Justa and Rufina

ON SS. JUSTA AND RUFINA, VIRGINS AND MARTYRS,

AT SEVILLE IN SPAIN.

ABOUT THE END OF THE THIRD CENTURY.

HISTORICAL COLLECTION.

Justa, Virgin and Martyr, at Seville in Spain (S.)

Rufina, Virgin and Martyr, at Seville in Spain (S.)

BHL Number: 4568

BY THE AUTHOR G. C.

§ I. The cult of the Saints, their churches, relics, and miracles.

On this day most of the Martyrologists have made mention of these holy sisters. The Hieronymian copies are so corrupted that it is almost a matter of divination whether they mean to designate one of these two Martyrs: for the Lucca codex reads thus: The cult of the Saints is proved, In Spain the birthday of St. Justus. The Antwerp codex has thus: In the Spains, of Justa. But the Corbie codex declares thus: In the Spains, the birthday of St. Justa. Since everywhere St. Rufina is omitted, who in other Martyrologies is joined with her sister, one might doubt whether the Lucca codex meant to indicate a certain Spanish saint named Justus. Notker certainly distinguishes Justus the Spaniard from Justa of Seville in these words: On the 14th Kalends of August, in the Spains the birthday of St. Justus, and in the city of Seville of the holy virgins Justa and Rufina. Then he transcribes their martyrdom from Ado. But we must not acquiesce in that distinction of Notker's, since it was shown above that on this very same day two Justuses are placed by Notker in the Spains; how probable that is, even the Spaniards themselves sufficiently teach. Now let us bring forward the certain announcements of the ancient Martyrologies.

[2] The Little Roman, which our Rosweyde edited, from the ancient Martyrologies announces those holy Martyrs on the 14th Kalends of August most briefly thus: At Seville, SS. Justa and Rufina. Ado, edited by the same Rosweyde, reports a synopsis of the martyrdom thus on July 19: On the same day at Seville in Spain the birthday of SS. Justa and Rufina, who, seized by the governor Diogenianus, were vexed by the stretching of the rack and the tearing of the claws, then were thrust into prison, afflicted by hunger and pains. After these things the governor ordered that, wherever he went, they themselves should follow him with bare feet. At last Justa breathed out her spirit in prison. Her body, cast into a well and raised up by bishop Gabinus [*], was laid to rest in the cemetery of Seville. Rufina's neck was broken, and her body given to the fire, whose relics were cared for by the faithful. Usuard seems to have abridged Ado in this manner: In Spain, in the city of Seville, the passion of the holy Justa and Rufina, who, seized by the governor Diogenianus, were first vexed by the stretching of the rack and the tearing of the claws; afterward afflicted with prison, hunger, and pains, at last Justa breathed out her spirit in prison; Rufina's neck was broken in confession. The Roman Martyrology, which we use today, took nearly the same things from Usuard. It is not to my liking here to bring forward Maurolycus, Ferrarius, Galesinius, and other more recent Martyrologists, who imitated the phrase of Ado or Usuard. Nor is there need to transcribe the various supplements of the Usuardine codices, which can be seen in our illustrated Usuard.

[3] and Breviaries The ancient cult of these Martyrs is proved by the Gothic Breviary, now commonly called Mozarabic, in which their solemn Office is celebrated. In the year 1722 at Toledo I copied out from the aforesaid Breviary several hymns, which in an obscure and dislocated style narrate the deeds now of one, now of both Virgins, and among other things testify that they sold earthenware vessels in order to feed the poor. I do not judge that these hymns, perhaps with the reader's weariness, are to be exhibited here, especially because they can be found in Tamayo's Spanish Martyrology. In the same Mozarabic Breviary, besides various common prayers, this proper collect is read: O God, who by the title of virginal chastity and the banner of passion didst glorify thy blessed virgins and martyrs Justa and Rufina: grant us so to be adorned with the flowers of sacred chastity, that with the fruit of good works we may attain the fellowship of heavenly blessedness. Amen. Afterward the following prayer of St. Rufina is recited, which affirms that she was cast to a lion, although the Acts do not express this: O Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command the most raging lion not only abstained from the slaying of the most blessed virgin and martyr Rufina, but even, its ferocity laid aside, having smelled her immaculate body, presumed not to touch it with any present molestation: grant us that, hedged about with the brightness of thy Holy Spirit, we may not fear the savagery of the dreadful lion, but that, repelled by the power of thy majesty, it may ever remain far from harming us. The Breviary of Burgos of the year 1502, that of Évora of the year 1548, and other Spanish Offices venerate these same Saints with solemn rite, and in the proper lessons narrate their Acts, which we shall somewhat elucidate in the following paragraph. Meanwhile let us here add a few things concerning the posthumous glory, relics, and miracles of these Martyrs.

[4] Ambrosio Morales in the General Chronicle of Spain, volume 1, Seville and other cities erected sacred buildings to these Martyrs, book 10, chapter 16, Francisco de Padilla in the Ecclesiastical History of Spain, part 1, century 3, chapter 21, our own Antonio de Quintanadueñas in his work on the Saints of Seville from page 77, and other Spanish writers testify that in Spain there still exist various sacred monuments, which are held in the highest veneration on account of the memory of these Martyrs. Let us enumerate some of them. First, outside the walls of Seville, near the gate of Cordova, is seen the meadow of St. Justa, in which a chapel is dedicated to her name. Some say that the Saints dwelt there; others, however, think that they were buried there. In the monastery of the most holy Trinity is shown the prison in which the holy Virgins were detained. It is a deep cavern, in which is also shown a well, into which St. Justa is said to have been cast after her death. Many sick persons with great confidence drink the water of this well. Outside another gate of the city of Seville, near the river, is seen a hospice marked with the name of the holy Justa and Rufina. It is reported to have been built there because in that place the holy Virgins are believed to have sold their vessels and to have repelled the idol. These things we have left to the pious tradition of the people of Seville, who devoutly celebrate the yearly festival of their patronesses. In other cities also are found sacred buildings, erected to the posthumous glory of these Martyrs. Andreas Resendius, in a letter to Bartholomew Kebedius, asserts that formerly at Lisbon a shrine of SS. Justa and Rufina was built. We have already given in our Acts, on the 22nd of January, on the occasion of the translation of St. Vincent the martyr, part of that letter, from which it is gathered that the aforesaid sacred building was already famous at Lisbon in the twelfth century. Orihuela, a city of Valencia situated on the border of Murcia, also has a notable church of these Martyrs, which was built in their honor, because the Christians freed that city from the yoke of the Moors on the day sacred to them. Finally I myself at Toledo entered the church of St. Justa, which is one of the seven Mozarabic churches, which in the time of the Moors were granted to Christian worship.

[5] The people of Seville firmly persuade themselves that they possess the body of St. Justa and eagerly claim their bodies and the sacred ashes of St. Rufina, although they do not know for certain in what part of the city they rest. Let us see, however, what others have thought concerning the sacred relics of these Martyrs. Rodrigo of Toledo, book 6 on the Affairs of Spain, chapter 13, writes thus: Afterward (namely Ferdinand, king of Castile and León) so harassed the king of Seville that he permitted the body of blessed Isidore to be raised from there, which, with many miracles gleaming forth, was translated from Seville to León by two bishops, Alvitus of León and Ordoño of Astorga. Some say that the body of blessed Justa was then translated together with the body of blessed Isidore. To this opinion of some the History of the translation of St. Isidore manifestly is opposed, which we gave in volume 1 of April from page 353: for in it, chapter 2, it is expressly narrated how the body of St. Justa remained at Seville. Then Rodrigo adds the following,

which are no more pleasing to the people of Seville: But because in our times the bodies of the holy Justa and Rufina, shown by revelation, have been translated by Pedro Fernández, a noble prince, to the royal monastery near Burgos, I do not wish (to determine), but let him determine who presumes. Rodrigo of Toledo here indicates the illustrious monastery of the Cistercian Order, commonly called Las Huelgas of Burgos, concerning whose site, foundation, and privileges Angelus Manrique in the Cistercian Annals at the year of Christ 1187, chapter 9, may be consulted. Tomás de Trujillo, in the Treasury of Preachers, volume 2, confirms the account of the prelate of Toledo in these words: The bodies of these Saints are indeed found in the royal monastery called Las Huelgas, and those most precious relics are said to have been brought thither by divine revelation through Pedro Fernández de Castro, who by his own name was called the Castilian.

[6] they claim them for themselves, The same Trujillo, in the place just cited, proposes another opinion concerning the translation of these bodies thus: Some think that in the destruction and devastation of Spain these most holy bodies were brought to a certain place, which gives its name to those very Asturias near Santillana; which place contains a certain huge rock jutting into the very sea, where there is also a certain church, and within it a certain cave. And since the inhabitants of that place take their name or invocation from these glorious Saints, they affirm that the bodies of these Saints are there. It may indeed be that these most holy bodies once remained there, and that afterward that knight Ferdinand, whom we have mentioned, translated them to the aforesaid place, and that this glorious knight, whom archbishop Rodrigo in his History calls PRINCE, left some relics there. Now Santillana (better called in Latin the shrine of St. Juliana) is a town of Spain in the Asturias, situated near the coast of the Cantabrian sea, and is distant five leagues from the shrine of St. Andrew. On the geographical maps, almost midway between both these shrines, a village is marked, which is signalized by the name of St. Justa. I would scarcely doubt that Trujillo speaks of that very place, were it not that Ambrosio Morales says the place sacred to these holy Martyrs is distant only half a league from the shrine of St. Juliana. Whatever may be the case concerning the site of this place, thus far the dispute is about the almost entire bodies of these Virgins, of which others also claim a part for themselves, as we shall now see.

[7] or at least glory in a part of them, Alfonso Morgado in the History of Seville, book 4, chapter 9, and Vicente Blasco de la Nuza in the History of Aragon, book 5, chapter 21, assert that in the monastery of Sijena, which in the twelfth century was founded for nuns of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem on the border of Aragon and Catalonia, the heads of SS. Justa and Rufina were preserved with great veneration. Ambrosio Morales, in the place already cited, affirms that the Carthusians, not far from the town of Simancas in the kingdom of León, also venerate notable relics of these Martyrs. Finally our Quintanadueñas, in the Spanish work praised above, page 78, narrates that, when Seville was occupied by the Moors, the head of St. Justa and a certain bone of St. Rufina were sent to Belgium, and were exposed to public veneration in the diocese of Liège. Then he adds that those same relics, furnished with authentic testimonies, were afterward brought back to Seville. What is to be judged of this whole controversy about the relics, I know not. Here that saying of Tamayo pleases me, who, after indicating various opinions on this matter, concludes thus: What is to be held? Let us leave to God what we cannot investigate. Would that this author had observed that rule in his whole Spanish Martyrology. Now let us briefly touch on some of the miracles.

[8] How powerful is the patronage of these Martyrs, Trujillo sets forth thus in general: Miracles wrought by the aid of these Martyrs. Furthermore, Spain obtained many miracles and benefits from heaven by the intercession of these Saints, when it was being freed from the yoke of the Saracens. All Seville too professes itself most devoted to these Saints, by whose prayers it daily wins many benefits from the Lord. The oft-praised Ambrosio Morales narrates in detail how in the year 1172, on the day of St. Justa, Uclés, a city of New Castile, was prodigiously freed from the siege of the Moors. Then he adds that Orihuela, of which I have made mention above, was also snatched from the Moors on the feast of these Martyrs. Our Quintanadueñas reports some more recent miracles; and first indeed he sets forth how the citizens of Seville, afflicted by plague in the year 1568, implored the help of their holy Patronesses, and on that very feast of theirs experienced a sudden relief from the contagious disease. He narrates besides how in the year 1571, when the fields were laboring under the greatest scarcity of water, a copious shower fell, as soon as the images of SS. Justa and Rufina had been carried about at Seville in supplication. Finally he concludes his narrative with a more recent miracle. When in the year 1626, he says, a flood had inflicted great damage on the city of Seville, and threatened a greater ruin, the relics of the holy Martyrs were set against the raging waters, which at once checked the violence of the waters. Now it remains for us to elucidate the Acts somewhat.

* Or, Sabinus.

§ II. The virginity of the holy Martyrs asserted, and certain passages of the Acts elucidated.

Very many writers, whom the praised Antonio de Quintanadueñas in his Spanish book on the Saints of Seville, pages 82 Most probably SS. Justa and Rufina were virgins, and 83, enumerates in a long list, have consigned the deeds of these Martyrs to writing. Vincent of Beauvais in the Historical Mirror, book 13, chapter 34, hands down their Acts faithfully enough, and bestows on them the title of virgins. Wherefore I marvel that they are called matrons by Peter de Natalibus, book 6, chapter 117; which word is wont to be assigned to women joined in marriage. Hence perhaps Juan Maldonado, in the Acts published by Surius, calls them mothers of families. But I would rather believe that they were virgins, because the most ancient Mozarabic Office, ascribed by many to St. Isidore of Seville, expressly calls them virgins and martyrs in the prayers which we gave in the preceding number. A hymn of the same Office assigns them the same title in the following little verses:

Behold Justa together with Rufina too, / Who shine by their merits, renowned in their manners: / Virgins indeed by distinct name, / But martyrs by one office of zeal, / The treasure of the Lord, renowned by their laws, / In earthen vessels of the body alone / Bearing it, they sell their little vessels for a price, / That with the gain they may satisfy the bowels of the poor.

[10] All the other Acts agree among themselves almost entirely, and appear genuine, whose Acts, from Vincent of Beauvais, so that it matters little from what writer they are set forth. Since, however, Vincent of Beauvais is the most ancient who is found to have given their Acts entire, I transcribe them from his Historical Mirror, book 13, chapter 34, where the following are read: In the city of Seville, of the region of Spain, the passion of the holy virgins Justa and Rufina. These, since they were of slender means through moderate poverty, had the practice of trading in earthen vessels, from which gain they satisfied the want of the needy, and procured for themselves only what was necessary for food and clothing. They persevered daily in prayer, living chastely and religiously, patient of much, and caring for their household. And when they were engaged in selling their little vessels, there ran up I know not what execrable monster and huge portent, which the throng of abandoned heathen call SALAMBO, demanding that some of their utensils be given to it. And when they resisted and would not give, saying that they worshipped and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, not that idol, which neither lived nor felt, the noble women, who bore that idol on their shoulders, cast it down from them turbulently, so that it broke and crushed utterly all the vessels of the holy Virgins.

[11] are transcribed. But they, moved not by the loss of their poverty, but only to destroy so great an evil of disgrace, repelled the idol; which at once, cast down to the ground, fell shattered: then, as if they had committed sacrilege, the heathen cried out that they were guilty of death. Therefore, seized by Diogenianus, they were first vexed by the stretching of the rack and the tearing of the claws; afterward afflicted with prison, hunger, and pains. But after some days, when the governor had resolved to go to the place Momentoniaria [], he ordered them to hasten on foot through rough and broken places after his journey. But to them nothing seemed hard, nothing rough, but they trod down the dust beneath them as though the whole journey were already accomplished. At last Justa breathed out her spirit in prison, whose body the governor ordered to be cast headlong into a well: but a religious prelate, Sabinus, raised it from the well and buried it honorably. But Rufina, who had remained in the prison [], by the governor's command, with her neck and throat broken, sent forth her spirit devoted to God, whose body, burnt with fire, was buried with worthy honor. Their passion is celebrated on the 14th Kalends of August. Now some things in these Acts are to be elucidated.

[12] The epoch of the martyrdom is drawn approximately from the Acts, The more recent Spanish writers generally assign the year 287 to the martyrdom of these Virgins. Surius, however, noted the year 300 in the margin of their Acts. Whatever may be the case concerning the determined year of the martyrdom, I gather that at least about these times they suffered, from the name of Sabinus, bishop of Seville, who in the year 285 ascended the see of Seville, and in the year 303 subscribed to the Council of Elvira, as the most eminent Cardinal de Aguirre teaches in his Greatest Collection of the Councils of Spain, volume 1, page 297. Our Labbe, in volume 1 of the Councils, column 980, contends that the Synod of Elvira was held in the year of Christ 305. But this discrepancy makes little to our purpose, since we cannot from it draw out the certain year of the passion. Nor is the day of the martyrdom altogether certain, although at the end of the Acts their passion is said to be celebrated on the 14th Kalends of August. For the aforesaid Quintanadueñas, in the Spanish work cited above, page 76, observes that at Seville and elsewhere the feast of these Martyrs is kept on the 17th of July; but in other churches they are honored on the 19th of the same month. Then he adds that he can attain no other cause of this difference than that Justa underwent martyrdom on the 17th and her sister Rufina on the 19th of the same month. This conjecture, not incongruously devised, we leave to the reader's judgment.

[13] The same Acts call the idol, on the occasion of which these holy Sisters openly professed the Christian faith, and the more obscure passages of the Acts, Salambo. The Breviary of Burgos, printed in the year 1502, calls it Salambo. The lessons of the Breviary of Évora, with one letter omitted, speak thus of that same idol: They demanded that some vessel be offered to them for the use of the god Salabo. Although in these lessons the name of a god is assigned to that idol, most nevertheless think that by this or a similar word the goddess Venus is signified by the Assyrians, according to that saying of Hesychius, Σαλαμβὼ ἡ Ἀφροδίτη παρὰ Βαβυλωνίοις, Salambo is Venus among the Babylonians. Various writers hand down various etymologies of this name. Luis Tineo, a Premonstratensian, in Tamayo, thinks it should be written Salambo or Salamboa, and derives the word from a Greek origin, ἀπὸ τοῦ σαλαιβεῖν [*] καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ βοῦς, that is, from bewailing the ox, because Venus bewailed the slain Apis or Osiris, who, transformed into the likeness of an ox, afterward appeared. Selden, however, in his work on the Syrian Gods, syntagma

2, chapter 4, explodes this etymology, and thinks that name came forth from the idiom of the Syrians. The Spanish writers try somehow to explain how this foreign superstition reached Seville. But all these things pertain little to our purpose: for it suffices us that there was a certain idol, which these holy Heroines would not venerate.

[14] There occurs in these same Acts a place, which Vincent of Beauvais calls Momentoniaria, and to which, as the governor hastened, the holy Virgins had to follow on foot. The places are examined. Peter de Natalibus, book 6, chapter 117, does not express the place, but only says: Led out from there also, when the governor took his journey to other parts, they are dragged after him with bare feet through rough and broken places. But the seventh lesson of the Breviary of Évora narrates this matter thus: The holy Virgins, led out of prison, when Diogenianus took his journey to the Marian Mountains, are dragged after him with bare feet through rough and broken places, compelled to follow the governor, until he returned to the city. I do not find where that place was, which Vincent of Beauvais and Mombritius name Momentoniaria. Better known are the Marian Mountains, now commonly called the Sierra Morena, although authors do not agree about their extent, as may be seen in Christopher Cellarius in his Notitia of the ancient world, volume 1, book 2, chapter 1, page 63. Of them Ambrosio Morales, in the Spain Illustrated, published in volume 4, page 359, in his description of Cordova, makes mention thus: But on the side where Cordova faces the North, it is placed at the very roots of the Marian Mountains, which now we Spaniards, the ancient name being corrupted, call Sierra Morena, that is, the Moreni Mountains. And that part of these mountains which overhangs Cordova is either a portion of the Castulonensian pass, or is joined with it toward the east. In these mountains, according to Pliny, the region of Baeturia, taking its name from the river Baetis, divided into two regions, runs out as far as the river Anas. And these are the chief things which I judged to be observed in the Acts of these Saints.

* Mombritius: lucem.

* Read: prison.

* Read: σαλαΐζειν.