Plato

ON ST. PLATO, MARTYR

AT ANCYRA IN GALATIA.

Under Maximian.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Plato, Martyr at Ancyra in Galatia (St.)

BY J. P.

§ I. The sacred cult from the Latin and Greek calendars; eulogies, the canon in the Menaea; sacred temples.

By far most celebrated in the sacred calendars is the memory of St. Plato the martyr, although marked on one day among the Latins, on another among the Greeks and others, inasmuch as with the former it is noted on this day, with the latter on the eighteenth of November. The memory of St. Plato on this day Let us begin from the Latins, who announce him on this day. The Hieronymian copies thus relate him: "At Ancyra of Galatia, the birthday of St. Plato, whose deeds are held." The little Roman one thus more briefly: "At Ancyra, of Plato the martyr." Ado seems to have received his announcement from the Hieronymian ones, the location being corrected from the little Roman one, which in them is read corruptly, as also in Rabanus (see the observations on Usuard published by us on this day), when Ado thus records: "At Ancyra of Galatia, the birthday of St. Plato the martyr, whose deeds are held." Usuard preserves the same manner of expression, except that he brings forth the place of deposition less correctly, saying: "At Ancira of Galatia," etc., which Molanus with Ado brings forth more rightly. In Bede, augmented from Florus, and published by us on this day, I find nothing offensive; who nevertheless today is cited in the notes to the Roman Martyrology; and therefore no other can be understood than the Plantinian Bede, or the supposititious one.

[2] The Roman Martyrology marks the memory of St. Plato likewise on this day with a eulogy in these words: by the Latins; "At Ancyra in Galatia, the birthday of St. Plato the martyr, who under Agrippinus the Vicar, beaten with scourges, torn with iron hooks, and tortured with other most monstrous kinds of torments, at last, his head being cut off, rendered his unconquered soul to God: whose miracles in succoring captives the Acts of the second Nicene synod attest." On the twenty-third of January, page 458, we briefly treated of the city of Ancyra, on occasion of Saints Clement the bishop, Agathangelus, and their companion Martyrs, which likewise illustrated Basil the martyr on the twenty-second of March; Theodotus and Thecusa, etc., on the eighteenth of May; so that we do not think it necessary to supply here more notices of that city, otherwise sufficiently well known. Of the Saint's deeds, which were said above to be held, we shall treat below in their place, and inquire concerning their worth.

[3] but by the Greeks and others on the 18th of November. The Greeks treat of our Saint not on the fifteenth of the Kalends of January, as Baronius ill indicated in the notes to the Roman Martyrology, but on the fourteenth of the Kalends of December, that is, the eighteenth of November, Romanus besides being under the same announcement more than once joined to him. The Typicon published under the name of St. Sabas thus has it: "Of the holy martyrs Plato and Romanus." Both likewise announce the double Horologion with the Kalendar of the Greeks which Genebrard published. The Arabic-Egyptian Martyrology, expressing their names faultily, thus writes: "The contest of St. Platanus and Ermanius, and his companions." The Russians, following the Greeks, record both on the same day, as is established from the Slavo-Russian Martyrology, which we call the Sparwenfeld one, where it is thus read: "Of the holy martyrs Plato and Romanus, who suffered in the year 302 under and by Maximian." Of St. Romanus the martyr, whom I find elsewhere in the Greek calendars marked on that day, there will be treatment with the Roman Martyrology on the same eighteenth of November, on which it exhibits him. The Kalendar of the Ruthenians in Possevino, tome 2 of the Sacred Apparatus, which is given from page 364, ill writes "St. mart. Platoni." Better in the November of the Muscovites, figured before tome 1 of May, is announced "Plato ✠ martyr."

[4] is marked. Our transcript from the Menaea of the monastery of St. Mark of the Fathers Preachers at Florence, thus most briefly: "Plato M."; whom also the Basilian Menology in Ughelli, tome 6 of Italy Sacred, records, as also that which Canisius published from the version of Sirletus, the appellation of "great martyr" being added to him in this last. In the Horologion, which is as it were a Breviary for reading the Hours, printed at Rome with Roman approbation in the year 1677 for the use of the Basilian monks, his Office is noted. The great printed Menaea finally, following, as it is wont, Maximus bishop of Cythera, honor the Saint, and that indeed with a very solemn rite. To the announcement of the great martyr there are subjoined in them these little verses:

Μικροῦ λαθὼν παρῆλθεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Πλάτων, / Πλάτων ἐκεῖνος, ὃν πλατὺ κτείνει ξίφος. / Ὀγδοάτῃ δεκάτῃ τε Πλάτων ἄορ κατέπεφνε. That is: "Almost hiding, Plato passed by us: that Plato, whose neck the broad sword cuts. On the eighteenth the sword slays Plato."

The etymological note, to which allusion is here made, is, as is self-evident, in the words λαθὼν (hiding), Πλάτων (Plato), πλατὺ (broad), to which the Latins correspond with almost the same wit. Of the sacred canon which the praised Menaea sing to the Saint's triumphs, there will be treatment presently; when we shall first have premised some of his eulogies.

[5] Brief first is that praised in Canisius: "This man (Plato) was of the city of Ancyra of Galatia, Eulogies brother of the holy martyr Antiochus, who, on account of the confession of Christ presented to Agrippinus the president, beaten by twelve soldiers, and stretched upon a heated bronze couch, at last, the skin of his body being stripped off and his flesh torn, struck with a sword, was crowned with martyrdom." A little more the Menology cited above in Ughelli narrates, where these things are held: "Plato the martyr, born at Ancyra of Galatia, brother of Antiochus the martyr, a youth, because for the cause of the Christian faith and religion he wholly abhorred the worship of idols, by the command of Agrippinus the prefect was most grievously beaten with rods by twelve soldiers. Then, stretched upon a glowing iron couch, he is again submitted to scourges: then with glowing iron balls he is so burned about the armpits and sides that flame mixed with smoke burst forth here and there from his skin."

[6] To these things the whole skin, straps being drawn from head to heels, Of St. Plato is cut, one of which he hurled into the face of Agrippinus, accusing his cruelty. After these things he is shut in prison: whence, when after eight days' fasting he was urged to take the food brought, and he had answered that he was abundantly nourished by the divine word; being led out, and even tortured for a long time, he gladly stretched forth his head to the lictor to be cut off. With these the printed Menaea in their eulogy almost agree; in which nevertheless there is nothing of the eight-days' fasting, as neither of the strap hurled into the face of Agrippinus by the Martyr. In our manuscript supplement to those Menaea, from the ancient parchment synaxarion of our Sirmond, or of the Clermont college, now of Louis the Great at Paris, I read that to the eulogy of Plato, about the middle, these things are added: Τοῦ δὲ σώματος αὐτοῦ μετὰ τὸν τιμωρίαν θαλεροῦ καὶ ἥδιστόν τι ἀποστίλβοντος γενομένου, πολλοὶ ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸν Χριστόν. That is: "But his body after the torture becoming vigorous and shining with something most delightful, many believed in Christ." And, a few things being interposed concerning the burning of the body, and the smoke sent forth from the nostrils and mouth, he thus continues: Εὐξαμένου δὲ τοῦ Ἁγίου, καὶ οὐρανίων δυνάμεων εἰπουσῶν τὸ Ἀμὴν, πολλοὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα τοῦτο ἥκουσαν.

[7] Καὶ εὐθὺς ὁ τόπος, ἐν ᾧ συνεκροτεῖτο τῷ Ἀγριππίνῳ τὸ βῆμα, are given; as also the canon κλονεῖται, καὶ τῆς φρικτῆς ἐπισκοπῆς τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ πρὸς τὸν Ἅγιον μηνυτής γίνεται. That is: "But the Saint praying, and the heavenly powers saying the Amen, many of those who stood by the prefect heard this; and at once the place, at which together with Agrippinus the tribunal had been convoked, is thrown into confusion by a tumult, and an indication of the dread visitation of Christ the Master is borne to the holy Martyr"; which things seem to me to bear before them something of the scenic armory of the Greeks. Hither pertains the canon in honor of the Saint inserted in the great Menaea, under the name of Theophanes: of which this acrostic is set:

Τῶν σῶν ἐπαίνων, ὦ Πλάτων, μέλπω πλάτος. That is: "A broad field of thy praises I sing, O Plato."

[8] which is in the printed Menaea. There appears again the author's allusion in the proper name Πλάτων and the substantive πλάτος, which signifies breadth. Further, I find nothing in the canon which ought here to detain us; inasmuch as it is almost entirely in recounting the torments which the Martyr both bore constantly and most invincibly overcame, being on that account there honored with deserved praises. Allusions of syllables falling similarly with the proper name of Plato recur there, but look to the same as the preceding. Take a specimen: τῆς αἰωνίου βασιλείας, ἔνδοξε, τὸ καθαρώτατον χοροβατῶν πλάτος. That is: "Going, O glorious one, to the most pure breadth of the assembly of the eternal kingdom," etc. θείᾳ πλατυνόμενος χάριτι. That is: "Enlarged by divine grace." And these things indeed thus far, chiefly from the Latin and Greek calendars, concerning the Saint's cult; his eulogies also not being neglected; now the temples sacred to him call us.

[9] A temple sacred to the Martyr at Constantinople in the sixth century, Codinus in the Constantinopolitan Origins, page 44, says: "The temple of St. Plato Anastasius Dicorus built at the beginning of the seventh century (ἐναρχομένου ἤδη τοῦ ἑβδόμου αἰῶνος). That is: 'the seventh century now beginning.' But ten columns adorned with sculpture he transferred from Thessalonica into this temple: of which two were transposed by the emperor Romanus Lacapenus into the Chalce." Anselm Banduri, in part 4 of the Eastern Empire or Constantinopolitan Antiquities, book 2, page 626, rightly observes that wrongly there, instead of ἕκτου αἰῶνος, that is, the sixth century, is written ἑβδόμου αἰῶνος, the seventh century: for Anastasius Dicorus undertook the empire of the East, Zeno being dead, in the year 491; but in the year 518 he departed this life. By the Chalce understand the temple of St. Salvator of the Chalce, at Constantinople; concerning which Du Cange collected various things in his Christian Constantinople, book 4, page 81. That upon these two columns the bema of that temple rested, you have in Codinus, page 63: concerning whose founder the cited Banduri treats, book 1, page 479. But various bemata at Constantinople Du Cange gives, and concerning the meaning of that word gathers various things, book 3, chapter 49.

[10] of which various notices are given. To return to the temple sacred to St. Plato; that it was afterward rebuilt to a greater and more august splendor by the emperor Justinian, testifies

Procopius, book 1 On the Buildings, chapter 4, page 15 (I cite here and below the Paris editions): "I was near to passing over," he says, "the martyrium sacred to St. Plato, splendid indeed and august, and near the forum of Constantine." Theophanes, page 202, writes that under the same Justinian, on the twentieth day of the month of December, the dedication of the great church was celebrated a second time, and the nocturnal vigils wont to be premised to a dedication of this kind were performed at St. Plato's. What Basil the Macedonian did for that temple, Constantine Porphyrogenitus relates in the Life of his grandfather, page 199, thus speaking: "Seeing the roof of the renowned martyr Plato laboring and giving way, he restored it anew, walls being inserted where it was necessary, fortifying and strengthening the temple." Add Cedrenus, who, page 588, treating of the temples which Basil, broken and shaken by earthquakes, repaired and restored, hands down that he erected the shrine of the renowned martyr Plato, which had fallen. And from these it abundantly appears that the memory of our Martyr was held at Constantinople chiefly in the greatest veneration; which will further be established from another temple sacred to him there, of which in the following paragraph.

§ II. Other sacred temples; relics, miracles.

From the clause added to our praised Clermont supplement we learn that there was another temple sacred to St. Plato at Constantinople. Other sacred temples at Constantinople and at Anastasiopolis, That clause thus states: Τελεῖται δὲ ἡ αὐτοῦ σύναξις ἐν τῳ σεπτῷ αὐτοῦ μαρτυρείῳ, τῷ ὄντι ἐν τοῖς Δομνίνου ἐμβολοῖς. That is: "His solemnity is celebrated in his venerable martyrium, which is in the porticoes of Domninus." By the word μαρτυρεῖον understand a temple sacred to a martyr or an oratory: see the things said in tome 2 of June in the notes, page 678, letter g. Of the porticoes of Domninus treats Du Cange in his Christian Constantinople, book 2, page 111; whose site Banduri exhibits in the delineation of the city of Constantinople, engraved in brass, prefixed to the cited fourth part of the Eastern Empire. That place is corrupted in the Latin text of Cedrenus, at the cited place, where it is read "in the rostra of the Lord." But now, since that temple stands at a fair distance from the former one, of which in the paragraph immediately preceding, we rightly infer that there were at Constantinople two different temples under the name of St. Plato; of which this last was perhaps of less bulk and celebrity than that former one, which at various times, both from its first building and from the restoration of the emperors, as we saw above, was sufficiently widespread; add that I have not found that martyrium expressed, except in our said supplement, from which I produced it. In the Life of St. Theodore of Sykeon, on the twenty-second of April, page 45, mention is made of an oratory of St. Plato at Anastasiopolis in Galatia, about the year 600, as is gathered from the age of St. Theodore. See besides there page 53. Now of the relics.

[12] Sansovino, on the city of Venice, printed there in the year 1581, relics at Venice; book 1, from page 25, treating of the monastery of St. Lawrence (concerning which also Ughelli, tome 5 of Italy Sacred), translated in the ninth century from monks to nuns, writes that in the church of the same is preserved the body of St. Plato: but in the proper lessons of those nuns it is only noted that there is preserved the head of St. Plato; whence, by whom, and at what time it was translated thither, is not expressed. Nor are more things at hand concerning the Saint's relics; to which can be reduced those things which, wrought at his sepulcher, are in passing indicated in the following narration presently.

[13] Concerning the miracles wrought by the power of St. Plato, there is a deep silence both in his own Acts and in the other monuments which we have hitherto produced: very many miracles both in various places, but it happened very opportunely for our matter that we can, if not abundantly, at least somehow supply this from the epistle of St. Nilus to Heliodorus the Silentiary, a fragment of which was recited in the seventh synod, action 4, and stands in Greek and Latin in Labbe, tome 7 of the Councils, from column 223; but in Latin it has thus: "By the miracles which are wrought in the several places and at various times, the Lord invites both those who are of little faith, and also the unfaithful, to the stability of the faith: but the faith, nay the hope, of the faithful He makes to grow, and shows their prudence grave and immovable. And I wish now to narrate to thee one thing out of ten thousand of our Plato, bearing off trophies and a martyr: who not only in our fatherland, but also in every city and region, most readily bestows grace, and shows to those who ask God through him an admirable fortitude.

[14] and from Mount Sinai the son of an old Galatian carried off captive, "For on the mountain which is called Sinai, where Moses received the law from God, monks native and foreign dwelling there, a certain one of the men, a Galatian by race, together with his own son, embracing the solitary life, passed his days, waging the contests of continence for a long time in the desert. And behold on a certain day suddenly certain men, barbarous in religion and detestable, rushing upon the aforesaid mountain, seize those of them who at that moment were found at hand, the monks together with the son of the old Galatian, and lead them into captivity. Whom, binding also behind their backs, they pass through many desert stopping-places, fasting and naked, driving them, nor at all shod with any shoe, through those waterless and most rough places, and places of no consolation, going about by force and necessity, and held by infinite terror.

[15] from the captivity of the barbarians, by St. Plato appearing to him "But the old man alone, hidden in a certain secret cave, was wasting away with grief, not bearing the deprivation of his son beloved of God; and he besought Christ the Lord, through Plato his fellow-countryman the martyr, that He might be bent to mercies. And this same thing the son also, bound in captivity, asked of God through the same most holy Martyr, that He would deign to have mercy on him, and to work a miracle. But both being heard, the father namely in the cave of the mountain, and the son in captivity; behold suddenly our martyr Plato stands present, appearing upon a horse, and drawing another horse ready, is manifested to the boy while awake, and recognizing him from this, that he had often seen the character of the Saint in images: and at once he bids him rise from the midst, and take the horse, and mount.

[16] is wonderfully carried back to his father. "And straightway, after the manner of a spider's web, the bonds were dissolved: and he alone being freed by the invocation, rising at the nod of God, mounted the horse, and follows the holy Martyr leading him, steadfast and rejoicing. And compendiously and swiftly both, namely holy Plato and the novice monk, as if winged, come to the dwelling of the old man praying and mourning: and the most victorious Martyr, restoring safe to the grieving heart of the father his longed-for son, disappears. And so in every place, for those who through them invoke God, they are able to accomplish all the wondrous and glorious things of the memorable and renowned Athlete of Christ the Lord. Further, these things I have written to thee, as to one who is a friend of the Martyrs, and never at any time receiving satiety of the memory of the blessed Martyrs."

[17] [The Saint not only illustrious for innumerable prodigies, but also his sepulcher a refuge for the wretched.] Thus it is there narrated from the praised epistle, recited under the name of St. Nilus; who is set to have flourished about the year 440; and of him there will be treatment on the twelfth of November with the Roman Martyrology. But if that, "which one out of ten thousand ought to be related" (and certainly it seems must be referred thither), be referred to the case which presently follows, oblique concerning St. Plato, and not rather to the phrase which had preceded, "the miracles which are wrought daily in the several places and at various times"; then it will be consequent that our Athlete shone with innumerable miracles. But however you take those words, the multitude of miracles perpetrated by him sufficiently appears from those which presently follow above, "who not only in our fatherland," says St. Nilus (whom I read to have been a Constantinopolitan by fatherland) "but also in every city and region most readily bestows grace, and shows to those who ask God through him an admirable fortitude." The same St. Nilus, when he had learned that some very powerful pagan had by force dragged away persons who had taken refuge at the sepulcher of St. Plato, foretold to him that God would avenge the injury done to His Martyr, and would bring him to this, that he himself would take refuge at his church; as from St. Nilus, book 2, epistle 178, page 210 of the Roman edition, Tillemont relates in the Monuments of the Church, tome 5, page 564; which history, because the cited text is not at hand, we here allege from himself.

* sense

* monastic

* Gr. pagans

* empty

* swiftly

§ III. Proper lessons; Acts.

Among the printed proper Offices of the Saints which we have, for the nuns of St. Lawrence of Venice, whose bodies and relics are kept in the same church, Proper lessons on the twenty-fourth of July there is set the Office of St. Plato the martyr with a double rite, with this proper prayer: "Grant, we beseech, almighty God, that we may deserve both to exult in the merits, and to be refreshed by the suffrages, of blessed Plato Thy martyr, whose venerable festivity we celebrate." That Office was doubtless drawn back from the twenty-second of this month to the said day on account of the concurrence of two other feasts, namely of St. Mary Magdalene, which is celebrated on the 22nd, and of St. Apollinaris, which is celebrated on the 23rd; and in whose first Vespers the commemoration of St. Plato is prescribed in that Office. There are assigned the Lessons of the FIRST NOCTURN. "From Miletus": and then these proper ones are given:

[19] Lesson V. Plato the martyr, in the reign of the emperor Maximian, for the nuns under Agrippinus the prefect, suffered at Ancyra in Galatia. Who, while still a boy and wealthy, when he had been bereaved of his Christian parents; distributed all his goods to the poor. Wherefore the prefect orders him to be held and to sacrifice to the idols. Which when he refused, he is grievously beaten by twelve men succeeding one another by turns: but persisting immovable in mind, he is delivered to prison. ℞. "Honestum."

[20] Lesson VI. But after seven days he is led out of prison, of St. Lawrence and is again compelled to sacrifice to the gods; which when he detested; he is stretched upon an iron bed, and, coals being strewn beneath, drenched with oil, resin, and pitch, he is roasted. But when these things availed nothing against him; all beholding, he is comforted by an angelic aspect, and refreshed by a most sweet fragrant odor. By which miracle very many were converted to Christ. ℞. "Desiderium."

[21] Lesson VII. After these things he suspends him on the rack, at Venice and heated iron apples are applied to his sides. But when he had patiently borne these also, and had stood as if immovable; Agrippinus, growing hot, orders straps to be drawn from his body. Which at last, drawn, Plato receiving, cast into the face of the prefect with these words: "Now satisfy thy thirst with blood, dire drinker of blood, satisfy thy hunger with flesh: for these are of thy right: but the soul"

"is of God." By which words confounded, Agrippinus departed, and Plato is again thrust into prison. ℞. "Stola jucunditatis."

[22] are here given. Lesson VIII. When therefore for eighteen days in prison he was afflicted with hunger without food or drink, he was daily comforted by God. But last of all, dragged from prison, again led to the idols, again ordered to sacrifice, again he spat upon the idols. Wherefore, by the command of the prefect, led outside the city, to a place which is called the Field, there he is beheaded with a sword; and whose illustrious miracles in succoring captives the Acts of the second Nicene synod attest. His head is preserved in the church of St. Lawrence at Venice with great veneration. ℞. "Posuisti." For the Lessons of the third nocturn there is assigned a homily on the Gospel: "If any man will come after me," as in the common of one martyr. For the twelfth Lesson, a homily on the Gospel of the vigil of St. James.

[23] Concerning the Acts which stand under the name of Metaphrastes, a judgment: The Saint's deeds in the Hieronymian copies, as we saw, are said to be held; but whether and where they still survive, is uncertain. If it were permitted to compare them with the Acts which are still extant today, I scarcely doubt that both would be plainly different from one another. Those which in Lipomanus, tome 4, on the eighteenth of November, and in Surius on this day are produced under the name of Metaphrastes, have certainly greatly degenerated from the primitive and genuine marks of Acts, which the same Metaphrastes, or, if you prefer, an interpolator of similar talent, is thought by us to have adorned; so much do they contain that by no means is approved by us. Turn them, invert them, discuss, shake them out; what, I pray, will you find, other than a continued web, almost from head to heel, of colloquies, threats, blandishments, everywhere heaped up to nausea, not to say beyond belief, with a multitude and variety of torments? Add frequent prayers to God, apparitions, passages drawn from sacred Scripture; all which seem to me to savor not so much of a sincere history of martyrdom, as of a pious drama, decorated with poetic ornaments. And so the more prolix Acts in Surius and the more contracted ones in Peter de Natalibus, of whom presently, we cannot think to be those which were indicated above in the copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology, contrary to what seems to Florentinius in his notes to the said Martyrology on this day.

[24] which also fits our Greek copy. The Acts are given from another copy. That Greek copy of those Acts, transcribed, as I suspect, from the Vatican library (of the same tenor, of eight pages, as is noted in the margin, existing also at Paris in St. Germain's) which, I say, that copy, some years ago translated into Latin by us, we have not now committed to type, besides the promise to be cited below in tome 4 of July—of this the cause is partly the slight worth of the labor and the matter; partly that they can be read in Lipomanus and Surius; partly finally that some other copy is at hand, never, as far as we know, elsewhere published, and therefore here not altogether without fruit to be published; although it contains the same substance. We received it from our John Gamans in the year 1641, and it is marked with this title: "Of St. Plato M., from the notable parchment manuscript passionary of the monastery of Bödeken, of the Order of Regulars of St. Augustine, of the diocese of Paderborn, of the month of December, folio 102, page A. Here begins the passion of St. Plato the martyr, which is on the nineteenth of the Kalends of January." The same day is expressed at the end of the said Passion: which nevertheless is unknown to the Slavo-Russian, as we said above, as well as to the Greek calendars, as also to our Greek copy of the Passion, which, agreeing with those calendars, thus notes the same day:

[25] Ἐτελειώθη δὲ .. Πλάτων .. μηνὶ Νοεμβρίῳ ὀκτωδεκάτῃ. That is: "But Plato was perfected by martyrdom in the month of November, on the eighteenth day." Certain chief heads of the Acts concerning the day of death Lipomanus and Surius agree. Peter de Natalibus in the compendium of the Acts, which he has in book 6, chapter 126, the Saint's martyrdom being related, presently subjoins that he was buried on the eleventh of the Kalends of August; this day being added, as I suspect, rather than another, from the Latin Martyrologists. But although concerning the genuine day of the martyrdom nothing certain can be determined, on account of the lack of the primitive Acts, which we think once existed, written, as we said, far otherwise than they now stand; yet we prefer to embrace the eighteenth of November, most constantly announced by the Greeks; rather than the present day of the month of July, which the Latins concordantly mark; for this reason, that these seem to have received from those both the Martyr himself and his Acts; whose compendium the Latins inserted in their Martyrologies, being adopted perhaps by the Hieronymian transcripts, the little Roman one, Ado, Usuard, and those following them on this twenty-second of July: although whether in fact this was so done, and for what cause, we cannot determine with certainty.

[26] The Bödeken transcript with Peter de Natalibus writes that St. Plato suffered under Maximian; and the time, which we mentioned above also from the Slavo-Russian Menology. In Lipomanus and Surius I do not find the proper name of the emperor. That he suffered likewise under Agrippinus, we have both from the eulogies and from the Greek and Latin Acts. Further, he is by Peter de Natalibus called prefect; but by the Bödeken one constantly president: by Lipomanus and Surius (the Greek manuscript Passion also agreeing, of which above) he is called vicar. But if the Saint truly suffered under a vicar, he does not seem to have suffered before the times of Diocletian, who, according to what Lactantius teaches in his De Mortibus persecutorum, chapter 7, is thought to have first instituted that kind of magistrate: on which matter the things said in tome 4 of July, page 25, can also be consulted. Although in what may you here trust the Greek Acts, otherwise very suspect? Especially since the great printed Menaea with the Anthology give him the title of ἡγεμών; which more ordinarily denotes the prefect of some province; such if Agrippinus was, he could have preceded the times of Diocletian; inasmuch as we said, from Eusebius, that they were already instituted before him, in the same tome of our July, page 25 again.

[27] The arena of the martyrdom, or the place in which St. Plato was beheaded and buried, as also the arena of the martyrdom. in Lipomanus, Surius, Peter de Natalibus, to whom add the proper lessons produced above, is called the Field; which certainly, if it was that true and not fictitious place of the martyrdom, stood not in the city of Ancyra itself, but outside and near it, which the Bödeken copy plainly enough sets forth: "They led him," it says, "outside the city of Ancyra, to a place which is called the Field," with the epithet added, "pleasant"; whereby the word "Field," rightly, being truly determined, strikes less than if, that being removed, indeterminately and simply you should say with those others "Field." And indeed it could easily happen that this name was imposed by the neighboring people of Ancyra upon some suburban field, sunny and pleasant. In our Greek copy of the Passion, the name Κάμπος (Kampos) is given to the same place; and it is a Greco-barbarous word, and among the examples in Du Cange is noted as used by Chrysostom in the oration on the Circus; so that it ought not to seem a marvel, much less incredible, that a word of this kind was used in those centuries by the people of Ancyra, in the East, as I think, then not unknown; for which, if you would well express its meaning in Greek, you will say πεδίον.

[28] It remains that we weigh in a few words the passage above at number 5 from the Basilian Menology, and that which is in Canisius, where St. Plato is written to have been the brother-german of St. Antiochus the martyr. Certain things are noted That this title is ascribed to that Saint we noted in several Greek calendars on the fifteenth of this month, on which he was given by us with the Roman Martyrology at the tome and page just cited. But he is related to have been not merely the brother-german of St. Plato, but the one through whom he also believed in Christ, as it is written there from the Milanese Menaea of the Ambrosian library. But although we neither would nor could render that connection of blood either doubtful or suspect; yet two things we bid to be observed concerning this, which do not seem in every part to favor it. I. In Lipomanus and Surius it is said: "Blessed Plato… enlightening many by his word, made them believe in Christ."

[29] concerning St. Antiochus, brother-german of St. Plato, Among whom if St. Antiochus ought to be numbered, it is a marvel that no mention is made of the conversion of the brother-german by Metaphrastes or another author of the same talent in the more ancient writings, from which he adorned his Passion, probably not found in it; which if he had found there, he would not have omitted, as we think, to transcribe it. The other thing is, which we would have noted, and there also, page 26, we observed, that to those two brothers-german is attributed a fatherland far different from the praised Menologies of Basil and Canisius, which make St. Antiochus of Sebaste; but St. Plato, as we said above at number 5, ascribe to Ancyra.

[30] as also concerning the copy of the Passion which is here given. Behold now for you the Passion of our Saint, of whatever kind, to which, as also to that which is exhibited in Lipomanus and Surius, is consonant that whose beginning is given by Leo Allatius in the Diatribe on the writings of the Symeons, page 128, among those which he adjudges to Metaphrastes, expressed in these words: Οὐ ξένα Γαλατῶν τὰ παρόντα, οὐδὲ ὁμολογητοῦ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀλλότρια. That is: "The present things are not strange to the Galatians, nor alien to a Confessor of the truth." Which if you compare with the published beginning in Lipomanus and Surius, and the manuscript under the name of the Vatican library just cited by us, which thus begins: Οὐ ξένα Γαλατῶν μέλλω λέγειν, οὐδὲ τῶν τὸν Ἄγκυραν οἰκούντων ἀλλότρια, οὐδὲ ὁμολογητοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ λόγον πεπιστευμένου ἄπιστα ἐρῶ. That is: "I am about to say things not strange to the Galatians, nor alien to those inhabiting Ancyra, nor shall I speak things incredible of a Confessor entrusted also with the word of God"; which, I say, if you compare with those, you will refer all these Passions to the same source, and, as by the claw the lion, you will recognize them to be the offspring of the same parent: although that which is here given from the Bödeken manuscript is in several places shorter than the Surian.

PASSION

From the parchment manuscript passionary of the monastery of Bödeken.

Plato, Martyr at Ancyra in Galatia (St.)

BHL Number: 6866

FROM THE MANUSCRIPT.

CHAPTER I.

St. Plato is accused before the president Agrippinus; but neither by torments nor by blandishments is he called away from the faith of Christ.

St. Plato distinguished by the gifts of nature and grace, It is not alien or strange to all inhabiting Ancyra, nor through all the neighboring places, how savage and cruel a persecution was made in the times of the emperor Maximian in the province of Galatia against the religion of the Christians, so that brother persecuted brother, and father his own sons, and friends their friends, and their neighbors, who confessed Christ, and delivered them to death. At which time the most blessed Plato was left by his parents a little child with great riches and many possessions, because they had sprung from an illustrious and most noble race. But he himself was comely in form, filled with the Holy Spirit from infancy; and while still under a procurator's

disposition he seemed to be, being no deaf hearer of the evangelical admonition, he began to distribute to the poor the riches which had been left to him by his parents, and with the whole intention of his mind, hastening without any reverence to the palm of martyrdom, he publicly confessed himself to be a Christian. ^b

[2] Knowing which, the ministers of Satan seized him and put him in prison. he is set before the president Agrippinus; And when it had been announced to Agrippinus the president, he ordered a tribunal ^c to be prepared for him before the palace, over against the temple of Jupiter; and while he sat for the tribunal, the assistant of the office said: "Plato, who boasts himself of the religion of the Christians, and against the commands of the princes insults the immortal gods, is present: what do you command?" Agrippinus said: "Let him enter ungirt ^d." And when he had entered, the president said to him: "Whereas the whole world stands in feasting, why art thou set in so great and such an error, that thou darest to despise the commands of the princes, and to forsake the great gods, and to follow the religion of a Crucified one?" St. Plato answered: "You are they who dwell in error, forsaking the God who made heaven and earth, with all their adornment, and adore stones and wood, the works of men's hands."

[3] Agrippinus said: "The nobility of thy youth makes thee insolent. being interrogated by whom, Tell me nevertheless, of what religion art thou, or of what city, or what is thy name?" St. Plato answered: "Born in this country, a Christian by religion, I have the name Plato; a servant of Christ from my mother's womb." Agrippinus said: "Hast thou not known that the lord emperor has already commanded that all who have persevered in the Christian religion be punished with many torments?" St. Plato answered: "I have known it in part, and in mind I have mocked the foolish command of the prince." Agrippinus said: "Dost thou then call the command of the prince foolish?" St. Plato answered: "Yes, together with its author himself." The president said: "It is not expedient for thee to mock the commands of the princes, nor to slight the great gods, because all who have presumed to do these things have perished by various torments. Whence I too, beholding the nobility and comeliness of thy youth, have compassion on thee, and forewarn thee that thou recede from this vanity, obeying the commands of the princes, and run to the temples of the gods."

[4] St. Plato answered: "I, the precepts of my King, he is most cruelly beaten: but neither by scourges, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, have kept with the highest desire from infancy, and will keep to the end of my life, and day and night I run to render praises to His holy name. For all the gods of the nations are demons; but the Lord made the heavens." Then Agrippinus ordered him to be stripped, and to be cruelly and long beaten by four soldiers. Who, in beating, grew faint, and twelve other most strong men were substituted: and these too, while for many hours they seemed to beat the body of the Martyr, prevailing nothing, grew faint; but on the body of the most blessed Martyr no marks appeared. Which the whole multitude of bystanders, together with Agrippinus the president, beholding more diligently, marveled greatly, and were confounded, not knowing what to say. But the most blessed martyr Plato, with strong soul and unchangeable heart, remained in his confession, rejoicing in the pains which were inflicted on him for the name of Christ. Agrippinus therefore, seeing his constancy, was the more confounded: and said to him: "The beauty of thy youth adorns thy race. For I know thee to have been begotten of noble stock. Why then wilt thou be deprived of this most flourishing light without cause? Now therefore I counsel thee, as my own son, to flee death and run to life."

[5] nor by words is he called away from the worship of the true God St. Plato answered: "Thou counselest well, Agrippinus: I therefore flee everlasting death, that I may deserve to receive eternal life." Agrippinus the president said: "Tell me, unhappy one, how many deaths are there?" St. Plato answered: "One indeed is temporal; but another eternal; the one is suddenly finished; the other, which is prepared for thee, and for thy father the devil, or for those who obey thy commands, has no end: but in it is everlasting torment: where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Agrippinus said: "Whence so great a superfluity of words? Either sacrifice to the immortal gods, or certainly thou shalt be subjected to many torments." St. Plato answered: "Do quickly whatever seems good to thee: for I never sacrifice to thy gods, nor for the injury of the most high God do I bend my neck to stones and wood without sense; but I hasten to be joined to Him who died for us, and on the third day rose again, ascended to the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father."

[6] and therefore is thrust into prison. Then Agrippinus ordered him to be led to prison: but very many both of the faithful and of the gentiles followed him, marveling and praising his perseverance. But the most holy Plato, while he was led to prison, exhorted the people, saying: "Men Christians and all who behold me, let not the torments terrify you which the most impious Agrippinus exercised upon me: because not for a small cause have I come to this contest; but for the maker of heaven and earth, of the sea and of all that are in them. Many indeed are the tribulations of the just; but from all these God will deliver them. Come therefore, all, let us flee to the most tranquil harbor, and to the inscrutable Christ, and patiently receive the torments which are inflicted upon us for His name, knowing that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the future glory which shall be revealed in us." When he had said these things and comforted all who heard him, glad and rejoicing he enters the prison, and, his knees fixed on the ground, prayed and said: "Lord Jesus Christ, who knowest all my acts, and numberest all my steps, be present to me Thy boy, and comfort me, that I may be able patiently to bear the torments which are inflicted on me for Thy name, and that Agrippinus, the disciple of Satan, may not prevail against me; that the whole company of men may know how nothing are the idols which they worship, but rather that all the world may know that Thou art the true God, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest through all ages of ages. Amen."

[7] After seven days the execrable Agrippinus ordered the holy martyr Plato to be led out of prison, Various instruments of torments being set forth, and presented to him. Which being done, the assistant of the office, Viventius ^e by name, announced to the president Agrippinus and said: "Plato, who refuses to obey the royal edicts, and does not acquiesce in your admonitions, but still perseveres in his malice, is present before the doors: what do you command?" Agrippinus said: "First bring various kinds of torments, and so let him enter." Which being done, Plato entered before the president Agrippinus. The president said: "Set before him various kinds of torments, that is, caldrons, frying-pans, iron hands, and racks, catapults ^f, and most sharp spits ^g, and also other various and terrible kinds of torments," thinking this, that as soon as St. Plato should behold the aspects of so great torments prepared for him, he would be terrified and would consent to him. Whence Agrippinus said to him: "Behold, look, Plato, what torments are prepared for thee. Now therefore consider, that for the honor of thy race and the comeliness of thy youth thou mayest enjoy the joys of this light. And that this may be done, sacrifice to the great god Apollo, or certainly, to the confusion of thy nativity, thou shalt faint in these pains."

[8] St. Plato answered: "I do not wish to speak much with thee, as also, blandishments being applied, the Martyr perseveres constant; Agrippinus, because I see that thou art liable to sins, and that thy whole mind is vexed with diabolical thought, so that thou thinkest that I fear the likeness of the torments which are set before me, and will deny my religion. Whence, senseless one and without understanding, why dost thou not perceive that if these torments, which are set forth by thee, a corruptible man, are to be feared, more so are those which are administered without end." Agrippinus therefore, having heard the constancy of the most blessed martyr Plato, began to exhort him with soft persuasions, saying: "If thou wilt hear me, as thy father, dealing well with thee, and wilt taste of the sacrifices of our gods, I will presently release thee from these bonds; and I will give thee the only daughter of my brother in marriage, and make thee rich and render thee honored." Then the most blessed Plato, deriding the madness of the president, said: "Most unhappy of all and deceiver of souls, if I wished to come to earthly nuptials, I could take a better and nobler than the daughter of thy brother."

[9] Agrippinus, angered, ordered him to be laid under a bronze bed, and coals to be placed under it, and abundant fire, and he is condemned to new torments, and above, boiling oil to be poured, resin and bitumen, and flaming wax to be cast upon him, so that all his bowels, being laid bare, were intolerably tortured. Then Suffronius ^h the recorder ⁱ said: "Most wretched of men, why dost thou contradict the commands of the president? Dost thou not see what torments are set against thee?" St. Plato answered: "Depart from me, minister of Satan, and go behind; because thou shalt not prevail against me: for I have delivered my whole body to be tortured for Christ." Agrippinus said: "Can Christ, whom thou namest, who was crucified by the Jews, deliver thee from my hands? Unless thou quickly sacrifice to the great god Apollo, thou shalt not escape the torments which are prepared for thee." St. Plato answered: "Neither to Apollo do I sacrifice, nor to thy other gods: for Apollo is interpreted 'perdition' ^k, and all who believe in him shall perish by a like damnation. But the true Divinity dwells not in temples made by hands, but is in the heavens; to whom daily I sacrifice a victim of praise."

[10] which he bears willingly, refuting the tyrant. Agrippinus said: "Most unhappy one, as I see, thou lovest death, and hatest the splendor of this life." St. Plato answered: "Many times hast thou heard from me, enemy of the truth, that if I persevere in the confession of my Lord Jesus Christ, I die not, but after the crown of victory I shall possess eternal life; not only I, but also all who believe in Him, whom thou too, if thou wert worthy to understand, wouldst surely with thy own hands break in pieces the execrable gods which thou worshippest, and, prostrate together with me on the ground, wouldst attend to the true God, who holds thy breath in His hands." To this Agrippinus, indignant, said: "Desperate and estranged one, enemy of the gods and of the princes, why art thou not ashamed to have come now to so great madness, that thou carriest thy error even to my deception, that I should follow a superstitious sect, which, lately invented, has been condemned by the Roman princes." St. Plato answered: "And I have known the pride of thy heart: for into a malevolent soul the wisdom of God will not enter. But nevertheless be mindful of my words; because the time will come when with weeping and groaning thou shalt remember what is now said by me, and wouldst then wish to have believed through me now: but that late penitence will not profit thee, which now through the malice of thy heart thou hast neglected."

NOTES.

* At Ancyra

* is suspended

* the face

CHAPTER II.

The Martyr's constancy in vain tested by new torments; who at last, beheaded, is crowned with martyrdom.

Then, by the president's command, the most blessed martyr Plato was again tortured, and while in the examinations of various torments the most strong soldier of Christ was afflicted, New torments three hours passed, and after these he was released, and taken down by the ministers from the bronze bed on which various pains had been inflicted upon him. But not only did the fire and the torments not harm him, nay rather so most sweet an odor filled the bystanders that no one doubted that an angelic visitation had been present. No mark at all appeared on his body; so that all glorified God, saying: "True is the God of the Christians: who both comforts and heals His servant, so that the torments prevail nothing in him." But Agrippinus, confounded after so great torments as he had inflicted on him, said: "Yield even yet, Plato: and if thou wilt not sacrifice to the gods, at least deny Him who was crucified, and thou shalt be released."

[12] St. Plato answered: "O most cruel seducer, nothing at all moves St. Plato, and falsifier of the truth; why dost thou counsel that I deny my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was present with me in the torments, and did not permit, as thou thyself perceivest, any mark to remain on my body, from all the torments which thou hast exercised upon me. Depart from me, thou who workest iniquity, and be not willing further to lead ignorant and simple souls into error, because my Lord will not forsake my soul in hell: nor will He give His holy one to see corruption." Agrippinus said: "Because I have had pity on thee, therefore thou art become contumelious and foolish in words. Know that I will afflict thee with sharper torments: so that thou of thy own accord mayest say to me: 'I am ready to sacrifice to the immortal gods.'" St. Plato answered: "All thy torments, which thou hast both inflicted, and still threatenest to inflict on me, are to me as if someone were invited to delights: and therefore rejoicing I receive the blows of my body, that I may be made heir of eternal life." Then Agrippinus, moved with anger, rose from his seat, and breaking the buckle-fastening ^a with which he was clothed, ordered a heated iron to be placed at his sides. Which when the ministers had done, so great a violence of fire was made that not only were the sides of the Martyr of God burned, but even his inner parts were torn asunder, so that through the nostrils and the brain the smoke of the fire burst forth.

[13] so that, relying on Christ, he even insults the tyrant. But St. Plato, when he was now thought to be dead, said to Agrippinus: "Most monstrous dog, thy tortures prevail nothing against me: because my Lord Jesus Christ is to me an impregnable wall, and a protector not failing forever." But a certain assistant of the wicked judge, approaching near the blessed Martyr, said to him: "Yield, I beseech, to the commands of the emperors, and sacrifice to the immortal gods: because on account of thy torments we all faint; and thou art changed neither in countenance nor in mind." The magnanimous Martyr of Christ answered to this: "And thou too wilt be a patron of the gods, thou who knowest not thy right hand or thy left. If therefore thou dogmatizest, let Agrippinus be silent." Then, his eyes raised to heaven, groaning, he said: "I have delivered my back to the scourges, and my whole body to the examinations of the enemy, for Thy name, Lord Jesus Christ. Depart not therefore from me, for tribulation is near; and there is none to help, lest at any time the nations say, Where is his God: but do Thy good pleasure, that the wicked dog may not prevail against me, who with rabid fury barks against me." And when it had been said by the Christians, "Amen," that place was shaken, and all who were present, terrified, fled.

[14] His constancy is again tested, The president nevertheless did not recede from the malice of his heart, but calling the blessed Martyr to him said: "Behold, Plato, by multiplying words thou persistest in thy folly. I have many times heard such and greater things from those who preached the dogmas of this religion: but no one of all escaped alive from my hands, except those who, consenting to me, adored the great gods. So do thou too resolve to sacrifice, or come once more to the pains." St. Plato answered: "Man without God, and inventor of all evils, why dost thou wish to prolong my martyrdom, recurring again to past and empty words, like a dog returning to its vomit. My Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood for the salvation of the world, how much more ought we too desiringly to endure a transitory death for His name, that in perpetual life we may win His promises." Then Agrippinus, roused to fury, commanded straps to be cut from his members from head to feet, saying: "Thinkest thou that Christ, in whom thou trustest, can help thee?"

[15] and his body is cut member by member, St. Plato answered: "Most cruel one, and tyrant of God, not incongruously was that name imposed on thee, Agrippinus: which is understood 'wild beast' ^b: for as a wild forest-beast, fleeing, is cast headlong, so thou too seekest to cast into the pit together with thyself those who follow thy perverse mind, but I so rejoice in thy pains as one who has found much treasure: or as one who sees what he long desires to see." But the ministers without mercy cut piecemeal the members of the most blessed Martyr, as of a statue having no soul. Nevertheless the Athlete of Christ, patiently enduring, said: "With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and He was attentive to me: He gave to reproach those who trample on me." Seeing these things, the Christians who were present in hiding wept for so cruel a pain, which he suffered beyond the nature of men. But he himself, immovable in the faith of Christ, did not faint, but rather mocked the madness of the judge, and taking one strap from his side, which had been cut by the executioners, cast it before the tribunal of the president, saying: "Satan, devourer of blood; knowest thou not, enemy of God, that God made man to His own image. Why dost thou, for the defense of demons, cut piecemeal the bodies of innocent men? Why dost thou not perceive that thou too art clothed with flesh? Why dost thou delight to see the cutting of my members, without any offense?

[16] "I indeed delight in these pains, because how much my skin shall be stripped off by the executioners, but by a vain effort; by so much a fairer crown will be prepared for me by my Lord Jesus Christ. But do thou, taking the strap of my body, have it in testimony of thy damnation. For this shall be to thee for the judgment of eternal perdition, that thou mayest be mindful of thy iniquity when thou shalt come into the eternal torment, which is prepared for thee together with thy idols." The president says to him: "Thou hast injured me and the gods enough. Thou hast no care that thy bowels go forth through thy sides, but still in thy answers thou art found contumacious." To whom St. Plato, smiling, said: "Thou wretch, filled with dung, persistest in thy stenches, that, wholly filthy, thou mayest faint in eternal damnation. But I, amended through various pains, with great confidence stand by my Savior, that without any suffering I may feast at His holy banquet." Agrippinus the president said: "I know that thou art wordy for this reason, that I may kill thee more quickly, but I, according to the malice of thy heart, will reserve thee for more severe torments, that through thee all may be terrified who contradict the great God Apollo." St. Plato said: "Show by deeds what thou threatenest in words: that thou mayest satisfy the will of thy father Satan; for thou hast the power of an earthly prince over my body. For upon my soul thou canst inflict no evil."

[17] Agrippinus said: "Know in truth, that as in past torments thou hast made trial, amid new torments, so still I will by no means spare thee, refusing to sacrifice to the benevolence of the gods; even if thou take up the philosophy of that Plato who was a lover and worshipper of the gods." St. Plato answered: "Do thou rather know and recognize by the experience of the torments, which by the grace of God I have most patiently borne: that I spare not my body, but rather for the love of my Lord Jesus Christ I willingly bear even that death which thou threatenest." Then Agrippinus ordered him to be again suspended on the rack, and so his body and knees to be scraped by the executioners with iron hooks, that his bones remained bare. And the herald cried with a loud voice: "Sacrifice to the gods and thou shalt be released." And when he had seen him loosened in his whole body, he ordered him to be taken down, saying: "Most wretched one, what hopest thou? Since now all thy skin is torn asunder, and thy bones bared, why dost thou not sacrifice, that the gods may be propitiated to thee, and grant thee pardon of living." St. Plato answered: "What dost thou still expect to hear from me, worshipper of demons. If I have held all thy past pains for nothing, how much more"

"now do I esteem them little, since now I embrace my crown? Stripped of my carnal skin, but clothed with the breastplate of faith, secure I shall penetrate heaven from the face of the enemy. But if thou still wilt inflict any torments, fulfil them in haste, that in all things thou mayest be confounded." Agrippinus said: "I have patience with thee on account of the false name which thou seemest to have, of Plato the philosopher, who seemed to be a great teacher, and yet did not recede from the honor and reverence of the gods, but rather taught that no one at all should recede from sacrifices: whence I marvel, having experience of thy nobility, why thou dost not assent to his doctrine together with us in these things which thou hast known to have been handed down by our elders."

[18] and triumphing over the tyrant a long fasting: St. Plato answered: "Go behind me, Satan, because thou shalt not prevail against me who have with me the Holy Spirit, whose philosophy and doctrine I cease not to meditate day and night. For of that sacrilegious Plato, of whom thou hast made mention, I have nothing but the name only, and not his fabulous and erratic wisdom, meditated and composed in words, in which he, trusting, deceived others. But the true wisdom, which through my Lord Jesus Christ has been manifested in the world, is not appeased in words of philosophy, but will adhere to pure minds. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject.'" Astonished, Agrippinus marveled at his answers and his most strong soul, saying to his men: "Why are we silent? I think we are conquered." And again he ordered him to be led to prison, commanding that one ounce of bread and a cup of water be given him for a day, and that he be seen by no man at all. The most blessed Plato therefore, having entered the prison, spent there eighteen days, and would by no means receive either bread or water, knowing the Lord in the Gospel saying: "Not by bread alone doth man live, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." And when the guards had seen that he tasted nothing for so many days, they asked him, saying: "Eat, man, lest perchance we be endangered, since thou hast tasted nothing of these things which are brought to thee."

[19] and at last condemned to be beheaded St. Plato answered: "Do not reckon that it will come to pass that I shall die, if I taste nothing of carnal food, because I am filled with the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven by the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who said: 'I am the living bread, who came down from heaven.' And again: 'Whoever shall drink of the water which I give, there shall be made in him a fount of living water, and it shall not fail forever.' Whence it is altogether absurd that, to the injury of the most high God, I should be polluted by the foods of sacrilegious men." After these things Agrippinus, sitting in the tribunal over against the temple of Jupiter, ordered St. Plato to be brought. And when he had been brought, he said to him: "What hast thou resolved concerning thy safety; art thou ready to sacrifice, or hast thou determined to end thy life, and to be with that Christ, I know not who, whom thou preachest?" St. Plato answered: "My salvation is Christ, whom thou with blasphemous tongue hast named. Do therefore quickly what thou art about to do, and delay no longer in words." Then Agrippinus, seeing the blessed Martyr persist with strong soul and cheerful countenance and perfect faith, was the more confounded, and said: "By pains we have prevailed nothing, because by magic art he overcomes us; let his head therefore be cut off."

[20] The executioners therefore, taking him after the sentence given, is crowned with martyrdom. led him outside the city of Ancyra, to the place which is called the pleasant Field, where, a space for praying being obtained, the blessed Martyr, raising his eyes to heaven, said: "I give Thee thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, to whom desiringly I hasten: because the threats and torments of the most wicked judge prevailed not against me, but Thou didst send Thy angel, who comforted me and healed my wounds. Now therefore receive my soul with peace, and worthily gather me into Thy hall." Having said these things he stretched out his head, and said to the executioner: "Now, brother, do what is commanded thee." Whom presently that man struck, and cut off his head: whose body the Christians stole and with all diligence placed in the same place, in which powers are wrought, and many wonders even to the present day. But the most holy Plato of God was martyred under the emperor Maximian, Agrippinus being president, on the nineteenth of the Kalends of January: our Lord Jesus Christ reigning: who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns unto the ages. Amen.

NOTES.

* perhaps "dire" (dread)