Antidius

CONCERNING SAINT ANTIDIUS

BISHOP OF BESANÇON IN BURGUNDY.

ABOUT THE YEAR 411.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

On his cult, the translation of his body, and the deservedly suspect faith of the Acts.

Antidius, Bishop of Besançon, in Burgundy (S.)

BY G. H.

Besançon, held the greatest metropolis

of the Sequani, in the ancient

Notices of the provinces and

cities of Gaul, and even now

an Archiepiscopal city in the County

of Burgundy, Cult on the 17th among its illustrious

Bishops reckons S. Antidius, illustrious also with the crown

of martyrdom. His feast is appointed to be celebrated in the Breviaries

of Besançon, of which below,

on the 15th before the Kalends of July, or the 17th day of June:

on which day in an ancient Ms. Martyrology of Usuard,

augmented for the use of the Churches of Alsace and the said Burgundy,

these things are read: At Besançon, of S. Anthidius the Bishop

and Martyr. Of him also makes mention on the said

day Ferrarius, in his general Catalogue. Others

have referred him to the 25th day of June. and the 25th of June Of these the first was

Greven with his Carthusians, in Usuard's Martyrology

published more augmented in various editions about the year

1515 and 1521, in which on the said June 25

these things are had: Of Antidius Bishop of Chrysopolis

or Besançon and Martyr, by the King of the Vandals

slain for the faith of Christ. Which entirely the same

in Molanus's Appendix to Usuard are reprinted,

with the letter c prefixed, by which in his preface to the Martyrology

chapter 13 he indicates, that he took them from

the Additions made by the Fathers of the Cologne Charterhouse

to Usuard already in the second year, 1521.

The same also are read in the Martyrology of Canisius

printed in German, and Galesinius followed them

and Miraeus in the Belgian and Burgundian Calendars,

with the present Roman Martyrology, in which these things

are related; At Besançon in the Gauls, of S. Antidius

Bishop and Martyr, who for the faith of Christ by

the Vandals was slain: and in the Notes is alleged Molanus

in the Additions to Usuard, whom followed

the Revisers of the Roman Martyrology under Gregory

XIII. These things about the Birthday, which we judge

to be this June 25; but on June 17 the body was

revealed in the year 1360, as is said below, and thence

it took that day.

[2] The other is the solemnity of the translation of the body of S.

Antidius to the monastery of S. Paul. Jean-Jacques

Chifflet, part 2 of his Besançon, page 92, asserts, that it is to be thought most probable, the translation of the body made on January 24 that this translation was made by

Hugh the Archbishop, restorer of the church of S. Paul,

on the very day on which he dedicated the rebuilt

Basilica with solemn worship, on the 24th of

January. I am led, he says, to believe this, because

in the Martyrologies of S. John and S. Paul, the same

day of the month of January, the twenty-fourth, is held sacred both to the dedicated

Basilica of S. Paul, and to the translated body of S. Antidius: for

so in them thou wilt read on the 9th before the Kalends of February: At Besançon the dedication of the Church

of S. Paul, and the translation of the body of S. Antidius: which

not obscurely signifies, not only on the same day

of some later year, but on the same day of the same

year, both was brought into that church

the body of S. Antidius, and it was dedicated under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin

and of S. Paul and B. Antidius by

Hugh the Archbishop. under Hugh I the Archbishop. Of the dedication

made on the 24th day of January itself by Hugh the First

of S. Paul, where these things are had. In the name

of the Lord. Amen. The altar of S. Mary and S. Paul

dedicated in honor of the Holy Spirit, of S. Mary,

of S. Paul, and of the holy Innocents: in

which are contained Relics of the hairs of S. John

the Baptist, Relics of S. Antidius the Martyr

and our Archbishop … The altar which is situated

behind this greater altar, is consecrated in honor

of S. Antidius the Martyr, of S. John the Evangelist

and of all the Martyrs … And this dedication

of the Church and of the Altars was made by

the hands of the Lord Hugh Archbishop of Besançon,

on the 9th before the Kalends of February. There survives behind the greater Altar

of S. Paul an ancient stone tomb of S. Antidius,

which around the effigy of the Bishop lying in relief

is inscribed thus: The body of blessed Antidius the excellent martyr translated from Ruffey and there placed, who may pray for us. Amen.

[3] These things Chifflet there: but in the year 1360,

on the 14th before the Kalends of July, he says on page 287, the revelation of the body on June 17 in the year 1360 by John

de Vienne the Archbishop the body of S. Antidius Archbishop of Besançon

was raised up, as, besides other monuments, an old stone declares,

behind the greater altar of the church of S. Paul, which has thus.

In the year a thousand, three hundred, six and one and ten,

joining with these the thrice five Kalends of July,

The bones of Antidius are more worthily taken from the grave,

and laid in the case, by which sins may be relaxed.

That "thrice five" we think was put for the sake of the verse,

since otherwise the ancient and best codices

all agree in this, that the body of S. Antidius

was raised in the year 1360, on the 14th before the Kalends

of July. So Chifflet. But I would rather keep the 15th before the Kalends

of July, that is the 17th day of June, and thence the beginning by others

of his cult on the said day, as we said above. From a certain letter of the same Chifflet

to Miraeus we have said that the skull of S. Antidius

is kept among the people of Dijon with great veneration: The skull at Dijon, the cult at Flumet.

likewise at Flumet among the mountaineers of Faucigny,

bordering the people of Sion in the diocese of Geneva,

S. Antidius is venerated with an anniversary rite, Patron

of the sacred building and town of Flumet.

[4] These things concerning the veneration and Relics seem sufficiently certain.

But concerning the genuineness of the Life and Acts

many controverted things occur. The above-praised Chifflet,

in the Acts of S. Antidius, asserts, that the aforesaid Hugh

the Archbishop, in his instrument

of endowing the Canonry (which they call the testament of Hugh the First),

given in the year 1044, on the 25th

of March, made mention of S. Antidius already resting in that church:

whose body, namely, we have related above

to have been translated to the said Church. At greater length afterward, from page 191, he treats

of Hugh the 48th Bishop, judging him to have been made Archbishop

in the year 1031, and to have died in the year 1067

on the 5th before the Kalends of August. The Life written in the eleventh century, About this time the Life

of S. Antidius we judge was composed, in which toward

the end is indicated the translation of the body made to the monastery

of S. Paul, the Pontiff going before with the Clergy: whose

name however is not expressed, because it was known to all etc.

So that matter could come to the knowledge

of Sigebert of Gembloux, who inserted some of it

into his Chronicle, brought down to the year 1112. The Episcopal city

of S. Antidius the author never calls Besançon

or Besontium, but always Chrysopolis:

and because the new name seemed strange to others, he

explains it at the beginning. In the following century, the 12th, there followed

him in this, Gunther Ligurinus, Geoffrey

Abbot of Hautecombe, John of Salisbury Bishop of Chartres, and the Author of the Life of S. Bernard,

alleged by Chifflet in book 1, chapter 12. six hundred and fifty years having elapsed after the martyrdom. There had elapsed

then from the slaying of S. Antidius six hundred years,

and perhaps fifty more; so that the author does not seem

to have proceeded securely enough, but to have seized whatever was offered

by vulgar and uncertain tradition.

[5] We have those Acts, such as they are, from a Ms.

of Trier of S. Maximinus, and have compared them with the edition

of Chifflet, who asserts that he took it from an old

Ms. codex of the Metropolitan Basilica of S. John,

and compared it with a Ms. of the Monastery of Anchin

of the Cistercian Order, and certain other

exemplars. We found the same in the year

1662 in the Cistercian Archmonastery; and

the Prologue, which was lacking elsewhere, we copied. We know

also that they exist in the Charterhouse of Cologne and of Koblenz;

nor however do Surius, Mosander,

and others seem to have judged them worthy of the press. I confess, in many things it seems fabulous that when

before the discussion, according to our custom, I began to add marginal

notes, and read that a legion of demons met Antidius,

and among these an Ethiopian boasting that

by his industry the Roman Pontiff had been drawn into the snare

of unchastity, and that Antidius then, riding upon the Ethiopian,

was carried to Rome, and after the supreme Pontiff was brought back

to penitence, was carried back to his own

See; I confess, I say, that it seemed to me a dream;

if not of S. Antidius, at least of others; and by the writer

assumed into a true history. But I was more

confirmed in that thought, when I saw similar things

ascribed to S. Maximus Bishop of Turin, as taken

from a certain Life of S. Leo Pope the first, which as

fabulous I rejected on April 11. Sigebert wished indeed

thence to transfer some things into his Chronicle, namely

like many other little-founded things, which we often as mere

fables reject. But rightly Baronius in the Notes

on June 25 answers, that by Sigebert apocrypha are mixed in,

and things alien from the truth; and, since they smack more of magic

than of piety, deservedly to be rejected.

[6] Peter de Natalibus related the same in book 8, chapter

33, but called Antidius by a new error Bishop

of Tours, wrongly held to be Bishop of Tours on September 3 and wrote that he was slain with the sword

on the third before the Nones of September. Nevertheless there followed him

Maurolycus, Felicius, Ghinius, Ferrarius.

But that no Antidius was Bishop of Tours,

it is most certainly established. The same things are inscribed in the Florarium

of the Saints, and referred to May 23: but

by these defenders the falsehood is not advanced. Chifflet wonders

that the said history is called apocryphal by Cardinal Baronius,

since it ought to seem beyond faith to no one,

after Christ himself was carried by the devil

upon a high mountain and upon the pinnacle of the temple.

More certainly the demons obey of their own accord

from a wicked pact; but they obey

the Saints even unwillingly, not induced by a pact,

but rather by his command, to whom once the returning

disciples with their great joy reported:

Lord, even the demons are subject

to us in thy name etc. the fable defended in vain by Chifflet. And above he had written thus:

Of the history of S. Antidius, who set out to Rome with a demon

as his carrier, there are so many and so certain

monuments, that to reject it as spurious, or

to pass it over in silence as unseemly, I think befits

neither a historian, nor a fair estimator of things. Its

truth certainly is established first by most ancient books,

and the constant tradition of our forefathers; then by most ancient

images, painted or molded in the churches of Ruffey,

of S. Paul, of S. Peter, of S. Magdalene etc.

and also by old Breviaries, both that of Charles de

Neufchâtel published in the year 1480, and that of Antoine

de Vergy of 1535, that of Claude de Baume

of 1578. These and other things Chifflet in his Besançon:

and that faith might be given him, his brother

Pierre-François sent us the very history

of S. Antidius who set out to Rome with a demon as carrier

from the summer Legendary of S. John, just as it is in the afore-

mentioned Acts. But all these things with respect to such antiquity

prove absolutely nothing. We, that these friends

may be satisfied, give the Acts themselves, but as of suspect

faith or rather as mere dreams, as concerns indeed

the diabolical transportation, that the kindly reader

may judge for himself of the matter itself. An epitome from the Breviary of Besançon is prefixed. We have the Breviary

of Besançon, published by order of Ferdinand de Rye Archbishop

of Besançon in 1590, where nothing of this kind

is had in the three Lessons, which we premise,

that a way to better instruction may be paved.

We have also an ancient Ms. Breviary of Besançon,

which once belonged to the said Chifflet; in

which Lessons are had from the beginning of the Acts; and the controverted

transportation being omitted, only the Saint is said

to have had the power of commanding the malignant spirits;

and his martyrdom is treated, as below at the Acts themselves

we note: from which we gather that one ought not so

confidently to appeal to the constant antiquity of our forefathers.

Several other things we observe in the Notes.

EPITOME OF THE LIFE

From the Breviary of Besançon published in the year 1590.

Antidius, Bishop of Besançon, in Burgundy (S.)

FROM THE MSS.

[1] Antidius, born of noble family and Christian

parents, From Canon a Bishop, from boyhood was given to the study

of letters, especially

the sacred: but grown up, he was made a Canon

of the Church of Besançon, when the Canons

at S. Stephen's lived under the rule

of B. Isidore. But it happened (as the judgments of God

are hidden) that Germcisylus the Archbishop,

who had restored both the cloister of S. Stephen and the Order

of Canons with great wisdom and no less

cost and piety, so great a man fell from the Catholic faith,

and slipped into the Arian

heresy. Wherefore the Clergy and people,

God revealing it, chose Antidius as Bishop of the See of Chrysopolis,

although unwilling and resisting with all

his might. In that office

he exhibited such proofs of holiness and virtue,

that none is found to have been greater than he. He

had the power of commanding the malignant spirits.

The city being afterward besieged by the Vandals he withdrew

into a fortress, which long before the Emperor

Theodosius the younger had given him as a gift.

This fortress is called Ruffey near Marnay.

There he found many faithful, under the Vandals a Martyr. fleeing the savagery

of the barbarians. These Antidius consoled,

and exhorted to bear martyrdom patiently,

and himself came into the midst of the enemies,

with a loud voice announcing Christ. But some advancing

from the army threw the holy man

to the ground, and afflicted him with kicks and all

insults. Led to their King

or Duke, named Crocus, he is asked who and whence

he is? He answered, that he was Antidius,

Bishop of Chrysopolis. These things heard,

Crocus orders the man first indeed

to be beaten, and afflicted with all reproaches, then

to be struck with the sword. But before he was beheaded,

space for praying being obtained, Antidius prayed

first for the city and the people committed to him,

then for all the Christian people:

afterward he ordered the executioner to accomplish what he had undertaken.

He died on the 15th before the Kalends of July, in the four hundred and eleventh

year. Whose body is kept in

the Church of S. Paul of Besançon.

ANNOTATIONS OF G. H.

OTHER GREATER ACTS,

But, on account of the fables inserted in them, suspect.

From the Mss. and the Besançon of Chifflet.

Antidius, Bishop of Besançon, in Burgundy (S.)

BHL Number: 0566

FROM THE MSS.

CHAPTER I.

Praise of Chrysopolis or Besançon. The virtues of S. Antidius.

[1] Since on the Birthdays of the blessed Martyrs,

as the institution of sacred religion suggests,

we must discourse of their life and martyrdom;

we have deemed it necessary and very opportune,

that of the life and manners of B. Antidius a few things should be set forth in plain

words: for what is believed to be precious in the sight

of the Lord, surely

ought to be held religious by those who believe in him.

In short, the contests of the Martyrs are to be declared, that

the hearers may be instructed to follow the footsteps of the Saints,

nor by the sloth of the prudent be the poverty

of the inert imputed. For a lamp placed under a bushel

in vain consumes its own splendor:

incense too always hidden away, Prologue.

keeps its own odor to itself. The lamp therefore is placed

upon the candlestick, that it may shine; the incense

upon the coals, that it may direct its fragrance

all around. What therefore by the lamp

and the incense, but the doctrines of the highest wisdom

are signified? Who but by the candlestick and

the coals, but those quickened by the spirit of prudence, and

kindled to elucidate its mysteries? Who too

by the bushel and the charcoal, but the heralds

extinguished by the miseries of their own sloth? namely

those who are eager to grasp the mysteries of wisdom,

but to distribute them fruitless and lazy; and thus

made slothful husbandmen, even ripe fruits

they lose through inertia. Whence we, dearest

Brothers, being admonished, not by presumption

of rashness, but by the affection of precious charity, and by the office

of the entrusted servitude, lest we be cut down, compared to the fruitless

fig tree; according to the strength of our conscience,

of the aforesaid Father's Martyrdom and deeds we

make known a few things in plain words.

[2] The city Chrysopolis fortified with walls, B. Antidius therefore was Archbishop of the city of Chrysopolis,

brought forth of a noble stock,

given to the efficacy of true religion, learned in sacred

manners, full of works to be kept.

That city, founded by the ancient Tribunes of the Romans,

is reported to have flourished with such great power of strength and magnitude

and pleasantness, that it was held more precious

than the other cities of Gaul. But why it obtained

an ancient name, its ancient dignity and the firmness of the place's situation

declare. For Chrysos is called gold, Polis a city,

whence Chrysopolis the golden city. Rightly indeed

golden, which stands by the inexpugnable constancy

of its natural situation, since almost all its

man-made walls, not by hostile violence,

but by the softness of their own age, have fallen.

For this spacious city on three sides, by a river,

in the manner of a sphere cut around, is fortified by a most rapid

stream, which with steep banks on either side

impedes the entrance of the city. To this then

work, of squared stones joined with iron and lead,

solidified from the bottom of the sand to the highest top:

which, receiving without danger the passage of chariots

meeting one another, despises the impetus of the river,

and opens the entrance of the city. by a mountain But where the city

looks toward the East, it is closed by a rocky mountain: which

steep on every side before high and cut-off walls on either side,

divides the circuit of the curved stream. There is no

means of passage between the rock and the river, if

the wind, swelling a little, has disturbed the waves.

By three very narrow passages, therefore, cut by hand

not natural, the mountain opens the entrances of the enclosed city.

Of these one before the rest public, cut

into the wing of the rock overhanging the river, by a narrow entrance, is seen

cut by wonderful work. For the way receiving in breadth not

more than two horsemen, in length

sixty cubits, in height thirty-eight, stands. There is also another arduous way, by which

one ascends to the summit of the mountain, by a stone gate. which a gate

fortified with squared and huge stone and an inexpugnable

throat contains. That mountain, not constricted with a sharp

summit, but adorned with a spacious plain,

with the fragrant sweetness of sweet-smelling herbs,

possessed the palaces of the ancient Kings, as

is plain from the indications of the higher columns. Now

therefore adorned with the precious Relics

of the Protomartyr Stephen, founded on firmer walls,

raised by higher columns, The Relics of S. Stephen there, inexpugnable in pleasantness and

constancy of glory, and especially by the comfort

of very many Saints, it remains unlike all

the mountains of Gaul.

[3] Of this mountain therefore and of the whole city the glorious

pastoral Prince Antidius, placed amid the very frequent

courses of the wolves (since indeed then the Arian

madness defiled many) was studiously busy about the keeping

of his own. The keeper strove for the safety of the flock with all his

might, S. Antidius endowed with Episcopal virtues. because he saw the fierce enemy lying in wait for his

sheep. He, shining round with fifteen rays of charity,

girt with the belts of piety, triumphing with the standard

of doctrine; which he unfolded to the peoples in speech,

he kept in act and in mind. For he was humble and

kindly, patient and modest, faithful and chaste,

firm in hope and true, pious and charitable, concordant

and sober, obedient and joyful, secure in mind.

He watched as far as he could over those whom

he ruled, lest the cunning serpent deceive those whom he governed;

nor make backsliders those whom already before

he had condemned. Having at hand the protection of the supreme King,

he always set forth that of David: Unless the Lord

keep the city, in vain watches he who

guards it. Psalm 126. He watched over prayer, persisted in fastings,

clung to almsgiving; thinking nothing of transitory things,

with all effort tending to the eternal;

and the things he studied to nourish in himself, in these he instructed others.

Strengthened with these and like arms, the Lord granted him

such triumphs, that he even commanded

the demons, and subjugated them to the services

of his body.

ANNOTATIONS OF G. H.

CHAPTER II.

The fabulous narration of Antidius carried by a demon to Rome, and thence carried back.

[4] Whence we have deemed it most fitting, that

of his deeds a few things, which we have learned from the relation

of truthful old men, we should make known to those devoted to the sacred and catholic

religion: From the relation of old men a matter

indeed very great and full of human admiration,

but easy to the divine power and quickly attainable

by those obeying his command.

For all things justly obey their Fashioner,

and by his command they obey the saver of sacred institution,

and serve the faithful worshipper of the holy law.

the vision of demons is inserted For to those fortified with faith an unconquered power

is promised of commanding the virtues of all

creatures, and also the powers of the elements,

by the highest and universal founder,

who said: If you shall have faith as a grain of mustard,

and shall say to the mountains that they recede from

the place of their condition, and cast themselves into the sea;

Amen I say to you, they will obey your word.

The soldiers of Christ command even the demons,

deservedly indeed, as those who have been formed to restore

his order, who by his own insolence

and concupiscence is deprived of the heavenly

glory; strengthened by the power of humility and charity and faith,

that most ancient enemy, cast down from the Angelic

dignity, which in his place they are to possess,

after the times of this transitory life,

they may trample and tread underfoot by command, and subject

to the office of their service.

[5] The aforesaid Pontiff therefore, directing his shoots everywhere,

like a fruitful vine,

while for the sake of preaching he wished to pass the walls of the aforesaid city, it being offered to S. Antidius, having entered the bridge, it happened that he ascended the heights

of the bridge of the river Doubs; where, covered

by a divine veil, supported by Angelic solace,

he saw demons standing by, reciting the accidents

of their labor. The name therefore of the Doubs, why it is so

called, lest perchance to readers or studious

readers, or hearers it bring weariness,

must be briefly unfolded. For it is called

Doubs (Duvius), the letter being changed, as it were Dubius (Doubtful), because

it runs in a doubtful and winding channel, and by its fury

and swiftness makes those sailing upon it doubtful.

For by the rampart of this river, as before

said, the aforesaid city is girt, and by its perennial

situation strengthened; not so much fortified by its firm

depth or waves, as by the triumphs of the Protomartyr

Stephen; and by the merits of the blessed Antidius,

with whose bones it is honored, consoled.

The venerable man, finally, when he had entered the approach of the said bridge,

suddenly there appeared opposite

him a band of demons, confessing their deeds to their master:

for there seemed among them

one sitting in the manner of a judge on a higher seat, calling the rest

to him, and inquiring the contests of each.

His head was girt with a diadem,

his hand was strengthened with a royal scepter, his body was covered

with purple dyed in various colors. On whom

when Antidius undismayed fixed his gaze,

suddenly there seemed to come a certain Ethiopian

of exceeding fierceness, terrible in appearance, in which one of them consumed with wretched

leanness, with loosened and torpid limbs,

as if weary from a journey, carrying in his hand a sandal,

an indication of his labor and contest.

And when he inquired what such things portended,

he is said to have answered; that it was the sandal of the Pontiff of the Roman

Church, boasts that the Pope was led by him to fornication: against whom when through

the courses of seven years he had hurled many darts,

had waged many contests, as the wretchedness

of his appearance showed, nor could he be overcome by any stain

of unchastity, he first professed

to have spent long times. At last,

as a victor glorifying himself in the loss of the vanquished,

he asserted that the above-mentioned Roman Bishop

had yielded to his persuasion, and had fallen into the unchaste

snare, with the sandal as the indication of which thing

he consoled himself. But B. Antidius, standing not far off,

awaiting what the issue of the matter would indicate,

hesitated in his mind concerning the fall of the Father

and Master, namely of the universal Pope. The very

day on which these things were seen was the third before the day on which

the Lord's Supper is celebrated, and the holy Chrism

is made. But on the past Sunday,

namely Palm Sunday, the demon boasted that the supreme

Pontiff had sinned, and had departed from the path

of the right order.

[6] The venerable Antidius therefore, fortified with the sign of the blessed Cross,

as anxious concerning the Master's failing, wherefore the Saint having dismissed the Clergy

as curious concerning the presence of the future solemnity,

meditated in his mind what service he should perform.

The Clerics stood about the Bishop conversing,

and shaking themselves with various sympathies,

beholding their tutor astonished,

nor yet daring to speak to him; whom he himself calling together,

and confirming with the protection of his blessing,

is said to have admonished them with such addresses:

Withdraw, my fellow-soldiers, peace be to you:

about the state and order of the coming days solicitously

take care: the people who shall come to the Church

strengthen as far as you can: for it behooves me,

for your salvation and that of many, to enter a singular

contest, and on the Sabbath day to return to you. These things

said, the brethren being removed thence, the demons he thus addresses:

Depart, malignant insidiators, occupying the approach of the bridge:

harm no one, nor receive any

of those inhabiting this city.

And turning to the above-noted Ethiopian

he said. I command thee, demon, in the name of God

the Father almighty, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; he commanded the demon to carry him to Rome,

in whom we live, hope, and are, whom all

the elements serve, who by thy offense

separated thee, that thou put thyself under my body; and to

Rome, under the hand of the Lord our God, with the same

swiftness with which thou camest, safe and unharmed

carry me; having no power of escaping,

until thou come to the place which I shall tell thee.

For thou shalt be as a certain light vessel,

running through the most rapid waves;

but our Lord Jesus Christ, who never

forsakes those who believe in him, will be ruler and rower.

These things finished, fortifying himself with the standard of the Cross,

not forgetting the sandal, he set himself upon the demon,

often repeating that verse: O God, intend unto my aid,

O Lord, hasten to help me. The servant of God was carried therefore in a diabolical

chariot, the divine goad urging, light as a winged thing,

strong as an armor-bearer, always invoking the Lord,

and supplicating for the people of all the Roman

city. Therefore shaken by no terror, hindered by no

inexplicable journey, about the third hour of the day,

on which the Lord's Supper is celebrated, before the doors

of the Lateran Church he arrived. There too,

the demon being left, whither he was carried by the binding of the Lord's power and of his command being constructed (so that he who is the inciter of all evils,

might by no art of his cunning entangle the mind of the supreme

Priest, by which he might conceal the bond

of his guilt) he finally entered the house

of the Lord, and prostrate in prayer

rendered thanks to God almighty, who

put the most fierce and untamed enemy under his service.

[7] But raising himself, when he beheld the multitude coming together

to so solemn an appointment, what

they sought, or where the supreme Priest

was tarrying, he solicitously inquired. he meets the Pope on the point of saying Mass; To whom one of the Clerics

first of all related, that the very Bishop whom

he sought was in the sanctuary, that,

clad in sacred garments, he might proceed thence to the altar,

to administer the Offices fitting to the day.

These things heard, B. Antidius, already terrified by the word of the one reciting,

ran hastily to where the Pontiff was being vested.

Drawing him therefore aside from the others,

lest he be hindered by those ignorant of the matter, nor his counsel

be laid bare by them; the order of the perpetrated

crime he plainly set forth. And when

he excused himself as guilty of so great a crime, and the blessed man

proved it by the indication of the sandal, almost

deprived of breath by exceeding terror, he meditated

what would be fitting to answer. and him being led to penitence, For a great despair

had come upon him, so that he scarcely abstained from tears,

and the confession of an unusual guilt constrained him.

At last prostrate at the feet of the blessed man,

he loosed as far as he could the knot of his own crime,

and with all effort supplicates the protection of remission.

But B. Antidius, thus moved by the master's tears as by his own,

raises him with his hands, consoles him with words,

whatever is to be done indicates with ready speech.

At the request therefore of the same Pope, the ministers conversing, the man of God,

adorned with the sacred vestments, all things being disposed in order,

which according to the Roman custom

are wont for proceeding, instituted: he himself celebrated the office of the Lord's Supper, and proceeding from the sanctuary,

with praises and hymns, the Clergy following,

is led to the sacred altar.

The astonished people beheld the unknown Bishop on every side,

agitating themselves with various solicitudes,

what the outcome of the present matter signified. For it perceived

the unexpected and never-before-seen Vicar,

dispensing the mysteries befitting so great a day;

but the known and daily Pontiff,

suffering no infirmity of his body,

at leisure. and made the Chrism: The venerable man finally, performing the begun

offices, consecrated the balsamic

Chrism, and sanctified the liquids of the Oil. And all

the mysteries of the Mass being completed, returning into the sanctuary,

the sacred vestments being put off, to the Master

with all diligence he committed the contests of his remission and cure.

The disciple and the master clung together,

bending in turn to one another, wet with the affluence

of tears, confessing alternately their own

faults, and supplicating mutually concerning their guilts.

[8] The gift of blessing therefore being mutually given,

and the protection of peace being established, Bishop Antidius, then carried back by the same demon,

not unmindful of the Chrism and the Oil, (lest to those committed

to him the aids of Christian institution should be lacking)

returned to the place, in which he had set the demon.

And invoking the King of all things,

and strengthening himself with the sign of the Cross, with his eyes directed

to heaven, he said: O God, in thy name

save me, and in thy strength deliver me.

These things said he set himself upon the enemy now subjected to him,

commanding with manly bidding, that he carry him back with the same swiftness

to the seats of the city of Chrysopolis, with which

before he had carried him forth, to the doors of the Lateran

Church itself. Carried therefore by the obedient demon's

capability, as by the most rapid agility of a certain

chariot, the Almighty being the right

charioteer, on the next Sabbath day, at the sixth hour of the day,

he returns home to Chrysopolis. There still tarried

in the aforesaid city the multitude of Clerics,

who had come together for the day of the Lord's Supper,

awaiting the coming of the Bishop, wearied with daily

solicitudes: who when they had learned of the Father's

return, joyful and from joy scarcely abstaining

from tears, running together everywhere saluted him.

But certain ones prostrate at his feet,

demanded license of returning: to whose

prayers the Blessed one scarcely acceding, those first being removed

from the Ecclesiastical assembly, he restored the communion

and the entrance of the house of God: and summoning

thereafter the Archlevites, he ordered the Chrism

to be distributed to the Priests. But at last,

all things being completed in order, he performed the Mass on the Vigil of Easter. which on the Vigil of the Lord's

Resurrection are to be celebrated,

he finished the Offices of the sacred Mass. O wonderful power

of God Almighty! O wonderful magnificent virtue

of salvation: by whose governance all created things

subsist; who confers on those who serve him such great

aids, that even invisible and untamed

enemies fear his commands! O man

polished with praises and merits, to whose oracle the beast

becoming tame (which indeed is not ruled by the bond of any bridle,

nor can be roused by the point of a spur)

obediently submitted itself to his service.

No appearance of the demon terrified him, no

hunger wasted him, nor did want of drink terrify him,

through the fasts of five days. Omitting therefore

the things we have written of the blessed man's deeds, to

the series of his martyrdom let us return, the page being turned back.

ANNOTATIONS OF G. H.

such a vision, as the fable indicates: nor does the Responsory itself

make anything for it, except that we believe that for restraining the demons,

intent on stirring that river to the destruction of the citizens, and perhaps seen by the Saint,

Sign thyself, sign thyself, rashly thou touchest and troublest me,

Suddenly to thee, O Rome, by movements love will come.

(a palindrome)

CHAPTER III.

The irruption of King Crocus into the Gauls, the martyrdom of Antidius, the translation of the body.

[9] Honorius therefore the son of the great Theodosius,

with the younger son of his brother Arcadius, Theodosius,

moderating the summit of the empire by royal right,

Gaul was struck on every side with so many and so great perturbations, In the times of Honorius and Theodosius the younger, first by the insolence of the sinning

people, then by the prevailing strength of the barbarians,

God moreover permitting it by his power; so that she who

and her own victory, by the immense and terrible barbaric

onslaught suddenly trampled,

all her strength being lost, the glory of triumph

overcome by the cruelty of the enemy, with a mournful cry bewailed,

and with great mingled grief recalled,

and miserably consigned to her mind. For Crocus

King of the Vandals, Crocus King of the Vandals, relying on the impious counsel

of a most wicked mind, with the Suevi and Alemanni

having gone forth from his borders, seeking Gaul,

laid waste all things with sword, rapine, and fire, in which his

ferocity prevailed, and destroyed them even to ruin.

For his mother, inciting her son

to perverse things, If thou desirest, she said, son,

to seem the doer of a new thing, and to acquire for thyself a name

the greatest of all; be a destroyer of the Christian law,

and an overthrower of all the Churches.

Nor canst thou accomplish anything more useful,

by which to exalt thy name, than if thou annihilatest the institutions

of thy predecessors, overturnest their buildings

and treadest them under foot. By which incitements the tyrant,

kindled with exceeding fury; crossing the Rhine at Mainz, he devastates Mainz,

first laid waste that same city

with its people, then encircling the cities of Austrasia,

came to Metz: whose wall

falling by the divine will, aided the entrance of the Vandals.

After these things wandering through all the cities of the Gauls,

some he destroyed by demolition, Metz, and other cities: some he burned with fire,

but several he deprived not only of their wealth,

but also of their people. The fautors of the Christian

law too, shaking with depraved and unheard-of persecutions,

he dragged some even to various penalties,

but some he cut with the swift stroke of the axe:

among whom B. Nicasius Bishop of Rheims,

the varieties of many torments, never mindful

of a moderate mind, he adorned with the crown

of martyrdom. There was no measure of madness in the barbarians,

no place for indulgence, but always a continuous fury for slaying.

The cruel readers pressed on, insatiable,

not only with the spoils of the conquered

nations, but with the sufferings of the patrons.

Invading therefore the confines of the Burgundians, their

ferocity growing exceedingly strong, they laid low the buildings

of almost all the Churches; the Christians also

who spurned their commands, they enriched with the last

penalty. They raged against those with the fiercer madness,

whom they perceived to flourish with greater constancy; and striving

to overthrow the invincible towers, they fought with a more hostile

contest. Whence it came about that B. Desiderius,

Bishop of Langres, Desiderius of Langres, a green

and fruitful shoot of the Lord's vine,

because he would not pour libation to their brutish illusions, namely to their most vain deities,

by the stroke of the sword they bared the inmost parts

of his neck. And also the memorable Valerius, the appointed minister of the same

excellent Doctor, and Valerius the Archdeacon. whom he had appointed to the office of Archlevite

(because he wholly turned his mind from the profane rites)

distorted with manifold torments,

they made a companion of the recruits of the heavenly army.

[10] But when they came into the borders of Chrysopolis,

they burned with no less ferocity; but esteeming their beginnings little, S. Antidius, for the salvation of his subjects,

they strove to equal the last to the first.

The glorious Antidius therefore, the slaughter being learned,

revolving his mind in various thoughts in different directions,

solicitously sought protection

for the people committed to him: but the sum of his solicitation

was turned to the Lord. He meditated first,

that he with the Clergy, within the walls of the invincible city,

could safely resist the enemies, if by fighting

he preferred to avenge himself with barbaric blood,

than to suffer torments for the name of Christ. He recalled

thereafter; that there was need not of one who rests, but of an oarsman for those in peril;

not of comfort for the secure, but of the relief of a consoler for those in fear. Finally

preparing himself rather for battle than for flight, the urban

band he strengthens with the preaching of the divine Word; and fortifying himself

with the protection of the sacred Eucharist, his blessing being poured forth, outside to bring help

he advances. The solicitous Pastor therefore hastens

to place at once the sheep of one fold, the neighboring

flocks of cattle terrified by the onslaught of the impending wolves

to rescue, to raise the fallen, and the scattered

to gather. And there is a town distant from the city

ten miles, which is called Ruffey;

into which, because it was fortified not only by a wall, he migrates to Ruffey:

but also by a river standing as a pool at the root of the mountain,

several of the Provincials, having deserted

their villages, driven by fear, had fled. To prepare

therefore the minds of the faithful, whither the greater

part of the people committed to him he learned had fled;

and being certain, namely, that the atrocity of the enemies

would there first slip in; the venerable man,

as an intrepid soldier, hastens. Not yet

had the sound of the exulting townspeople at the coming of the Father

and Master ended, when the roar of those rushing in

everywhere was heard. But the blessed Bishop,

now perceiving the time of his martyrdom to be at hand,

desiring to offer himself as a victim to God for his own,

incited his sons, saying: Let none of you,

brothers, he excites his own to Martyrdom, deviating from the path of truth, through fear of death

separate himself from the honor of glorious triumph:

for light is the torment which, passing with winged time,

renders for a reward perennial rest.

I reckon also that it will be a much more precious business,

than if by the merchandise of swift pain, the remedy of eternal

salvation is bought, and the perennial joy

of exultation. Be therefore my imitators,

whom you have chosen as your Primicerius; and whom,

God favoring, you shall see to be the beginning of an excellent death.

Let those accompany me to the victim

who strive to join their soul to Christ.

[11] Instructing the worshippers of Christ with these and like

exhortations, he went out to meet the barbarians, supplicating

and persuading, he meets the enemy. that they would spare not himself, but the people,

and would set a measure to their cruelty at least toward those present.

To this a certain one of the Vandals,

kindled with madness, boldly, now bereft of mind,

laid bloody hands on the servant of Christ;

and beating him with frequent blows,

with a threatening voice asks of what profession the man

testified himself to be. To whom the venerable man, now

learning that the gift of his highest desire was obtained,

joyful answered: Being questioned he professes the faith of Christ, I profess myself a fautor of the Christian religion;

and I glory to bear the sign

of the Cross of Christ; whom I confess as true and omnipotent

God, at whose will the sphere of heaven turns,

the machine of the earth subsists, the spaces of the sea are ruled,

and all created things are governed. Kindled

by these the mad barbarian wraps his hands around the Saint's neck,

strikes his face with blows, and bound

with both hands hastens to present him to the mad Judge.

The impious Judge therefore, when he directed his gaze on the servant of Christ, presented to the Judge

considering the state of his body and the appearance of his face,

ordered him to confess with what summit of honor

he was raised. To whom the blessed Bishop,

answering with cheerful voice, said: The name of Christian,

if I live according to Christ's commandments,

is the summit of my honor. For I think no

higher grade of honor exists,

than for one serving the omnipotent God to obtain, for the reward of his service,

eternal joys in heaven. The Bishop is denounced by a traitor: Then certain of the natives,

captured and led before the Governor,

hoping that some remedy might be afforded to themselves in the death of the Pontiff,

were made wretched partakers of the crime; and accusing,

as is reported, they said: This is the head

of the Christians: all the people follow him,

and the teacher of the new law; he baptizes, he possesses the Bishopric

of the people.

[12] Moved at these things the harsh Tyrant ordered

the Pontiff to be seized thence, that, stripped of all his garments,

he might be tortured with blows, grievously lacerated with scourges, if he would not pour libation to the sacred

deities. But the bloody executioner, fulfilling more quickly

the commands of his master; beating the man of God's mouth and eyes

and the other joinings of his body with cudgels

and scourges, threatened all the instruments of cruelty,

unless, sacrificing on his altars, he denied

Christ. But the blessed Antidius placed amid torments

(although here words, there the sword,

were brought to bear not only for punishment but even for

death) after his body swelling with wounds,

could scarcely bear the inflicted strokes of the scourges

with bare bones; with his eyes directed upward,

with constant voice said: O God

omnipotent begetter, O Christ with the Father God

founder of the world, holy Spirit, he pours forth prayers, mediator of God and men!

who art simple in essence,

whom the names of the persons rightly confess as threefold:

visit, I pray, the dungeons of my body, that,

snatched from worldly bonds, my spirit dedicated to thee,

immolated with the blood of its lodging, may be joined

to the citizens of the heavens. Rule, O Lord, the people

committed to me, lest any of them, impatient

of pain, dread the summit. Looking therefore at the face

of the torturer he said, Accomplish, wretch, what thou hast begun;

for the Lord is my helper, I will not fear

what man may do to me. Bearing this with indignation

the death-dealer, fed with blood, he is beheaded, drawing the sword from his side,

struck off the head of the blessed Man with a single

blow. His lifeless limbs seek the dusty

ground laid low, his exulting spirit penetrates the high summits of heaven,

an Angelic throng crowding round with dancing.

There came, in the dark of that night

hastening from their hiding-places, men worshippers of Christ: who

secretly the limbs of the blessed Martyr being gathered, and is buried. outside

the walls of the aforesaid fortress, gave to the tomb.

The Christian multitude mourned him,

which the barbaric hand pressed unconquered, more

terrified at the death of the Bishop, than at its own torment;

and sorrowful Chrysopolis, that a fruitful man had died,

whom it had had as an excellent Pastor,

and a chief Doctor.

or what penalty was given to the bloody executioners

for avenging the wrongs of the faithful,

it is not unpleasant to relate. The aforesaid fortress

therefore being plundered, all the inhabitants taken captive,

bound with the bonds of their death; Crocus with

all his following army, to storm

Chrysopolis, in the begun fury hastened. Whose

onslaught the people of Chrysopolis, trusting in the situation of the place, with bold

effort rejecting, and creeping in military

combat, turned the wrath of his fury into

frenzy. Finally encircling the city with a long siege,

when he could by no art of cunning overcome the invincible walls and the spirited

citizens; a town upon one of the mountains, not far

from the margin of the overflowing river situated, to prevent

the entrance or withdrawal of the citizens (which

until now is called by the inhabitants the Mountain of the Vandals)

he founded. Which also the townspeople

esteeming little, protected more by the interventions of B. Antidius,

than defended by their own strength,

escaped the perfidy of those persecuting: which thing

was a great burning to the barbaric cruelty.

To avenge therefore the insults of the Christians

such a rage invaded the barbarians, that the atrocity,

which they had exercised against the Christians, captured by the Governor of Arles he is slain:

by the divine will they turned upon themselves,

and delivered one another to death. Crocus therefore with

the Suevi and Alemanni wandering through Lyonese Gaul,

when he had come to Arles, now

destitute of his greater army, captured by Marius

the Governor, bound with chains, through the several cities which he had laid waste

led back to reproach, and to the conquered

the conqueror presented to avenge the wrongs;

after the torments of many sufferings,

he ended his impious life with a wretched death. But the barbarians

who survived the slaughter, their Judge being lost,

whither fear drove each, fleeing in different directions:

nor did even the smallest part of them remain

who as a free man could escape the penalty

of captivity or death.

[14] The fautors too of the death of B. Antidius, the neighbors,

because, namely, (they consented to the insult of the Lord and Master)

the divine vengeance so drew out, the partakers of the slaughter are punished even in their posterity.

that they being made wan and feeble, and destitute of almost all the strength

of their body and of the supplement of household goods;

the calamity which they suffered upon themselves, to the memory

of the crime perpetrated

and the glory of the blessed Bishop, to their posterity

and successors, namely those to come forth from their stock,

they left. For those born of their stock seem

to flourish in body up to the thirtieth

year, and to increase in wealth,

but after the thirtieth to be destitute of strength and faculties,

and so to end their life with a dishonorable death.

Which because for the cause of the crime committed against the servant of God,

with the same testifying, I have found it to happen,

in the series of this testament I have taken care to set down.

[15] The chosen vessel therefore, lest, given over to oblivion,

it become worthless, nor enjoy an empty solace,

is uncovered by the father of the family, and as a reward of great usefulness

and honor, is delivered to the family of those who enjoy it.

For the people of the faithful gradually reviving, The body famous for miracles,

with so great honors did the Lord exalt Antidius;

that detained by whatever sickness, for the sake of obtaining

with whatever disease burdened they were afflicted, restored to health,

they joyful sought home again. Whence held in cult

and no small reverence, a basilica being there

built, for some time buried there he rested.

But the people of Chrysopolis afterward not bearing

that the honor of so great a gift, he is carried into the city to the monastery of S. Paul. should be venerated not far from the city

with a non-urban cult, encouraged by the persuasion of their

Bishop, with many bands of Christians hastening

everywhere, the body of the blessed man being removed thence,

the Pontiff with the Clergy going before,

with the great noise of dancings, with praises and hymns

resounding everywhere, they translated into their own

Chrysopolis, namely into the monastery of B.

Paul the Apostle, where also other bodies of Saints

rest. There therefore by the base of the altar,

the Relics of the most glorious Bishop, with all cult and

reverence laid up, by God's help abound in many

miracles, who lives, glories, and reigns,

in the perfect Trinity God, through infinite ages.

Amen.

ANNOTATIONS OF G. H.

APPENDIX OF D. P.

On his cult at Lisbon in Lusitania.

From the Hagiology of George Cardoso.

[1] That Henschenius thought this June 25 the birthday of S. Antidius, The feast on June 17 as the Birthday from the year 1147 rather than the 17th,

I fear lest he did from reverence toward the Roman Martyrology alone;

intending perhaps to doubt,

if he had had sufficient knowledge of the Lusitanian language,

to weigh more accurately those things, which concerning foreign

Saints Cardoso sometimes has, not always to be despised,

nor drawn from pseudo-Dexter and the figments

substituted for him. Such is what on June 25

Charles refers as the beginning of the cult of the Saint in Lusitania

to the year 1147; on which if also was assumed

the day the 17th, it cannot be assumed first

in the year 1460, as in the Preliminary Comm. number 1 and

3 it seemed to Henschenius. The words of Cardoso rendered from Italian

into Latin, are these.

[2] At Lisbon in the sumptuous Convent of S.

Vincent outside the walls, the feast of S. Antidius (commonly

San Tude) Bishop and Martyr, on whom the Vandals,

in hatred of the Christian faith, on account of the Saint's miraculous image inflicted a bitter death,

Honorius reigning. A miraculous

image of this Saint, which is kept there,

was brought by the foreigners, who came together to the

glorious expedition of the year 1147, in which

the city was recovered from the Saracens; hoping through

his intercession for victory over the barbarians.

Wherefore the magnanimous and holy King, D.

Alfonso son of Henry, conceived such affection toward him,

that near the said Convent he erected a chapel for him

with a cemetery, thence

called of S. Antidius; in a chapel of his name, where are buried the illustrious

knights and noble champions, who fell there

by the darts or swords of the Saracens, who commonly as

true Martyrs are venerated. It is certain that

by the mediation of this image, until today many and

manifest miracles God works, especially

upon those suffering fever and vexed with cough; since already

from the beginning many recovered health,

by a draught of that crystalline water, which in

the aforesaid cemetery flows.

[3] That Convent, as the same Cardoso among the Annotations

says, with Relics of his garments, is of the Regular Canons:

and there the image kept for more than five centuries

still retains the same vivacity

of colors, with which it was brought from Gaul,

six palms high, and showing the Saint in episcopal

habit with mitre and crozier. The same

Sacerdotal vestments of his, (which, or parts of which, it is fitting

were likewise brought by the Burgundians) carried round

through the houses of the sick, work innumerable

miracles. Under the choir, which is situated

behind the greater chapel, there is a certain kind

of catacomb, after the completion of the whole work

to be further adorned, where are kept the bones of those slain

in the recovery of the city, whom repeatedly

the brief Chronicle of that very Convent calls Martyrs,

printed by command of John III, and with a cemetery of the soldiers slain in the battle

and so before the year 1557. These lay in

of S. Antidius; and this seems to be the cemetery

of which our Chronicles speak: in

whose foundations the first stone laid D.

John Peculiaris, the Archbishop; by this

religious ceremony obliging the foreigners, to

leave there the miraculous image of him,

to whom the feast according to the Gallican use is made on June 17,

when he underwent martyrdom in the year

425, as is to be seen in the Ms. Life which

is had at the end of the Chronicle, folios 33 and 34, and

whence on the feast day under a double rite are taken

the Lessons at Matins.

[4] In the old Missal there is thus noted, On the sixth

before the Ides of November the feast of the Martyrs Henry

and his companions, who are venerated on November 8. whose Relics are in the monastery

of S. Vincent of Lisbon. Then therefore

from those very Chronicles a fuller description will be given of that

church, and of the cult shown there formerly to those as Saints:

now to have touched on these things here is enough.