Nicander and Marcianus

ON SS. NICANDER AND MARCIANUS, LIKEWISE SS. DARIA THE WIFE OF NICANDER AND PASICRATES,

MARTYRS AT ATINA AND VENAFRUM IN CAMPANIA

IN THE YEAR 173.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Marcianus, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Daria, wife of Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Pasicrates, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

G. H. & D. P.

§. I. On their Acts written by Salomon of Atina in the 2nd century

and by Adenulphus of Capua in the 11th century, and from these the Chronicle to be corrected as to the time of the passion.

There are cities celebrated for their antiquity,

Atina & Venafrum, distant from each other by about

fifteen miles. Of these

Atina formerly belonged to Latium; Venafrum

was assigned to Campania,

now both are reckoned under the same province

called Terra di Lavoro in the kingdom of Naples;

and both rejoice in the patronage of the holy Martyrs

Nicander & Marcianus: but formerly

chiefly Atina, Martyrs after S. Marcus the Bishop because they are believed to have suffered in the same persecution

with S. Marcus, Bishop of Atina.

His Acts we gave on the 28th day of April, &

we inserted many things pertaining also to the knowledge of these Martyrs. There exists a brief Chronicle of the Church of Atina in Ughelli, near the end of the

first volume of the Italia Sacra, extending from Julius Caesar down

to the year of Christ 1356; in which it is said that

S. Marcus, under Maximus, Governor of all

Campania, suffered in the sixty-third year after the passion of Christ,

in the year 92 of the common era,

which was the 11th year of the Emperor Domitian;

under which same Emperor & the same

Maximus as Governor, SS. Nicander &

Marcianus are also reported to have suffered: & their bodies, they are said to have suffered under Domitian (as is read in

the said Chronicle) Fulgentius, ordained Bishop of Atina

by S. Clement, buried beside

the body of Christ's Martyr Marcus.

[2] When Fulgentius had died, Hilarius, Urbanus, Lucius are said to have presided over the Church of Atina,

up to the times of Pope Eleutherius, who

(according to the same Chronicle) in the sixth year of his Pontificate,

for us the year of Christ 177, ordained

Salomon as Bishop in the city of Atina, [Salomon the Bishop wrote their Acts, & those of SS. Daria & Pasicrates, after the year 177.]

who held the see 36 years, 10 months,

25 days… He composed the deeds of the holy

Martyrs Nicander & Marcianus &

of Marcus the Bishop, and of Pasicrates also and Daria:

over whose bodies he built a small

temple & erected an altar. He also made

& Daria, in the place where it is called The Granaries,

in a certain villa which was there: whence

even to this day that place is called by a changed name

Brodila. The aforesaid Pontiff, therefore, day

and night calling out beside those bodies with psalms &

prayers, gave up his spirit to the Lord

on the Kalends of August, & was buried there

before the door of that house. But the 9th Bishop,

Vigilantius, ordained in the year 303, throughout his whole life

remained in the church below among the Martyrs,

devoting himself to fasting & prayer.

[3] Bishop Maximus built a church after the year 314, 3 Then the 11th Bishop, Maximus, ordained

in the year 314, built a church in

honor of S. Nicander the Martyr, at the foot of the mountain,

where there is now the castle of Vitalbo. Thus the Chronicle.

Whether that Castle is now called Castro-cero,

let the learned men of that place inquire. To Maximus

the Bishop succeeded Eugenius, created

in the year 353. Under his times was constructed

the chest, where rest the bodies

of SS. Nicander & Marcianus, beside the greater

church on the northern side, which he covered

with lead: thus it remained for a long time. But within

he clothed the chest with porphyry & various stones

and strongly closed it with iron & bronze doors.

He also placed above the vault of the

chest the bones of certain Saints, in which are their bodies whose

names are unknown. He also placed in the vestibule of

the chest the bones of Pasicrates the Martyr, at the entrance

of that basilica. He also made a wall round about, with great stones

for its fortification in the manner of

& constant attendance, because power

went forth from it & healed many. Thus far

the things related from the Chronicle of Atina.

[4] When afterward, in the nine hundred sixty-

eighth year, the Bishopric of Capua, at the request of Prince Pandulphus,

was raised to an Archbishopric by Pope John XIII; [these same Acts, before the year 1056, Adenulphus, Archbishop of Capua, polished,] the church of Atina

was made subject to it, and afterward by Adenulphus, Archbishop

of Capua, Leo in the year 1044 was consecrated

Bishop of Atina: in whose time, as is held in the said

Chronicle, was found the body

of Christ's Martyr Marcus, which had lain hidden in the Episcopal residence

of Atina, namely old & desolate,

under the high altar, also destroyed; which afterward

he dedicated to the honor of S. Bartholomew,

beside the bodies of SS. Nicander & Marcianus, or

rather he had dedicated it before, as we showed in

the Life of S. Marcus. Furthermore, the said Adenulphus, Archbishop

of Capua, a learned & eloquent man,

as Ughelli says, and as appears from the matter itself,

being asked, as he states beforehand, & gently constrained by

the Brothers who, in the church of the holy Mother of God

(certainly that of Atina), practice the Angelic life;

the History of the passion of S. Marcus, which

had once been less learnedly composed by certain persons,

he set forth by composing it a second time, &

related it in a more elegant style, such indeed as Ughelli

published from a most ancient Ms., & we from Ughelli

collated with two Mss. Then indeed, pursuing the Martyrial

history, the same Adenulphus

says: Hence now let us hasten to set forth what arms Nicander & Marcianus,

holy men, had against the devil;

& there follows the Passion, which we have from the same Ughelli

and will give. Now Adenulphus lived in

the Archbishopric from the year 1013 to 1056.

[5] [following older sources (which however prove that these martyrdoms belong not to the second] Now we inquire what were the Acts

of these Martyrs, which, less elegantly written,

Adenulphus had before his eyes, appending this Appendix

to the Life & Passion of S. Marcus. If

we turn our mind back to the words of the Chronicle, asserting

that Salomon, ordained Bishop by S. Eleutherius the Pope,

wrote such a thing; nothing will be

more obvious than that we should suspect Salomon's very

writings to have been preserved up to those times,

such as are found in Latin, distributed into eight Lessons for the churches using the Latin

rite, in various Mss. at Atina, Capua, Benevento, and Rome;

& which, from a Vallicellan Ms.

collated with certain others, the most diligent John Mabillon

inserted into his Italian Museum;

but in Greek, for the churches throughout Campania &

the rest of Italy from there performing the sacred rites in Greek,

we received from the Vatican Ms. 655, & we have seen it

also in codex 1667. But neither those,

nor things more ancient than those, brought to us from the notable Passional

of the monastery of Böddeken near Paderborn,

can be believed to be such, if the holy Martyrs

suffered in the second persecution under Domitian.

For both all those very texts, and Adenulphus

following this one or that, repeatedly name the Emperors

in the plural, to whose commands

& edicts the Governor Maximus, otherwise

benevolent & humane toward the Saints, obeying, pronounced a capital

sentence upon them & carried it out. but that these martyrdoms pertain to the third persecution

But if it be permitted to take the third persecution,

under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus & Lucius

Aelius Verus his brother (these administered

the empire here with equal right from the year 161

up to 169, since up to this time

each had been Augustus singly, as Jerome says in

the Chronicle), if, I say, it be permitted to take the third persecution

as set in motion by several at once, you will find nothing in all of it

that is not written gravely & plausibly,

& as befits

without any apparatus of various torments before

death; & the mandate for punishing the Christians,

prescribing nothing about women, just as

Maximus everywhere confesses; agree more aptly with that persecution

than with the preceding

times of Domitian, & the last of Diocletian &

Maximian, substituted by some.

[6] But then, just as the authority of the Passion of SS. Nicander

& Marcianus will be very great, so it will be necessary that the one

which we gave elsewhere in the Acts of S. Marcus should in part collapse, [the one who, supposing S. Marcus to have been ordained by S. Peter, made him the first Bishop of Atina,] as composed by the same

Salomon: so that Adenulphus rightly ascribed it

to certain unnamed persons; who,

having found there Maximus, Governor of all Campania,

invented that he was appointed by Nero,

and held the magistracy up to the last

times of Domitian, for nearly thirty years, by an example unheard of

among the Romans, for whom these magistracies

were generally annual, but indeed this was necessary

for those who believed S. Marcus (because

among the ancient Bishops of Atina he alone died

to have been the first Bishop in order & ordained by S. Peter. Following this opinion of theirs, Adenulphus, in the very

Acts of S. Marcus, nonetheless struck

upon the same rock of the twofold Empire, so that at no. 22

he made Marcus answer the Governor objecting that there were imperial

letters newly issued about punishing the

Christians: The Roman Princes do not know this; that,

for the welfare of the republic, the servants of Jesus Christ appeal to the author

of all things, the common Lord of all.

[7] But the Bishops seem to be ordered otherwise, Therefore, dismissing the author of the Chronicle, who wrote about things

so ancient after so many centuries, dismissing also

the error of the common people, who make Marcus the first Bishop;

let us thus arrange the Prelates of that church,

so that before Marcus there sat Hilarius, Urbanus,

Lucius, all having died a bloodless death; of whom

the first was ordained by Pope Clement,

the others by others in succession; but Marcus (since indeed

he ruled the Church 20 years, 5 months, 13 days)

& next after him Fulgentius,

after 31 years, 7 months, 28 days,

received as successor Salomon about the year

177; Marcus, I say, would have made his Martyrdom

about the year 145, under the father of the aforesaid Emperors,

Antoninus Pius, under whom also at Rome

there was a persecution, so that the fourth of them, Marcus, suffered in the year 145, described in the Acts of SS. Praxedes

& Pudentiana. For while he reigned, C. Gavius Maximus held the Consulate

of the year 144, & the next

year was sent as Proconsul into some Province

according to custom; & why not into Campania? And thus

Marcus would have been ordained about the year 124

by Pope Sixtus: whose name, not finding it expressed in the Catalogues of the Bishops

of Atina, they the more easily substituted Peter,

because from him or at least from his successors

it was known that the series of those Bishops proceeded. But indeed SS. Nicander

& Marcianus suffered, & were buried by Bishop Fulgentius,

in the year 173, with another Maximus presiding

in Campania, namely Claudius,

who had held the Consulate of the preceding year with Cornelius

Scipio Orfitus. And since in the year

180 peace was restored to the Churches, but Nicander & Marcianus in the year 173. Salomon could

have both built a little shrine over the Martyrs' bodies,

& written their Acts; and separately the Passion of SS.

Pasicrates & Daria. This Passion, just as it is

no longer extant, having perhaps in the general destruction of sacred

books under Diocletian & Maximian

been consumed by flames; so neither was there preserved

some was written, with those errors which I mentioned,

utterly unworthy of Salomon as author. Certainly Adenulphus did not believe

the history of S. Marcus which he was polishing to have been written by him,

otherwise he would not have spoken so contemptuously

of its Authors.

[8] These things being established, I chose in the first place to give the older

Acts from the Böddeken Ms., which Peter de Natalibus also had

& followed in his Catalogue, First are given the Latin-Greek Acts, as regards the Martyrs' bodies divided between two

cities. But I will add, opposite, the

Greek paraphrase, which perhaps Peter the Deacon of Monte Cassino made into Latin,

and which, as if his own, from a most ancient Capuan Ms. of the Nuns

of S. John, Silvester Aiossa

sent to our Bolland; and which Mabillon, as we said,

published; in whom it can be read

& compared with the older Böddeken text. Let it

suffice to have said that the same Greek Paraphrase, rendered

into Latin, is held in the Vatican library,

by the work of Cardinal Jacobus Sirletus, among other

similar writings of his; whence we took care to have it

transcribed for us, & nonetheless a third

Latin version, elaborated by P. Joannes

Franciscus Vannius, who under Petrus Possinus was training

in Greek, then our faithful helper in

the City, then those written by Adenulphus with hymns & a Mass: where he also publicly taught Mathematics & the Hebrew language in the College. After these Latin-Greek

Acts, we will give the composition

of Adenulphus, to which will be appended the Hymns at Vespers

& Matins, preserved at Atina among the Capuchins

& sent to Aiossa by Fr. Antonius of Caputana.

The second of these mentions a city procession,

with the carrying around of Relics usually done: &

it might seem to have been instituted in the year 1620; because

it is said that this was done a thousand six hundred after twenty

years: but the barbarism of the style, smacking of the 12th or 13th

century, does not allow "six hundred" to be taken together

as six hundred: it must therefore be taken separately,

as if the sense were that this was done in the years after

one thousand one hundred and twenty-six: & perhaps in the original

it was read "a thousand one hundred after, twenty-six,

years." The same I would say about the antiquity of the Mass of SS.

the Martyrs Nicander, Marcianus, & Daria:

of whom the last, although she is said by Ferrarius to have her own

day, namely the 20th of June, we have nonetheless

joined her in the title, because no notice of her is had

from elsewhere except from these Acts;

we have also joined Pasicrates, because both on what day

he suffered, & whether he ever had his own cult,

we do not know.

[9] There exist also in Ughelli brief sermons of two Bishops

of Atina concerning SS. Marcus,

Nicander, & Marcianus, the sermons of Bonifacius are sampled

and in them their solemnity is indicated as customarily celebrated on one and the same day. The elder of them is Bonifacius—not indeed the one ordained 14th in order

in the year 464, but probably another later one,

who would have sat in one of the three empty centuries between

Felix, known for the year 602, & Gaidulphus who

sat in the 10th century. The sermon ascribed to him begins thus:

Let us celebrate, dearest brothers, on this day the festivity

on which the most blessed Martyrs, Marcus,

Nicander, & Marcianus, were born in spirit

to heaven, & departed in flesh from earth: and

afterward he says: They were deemed worthy for the name of Christ,

Nicander & Marcianus, to be

beheaded, & Marcus to be pierced in the head with the sharpest nails… Marcus indeed, with the holy

Nicander & Marcianus, cleansed the heights

of Campania, that they might believe Jesus Christ the Son of God,

& keep his precepts. The other

is Joannes, & those of Joannes, Bishops. Bishop proclaimed in the year

1087, of whose Sermon this is the beginning:

Let the Evangelical virtue rejoice today, & let the earth exult,

in which the holy Martyrs Marcus, Nicander

& Marcianus, into the eternal kingdom,

rejoicing after the manner of timbrel-players, ascended

from the earth. Today the most sacred crown of Marcus's head

was pierced with the sharpest nails: today Nicander

& Marcianus, having overcome the allurements of the sluggish

serpent, received the coin from the hands

of the eternal King: today they were crowned

with precious stone: today, by confessing Jesus Christ the Son of the omnipotent

God, & by abolishing

the dirges of false deities, they poured out

their blood: today they began to cure

the dullnesses of enormous infirmities: today

in the city of Atina they offered sacred rites to the Omnipotent

from their bodies: today in the same

city they work wonders through their bodies. Thus he.

§. II. On the cult, churches, and relics of the Saints.

[10] Some common festivity of the three Saints Nicander,

Marcianus, and Daria, they are honored by the Greeks on the 8th of June in a Ms. Synaxary

both the Sermons of the Bishops already mentioned

prove, and the Mass common to the three, as I said:

but no one explains what day that is. We suspect it to be the 8th of June, on which some Translation of those

three was made, that being, as often happens, more celebrated than the very feast

of the Passion. Now although the Passion of the two Brothers

is said in all the Latin Acts to have been accomplished

on the 15th of the Kalends of July: & Ferrarius,

alleging some of their Acts, such as however

we have not yet seen, refers Daria to the 12th of the Kalends,

as if, after three days, captured by the enemies

of the faith, by the cutting off of her head, she was made

interpreters nonetheless place the martyrdom of the first two on

the 8th day of June, both in the Greek Life and

in a very ancient Ms. Synaxary of the Church of Constantinople,

which we had granted to us from

the Parisian library of our College of Clermont, with an elogium

in which these things are read: The Contest

of the holy Martyrs of Christ,

Nicander & Marcianus. These, being of the military

order, on account of their confession of Christ,

under Maximian (it should have been written Maximus)

the Governor, were examined,

& subjected to imprisonment;

& after this, again compelled to deny

Christ, & not persuaded,

were beheaded.

The Contest of the holy Martyrs of Christ

Nicander & Marcianus: more licentiously expanded in the Menaea. who, being of the military order,

on account of their confession of faith in Christ,

were brought to interrogation by Maximus the Governor,

& cast into prison. But afterward,

when they were again compelled to abjure Christ,

& would not do so, they died

with their heads cut off. These things agree entirely with

the ancient Acts: but in the printed Menaea, very

badly, & beyond, indeed contrary to the sense of the Acts

written both in Greek & in Latin,

they are thus amplified: And not being persuaded,

they are scraped with iron claws

& are raised aloft on upright stakes,

& pricked with iron implements;

& burned with fire, & cast down

upon coals of fire they are spread out,

& beaten from above with rods;

& having brine poured upon their wounds,

they are rubbed with sharp potsherds,

& their mouths & faces are crushed with stones,

& their tongues cut out with a knife,

& at last they await death by the sword.

But by no means persuaded to deny Christ, they are scraped with iron

claws, & suspended on upright stakes

are pricked with awls, & singed with flame;

then taken down, they are stretched over burning

coals, & beaten with rods from above;

& their wounds being soaked with brine, they are rubbed

with sharp potsherds; their mouths & eyes are crushed

with stones; & with their tongues cut off with a knife, at last

they obtain death by the sword. These things smack of the cruelty

& edicts of Diocletian & Maximian,

the word ἐξετάσεως (examination) being badly understood;

as if a judicial interrogation were not also conducted by words alone,

just as the more genuine Acts prove it was done,

& as the times in which the thing was done require.

[11] Meanwhile from these things we learn that certain Acts were

more licentiously interpolated & circulated among the Greeks:

for also in the Synaxary of the Emperor Basil

an elogium is read augmented with similar license; for when

it begins truly thus: Nicander

& Marcianus, the Martyrs of Christ,

were indeed in order

soldiers, but devout Christians

& fearing God, serving for pay

under Maximus the Governor. Nicander & Marcianus,

Martyrs of Christ, were according to

order soldiers, but also religious Christians

& God-fearing, & earned their pay

under Maximus the Governor. When, I say, the elogium had been thus

begun, there is added—not indeed beyond

belief, but short of certain knowledge—that, having been sent

by Maximus with those soldiers whom they had under them,

to arrest the Christians

& bring them in, they spared them & deemed them worthy of every regard.

But when the Governor had learned this from

the worshippers of idols, he was saddened.

And summoning them, he inquired

whether what he had heard about them was true. But they,

not knowing how to deceive, not only confirmed

that what was asked of them was true,

but also freely professed

that they were Christians. Wherefore, when they had first

been subjected to various torments, afterward their venerable

& sacred heads were cut off: which last thing

is altogether true: but the whole matter in Greek,

though with Greek faith, is read further thus: But when

by him (Maximus) they were sent

with the soldiers under them

to seize the Christians,

& to bring them to him,

to some they gave warning to flee,

others indeed they seized, but spared

them & deemed them worthy of every

care; the Governor, having learned this

from the idolaters, was indeed grieved;

but summoning them he inquired

whether what had been heard against them

was true. And they,

not knowing how to lie,

not only affirmed that what they were asked

was true,

but also openly confessed

themselves to be Christians.

Whence, having been subjected to many torments,

afterward their honored

heads were cut off. In the Menologium

of Sirletus, and also in a certain Ms. of the

Ambrosian Library at Milan, marked

T, 364, in place of Marcianus, Germanus is named.

[12] But since the city of Atina gradually lost its ancient

splendor, & so declined that it was necessary

to take from it the Episcopal dignity (which

Ughelli judges to have happened about the times of Eugenius III & the year

1150), the cult of the Saints there, as was

consequent, declining; Ughelli indicates the cult at Venafrum it seems that it

received greater increase at Venafrum, a city still

Episcopal. Concerning the Bishops of that place,

at col. 731 Ughelli has thus: It is a constant

tradition that Venafrum drank in the faith of the Christian

Gospel even from the times of the Apostles,

since those most happy beginnings of salvation were

steeped in the blood of Nicander & Marcianus, the most invincible

Martyrs, on the 23rd day

of March. And the city of Nicander, he says, its Patron's

bones rest in a Church dedicated to his name.

So there; but the day of the 23rd of March

is not read noted elsewhere. Peter de Natalibus,

in book 5 of the Catalogue, chapter 9, offering some elogium

of these same Martyrs, & Peter de Natalibus, has these things toward the end.

The citizens of Venafrum placed the body of S. Nicander

in their city, but the citizens of Atina

the body of Marcianus in their town.

For they suffered in the territory, set between

the two cities themselves, on the Nones of June. So

he, deceived in assigning the day, because on the Nones of June

are honored the ten Egyptian Martyrs, of whom

the first named are Marcianus & Nicander.

But what he has about the Martyrs' bodies

divided between two cities, he took from Acts

such as we give from the Böddeken one: & it seems

credible enough, although the Chronicle of Atina says

that the bodies of SS. Nicander & Marcianus, immediately

after the slaughter, somewhat more correctly: Fulgentius the Bishop of Atina buried

beside the body of S. Marcus: this very thing, however,

Adenulphus also confirms. Furthermore, in the fourth century of Christ,

Maximus, Bishop of Atina, built the church of S. Nicander;

& Eugenius the Bishop the chest

over the bodies of SS. Nicander &

Marcianus. Joannes also, the Bishop of the 11th century,

testifies that in the city of Atina wonders are worked through

their bodies.

[13] Meanwhile we know from the writing of Silvester Aiossa

that some Relics of these Saints are at Venafrum

in the church of the Capuchin Fathers; & that from them

of which matter we have an illustrious testimony of the Bishop of Venafrum

written in the Italian vernacular tongue; which

I render thus in Latin. Hyacinthus Cordella, by the grace

of God & of the Apostolic See Bishop of Venafrum.

By the present we give full

& undoubted assurance, being required to this for the sake of

truth, that in the church of the most Reverend

Capuchin Fathers of this city there is found

the miraculous Manna of the glorious

holy Protectors Nicander & Marcianus,

which has welled up from time immemorial,

& is held in the highest veneration & devotion

both among the citizens & among foreigners:

because, occasions being offered, it has been ascertained by experience

that the blessed God has deigned

to work many miracles & singular graces

for those who, at various times, by reason of infirmity

or other necessity, have devoutly

received the said Manna. Which truly ought to

be believed to be miraculous, & imparted

to us by heavenly favor; from which manna wells up. inasmuch as over a span of

forty years & more, it has been found

incorrupt, within the phials in which

it was contained. Moreover, because, when it has often

happened during the summer, the rains failing,

that the wells of the aforesaid Capuchin

Fathers dried up completely, this

nevertheless never failed,

or flowed more sparingly. And by means of this

Manna, the blessed God daily imparts many graces

to the faithful piously devoted toward the holy

Martyrs. In faith of which

this present document shall serve, subscribed by our own hand

& signed with our customary seal. At Venafrum,

the 21st of October, 1651.

Hyacinthus, Bishop of Venafrum, I give assurance, as above.

✠ Don Nicolaus Antonius de Atella, Secretary.

[14] For this cause these Saints began, some

centuries ago, to be ascribed to the city of Venafrum. Thus in the preceding

century David Romaeus, recounting the Saints

of the kingdom of Naples, says: At Venafrum, Nicander

& Marcianus, Martyrs, on the Nones of June,

with Maximian reigning, Hence the Saints ascribed to Venafrum, following namely Peter

de Natalibus, who ascribed them to the Nones; in

whose first Vicenza edition of the year 1493 they are said

to have been seized by the Governor Maxianus, by an error

probably typographical, in place of the Governor Maximus.

Hence in the other Lyon edition of the year

1514 they are said to have been seized by the Governor Maximian;

for which afterward was written "with Maximian

reigning"; & finally in the Roman

Martyrology: At Venafrum, the holy Martyrs

Nicander & Marcianus, who in

the persecution of Maximian were beheaded.

Hence Baronius in the Annals referred them

to the year 303, no. 120. Under the same

persecutors also suffered, at Capua, Rufus

& Carpophorus, at Venafrum Nicander

& Marcianus. But on the contrary Paulus Regius,

Bishop of Vico Equense, in part 1, page 575,

published the Acts of the martyrdom of these Saints, in which

he asserts that in the times of Constantine the Great a church was erected

for them by the citizens of Venafrum, Relics & cult at Isernia,

& says they were taken as Protectors

chiefly from that time when the city of Atina,

through various warlike incursions, lost all its splendor &

riches. Aiossa adds in his writing to us

that the head of S. Nicander, or at least the greatest part,

is kept at Venafrum in the church of the Body of Christ;

that some part of the same head is at

Isernia, likewise an Episcopal city of Samnium,

with four of the bones of S. Marcianus; & that in

the diocese there is a church dedicated to these Martyrs,

& a fair is celebrated from the year 1250.

Joannes Vincentius Ciarlanti, Archpriest

of Isernia, in book 3 of his "Samnium Illustrated,"

chapter 2, recounts the Acts of the Martyrdom; & toward the end

adds: that their martyrdom was so celebrated

that not only were they taken as Protectors

at Venafrum, Isernia & Atina;

but also churches were erected for them

at Rome & Naples, indeed even in

Apulia for S. Nicander, & their feast there

celebrated by the Greeks. Pope Gelasius,

according to the witness of Anastasius the Librarian, dedicated a basilica

of SS. Nicander & Eleutherius on the Lavican Way

in the estate of Villa-pertusa: which Baronius

in his Notes on the Martyrology says was consecrated

to this S. Nicander.

[15] a church at Naples. Caesar Ingenii Caraccioli, in his Naples Sacra,

page 178, asserts that the Neapolitans, moved

by devotion toward the holy Martyrs Nicander

& Marcianus (whose bodies are kept with much

veneration in the city of Venafrum),

built for them a church, not far

from the Church of S. Mary of the People, &

handed it over to the Monks of S. Basil. Relics at Capua, But

because the body of S. Patricia the Virgin was miraculously

brought into the temple of SS. Nicander & Marcianus,

the convent of Virgins, together with the

church, began to be named after S. Patricia, as

is also indicated in the Life of S. Patricia, the 25th of August.

Michael Monachus, in the Capuan Sanctuary,

published four ancient Kalendars, & in

all of them on this 17th of June is celebrated the passion

of SS. Nicander & Marcianus, Martyrs; in

two, moreover, it is added that three Lessons are recited;

& Michael adds in his Notes, page 513,

that in the Capuan Treasury is kept the arm

of S. Nicander: in Monte Vergine, concerning which Michael's own nephew

Aiossa wrote to us, that it is a long bone of the right

arm, enclosed in a silver arm,

received as a gift from the church of Venafrum. The

same Aiossa adds that there are notable Relics of these

Martyrs in Monte Vergine: at Benevento. some

also at Benevento, & that these were transported

by Arochis, Prince of Benevento; &

that in Monte Vergine an Ecclesiastical office

concerning them is assigned.

OLDER ACTS

Latin from the Böddeken Ms. of the Canons Regular in Westphalia; Greek from the Codices of the Vatican Library 1655 & 1667.

Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Marcianus, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Daria, wife of Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Pasicrates, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

BHL Number: 6073

FROM THE MSS.

[1] They came to the things against the devil, the holy Martyrs Nicander & Marcianus also, and, putting on the breastplate of faith, they kept themselves whole & entire for Christ who had enlisted them as soldiers. a

[2] For being of the military order according to this world, leaving behind the honor in this life according to its advancements, they were equipped with heavenly grace. At once therefore they were accused, as doing unlawful things; & the Governor Maximus, who had been charged to do such things, summoning them, said: You are not ignorant, Nicander & Marcianus, of the commands of the Kings, that they order you to sacrifice to the gods; come forward then, & sacrifice. Nicander said: Let those who wish to sacrifice—to them it is commanded; for we are Christians, & we have no such command. Maximus the Governor said: And the money of your pay, why do you not collect it? Nicander said: Because the money of the impious is a defilement to men who have professed to be God-fearing. Maximus said: Offer incense to the gods, Nicander. Nicander said: How can a Christian worship stones & wood, when there is an immortal God, the maker of all things, whom I serve, who will save me & all who believe in him?

[3] But the wife of holy Nicander strengthened the Martyr, exhorting him & saying: Do not offer incense, my lord, nor deny Christ; look to heaven, & you will see him to whom you keep faith, for he himself is your helper. Maximus the Governor said to her: Most wicked head, why do you desire your husband to die? And she said: That he may live with God, & not die. Maximus said: It is not so, but since you desire to be married to another man, for this reason you wish to be rid of him. And she said: If you suspect me of wishing this, kill me first before my husband for Christ's sake, if indeed you have been commanded to compel us women also.

Maximus the Governor said: This indeed has not been commanded me, nor do I do what you desire; but be in prison.

[4] And when she had been led away, the Governor began to say to Nicander: Do not heed the words of your wife, nor those of anyone else, lest you be deprived of the light; but if you wish, take a delay, & consider which is better, to live or to die. Nicander said: The delay is fulfilled, & I have considered it better to be saved. And the Governor, raising his voice, said: Thanks be to God. And Nicander together with the Governor said: Yes, thanks be to God. But the Governor thought that the Martyr was speaking about the life here, & that he had repented; e & he conferred with his fellow assessor Leuco. But Nicander, becoming filled with the Holy Spirit, began to glorify the Lord, & to call upon God with a loud voice, that he might be delivered from this trial, & saved in his grace. And the Governor, hearing, began to say: How is it that, having repented, on the condition of living, as you said before, you again wish to die? Nicander said: I have declared that I will live the eternal life, not the temporal life of this world, & for this reason I have given my body into your power; do therefore what you wish, for I am a Christian.

And the Governor began to say to Marcianus: And you, what do you say, Marcianus? Marcianus said: I too say the same things as my fellow soldier Nicander. And the Governor said: Then you shall both be cast into prison, paying the penalty.

[5] And when they had been cast into the prison for twenty days, they were brought again to the Governor. And the Governor said: The time has been enough for you, Nicander & Marcianus, for obedience to the royal commands. And Marcianus said: Your much talking will neither make us depart from our faith, nor persuade us to deny God; for we see him standing by, & we know where he calls us. Do not therefore detain us, for today our faith in Christ is fulfilled; but send us off quickly, that we may see the Crucified, whom you blaspheme, but we worship. And holy Nicander likewise said also himself: By the salvation of the Kings, send us off quickly; & do not think that, fearing your torments, for this reason we adjure you, but hastening to receive our faith. Maximus the Governor said: You do not oppose me, nor am I the one persecuting you, but the command of the King, so that I am innocent & clean of your blood; but if you know that you depart well, I rejoice with you; let your desire be fulfilled. And having said these things, he gave sentence that they be put to death. But the holy Martyrs of God, as with one tongue, said: Peace to you, kindly Governor. They went forth therefore rejoicing & blessing God.

[6] And Nicander was followed by his wife, & by Papianus, the brother of Pasicrates the Martyr, carrying the little child of holy Nicander, & encouraging him. But Marcianus was accompanied by his relatives, & by his wife who clung about him, & reproaching the Martyr, said: These are the things, Marcianus, which you told me in the prison: do not fear, do not weep for me; have compassion on me, my lord; behold your sweetest child; turn back, do not despise us; why are you so eager? whither do you press on? why have you hated us? Like a sheep you have been led to the sacrifice. But Marcianus, turning & looking at her, said: How long has Satan stood against you, or by the evil one been carried off? Depart from me; allow me to complete the martyrdom to God. And a certain Christian named Zoticus, holding back Marcianus, said: Be of good cheer, my lord brother, you have fought a good fight; but whence comes such faith to us who are weak? k Remember the promises which God promised, which now he renders to us; truly you, as perfect Christians, are blessed. But his wife, wailing & weeping, was dragging him backward. And Marcianus said to Zoticus: Hold my wife. And Zoticus, releasing the Martyr, restrained her.

[7] And when they had been led to the place, Marcianus looked round into the crowd, & seeing Zoticus, called him, & told him to bring his wife to him; & she came forward, & having kissed her he said: Depart in the Lord, for you cannot bear to see your husband bearing witness, your mind being seized by the evil one; & taking up the little child & kissing it, looking up to heaven, he said: Lord God almighty, let this child be your care. Then at last the Martyrs, embracing & greeting one another, departed each from the other to be perfected. But Marcianus, looking round, & seeing the wife of Nicander unable, because of the crowd, to draw near to her husband, gave her his hand, & brought her to her husband; & Nicander said to her: God be with you. And she stood by him saying: Well, my lord, be of good cheer, show your own contest; ten years I spent in my homeland without you, & night & day I prayed to see you & to die; but now I have both seen you & I rejoice, seeing you depart into life eternal. Behold, I am radiant, & I will speak, & I will exult, I the wife of the martyr; be of good cheer therefore, lord, & render your testimony to God, that you may deliver me also from eternal death. And the soldier, having placed a cloth over the eyes of the Blessed ones, striking with the sword, set the end upon the Martyrs. And the holy Martyrs of God, Nicander & Marcianus, bore witness on the eighth o day of the month of June, with our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

[1] The blessed martyrs, despising this world & leaving a firm example to posterity, became for the erring a way, for the blind a light, for the wavering belief, since they indeed faithfully took care to show the marks of their virtues not for the favor of human praise, but for the imitation of justice & truth.

[2] Therefore, when for the love of Christ Nicander & Marcianus had rejected the insignia of the world, the most impious governor Maximus, the saints brought to the Governor who had been charged to exercise harsh judgments concerning the Christians, summoning them to himself, said to them: Do you not know, Nicander & Marcianus, the precepts of our Lords, b who ordered that as quickly as possible you sacrifice to our gods? Come forward then & sacrifice. S. Nicander answered: Command those whom you can persuade of this to sacrifice; we are Christians, & we cannot keep such a precept. The Governor said: they clearly profess the faith. Why do you not receive the moneys & dignities of honor? S. Nicander said: The moneys, honors & dignities which we had we therefore gave up, & we are unwilling to receive them further; because we have found heavenly treasures, & have already begun to have the honors of eternal dignity: & therefore for honors & perishing riches, we do not care to sacrifice to wood & stones. For since God is immortal, the creator of all things, we desire to serve him alone, because he alone saves all who believe in him.

[3] The wife also of the most blessed Nicander c strengthened the Martyr of God, & consoled him, saying to him: Do not sacrifice, which the wife of Nicander does even of her own accord, my lord, to idols deaf & dumb: but look to heaven, & attend to him whose way you have proposed to keep. The Governor hearing these things, turned to the woman, & said to her: O wicked head, why do you desire your husband to die? To this she answered: That he may live with God, & not die forever. The Governor said: It is not so, but because you wish to marry another man, therefore you wish this one to die, that you may be freed from his law. But she answered: who, she being removed, If you have this suspicion of me, first kill me for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, if indeed you have been ordered to compel us women also to sacrifice. The Governor said: This is not just d for me, nor do I do what you desire: but nevertheless I want you for the time being to be under custody.

[4] When she had been led away, the Governor began to say to S. Nicander: Nicander, do not be seduced by the words of your wife, he refuses the offered three-day delay for deliberation: or of any of your friends, so as to depart from this light; but accept a three-day delay, & consider with yourself whether it is better to live than to die. S. Nicander answered: Behold, the three days which you granted have already passed, & I have considered that it is better to be saved. Then the Governor, raising his voice, said: I give thanks to my gods. S. Nicander said: What thanksgiving do you render to your gods, because I told you that I wish to be saved? For I believe in God the Father almighty, & in Jesus Christ his son, & in the Holy Spirit, that I shall be saved through his grace. This being heard, the Governor together with Leuco e his successor said to the most blessed Nicander: You have chosen again, as I see, to show yourself a sign of death. S. Nicander answered: I have chosen eternal life, & I have despised the temporal & transitory, Marcianus does the same & they are led to prison. for I offer my body too into your power, do with it what you wish: once for all I have told you that I am a Christian. Then the governor, turning to Marcianus, said: What do you say, Marcianus? Saint Marcianus answered: I say this which my comrade Nicander also says. The Governor said: Then both of you enter the prison, to pay the penalties for the audacity of your rashness.

[5] After twenty days therefore, the Governor again ordered the athletes of Christ to be presented to his sight, & when they were presented he said: After 20 days brought back, Let the time of delay suffice for you, Nicander & Marcianus, obey now the precepts of our Lords; but if not, you will be handed over to death. S. Marcianus answered: By the safety of the Emperors, we do not fear your torments, but we hasten to receive the crown which God has prepared for those who love him. steadfast as before. Send us therefore the more quickly, that we may see that Crucified one, whom you indeed blaspheme, but we worship & honor as our creator & savior. The Governor said: You do not contradict me, but the Lord Princes of the world: f neither am I the one who persecutes you, but fulfilling the precepts g of the Emperors, I command rebels against God to be punished. And sentence having been given, he ordered them to be beheaded, saying to them: Walk with joy as you asked, that your desire may be fulfilled. h But they raised their voices, & said to the Governor: Peace to you, pious Governor, & they began to go rejoicing & blessing God.

[6] But the wife of blessed Marcianus i followed him at a distance, Marcianus repels his wife who entreats him. reproaching him saying:

These are, Marcianus, the things you spoke to me in prison, & you said, Do not fear? S. Marcianus answered: Do not approach me. But she cried out saying: If you are not moved with compassion toward wretched me, my Lord, at least look upon your sweetest son, whom I hold in my hands; & do not abandon us with so obstinate a spirit. And holding his garments she dragged him backward, saying: Where do you run? why do you hasten? why have you hated us? Saint Marcianus, looking at her, said: How long are you troublesome to me, woman? & to the bystanders he said: I beseech you, separate her from me, that my martyrdom may be fulfilled. But a certain Christian man, Zoticus by name, holding the hand of the most blessed Marcianus, consoled him saying: Be long-suffering, my Lord; you have fought the good fight, you have now finished the course, & there remains for you the crown of justice, which the Lord will render as an eternal recompense for your labors. To whom S. Marcianus said: Release my hand, & holding the hand of my wife console her, & also gather up that little one whom she throws down before me, & return him to his mother, & say to her: Return to your home, because you will not be able to see your husband suffering martyrdom. At length, when with difficulty & reluctance the woman had been led away, the Martyrs of Christ Nicander & Marcianus embraced one another: & giving peace to each other, the one departed from the other.

[7] But the wife of S. Nicander followed him at a distance, l & at the last, departing from him, she strengthened him with such words: Be strong, dearest of men, Nicander bids his wife farewell. & act manfully, my Lord Nicander, may God almighty be with you, rejoice & be long-suffering, into the hand of the Lord commend your spirit, for whose name you are prepared to undergo death. m After these things the Questioner, taking two cloths, bound the eyes of the most blessed Martyrs: the bodies of the beheaded are carried to Venafrum & Atina. & taking up the sword, he cut off their heads. Therefore the citizens of Venafrum, lifting up the body of S. Nicander in the silence of night, seasoned it with precious aromatics, & placed it in the estate which is called Paonis, where it still rests. n But the citizens of Atina carried off Saint Marcianus, & placed him in the basilica where he now rests, & he grants many benefits up to the present day to all who there seek his intercessions with a faithful heart. The holy Martyrs of Christ Nicander & Marcianus suffered on the fifteenth day of the Kalends of July, with our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom be honor & glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

NOTES BY D. P.

In other Acts there is nothing about that distribution of the bodies into two cities: which nevertheless Peter de Natalibus also described from here. The people of Atina seem to have done this, that in transcribing the Acts for their own use these things were omitted: just as, on the contrary, the people of Venafrum, in the Italian version of these Acts (which Marcellus Marcianus, born in that very place, had printed at Naples in the year 1614), say that both Martyrs were carried off to Venafrum, where they had their kinsmen, & buried in the place which the Capuchins now hold, whence also the manna wells up from under the rock. Some such thing is also had by an old Ms., from which Mabillon published this clause: "But the Martyrs of Christ Nicander & Marcianus, & Daria the wife of Nicander with her son (whom nowhere else may you read as companions of the Martyrdom, the whole preceding narrative proving the contrary), rested in the city of Venafrum. Then the Christians took away their bodies, & buried them near the place where they had been beheaded, in which place a basilica was built to the honor of their names. Under the altar of the same basilica a certain drop flows, of which the sick, having many times recovered their health up to the present day, drink, who in their several places, with Christ working, perform many benefits. And they received Martyrdom on the 15th of the Kalends of July, with our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, etc." Which things may seem to have been collected not from one, but from various Mss. even contrary to one another; since first all are said to rest together in Venafrum; then both are buried near the place where they had been beheaded; & finally each is said to grant benefits in their own places, that is, at Venafrum & Atina: thus the truth is pulled apart by affections.

MORE RECENT ACTS

By Adenulphus, Archbishop of Capua.

Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Marcianus, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Daria, wife of Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Pasicrates, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

BHL Number: 6074

BY ADENULPHUS, FROM A MS.

[1] Hence a now let us hasten to set forth what arms the holy men Nicander & Marcianus had against the devil. These then, since they were sprung from illustrious parents, Having left military service, the storm of persecution was then thundering more fiercely, the decrees of the Emperors running everywhere, that wherever Christians were found, they should be punished without any interrogation. b But when they had grown up, they took wives, sprung from the noblest birth, from whom, with the Lord helping, they each received sons. At that time a great war of the Barbarians c arose against the Roman Empire, all things being crushed with flames & sword: which, when it had been announced to the Emperors, they ordered all the soldiery at once to be assembled against them, in which military service the holy Martyrs Nicander & Marcianus remained almost a decade.

[2] And it happened, when they had acknowledged Christ, & were serving in the army; the saints evangelizing Christ, B. Nicander said to Marcianus: Brother, dearest comrade in Christ, know that I now wish to serve as a soldier for the King of Kings: for the figure of this world passes away, as the Apostle Paul says. To whom S. Marcianus answered: Brother to be loved in Christ, the word uttered from your mouth has penetrated the depths of my breast: whence, if it seems fair to you, let us leave the military service; & evangelizing Christ through the cities, let us hope to receive from him the recompense of good things. d And leaving the military service, they began to preach publicly the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, doing wonders & great signs: &, just as in battles they very often took for themselves the prize of victory; so they became the keenest warriors for the conquest of the idols; & from city to city evangelizing Christ, they handed over the worship of the idols, with their temples, to destruction.

[3] And it happened, while in the province of Campania they were evangelizing Christ, they are accused to the Emperors, & abolishing & blotting out the vineyards of the false gods, the priests, grieving with the Heathen that the sacred rites of their gods were perishing, went to Rome, & poured such poisons into the hearts of the Emperors: Most holy Emperors, defend the worship of the gods, which in Campania flourished most beautifully. For Nicander & Marcianus, deserters of your military service, coming to that province, preach Jesus Christ the Nazarene crucified, & count the worship of the Gods as nothing. The Emperors, hearing these things, at once summoned Maximus the Governor, e whom we mentioned above; & charged him, Maximus the Governor being sent into Campania that wherever he found them, he should compel them to sacrifice to the gods; but if they refused, after various kinds of tortures f he should hand them over to death. But Maximus, having at once taken soldiers from the court of the Emperors, set about to fulfill what had been commanded him. And when he had arrived in Campania, the priests of the temples came to him, tearfully announced what Nicander & Marcianus had done, & bursting into voices… they said: Know that unless you fulfill in them the precepts of the Emperors, the state of the sacred Empire will be reduced to nothing, & the Republic of the Romans will perish.

[4] presented, Maximus, hearing these things, summoning the Soldiers, charged them saying: Wherever you find these men, lead them to me speedily. And the Soldiers, going, found the most blessed Martyrs, preaching Jesus Christ the son of God with public voice: whom they thus accost, saying: The most magnificent Governor has ordered you to be presented to his sight; & when they had been presented before his eyes, g Maximus the Governor said: Why do you not receive the rewards h of our dignity? Saint Nicander said: We do not receive the rewards of your dignity for this reason, they confess the faith: because the money of the impious is a contagion to men ordained to worship the Lord. Maximus the Governor said: Only honor the Gods with incense, Nicander. Saint Nicander answered: How can we serve or sacrifice to wood & stones, having forsaken the immortal God, who made all things out of nothing? whom we worship, who will be able to preserve both me & all who hope in him; since our Lord is immortal, the creator of all things: him

alone we serve, who has deigned to save us, & all who believe in him. His wife S. Daria encourages Nicander.

[5] But the most blessed Daria, his wife, being present, strengthened S. Nicander saying: Beware, my Lord Nicander, that you do not do this: beware, my Lord, that you do not deny our Lord Jesus Christ: beware that you do not sacrifice. Look to heaven; & in it you will see the eternal King himself, in whom you believe: for the King of Kings himself, to whom you keep a pure faith & conscience, will be your helper. But Maximus the Governor, hearing these things, began to cry out & say; and she even offers herself to death, but in vain. O wicked, perverse, abominable, & evil head of a woman! Why do you desire your husband to die? S. Daria answered: That he may live forever with the Lord Jesus Christ, & not die. Maximus the Governor said: It is not so, but because you desire to be joined to a more robust man, therefore you hasten for Nicander to be deprived of life. S. Daria answered: If you have a suspicion of me that I would do these things, kill me first for Christ, if you have been ordered to compel women also to sacrifice. Maximus the Governor said: This indeed I have not been ordered to do, & what you desire shall not be done: & he ordered the lictors to hand her over to the prison.

[6] Saint Daria therefore having been thrust into prison, Maximus the Governor began to address the Saint with these words: Nicander refuses the offered three-day delay, Nicander, do not attend to the words of your wife, nor listen to the persuasion of any such person, lest perhaps you be quickly deprived of this light: & if you wish to accept a three-day delay, accept it: & deliberating in it, consider with yourself which is better, to live, or to die. S. Nicander answered: The span which you had promised to give—now suppose it to be completed, & know that I have deliberated, & have brought it into my mind, that I desire nothing in preference to salvation. But Maximus the Governor, hearing these things, doubting nothing, at once preferring eternal life to the present. raised his voice saying: Thanks be to God. Saint Nicander too together with him said: Thanks be to God. And the most blessed Martyr said to the Governor: Why do you give thanks to God, in whom you do not believe? But the Governor thought that S. Nicander was giving thanks to his gods; & that he had spoken about this life, & the saving of this life; & rejoicing he said to Leuconius his Counselor: Let us go to the temple that we may see Nicander sacrificing. And as they were proceeding, fervent in Christ, he began to give thanks to God, & to pray with a loud voice saying: Lord Jesus Christ, free us from the deceptions of this age, & deign to make us partakers through your grace. Maximus the Governor, hearing these things, began to address him saying: Nicander, why do you lose your life, & desire rather to die than to live? S. Nicander answered: Marcianus answers the same, I have chosen everlasting life, not the temporal life of this age: for my body has been granted into your power: do what you wish: because I am a Christian, & a servant of Christ. Maximus the Governor said: And you, Marcianus, what do you say? S. Marcianus answered: I say & affirm this which my comrade Nicander also says. Maximus the Governor said: Then both of you will be thrust into prison, undoubtedly about to undergo punishment; & more swiftly he commanded his lictors to thrust the Saints into prison.

[7] and together, after 30 days, they are condemned to death. And after thirty days had elapsed, Maximus the Governor ordered the holy Martyrs of God to be presented to him. And when they had been presented, he said to them: Does the time for changing your mind suffice for you, Nicander & Marcianus, that you may obey the precepts of the Emperors? S. Marcianus answered: The multitude of your words will not make us depart from the faith, nor deny God: for we see him present, & we have known whither he now calls us. Do not therefore detain us, but send us quickly, that we may see the Crucified one, whom you do not hesitate to curse with abominable mouth, whom we venerate & worship. to which while they are being led, Maximus the Governor said: Behold, according to your desire you will be handed over to death. S. Marcianus answered: By the safety of the Emperors we ask you, & by the safety of your head, that you send us more quickly: for it is not from dread of tortures that we adjure you to do this, but that we may quickly attain our desire. Maximus the Governor said: Why do you contradict me? for neither do I persecute you, but I obey the precepts of the most pious Emperors: whence I am foreign & clean from your blood. But if you know that you will go well, I congratulate you that your desire is fulfilled. Saying these things, he pronounces a capital sentence upon them, saying: Let Nicander & Marcianus, deserters of the military service, & despisers of the sacred deities, be punished with the sword. But the holy Martyrs, hearing these things, with raised voice said: Peace to you, Governor, most pious: & they began to go rejoicing & blessing God.

[8] His wife tries to draw back Marcianus, Saint Nicander too was followed by the most blessed Daria, his wife, & by Papinianus, the brother of the holy Martyr Pasicrates, carrying the infant son of S. Nicander, & congratulating him on his salvation. But Saint Marcianus was followed by his kinsmen, together with his wife, weeping & lamenting him with rent garments. Among whom his wife, weeping & wailing, said to him: These are, Marcianus, the things you spoke to me, saying, Do not fear? But Saint Marcianus said to her: Do not approach me. But his wife cried out saying: Woe is me! why do you run like a lamb to your own slaughter? Have mercy on me, my Lord Marcianus. Behold, I hold your sweetest son before me. Turn back: do not abandon us, do not despise us. These are the things which I told you in prison, fearing this. Woe to wretched me! why do you hasten? whither do you intend? But Saint Marcianus, when he had drunk these things in with his ears, turned himself: & gazing at her with stern eyes, said: How long will Satan blind your mind & spirit? Separate yourself from us, grant me to complete the martyrdom for God.

[9] But a certain Zoticus, a most Christian man, holding the hand of Marcianus, he orders her to be removed from him with the child, consoled him saying: Come, my Lord Marcianus; be long-suffering, you have wrestled in single combat against the devil, & have conquered him: whence Christ, the King of Kings & Lord, will render to you the crown of justice. But his wife pressed herself in, weeping, & dragging him back: & she threw down his son, whom she bore in her arms, before him; & cried out saying: Where do you run? & why do you hasten to die? But blessed Marcianus, answering, said to her: Depart from me, Satan, who are blinded by the devil: depart from me, that my martyrdom may be fulfilled. And the most holy Marcianus said to Zoticus: Release my hand, & restrain my wife, & remove her from me, & lift up her little one, whom she threw down before me, & return him to his mother, & say to her: Go, return to your home, because you will not be able to see your husband contending for Christ against the devil: whom Zoticus, the Martyr being released, restrained.

[10] But three men led them forward to the place of martyrdom. When they had arrived there, S. Marcianus looked around: then he bids farewell to her once she is brought in & seeing Zoticus standing among the multitude, said to him: Zoticus, servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, I ask that you bring back my wife to me with all speed. And Zoticus, obeying his orders, brought the wife to S. Marcianus. And when she had been brought, S. Marcianus kissed her & said to her: & commends his son to God: My wife, depart in the Lord, because you will not be able to behold me celebrating martyrdom. But taking his son in his arms, & pressing him to his breast, & kissing him long, with eyes raised to heaven he said: Lord God almighty, let this infant be your care; & when he had finished saying these things, he returned him to his mother.

[11] Then the most holy Martyrs kissed each other long. But blessed Daria, since because of the multitude of the people she could not approach S. Nicander, Nicander too bids farewell to his Daria, S. Marcianus, holding out his hand to her, led her to Nicander her husband, whom S. Nicander, kissing, said: God be with you, my sister. To whom S. Daria answered: Rejoice, my Lord Nicander: be long-suffering: show your contest. Ten i years I was without you in my homeland, & at every moment I asked God that I might see you, but now indeed I have seen you, & I rejoice, & he blesses his son: being made the wife of a Martyr. Be of good cheer, my Lord: render martyrdom to God, that he may free me too from perpetual death. But Saint Nicander, anticipating these words of Daria, said: Where is our son? S. Daria answered: Lo, Papinianus is here, a most Christian man, carrying him in his arms. And the Saint said: Bring him to me, that I may bless him. But Saint Daria, obeying his orders, brought the boy to him. Whom Saint Nicander, taking in his hands, & kissing long, blessed & returned to his mother.

[12] But indeed the most blessed Martyrs, Nicander & Marcianus, then both beheaded, with knees fixed & eyes raised to heaven, prayed for a very long time. But rising up & taking two cloths, they bound their own eyes. Then the most holy Martyrs are separated from one another, that they may complete the martyrdom. But one of the questioners, raising the sword, & striking with great force, cut off their heads. And the most blessed martyrs, Nicander & Marcianus, suffered on the fifteenth day of the Kalends of July. But the Bishop of Atina, coming by night with his Clerics, they are buried by the Bishop of Atina having taken with him Zoticus & Papinianus, the Brother of the most blessed martyr Pasicrates, together with their wives & kinsfolk & the whole crowd of Christians, seized their venerable bodies; &, as was worthy of such great Martyrs, beside the body of the blessed Martyr Marcus, handed them over to a worthy burial: where benefits abound toward the sick, by their merits, up to the present day.

[13] But when the storm-cloud of the Church was calmed, & the majesty of the Roman Empire bent its neck to Christ the true King, the Bishop k of Atina, together with the people of the same city, afterward in a Basilica built for S. Marcus, built a most august basilica over the tomb of the most blessed Marcus, whose length extends to one hundred sixty-three feet, the width is fifty-two. The venerable Pontiff also placed over the body of the most precious Martyr Marcus a stone title, indicating his name. And the apse of the same church, as also the whole basilica, they built of squared & great stones, of a length of fifteen cubits, of a width of eighteen cubits. The head also of the precious Martyr Marcus, together with the nails, lifting up, & in the corner m of that church making a hollow place in the manner of a casket, they placed with the greatest reverence in a small glass vessel. The wiser citizens of the same city, however, say this was done

was done by design; so that, if the head of so great a Martyr should be taken away thence by violence or by theft, his head, destined to profit the generations to come for the protection of the homeland, might remain: but for the present God was unwilling to deprive so great a city of its own Patron.

[14] But over the tombs of the holy Nicander & Marcianus, which had been placed not far from the body of B. Marcus, they most excellently built a chest, with equal workmanship as that of B. Marcus, n of squared & great stones, whose length extends to twelve feet, for these saints too a notable chest is placed. the width eleven, the height fourteen. A vestibule also before the same chest they built with equal workmanship, twelve feet in length, six feet in width, twelve in height, & they closed the aforesaid chest with iron doors: & it was set up in the middle of the basilica of B. Marcus, which also remains up to the present day. These saints Marcus, Nicander & Marcianus, having received from the Lord the Patronage of the city of Atina, do not cease to defend & protect it, against visible enemies, up to the present day. o

NOTES BY D. P.

HYMN AT VESPERS

Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Marcianus, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Daria, wife of Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Pasicrates, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

[1] Maximus is dispatched from the Throne of the Augusti, When at Venafrum the Christian Religion was growing: He destines Marcianus & Nicander for martyrdom.

[2] Against both the Governor rages & stirs up torments: Now he flares up into threats, now he thinks to flatter: But the fierce one is not terrified, neither softened by flatteries nor by threats.

[3] The servants of God are consigned to chains, to prisons, Their military arms wholly spurned & cast away: And now too they do battle, but with Kings changed.

[4] The mind founded upon the rock, on a stable foundation, Rooted, stands by an ineradicable root: Nicander is then strengthened by his noble wife.

[5] They embrace each other, as if about to make the journey together: Both undergo the martyrdom of capital punishment, The life of heaven follows as a reward for the death of earth.

[6] With these the City of Venafrum is adorned, is honored, And the whole Community rejoices in the holiness of Nicander: Which, by applauding & by singing psalms, sings the due praises.

[7] Many languishing ones are healed soon by the stream of oil: Which now flows most clearly by the piety of the Lord. And from the hollowed rock a draught is given to man.

[8] Be praise & honor to God the Father, the supreme glorious King: And to the only-begotten of the Father, proceeding also from the Father, And to the Paraclete Spirit connecting both.

HYMN AT MATINS.

Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Marcianus, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Daria, wife of Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Pasicrates, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

FROM A MS.

The sacred crown of the Martyrs of Christ, Marcianus And Nicander (whose city Venafrum Is upheld by faith), now lies open, Which they merited.

They did not then fear to die for Christ, Whom the choirs of Angels received: Let the people of Venafrum be glad & sound, By their prayer.

For from the blood poured out upon the rock Much health is restored to the sick: And thus the water which flows beneath the altar Of the sepulcher declares it.

In whose hall, the demon being put to flight, With a bone of Nicander presented to him; Praise is thence rendered to God, for the one Who is freed.

A thousand, six hundred, after twenty years, The Town of holy Nicander is purified by procession: With the holy Relics of these Martyrs Let everyone rejoice.

Glory be to God the Father eternal And to his Son & the Holy Spirit, Who gave us these gracious Patrons Powerful in heaven. Amen.

THE MASS

Of Nicander, Marcianus & Daria.

Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Marcianus, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Daria, wife of Nicander, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

Pasicrates, Martyr at Atina & Venafrum in Italy (S.)

[1] Introit. Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a feast day in honor of the holy Martyrs Nicander, Marcianus, & Daria: at whose passion the Angels rejoice, & praise together the Son of God. Alleluia. ℣. Exult, you just, in the Lord; praise becomes the upright. Glory be to the Father, etc.

Collect. Almighty God, who through the wars of a glorious contest raised up to immortal triumphs your Martyrs Nicander, Marcianus, & Daria: grant to our hearts a fitting joy for their festivity, that we who here venerate their bodies with pious love may be aided by their prayers. Through our Lord, etc.

[2] Epistle. A reading from the book of Wisdom, chap. 4. The souls of the just (down to) for the gift & peace of God's elect… Thanks be to God.

Gradual with the tract: The most blessed Nicander & Marcianus said to the Governor Maximus: We choose to live for eternal life, but not for the temporal life of this age. Alleluia, Alleluia. But the just shall live forever, & their reward is with the Lord. Alleluia.

[3] Gospel according to Matthew, Chap. X. At that time Jesus said to his disciples: Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves (down to) he who shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.

[4] Offertory. Nicander & Marcianus, empurpled with blood, with Daria, adorned with the palm of Martyrdom, lift up our minds to heaven, O you made white by the blood of the Lamb, & forever Blessed. Alleluia.

[5] Secret. We offer you, Lord, the gifts of our devotion, for the increase of the honor & glory of your Martyrs, Nicander, Marcianus, & Daria: that those whom you have made worthy of the palm of martyrdom, by their merits & prayers may deliver us from all sins, you who with the Father & the Holy Spirit live & reign God, through all the ages of ages. Amen.

[6] Postcommunion. Most happy Martyrs Nicander & Marcianus with Daria, make us strong against our enemies; both at evening & at morning, lest the short time entrusted to us flow away in vain. Alleluia.

Collect. Grant us, we beseech you, almighty God, that, with your holy martyrs Nicander, Marcianus, & Daria interceding, we may, by constancy of Faith, despise the prosperous things of the world, & fear none of its adversities. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.