ON THE BLIND MAN OF ST. PANTALEON; LIKEWISE ON SS. HERMOLAUS, PRIEST, HERMIPPUS AND HERMOCRATES, MARTYRS.
IN THE PERSECUTION OF DIOCLETIAN.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
The Blind Man of St. Pantaleon, Martyr (St.) Hermolaus, priest, Martyr (St.) Hermippus, Martyr (St.) Hermocrates, Martyr (St.)
BY THE AUTHOR P. B.
The martyrdom of St. Pantaleon, as we have just seen, at least four others adorned; whose memory is also celebrated in the sacred Calendars; namely of the Blind Man, to whom he had restored sight; of Hermolaus, by whom he had been imbued with the Christian faith; The Blind Man of St. Pantaleon is honored today by the Greeks; and of his companions Hermippus and Hermocrates; all of whom, although they died before St. Pantaleon, we nevertheless place in this location, because the knowledge of them ought to be sought again from his Acts. And concerning the Blind Man indeed a commemoration is added on this same day in the manuscript Menaion of Chifflet, whose announcement is as follows: κζ᾽ Παντελεήμονος. Ὁ Τυφλὸς αὐτοῦ. That is: The 27th (of July), of Pantaleemon. His Blind Man. The great printed Menaea insert these words into the Office of St. Pantaleon: Τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Παντελεήμονος ἰαθεὶς Τυφλὸς ξίφει τελειοῦται. That is: On the same day the Blind Man healed by St. Panteleemon consummates his martyrdom. Then they subjoin these two little verses: Αὐγὴν ἐφευρὼν σαρκικῶν Τυφλὸς λύχνων, καὶ ψυχικὴν ἤθροισεν αὐγὴν ἐκ ξιφους. That is: Having attained the light of the bodily lamps, the Blind Man, being slain, at the same time bore off the light of the spirit from the sword. Nor does anything further occur concerning him. His Acts must be sought from the Acts of St. Pantaleon above, from number 8 up to number 13.
[2] But the cult of Hermolaus and his Companions is much more illustrious, but Hermolaus and his Companions on the day before: nor is it spread abroad in the Greek church only, but everywhere. Among the Greeks they have an Office intermingled with the Office of St. Parasceve on the 26th of July, as may be seen in the printed Menaea; where they are announced with these words: Μηνὶ τῷ αὐτῷ κς᾽, τοῦ ἁγίου ἱερομάρτυρος Ἑρμολάου καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ. That is: In the same month (July) on the 26th, of the holy and sacred martyr Hermolaus and his Companions. In agreement are the Typicon of St. Sabas, the Horologium of Grottaferrata, the Anthologium of Arcudius, and nearly all the rest which were cited for St. Pantaleon in the preliminary Commentary, §1, number 2. The great Menaea, however, toward the end of the Service, adorn the repeated memory of the same with this eulogy: Ἑρμίππος, Ἑρμόλαος, ἠδ᾽ Ἑρμοκράτῆς Ἑρμῆν σέβοντας ᾔσχυναν παῤῥησίᾳ. That is: Hermippus, Hermolaus, Hermocrates by their constancy shamed the followers of Mercury. It is an allusion to the names of the individual Martyrs, which, since they are derived from the word Ἑρμῆς, which signifies Mercury, nevertheless in reality so ill accorded with them that they even put to shame, by the most free confession of the Christian religion, those very ones who venerated Mercury as idolaters. There is subjoined in the same place a brief narration of the Acts; which, because it agrees not only in matters but almost also in words with that which we have given in Greek from the Synaxarion of the emperor Basil at the end of the first tome of this month, we shall here pass over, content to have translated one for the pair. Thus, therefore, the Synaxarion, presented on page 696, sounds in Latin:
[3] Their eulogy from the Synaxarion of the emperor Basil. In the same month, on the 26th day, the contest of the holy hieromartyr Hermolaus and his Companions. Hermolaus the hieromartyr; and those who were with him, Hermippus and Hermocrates, were priests from the clergy of the Nicomedian church, survivors from the twenty thousand Saints burned up by the impious Maximian in a sacred building, and hiding in a certain little house. But after St. Panteleemon had been apprehended, and given over to interrogation by the wicked Maximian, and had been compelled to tell about Hermolaus, where he was hiding, and had indicated the place (as one who did not know how to lie), Hermolaus, Hermippus, and Hermocrates were themselves also seized: and when, bound, they were set before the tyrant, they intrepidly confessed Christ; and holding the idols in derision, they rent them with reproaches, saying again and again that those were wretched who placed any confidence in them. Wherefore, after various torments, they were beheaded, and the contest being finished, attained an indissoluble kingdom and everlasting life. Thus the Synaxarion of Basil, with which are in agreement, as I have already said, the printed Menaea; nay, also the Menology of Sirletus in Canisius; although this is somewhat more concise than they.
[4] Whether they were priests; whether brothers. Observe further from what has been said: 1. That the same day is not consecrated among the Greeks to the memory of these Martyrs which is assigned to the celebration of St. Pantaleon; as is now done among the Latins. 2. That the tradition of the Eastern church concerning the priesthood not only of Hermolaus, but also of his Companions, is ancient; although Nicephorus Callistus, book 7, chapter 14, does not ascribe that title to the Companions, but adds to Hermolaus alone τῷ ἱερεῖ, that is, priest, not bishop, as the translator wrongly renders it. 3. That neither in this eulogy, nor in the others which I have just cited, nor in their odes in the Menaea, nor in the Metaphrastic Acts of St. Pantaleon, nor in Nicephorus, are these three Martyrs, or at least two of them, called brothers; as we shall presently show they are called by the Latins. 4. Finally, that whereas they are said to have been survivors from the twenty thousand Saints burned in the church, this is not so necessarily to be understood as though they themselves were enclosed in the same church: unless one wishes to attribute to them what the Menaea and the Synaxarion of Basil relate of the bishop Anthimus alone, namely that he, by divine help, after he had baptized all in the same church now besieged, escaped, in order to win more for Christ. But concerning the Nicomedian church burned with the Christians, see Nicephorus Callistus, book 7, chapter 6, or the Annals of Baronius under the year 301; we shall have to treat of this matter on the 25th of December, on which that sacred band of Martyrs is announced in the Roman Martyrology; although the Greeks celebrate them on the 28th of the same month. And as for the fact that in Greek they are said to have been twenty thousand, the number, I believe, will have been a definite one used for an indefinite and great one, according to a sufficiently usual manner. But of this elsewhere.
[5] The Latins celebrate them today. In the Latin Calendars, Hermolaus alone first began to be inscribed, as is plain from the old Roman Martyrology of Rosweyde, which we think was compiled before the middle of the eighth century; where on the 6th of the Kalends of August is read: At Nicomedia, of Harmolaus the priest; nor is anything added. Also throughout the later century Wandelbert alone announces on the same day, with this little verse: The priest and martyr Hermolaus shines forth on the sixth. He alone also appears in Ado, who on the same day has thus: At Nicomedia, the birthday of St. Hermolaus the priest; by whose doctrine blessed Pantaleon was converted to the faith: who, held by Maximian, was punished with a capital sentence for the confession of Christ. With Ado agrees Notker: not so Usuard on that day: for he brings forth three Champions at once into the battle-line of the Saints in this manner: At Nicomedia, of the blessed martyrs Hermolaus the priest, Hernempus and Hermogras, brothers; who after many punishments inflicted upon them by the emperor Maximian, were punished with a capital sentence for the confession of Christ. The Martyrology of Bellinus, and the modern Roman one, express Usuard; except that in this the names of Hermippus and Hermocrates are corrected, which in that one, more corruptly than in Usuard, were read Herenepus and Hermogenes: each differs from Usuard and the other ancients, in that it sets forth on the same day both Hermolaus and Pantaleon; whereas the ancient Martyrologists on the 27th day treat only of the first, on the following day of the second, and that indeed according to the manner of the Greeks in observance, but not in the day; since these assign the 26th day to Hermolaus and his Companions, and the following day to Pantaleon.
[6] Various churches glory in the relics of St. Hermolaus; but before all the church of St. Simeon, The relics of St. Hermolaus at Venice. What sort the Acts are. commonly the Greater, in the city of Venice; inasmuch as it preserves his body, translated from Nicomedia to Venice, enclosed in a marble urn; as assert Nicolaus Doglioni in his Italian booklet on the marvels of Venice, page 346, Ughelli in his Italia Sacra, new edition, tome 5, column 1180, and others, among whom also Peter de Natalibus, book 6, chapter 145, adding that it there is potent with very many miracles. But at what time or in what manner it was brought there, we do not read. No Acts of St. Hermolaus seem to have been formerly written separately: for whatever either the more ancient Latin Martyrologists, or the Greek church, hand down concerning them, these are drawn almost entirely from the Acts of St. Pantaleon, as we have seen: so that it is manifest that those are of more recent date which our Papebroch once transcribed from a manuscript Codex of the holy Camaldolese hermitage. But they are of such a kind that they are by no means worthy to have a place here, as will appear even to one reading cursorily.
It has seemed good, nevertheless, not to pass those over, after I discovered that a compendium of them had once been published in print in the Catalogue of Saints of Peter de Natalibus, bishop of Equilio, and indeed somewhat more correctly. Therefore, gather from the fountain how much that little stream is worth, which I subjoin for this reason alone. But if one desires older and better things, or at least less bad ones, let him go to the Acts of St. Pantaleon above, chapters 1 and 3.
SPURIOUS ACTS
of St. Hermolaus, priest and martyr, from a manuscript codex of the holy Camaldolese hermitage, folio 100.
BHL Number: 3858
FROM THE CAMALDOLESE MANUSCRIPT
[1] St. Hermolaus, after apostolic works Hermolaus, a most Christian man, drew his origin not from the lowest of the Romans a; and serving God from his very cradle, and guarding himself from all filthiness, he deserved to be divinely advanced to the dignity of the priesthood. Then he publicly taught many in the faith of Christ with paternal love, all heresies being spurned; among whom especially Savina, sprung from a noble race b, he drew by his admonition to the faith of Christ. Pantaleon, an illustrious man, son of the senator Eustorgius, he not only instructed in letters, but also determined to make him a champion c of Christ.
[2] having confessed Christ before the emperor Maximian, Hearing this, the emperor Maximian d, a most savage persecutor, commanded blessed Hermolaus to come to him. And speaking thus he says: Are you Hermolaus, who with much deception persuade those who worship the most invincible gods? To whom blessed Hermolaus boldly answered: Hear, you, emperor; if you would forsake the vain temples of the gods, and adore the one God of heaven, to whom all things visible and invisible are subjected in heaven and on earth, and to whose dominion all the elements are subject, in like manner I would strengthen you; and would show you in what order you should be turned from darkness to light; and, the diadem laid aside, hasten to the wave of holy baptism; and believe for certain that there is one God, omnipotent, consubstantial, and immutable, and coeternal, Father and Son and Holy Spirit: that the Father is made by none, neither begotten, nor created; the Son begotten by the Father alone; the Holy Spirit proceeding from both e. And why say more? Coruscating in this world with various miracles, he wrought unspeakable prodigies, whose number, even if all the limbs of men were turned into tongues, they could not count.
[3] the idols being exploded. At this the most savage emperor, moved with anger, said: If you had regard for the excellence of my empire, you would not tell me such nefarious things, and you would adore my gods. Then blessed Hermolaus said to him: If you had regard for the summit of the Roman empire, what its sublimity is, you would beg that I tell you the things which have been said by me; and the gods whom you have hitherto adored, you would henceforth utterly cast down: for of what sort are your gods? If they are overthrown, they cannot rise of themselves; and better than these are the little crows which flit between the midst of heaven and earth; and those gods of yours are themselves frivolous; although they have eyes, yet they do not see; they have hands, and do not feel; they have feet, and do not walk, nor can they help themselves, nor you. But if you would forsake such superstitions, and adore God the omnipotent Father, who created you out of nothing, you would prolong the nobility of the Roman empire. Indeed, when you shall have thus treated and made light of what I suggest to you, you will lose both, the earthly and the heavenly.
[4] And when St. Hermolaus was relating such things, Maximian, the most savage persecutor, he is tortured, an angel consoling him. handed him over to the torturers, that they might afflict him with various punishments. Then the ministers, obeying the emperor's commands, seized him naked, flaying him, until his flesh flowed down to the earth. And while he was being thus treated, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, strengthening him, and said: Hermolaus, precious martyr of Christ, do not fear the torments which these men maliciously inflict upon you: but for the contest the crown of life is owed to you. To whom St. Hermolaus, speaking, says: I give You thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, who have deigned to visit me even through Your angel. Then, taking him down from the rack, and clothing him with the garments of which he had been stripped, they bore him to the emperor.
[5] And when the emperor beheld him, he said: Hermolaus, He spurns the tyrant's promises: I grieve exceedingly over your nobility and over your appearance worthy of empire. Turn back, and dismiss the vain religion which you have hitherto followed; and above all you shall be the greater in my palace, and you shall be pre-eminent over all those cities which lie under my imperial dominion. To whom St. Hermolaus says: Hear, you, wicked one and prince of all the iniquitous; why do you wish me to be separated from the participation of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and desire to have me in your palace, and to set me over your cities? For your palace and your cities are temporal: but the palace of Christ and His cities are everlasting. But if I shall persevere in the commandments of my Lord, not one of them shall fail me, and for the contest I shall obtain for myself the crown of life. But to you and to all your followers eternal punishment is owed. Hearing these things, the emperor, having him beaten, commanded him to be thrust into prison.
[6] And when he had been thrust back into prison, many Christians came to him by night for the sake of visiting, and thrust back into prison he heals and converts many, and helped him with necessary things. But the mercy of the Lord, which always works in His faithful, did not cease in this man. Indeed, while St. Hermolaus was detained in prison, our Lord Jesus Christ deigned to work various marvels through him: he restored right hands to the maimed, restored light to those whose eyes had been plucked out, and, His name being invoked and the waves being calmed, he brought those shattered by the peril of the sea into the harbor of safety, cast out demons, drove away fevers, restored hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, gave walking to the paralyzed; and whatever he acquired by way of alms, he distributed the whole among the poor. And there he taught and preached to the people, saying thus: As the eyes of a handmaid are in the hands of her mistress … The handmaid is our flesh; our mistress is our soul. When anyone fasts, prays, sings psalms, keeps vigil, gives alms; then the soul, which is our mistress, commands the handmaid, which is our flesh: but when anyone commits adultery or is defiled by the other diseases, then the handmaid commands the mistress.
[7] While the servant * of God and martyr of Christ Hermolaus was uttering such things in discourse, behold, a certain leper coming and standing before the window of the prison, through which the light of day entered, among whom a leper with a numerous household. begging mercy from him, that he might deserve to be cleansed from his ghastly leprosy. Looking upon him, the holy Man, gazing into heaven, said: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, who of Your own accord redeemed the lost world with Your blood, and snatched the apostle Peter unharmed from his chains, and did many other miracles in this world, incline Your ear to my most humble prayers, and free this Your servant from the leprosy from which he begs to be cleansed through You, the Recoverer and Savior of all ages, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign, God, through all ages of ages. And when all who were present had answered: Amen, immediately that man was cleansed from the leprosy, so that no wrinkle of the infirmity remained in him, and rejoicing he returned to his own home, giving thanks to God; and thus he said: Truly great is the God whom Hermolaus preaches. And on the following day he himself returned with his whole household, and he was baptized together with all his people, and with him 150 men and as many women f, receiving a blessing from St. Hermolaus, returned to their own homes with joy.
[8] Then, a dead man having been raised, These, therefore, having withdrawn, behold, a certain noble Roman with his wife and an innumerable crowd, coming before the dawn of day g to where St. Hermolaus was staying in prison, bearing with them on a pallet their only son who had died, begging with weeping that he would raise him from the dead. Then St. Hermolaus, speaking with paternal voice, says to them: If you desire to hear the words of God and to keep them in your hearts, and to believe in one God omnipotent and threefold in persons, of whom there is one essence, one inseparable quality, one majesty, one deity, one greatness, a connection of equality, you shall be able to have your son raised from the dead. Then they eagerly receiving the words of St. Hermolaus, martyr of Christ, and professing that they believed all things, professed that they wished to be baptized. To whom St. Hermolaus, martyr of Christ, said: Men, brothers, be attentive, lifting up your hands to heaven, pray with me.
[9] Then St. Hermolaus, his eyes lifted up to heaven, he wins many for Christ: said: Lord Jesus Christ, most high King, Father of glory, who hung upon the cross, and permitted Your holy palms to be fixed upon the wood, and endured five wounds for us, and freed the world from the servitude of the devil, and opened paradise to the thief, hear me; and do not regard my sins; but regard the faith of those who ask that their son be raised. Raise, Lord, this youth, that Your name may be praised through the infinite ages of ages. And when all had answered with tears: Amen, straightway the youth rose again, magnifying and praising God, who makes safe those who hope in Him. And the father and mother of the youth, with all that crowd which had followed him, believed in the Lord; and the youth himself was baptized with all, nearly 353 in number. Then they returned exultingly to their own homes with joy.
[10] therefore he is again brought before the tyrant, But when this was announced to the emperor Maximian, he commanded all the satraps and the magistrates of the Romans and all the nobles of his empire to assemble to him h; and he speaks to them thus, saying: I have caused you, the powerful of my whole empire, to assemble for this, that according to the prudence of your dignity I may decree what I ought to do concerning Hermolaus, whom I once afflicted with more atrocious torments, so that his flesh, mingled with blood, flowed down to the earth; and when he had suffered such things, he cast at me many unlawful words, blaspheming our gods. Afterward, having been beaten and thrust back into prison, he there seduced many and drew them away by worshiping his God. But one of them addresses him thus, saying: My lord emperor, if it please the dignity of your most invincible empire to hear me, and if you would be willing to condescend to my counsel, command that Hermolaus come forth from that prison, and be presented before your majesty. This counsel pleased all.
[11] And when he came out of prison and stood before the emperor, and no less constant, the emperor said to him: Once my empire, Hermolaus, promised you many things if you would forsake vain, foolish, superstitious things and adore the most invincible gods: but what is the madness of your thinking, something wonderful it seems to me. You who did not condescend to my imperial promises, at least on account of blows of this kind, which you have suffered, ought either to condescend to my imperial dignity, or to be afraid on account of the torments which can be brought upon you. To this St. Hermolaus, speaking confidently, says: Your threats and your blows, which you have inflicted upon me, and the others which you promise to inflict, are sweeter to me than a honeycomb: for if you should afflict my body with various torments, you will nevertheless not be able to separate me from the service of my Lord Jesus Christ. To whom the emperor said: My empire once promised you many things; but now what we endeavor to pledge in the presence of these men, lest we resort to a lie, what we promise in words we are prepared to show in deeds. To whom St. Hermolaus, speaking, says: What you promise is a lie; what you say you will show in deeds is in no way to be believed: because to adore the gods whom you worship and cause to be worshiped is frivolous: what you hope for is not to be retained. If you would consider the prophetic narration, I shall prove you a liar, as he himself says: Every man is a liar: but Maximian the emperor is a man: therefore a liar. Hearing these things, the emperor, seeing himself confounded and vanquished by a philosophical conclusion i, was greatly angered.
[12] Then he commanded blessed Hermolaus the Priest to be raised up with his hands bound, tortured anew, at last he is beheaded. so that his feet did not touch the earth; and the executioners to scrape around his body with iron claws, so that his flesh flowed down to the earth. Others supplied burning iron plates. And when the athlete and martyr of Christ Hermolaus endured this for the faith of Christ, he said: Attend unto my help, O God. And when the ministers failed and could not move themselves, he commanded other more atrocious ministers to be applied, and these too failing, St. Hermolaus, lifting up his eyes on high, said: King of glory, Lord, who reign with the Father ever and with the Holy Breath, now regard my prayers, which I strive to ask of You, most kind Christ. And to these who know not what they do, grant pardon; to those sailing grant the harbor of safety, and whoever shall be held by any tribulation whatsoever, my name being invoked k, help; and those whom You know will attain to the Christian faith, help and govern; refresh the weak, raise up those falling, through You, Recoverer and Savior, who live and reign ever unto the ages of ages. And when for three days St. Hermolaus remained unfailing upon the gibbet, the emperor commanded him, taken down thence, to undergo the capital sentence. Then blessed Hermolaus was beheaded together with two other most religious men, by name Hermippus and Hermogenes *, under the emperor Maximian, on the 6th of the Kalends of August, in the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is honor and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. l