Victorinus the Martyr

ON SAINT VICTORINUS THE MARTYR,

BISHOP OF ASSISI IN UMBRIA.

ABOUT THE YEAR CCL.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

On the Saint's cult, Acts of his life, elevation of the body.

Victorinus, Bishop of Assisi & Martyr, in Umbria (S.)

G. H.

[1] Assisi, an ancient city of Umbria,

& formerly a noble Roman

municipality, is situated between Foligno and

Perugia on a mountain.

This city after various calamities, Assisi a famous city,

for five hundred years has received the greatest fame,

from two most celebrated Saints born there, having stayed there for a very long time,

& finally laid to rest there,

namely Francis, founder of the Order of Minors,

& Clare, to whom the most noble offspring of the Poor Clares

owes its origin. Yet there were not lacking in the first centuries of Christ

distinguished athletes, who illuminated that same city & its

diocese with the Christian religion, & with the Blood

poured out fertilized it.

[2] Such was S. Victorinus, who is believed to have been ordained Priest & Bishop of Assisi by

S. Fabian the Roman Pontiff,

The cult of S. Victorinus, and there after many led to the faith of Christ,

& various contests tolerated, he was

beheaded on this XIII June; on which day in the city & whole diocese

his feast is celebrated with solemn cult. Some Acts of his life

& martyrdom, not very ancient, composed from a Sermon

for the birthday, we found at Rome in the year MDCLXI,

at R. D. Joannes Baptista Marus the Roman, Life from a Ms.

Canon of S. Angelus in the fish-market, who among his Collectanea

had a copy, transmitted by the R. Lord

Vicar of the Bishop of Assisi through D. Franciscus Bellhomo.

Of these Acts compendia have been edited,

Ferdinand Ughelli, his Compendia edited. in the first volume of Italia sacra in the Bishops

of Assisi, of which See he sets S. Victorinus as the second

Bishop; & Philippus Ferrarius, in

the Catalog of the Saints of Italy, at this XIII June; on which

day also the same Ferrarius mentions him in his general

Catalog. Ludovicus Jacobillus likewise sets forth the Acts

of the same Saint in Italian, among the Lives of the Saints

of Umbria.

[3] From Assyria he is said to have come to Rome in the time of Gordianus

the Emperor, who undertook the Roman Empire,

not in the year CCXLVI, as in these Acts is read, but in the year

CCXXXVIII, Time of martyrdom. when already in the third year S. Fabian the Pope was administering

the Roman Pontificate, illustrated

by us on the day XX January. Nor does it militate that the Acts

name Princes & Kings of the Romans. For after

Gordianus the Philippi reigned, after these the Decii,

fathers & sons; then Gallus with Volusianus & Valerianus

with Gallienus. But under which of these, & in what

year, S. Victorinus obtained the palm of martyrdom,

the Acts do not indicate, & therefore prudently Ferrarius is silent

about the time. About CCXLV this was done, Ughelli judges:

Jacobillus defers the matter to the persecution of Decius, &

the year CCLIII.

[4] The Acts end in the martyrdom itself: to which Jacobillus

adds these things. The Christians received his body, Body buried,

& with great devotion & tears buried it

near the Texius river: topographical tables call

it Chisius, which from a distance of two miles,

flows past the city to the West, thence deposited in a church erected to him from

the Apennine from the State of Urbino into the Tiber running down.

But the persecution against the Christians ceasing, &

peace under Constantine the Emperor brought in, in the same

place, where the body had been deposited, was

constructed a church to the honor of the said S. Victorinus; & in it

his sacred body was placed, there for almost

of Frederick II the Emperor; namely when

he was excommunicated by Gregory IX, & the faction

of the Ghibellines began for him, against the Guelphs adhering to the supreme

Pontiff. translated finally to the church of S. Peter: Then the Assisians fearing lest the sacred

body, as elsewhere had been done, be carried off; from the ancient

church, which existed outside the city,

they translated it into the city, to the church of the

Abbatial monastery of S. Peter, which was of Monks

of the Order of S. Benedict; & deposited in a stone urn,

placed it under the altar: where hitherto it has had

public veneration.

[5] In the year MDCXLII on the day VI April, the stone

urn was opened, elevated in the year 1642 & in it was found the body of S. Victorinus,

& near it a smaller chest, full of sacred bones

of the companions of S. Victorinus. Afterwards on the day XX April

of citizens & foreigners: in which, besides this body of S. Victorinus

& the adjoining bones, were carried

the bodies of S. Innocentius the Bishop & Norius the Martyrs,

received from Rome. After ten days then, in which

all things equally, with noble apparatus & diligent custody,

were exposed there to public veneration, they were translated

to the middle of the high altar of the said church

of S. Peter. The body namely of S. Victorinus, with the sacred

bones of the companions, was enclosed in a new marble urn;

at the right side moreover was placed the urn

of the body of S. Innocentius, & enclosed in marble urns: Bishop & Martyr; & at

the left side another urn of S. Norius the Martyr, with

day they rest for public veneration.

These things Jacobillus edited in the year MDCXLVII. But afterwards

in the year MDCLXI under the end of the third volume he added a Catalog

of the sacred Relics, preserved in Umbria,

& page XI treats of those which at Assisi at this time

are in veneration; with about 50 Martyrs converted by him. in the said Abbatial church

of S. Peter he says is the body of S. Victorinus Bishop Martyr,

& about fifty bodies of those of Spello;

who had been converted by S. Victorinus to the holy faith,

& then crowned with martyrdom at Assisi. In

the Cathedral church indeed the bodies of S. Innocentius

Bishop & Martyr, & of S. Norius the Martyr, from

the cemetery of S. Callixtus received from Rome, & at the day

XX April in the year MDCXLII translated. These things Jacobillus

at Foligno both wrote & had printed, in the year

MDCLXI, when we in the preceding year had been hospitably received with

him, having learned many things from him, & having also been gifted with many notable

monuments.

LIFE

From the Ms. of Joannes Baptista Marus.

Victorinus, Bishop of Assisi & Martyr, in Umbria (S.)

BHL Number: 8597

FROM A MS.

[1] Therefore Blessed a Victorinus, in the kingdom of the Assyrians

stock of his genius with nobility of morals, a noble

office he began to perform. Set out for Rome, For that from Assyria, which

in the Latin tongue c is interpreted Luminous, to the people

of Assisi, in the region of Umbria, walking in the darkness of death

& infidelity, the light of the Christian faith

might arise; the man of God, certain of his Companions

having joined themselves to him, not without the impulse of divine counsel, in the time

of Gordian the Emperor, who in the year of the Lord d two hundred

forty-sixth undertook the Roman

empire, that he might visit the lights of the Apostles, decreed to come to

Rome. Having arrived there; by e Fabian

the Pope, by S. Fabian he is ordained Bishop of Assisi. who then presided over the Church of God, honorably

received, it being known that this holy man Victorinus

was conspicuous in honesty of morals, a most fervent zealot

of the faith, & in Christian letters not modestly

learned, he was promoted to the grade of the Priesthood,

afterwards by the same most blessed Father into the city

of Assisi as Bishop ordained, to preach

the word of God in the province of Umbria, which now

is called the Duchy of Spoleto, he is sent.

[2] At Spello he heals a stammerer: When therefore the man of God Victorinus, by command of the same

most blessed Father, had come into the aforesaid province;

& not far from the camp which f is called Spello,

had found a boy now more or less five

years old, who stammering in his tongue brought forth in no way

loose speech; he restored to him the use of his tongue to

the full. For of this holy man it was the custom,

that after the title of Christianity, in which all

faith consists, whenever the reason of salvation in the Lord

demanded, he first wrought the power of some miracle.

Therefore being asked by the man of God, whose son he was,

the little child, then expressly declared his mother & father

, & to the throngs of citizens, spoke loosely,

saying: Come ye, & see the man, who has

bestowed upon me speech, in the name of the Creator of all things.

All hearing wondered, & said to one another,

some, that He is Jupiter; others, that He is Hercules, or

some other of the Gods, who could work such a miracle.

At length having sought him out they found him

between the confines of the Assisians, & their province.

One of these asked him, saying: Of what

condition art thou? or whence dost thou come? or whither dost thou go?

To whom S. Victorinus said: Son of a certain man, he preaches the faith there;

I hope to have one condition with you:

I am sent by the Lord into this region, to sow His

word; which whoever shall believe, & shall reject the contagions of false

gods, & shall believe in the name of the holy &

indivisible Trinity, & in the same triple

form baptized, beyond doubt not only shall he immediately

know his Maker, but also rejoice that he has acquired the lost

joy of the first parent. To whom

all with one voice said: Why did not our fathers

know this God? & the false ones, which

thou sayest we have, not reject? To whom B.

Victorinus said: And why did you not hear the stammerer

speak, before by me, in the name of Jesus Christ

his tongue was loosed? except that neither Prophets

nor Patriarchs to you the Lord has hitherto

deigned to send, who might give you His doctrine.

To whom they: How shall thou prove these things which thou sayest

true; that we may believe in Him, whom thou preachest.

[3] Then looking upon a blind man, who from the cradle had lost his sight

by a certain infirmity, he illuminates the blind man, who through their

way which they were going was coming; he called him to himself,

& said to them: If I shall illuminate this man, by the invocation of Him

who created all things from nothing, through faith in Him,

will you believe in Him? To whom with one voice they said: We will believe, & all

things which thou narratest we will do. Then gentle Victorinus

spat on the ground, as he had known the teaching of his Master; soon baptized

& anointed his eyes, invoking the same triune

& one God; & immediately his eyes being opened

he believed in Him, with others through whose invocation

he was illuminated; & having received faith he was baptized:

& all who before had promised they would believe, in

the name of the Father & Son & Holy Spirit were baptized

, & with him proceeded to Assisi.

[4] By the Prefect of Assisi he is beaten with a staff But when they had come to Assisi, at the entrance of the city

they found the Prefect of that city, by name

Dagnus g. Whom he looking on astutely began to interrogate them,

from what part they came. But they at once

answering, said: We from h Eastern parts

have come, sent by God to drive away from you the superfluous

worship of idols. But the Prefect being angry, having seized

my dominion dost reproach me myself? To whom Saint

Victorinus said: Thy dominion is worth as much,

as is permitted from the Lord, because all power

is from the Lord God, whether just or unjust;

& by power no one uses, except as much as

He Himself permits. Whence I wish thee to know; that thou mayest acquire Him,

who can diminish & amplify thy power

. To whom the Prefect: Hand over to me Him, who

has this power, & I shall enrich thee with great

gifts. To whom S. Victorinus answered: I do not want thy

gifts, but yet if thou wilt yield to me, I will show

thee this Mighty One, who has bestowed such power

upon His own, that neither here, nor in the future

shall they lose it. To whom the Prefect said: Thou fearest Him,

or dost not wish to name Him. with his companions shut in prison he converts many; & heals the sick: To whom S. Victorinus says: I

dare not name Him with polluted mouth or rashly:

because He is not our God, like your senseless gods,

who have the effigy of men, but are empty

inside of works. Then the Prefect, troubled with too great fury

, ordered all to be dragged to prison, until

he should consider, with what punishments he might destroy them, which

was done. For for eight days shut up in prison,

S. Victorinus many i whom he found there, to the faith

of Christ converted; & many infirm, suffering with various languors,

through him daily were healed.

[5] On the eighth day the Prefect ordered a tribunal

to be prepared, All profess the faith. & the Saints to be presented before him: whom when he saw,

he said: You seem good men, you will be able to have

good counsel, if you put aside the title of Christianity,

& begin to worship our immortal gods.

Then the Saints together answering, said: We

hope to have no goodness, except through faith

in Him, of whom is sung, And God saw all things which

He had made, & they were very good. Gen. 2. To whom the Prefect said:

Then did not our gods make all things which are

good? To whom one of the Converts with great confidence

said: For we are your known & neighbors, & a little

before we hoped, that there was something great

in thy gods: One of the converts despising idols, but after we have known from the servant of God the truth

of the worship of the true God; truly, Prefect,

know thou, that vain & deaf idols nowhere more

do we worship. For we know them to be demons, & mortal

gods full of deceit, & through their deceit & malice

others are dead by the sword, others have been killed by various punishments

. But afterwards men blinded by the devil,

began to worship them as gods. soon is beheaded, But the Prefect

angry ordered him to be beheaded by his soldiers: he was beheaded

not far from the city, beside the way which

leads to the Tescio k. At the same hour S. Victorinus with his Companions

took his body, & buried it with great

honor.

[6] The Saint remains unharmed in the furnace: Then the Prefect ordered that the Saints should be brought back

before him: who when they had come, he said to B. Victorinus:

Thou hast wrought all evil in our country:

thou hast turned men away from the worship of their gods: me

& my gods thou hast reproached: & yet I suffer thee. But if

thou shouldst wish to recover the salvation of our gods, thou couldst

have my friendship, & I will enrich thee with great

possessions. To whom S. Victorinus said: I thought thee

already to have receded from thy insane words, that the true

[God], who made heaven & earth, by the great virtues which before

He has wrought, thou mightest recognize as God. Ps 16, 3 Thou now

art crueler than before. At the same hour the Prefect ordered

to be sent. & the companions variously tortured are cast into a well, Who when he had entered, the flame was extinguished, &

in the furnace he sang psalms thus, saying: By fire thou hast examined me,

& iniquity has not been found in me. Then the Prefect

vehemently angered, said: By his magic spells, he conquers

all torments: & he made his companions to be badly treated.

For he ordered them to be beaten with chains & leaded scourges,

& their sides to be lacerated with iron claws, at the

last all to be cast headlong into a well, & from above

covered with a wheel. After the third night however came

S. Victorinus secretly with the Christians, & raised

the bodies from the well, & buried them in peace.

[7] After these things the venerable man Victorinus, did not

cease day & night the faith of Christ far & wide

to extend, so that already through the whole province of Assisi

the name of the Lord through the disciples of blessed Victorinus

prevailed. The Prefect already supposed him to be far from the city;

he himself extending the faith of Christ, [but] one of the Pagans, when he had seen

the name of the Lord thus promulgated through B. Victorinus,

reported as quickly as possible to the Prefect: O good Prefect,

did not our Princes order the sect of the Christians

to be exterminated? & one Victorinus thou knowest not,

who has now almost converted our whole province

to the faith of Jesus the Nazarene, whom the Jews crucified. again is dragged to the Prefect.

At the same hour the Prefect angrily ordered his

soldiers, that with great disgrace before him they should

bring him back. Who when they had departed, they found beside

the river, with many Christians in an enclosed place praying.

Whom when they had found, they seized

him rudely, namely some by the hairs, others by the hand, & is struck with a fist:

& others beating him exceedingly, from the oratory

itself began to push him. What more? Through cliffs

& thorns at last they brought the Saint to the sight

of the Prefect; & one of them struck him violently

with a fist in the face, but unto the end of his exit,

he could not at all open that fist; this miracle indeed

was manifest to all, unto the time

of his death.

[8] Who when he had come thus rudely dragged to the Prefect,

with such words the Prefect speaks to him: The piety

of the Roman Kings teaches to bear many injuries,

& to endure outrages; & therefore, through this

I have patiently tolerated thee & thy magic acts hitherto,

& supported them; & still we would bear with thee, if to thy

can I recall thee from thy purposes; therefore I propose double to thee:

either sacrifice to the gods, or with various torments

I will destroy thee & thy malice. To whom the holy man

Victorinus with great constancy replied: Thou

think with thyself, how thou mayest rescue thyself from the hand of the devil,

but I beg thee to have no thoughts about me: since

God, who sent me to this Province,

continually arranges & ordains, & He Himself will deliver me from thy

threats, if He wills: but if He wills not, He will deliver

me up to thy punishments, which will be to me for glory,

to thee for damnation. Whence already it is permitted by

my Lord to thee to lacerate my body [for] the salvation

of my soul: & therefore whatever of evil there is in

thy heart recall with thyself, & exercise more quickly on me:

for as my Lord willingly underwent the passion,

so we also willingly undergo punishments for His

love. To these things the Prefect said: He confounds the Prefect, I have been thinking

up to now to recall thy mind from the evil purpose;

but as I see thou seekest death, thou refusest life,

thou willest punishment, thou rejectest salvation, thou fleest honor, dishonor

thou seekest. To these things S. Victorinus said: And this

is wonderful, that whereas thou art greater than all of this

city, thou showest thyself to have less knowledge than all

who dwell in it: thou deniest that thou knowest the salvation

which thou sayest thou hast: now do thou expound, what

is salvation, or in what salvation is to be hoped. To whom the Prefect:

All know our gods to have great

salvation, & through them the helms of state consist,

& whatever is moved, is nourished, & is fed. To these things

S. Victorinus replied: I was thinking that howsoever little

I might open up thy understanding to spiritual things, &

because the Lord says in the Gospel m, I do not will the death

of the sinner, but rather that he be converted, & live;

therefore by such Gospel words as I could I have moved thee: but

as I see, the oracle of David the Prophet stands much

against thee. Psal. 6, 2 For of those not converting from sins

he says: Add, Lord, iniquity upon

iniquity, that they may not enter into thy justice: &

again, Let them be destroyed from the book of the living n of God, that

among the just they be not counted.

[9] To these things the Prefect: Thee & thy superstitious

words I will no longer endure. Furthermore therefore almost all

my fellow citizens deride me, & thou thyself of me, & ordered to burn incense to Mars,

with thy blandishing words, makest a laughingstock; therefore

of two choose for thyself one, either place incense on the altar of Mars

, or prepare to endure various tortures. To whom

S. Victorinus said: If I had feared thy tortures,

I would not so boldly speak of Christ. My Lord

before His passion warned His disciples, saying:

When you shall hear of battles & seditions, do not

be terrified; first these things must come to pass, but not yet

is the end at once. Luc. 21, 9 Therefore, neither shall I be shaken by thy words,

nor shall I love blandishments: but what thou willest now,

as I have foretold, do with my body. Then at once

the Prefect ordered his soldiers, that to the temple

of Mars they should lead him, that he might sacrifice. Whom

when they had brought, he went singing psalms saying: My

God, in thee I trust, I shall not blush. But when

he had arrived at the place, he said to the executioners: Bear

God omnipotent, whom all the elements serve,

& to whom all things are subjected on earth, &

whatever is contained in the compass of heaven; through whom all

sinners hope to obtain mercy; hear

my prayers, & refusing to do so & whoever in thy name shall

cry out to me for whatsoever o necessity, immediately

rescue them from all dangers, who livest & reignest

triune & one God world without end. And when

he himself had said; Amen, the executioners suddenly say

to him: Rise, & offer sacrifice to Mars: to whom he

said: he is beheaded. To my God alone do I sacrifice, & continually unto

the end render praises. Then one of them drew

his sword, & beheaded him under the mountain p of Jove,

beside the river which is called Tescium, in

the village Macerata, on the entering of June, on the thirteenth day:

reigning our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is

honor & glory, world without end. Amen.

PRAYER.

Almighty everlasting God, who didst strengthen holy

Victorinus, thy Bishop and Martyr,

in the contest of the struggle by thy love; be present

to the prayers of thy Church, & grant that of him whose triumph

we recall on earth, by his prayers we may be helped

in the heavens. Through our Lord &c.

NOTES BY D. P.

p Is it the one which Leander calls Mount Asis, on which Assisi is situated?