγιον· Τῇ δὲ ἕωθεν πάντα τὰ πλήθη ἐπὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν συνῆλθον, ἐκδεχόμενοι τὴν ἄθλησιν τοῦ μακαρίου Φωκᾶ· Μετακληθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα, Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· θῦσον τῷ Ποσειδῶνι. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· ἐγὼ δαίμοσιν οὐ θύω· Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· οἱ θεοὶ δαίμονές εἰσιν, καὶ ἡμεῖς χοῖροι; τίς οὖν λοιπόν ἐστι Θεός; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Ἀγνοεῖς τίς σοι τὸ κράτος ἔδωκεν· Μὴ οὖν εἴπω, ὅτι ἄλογα ζῶά ἐστε, καὶ οὐκ οἴδατε τὸν εὐεργέτην Θεόν; Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· θῦσον τῷ Θεῷ σου· Φωκὰς εἶπεν· ὁ Θεός μου οὐδενὸς ἐπιδέεται, εἰ μὴ μόνον εὐχῆς, καὶ νηστειῶν, καὶ καρδιῶν ἀγνῶν. πάντα γὰρ τὰ ὄντα αὐτοῦ ποιήματά ἐστιν, αὐτὸς δὲ πάντα παρέχει τοῖς οὖσι, καὶ τοῖς μέλλουσι παρεῖναι.

[17] Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Ἀρχὴν ἔχεις εἰς τὸ φιλοσοφεῖν· θῦσον λοιπὸν τῷ Διῒ· Θεὸς γὰρ ἐσταυρωμένος οὐκ ἔστι. Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Ἤκουσας φωνὴν τοῦ ἐσταυρωμένου, καὶ ἔφριξας· ἐὰν δὲ κινηθῇ κατά σου, τίς ἀντίστη αὐτῷ; ἡ γὰρ ἀπειλὴ αὐτοῦ τήκει ὄρη, καὶ ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ ῥήσσει θάλασσαν. Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Οὐκ οἶδας, τίνι ὁμιλεῖς, ἢ πρὸς τίνα ἔχεις; Φωκὰς εἶπεν· Διὰ γὰρ τὸ εἰδέναι με πρὸς τίνα ἔχω, οὐ θύω. Ἄλλο παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ οὐδὲν ἔχεις ἀκοῦσαι, ποίει ὃ θέλεις· τοῦτο ὁμολογῶ, ὅτι Χριστιανός εἰμι. Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Εἰς ἄσβεστόν σε κελεύω ἐμβληθῆναι, καὶ ἴδω εἰ ἐξελεῖταί σε ὁ Θεός σου· Ἐμβληθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ ποιήσαντος ὥρας τρεῖς, ἐξήγαγον αὐτὸν οὕτων ὡς πρόσφατον βεβλημένον.

[18] Τραἳανὸς εἶπεν· Λουτρὸν διά σε ὑποκέκαυται ἡμέρας τρεῖς, ὃ οὐδεὶς ἀνέῳξεν, ἐκεῖ οὖν σε κελεύω ἐμβληθῆναι· Καὶ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν βληθῆναι ἐν τῷ λουτρῷ· Φωκὰς δὲ ποιήσας τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ σφραρίδα εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ λουτρὸν. Ἦν δὲ τὸ λουτρὸν ὡσεὶ χαλκὸς ἐκ πυρὸς ἀστράπτων, καὶ στὰς ἤρξατο εὐλογεῖν τὸν Θεὸν λέγων· εὐχαριστῶ σοι Κύριε, ὅτι κατηξιώθην διὰ τὸ ὄνομά σου δεσμῶν καὶ φυλακῆς, καὶ βασάνων, καὶ πειρατηρίων πολλῶν· Καὶ νῦν, Κύριε, ἀπόστειλον τὸν ἄγγελόν σου, καὶ ῥῦσαί με ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν Τραἳανοῦ, ἵνα μήποτε εἴπωσι τὰ ἔθνη, ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ Θεὸς αὐτοῦ· εὐξαμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναπέμψαντος τὸ Ἀμὴν, ἀπέδωκεν τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ παρ᾽ ἡλίου δυσμάς· Ἐκέλευσεν δὲ Τραἳανὸς ἀνεῳχθῆναι τὸ βαλανεῖον, καὶ εὗρεν τὸ λείψανον τοῦ μακαρίου Φωκᾶ ὡσεὶ νάρδον εὔπνουν, ὡς μύρον πολύτιμον, καὶ ὡς κρύσταλλον πεπηγός. τὸ δὲ βαλανεῖον ὡς μηδέποτε ὑποκαέν. Καὶ ἰδὼν Τραἳανὸς τὸ λείψανον τοῦ μακαρίου Φωκᾶ, ἀνέκραξεν πρὸς τοὺς αὐτοῦ στρατιώτας τὸ ὑπομονητικὸν τῆς ἐκείνου πίστεως, λέγων· ἀληθῶς οὐκ ἔστιν ἕτερος Θεὸς, εἰ μὴ μόνον ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς· καὶ ἔμφοβος, καὶ ἔντρομος γενόμενος ἐξῆλεν ἀπὸ τοῦ βαλανείου· Καὶ ἐπιφανεὶς αὐτῷ ὁ μακάριος Φωκὰς πρὸ τοῦ πυλῶνος, ἔφη, Τραἳανὲ τύραννε, πορεύθητι εἰς τὸν ἠτοιμασμένον σοι τόπον, εἰς τὴν ἄβυσσον τὴν μεγάλην, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον· Ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἀνέῳγε ὁ παράδεισος τῆς τρυφῆς, σοι δὲ ἀνέῳγε ὁ ᾅδης καὶ τοῖς εἰδώλοις σου. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὖν σοι ἔνδοσις οὐδεμία, πλὴν τριῶν ἡμερῶν. Πολὺ γὰρ αἷμα δίκαιον ἐξέχεας· Ὁ δὲ Τραἳανὸς ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸ παλάτιον αὐτοῦ ἔμφρικτος, καὶ πυρετῷ συνεχόμενος, καὶ πεσὼν εἰς τὸ κλινίδιον αὐτοῦ, σκολικόβροτος γενόμενος ἐξέψυξεν.

[20] Τοιοῦτον βίον, καὶ τοιοῦτον ἄθλος ὑπομείνας ὁ μακάριος Φωκὰς, πρῶτος τῶν ἐν Πόντῳ λαλεῖται ἕως τῆς σήμερον ἡμέρας κυβερνήτης τῶν ναυτηλῶν, λαλητὸς ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσμῳ. Οὗ τὸ μαρτύριον τῆς ἀθλήσεως λαλεῖται δοξαζόμενον ἐν τοῖς κλίμασι τῆς Ἀρμενίας· Ἀνὴρ ἀποστολικὸς τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸν χορὸν τῶν ἁγίων μετατεθεὶς, ἀπειληφὼς τὸ βραβεῖον παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πρεσβεύων διὰ παντὸς ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν πάντων σωτηρίας, μεθ᾽ ἧς καὶ ἡμᾶς ἀξιώσειν Χριστός. ᾧ ἡ δοξα καὶ τὸ κράτος καὶ ἡ προσκύνησις σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Then the emperor Trajan, when he had summoned blessed Phocas, says to him: Are you Phocas? St. Phocas disputing with Trajan, To whom he: I am. Trajan said: Do you not know my imperial power? Trusting in whom, or worshiping what God, do you not obey me? Yet I judge that such an age has no need of a counselor, but will give itself counsel and comply. But if you cling to yourself and to your own opinion, you will recognize who Trajan is, and who is the God whom you worship. Phocas said: Is it lawful to speak before you, emperor, and to run through the proposed argument? Trajan said: It is lawful for you to speak; and especially, if there is anything useful. Phocas said: The beginning of your kingdom was given by God, if indeed you should know who bestowed it. Trajan said: My kingdom was given to me by the gods; wherefore we ought also to sacrifice for our salvation. Phocas said: It is holy, emperor, to obey God the omnipotent, and to cleave to those who have been appointed by him; likewise to the magistrates; but not to the point of impiety. Trajan said: Were you called to philosophize, or to sacrifice? Phocas said: To whom must I sacrifice, or to what God? Trajan said: To Aesculapius [a]. Phocas said: Where is your God, that I may see him?

[12] he mocks the idols, But when they had come into the temple, Trajan said: Behold the gods, who have preserved the world. Phocas said: I say to you, O stone, do you wish to eat? Do you wish to drink? Do you wish to be clothed? Do you wish to smell? Do you need sacrifices? See, emperor, your gods are idle. They stand, and do not sit; they sit, and do not rise up. They play the cithara, and no one hears. Their mouth is open, and they speak to no one. We cry out, and they do not hear. Their eyes see, but their hands do not take up the sacrifice. Do you command, emperor, that I throw down one of them? and it will not speak, will not destroy, will not resist, will not call the emperor to its aid. But if it should call, it is a god in need. Is a god defended by men? And how shall it save a man? Behold your idols, emperor. Trajan said: You have struck us, Phocas. Were you not a sailor ^b, and did you not worship Neptune? Phocas said: I not only was a sailor, but also a helmsman governed by the Lord of all, and to him I always offered the due sacrifice.

[13] Trajan said: Let us too see to whom you sacrifice, or whom you adore. and sharply rebukes him. But holy Phocas said to him: You cannot know: for it is written: Do not cast your pearls before swine. Trajan said: Are we then swine, as you say, most wretched one ^c? Phocas said: Would that you were irrational animals, so that you would not undergo judgment, sacrificing to stones, of which irrational animals have no sense. Who then is better, you who hold so great power, or these who answer nothing to what is said? Trajan said: Now I command you to be hung up on a tree, and let us see what your new philosophy will profit you. Phocas said: I indeed, when I have been hung up on the tree, above every mountain and the air, shall be in heaven with the Lord; but you with your gods shall be cast into hell and the outer darkness, and then you will recognize that the heavenly God is mighty.

[14] He is confirmed by a heavenly voice, But when he was struck in every limb, and did not deny, no word was made by him, but only the lips of the one praying were moving. And when he had answered Amen, a great crash

was made in the heavens, and there came to him a voice saying: Be of good courage, Phocas; for I am with you: behold, a place is prepared for you in paradise with all the patriarchs, and with those who did not deny me nor my Father. But Trajan shall be led away to the place which you have designated, and shall receive the perpetual judgment prepared for him. But Trajan, terrified, ordered him to be led away and cast into custody, commanding four soldiers and one centurion, named Priscus ^d, to guard him. But they, taking him, led him into prison, singing hymns and glorifying God; and when they had shut him in the stocks, and had carefully closed the doors, sitting they guarded him outside.

[15] About midnight he prayed, saying: Lord Jesus Christ, and, cast into prison, he prays, Son of the great God, holy and ineffable Name among men, Name that governs on the sea, Name that shepherds on the mountains, God of angels, God of archangels, God to be called by every name, Shepherd of your rational sheep, preserve your flock inviolate, driving away the many-footed, deceitful, and rapacious wolf. Give him no station in your places. Do not let your flock perish, which you acquired with much and precious blood. I give you thanks therefore, Lord Jesus Christ; I give thanks and render glory to your Father through you, and to you through him, that you may deign today to sup with me: for uncorrupted I have come to your banqueting-chamber. Do not reject me today coming to you, but preserve my soul as a father, as God, as Shepherd, as Lord, that the dragon may not hiss over me, and that his feet may not exult over me. For I was not persuaded by silver or gold to lose the precious pearl; but behold, I have left all things, that I might possess you, the lovable and illustrious Lord. Lead me to your Father; bring me through the narrow gate into the royal house, because through you is glory to the great God and Father, with the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

[16] And when at the end he had said Amen, the prison was opened, The prison opening of itself, he baptizes many. and there were innumerable lamps in the fortress, so that the soldiers leaped up, and fell before his feet, asking for baptism. When he had received them and had come to the shore outside the city, he gave them the seal in Christ; to whom also the Lord showed himself. And when they had gone and done according to the law, they came again to the Saint. But in the morning all the multitude gathered at the forum, eagerly awaiting the contest of blessed Phocas. When he had been summoned to the tribunal, Trajan said: Sacrifice to Neptune. Phocas said: I do not sacrifice to demons. Trajan said: Are the gods demons, and we swine? Who then besides is God? Phocas said: You do not know who gave you the empire. Shall I not therefore say that you are irrational animals, and do not acknowledge the benefactor God? Trajan said: Sacrifice to your God. Phocas said: My God needs nothing, but only prayer, fastings, and pure hearts: for all things which exist are his works; but he supplies all things to those present and to those to come.

[17] Trajan said: You have the beginning of philosophy; Unharmed, he comes forth from the living lime, for the rest, sacrifice to Jupiter: for a crucified one is not a God. Phocas said: You heard the voice of the crucified, and shuddered. But if he is moved against you, who will resist him? For his threat melts the mountains, and his wrath breaks the sea. Trajan said: Do you not know with whom you speak, or against whom you stand? Phocas said: Because I know against whom I stand, I do not sacrifice. Nothing else will you hear from me; do what you will. This I confess, that I am a Christian. Trajan said: I command you to be cast into living lime, and I shall see whether your God will rescue you. When he had been cast in, and had remained three hours, they brought him out as though newly cast in.

[18] Trajan said: A bath has been heated for you three days, and, cast into the boiling bath, he gently expires. which no one has opened. There therefore I shall command you to be cast. And he ordered him to be cast into the bath. But Phocas, making the sign of Christ, entered into the bath. And the bath was like brass flashing from the fire ^e. And standing he began to praise God, saying: I give you thanks, Lord, that for your name's sake I have been held worthy of chains, prison, torments, and many trials. And now, Lord, send your angel, and rescue me from the hands of Trajan, lest the nations should say, Where is his God? And when he had prayed and answered Amen, he gave up his spirit toward the setting of the sun. But Trajan ordered the bath to be opened, and found the body of blessed Phocas breathing as it were spikenard, like a precious ointment, and compact as crystal; but the bath as if it had never been heated.

[19] Appearing to Trajan, he foretells his death. Trajan, seeing the body of blessed Phocas, proclaimed among his soldiers the patience of his faith, saying: Truly there is no other God, but only he who is in the heavens. And, fearful and trembling, he came forth from the bath. Blessed Phocas, appearing to him before the vestibule, said: Trajan the tyrant, go into the place prepared for you, into the great abyss, into the eternal fire. For to me is opened the paradise of delights; but to you is opened hell, and to your idols. There is no reprieve for you but of three days: for you have shed much just blood. But Trajan went into his palace shuddering, and seized with a fever; and when he had fallen upon his bed, becoming food for worms, he expired.

[20] The posthumous glory of St. Phocas. Since blessed Phocas endured such a life and such a contest, he is celebrated to this present day ^f as the first helmsman of the sailors who are in Pontus, and is famous in the whole world; whose glorious testimony of contest is in the parts of Armenia. A man apostolic among those who exist in our time, translated into the choir of the Saints, who received the prize from our Lord Jesus Christ, who prays always for the salvation of all, of which Christ deign also to hold us worthy, to whom be glory and power, and adoration, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and for ever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.