ON S. LUPERCIUS OR LUPERCULUS,
MARTYR AMONG THE ELUSATES IN NOVEMPOPULANIA,
TRANSLATED TO THE DIOCESE OF S. PAPULUS IN GALLIA NARBONENSIS.
UNDER THE EMPEROR DECIUS.
CRITICAL COLLECTION.
On his age, cult, and distinction from S. Lupercus, Martyr of Saragossa.
Lupercius or Luperculus, Martyr among the Elusates in Novempopulania (S.)
BHL Number: 5072
BY THE AUTHOR D. P.
The outermost Province of Gaul toward Spain to the West,
called anciently by the name of
Novempopulania,
once venerated as its Metropolis
Elusa, in Claudian frequently with the penultimate
shortened Elysa, commonly called Euse;
now a small town, the Metropolitan dignity having been transferred
to Augusta of the Ausci, Elusa formerly metropolis of Novempopulania, commonly, Auch.
Certain old Acta write the Bishop "Elosanus" and "Elosanensis,"
concerning whom see William Catel learnedly discoursing,
in his Memoirs of Languedoc,
that is of Occitania, page 445; where from the Catalogues
of that Church he thus recounts the first Bishops of that city,
so that after Paternus and Servandus, third is mentioned
Luperculus; and on the following pages he cites Scaliger's
Notes on Ausonius, asserting that of this Saint, commonly
called Saint Louberc, Patron of the same church of Elosa,
the Life was read by him in an ancient manuscript on the Lives of the Saints
of Aquitaine; among the first Bishops it had S. Lupercius, perhaps the same which
Ferrarius, in the General Catalogue of those who are not inscribed in the Roman
Martyrology, cites in his Notes,
as to be found in the Library of the Dominicans
of Toulouse.
[2] From this, or from the same source, Peter, Bishop
of S. Papulus, took that Epitome, which,
together with the eulogies of the other Saints resting in that diocese,
whose Life contracted into an Epitome, under the attestations of three Canons, and
the authentic faith of the Vicar General, made in the year 1682,
P. Peter Possinus of pious
memory sent us from Toulouse. But there were of the same name and surname
de Crosso, there successively brothers german (which
you may wonder) two Bishops, of whom the former, from the Limoges
monastery of S. Martial, through various grades promoted to
that Cathedra in the year 1376, seems
soon to have applied his mind to illustrating the sanctuaries
of his diocese. For scarcely had two years passed from his ordination,
when to the Archbishopric of Bourges,
and finally to that of Arles, and to the Cardinalitial
Purple under Clement VII the Antipope he passed; but to his first
spouse the see he left many books, among which
seems to have been that Ms., in which concerning S. Lupercius
it is read thus:
[3] Likewise there rests in the same diocese (of S. Papulus)
the body of S. Lupercius the Martyr, it says that he was at Saragossa by Dacianus or the greater part
of the body, translated to the convent of Friars Minor of Castelnau
d'Arry; commonly Châtelneau
d'Arry, about two leagues from the city to the west.
At Saragossa born of noble parents,
full of virtues, he grew in the Lord; mighty
in chastity, glittering with miracles in his life, iron
heated with fire he lifted with his hands without injury, the blind
he obtained from God to be enlightened, untiringly his body
he macerated, a paralytic he cured, many to the faith
of Christ he drew. Whose fruit not
able to bear, Dacianus the Governor, persecutor of the Christians;
that the Lord's harvest might be swallowed up from the parts
of Spain, the most blessed Lupercius himself,
against the edict of the Emperor Diocletian and of Dacianus
his minister, in the midst of the deadly sacrifices,
offered to the idol of Apollo by the Governor and the Pagans,
crying out, to the consolation of the Christians
groaning… Dacianus made him
to be hanged on the rack, his viscera to be torn with iron claws, dreadfully tortured,
to walk outside the city with a glowing iron helmet
upon sharp iron spikes with bare feet,
to be beaten with scourges, to be pounded with a hammer. But the most invincible
soldier of Christ, amid so many torments,
called upon God, and again at Eluzona in Gascony, and the Angels assisting him for
the mitigation of his pains. Whose constancy the Pagans
seeing, many, with Anatolius the Master
of the soldiers, were converted to the faith. At Helyzona,
like cold water he vomited, the stinking smoke
applied to his nostrils he bore: by whose breath
into the abyss the idols with the demons were swallowed up.
At length on the fourth day of the Kalends of July, in
the same city, by the command of Dacianus struck with the sword, happily
he fell asleep in the Lord. the body brought into the diocese of S. Papulus. In the course of time
part of his members was conveyed to the now deserted church
of S. Columba, of the diocese of Mirepoix,
and thence to the aforesaid Convent was translated,
where to those honoring it great rewards will be given by God.
[4] Of S. Saturninus, Apostle of the people of Toulouse, to be commemorated on the 29th of November,
There Eluzona is wrongly confounded with Elusa Hadrian Valesius cites the Passion and certain old Acta
in his Notice of the Gauls,
where mention is made of Elyzona, and he thinks this to be the Elusio
Mansion, which in the old Itinerary from Bordeaux to
Jerusalem is placed between the city
of Toulouse and the Castle of Carcassonne, distant from Carcassonne
33 thousand paces: at which interval
precisely the topographical map of Occitania or Languedoc
places the village of Luzes, so that it cannot be doubted
that there was the aforesaid Mansion. But in the Acta
of S. Saturninus, such as they are, not any Mansion, but
in present-day Gascony, four times farther distant from Toulouse
toward the West than the aforesaid Mansion is distant from the same place
toward the East. I hold therefore the passion of S. Luperculus
or Lupercius to be ascribed to this, not to that place;
and I judge that, on occasion of the barbarian incursions through Western
Aquitaine, the body or part of the body was
translated into the province of Narbonne, first
indeed to Mirepoix, one of the new Episcopal Sees
instituted by John XXII, to the church
perhaps Metropolitan sacred to S. Mauritius; then
to the aforesaid Convent, five leagues toward
the North removed.
[5] Nor do I doubt that from the already related Acta of the Toulouse Ms.,
such as they are, Saussajus received and
inserted into the supplement of his Gallican Martyrology
Gascony at the city of the Elosates, the Passion of S.
Luperculus the Martyr. He, a native of Saragossa,
illumined with the Christian faith, in his very boyhood already
glittering with divine prodigies, that he might flee glory,
sought the desert: whence drawn away, and for the dignity of his lineage
(from which he had nobly issued), to the secular
military service enrolled, and with his age and strength increasing,
set over a numerous band of armed men;
when Dacianus, the cruel Governor, against the worshippers of Christ
raged with atrocious terrors as well as torments,
he came forth openly, to contend for the Christian faith:
and, the tyrant being rebuked, the images of the false deities mocked,
and the rites of the nefarious superstition; for the proclamation
of the piety he asserted, bound with fetters,
hung on the rack, lacerated with claws,
compelled to tread iron spikes with bare feet,
and tortured with horrid torments; all these
overcome by Angelic comfort, at length
triumphing, with many prodigies of the divine power assisting him;
his neck bravely given, not so much for the striking,
as for the crown, exulting he flew
to the reward.
[6] Nothing here of the Episcopal dignity, with which
S. Luperculus or Lupercius among the Sammarthani
in volume 1 of Gallia Christiana, page 96, is ascribed to the Archbishops
of Elusa, but without the title of Bishop, third after Ceratius and Paternus,
the holy guardian and Patron of the church of Elusa,
who in this city is said to have suffered under Decius,
as it is in the Lives of the Aquitanian Martyrs written by a very ancient
and most elegant Author, which
are cited by Joseph Scaliger, book 2, chapter 7, on the Ausonian
Readings. from which Acta the Sammarthani use, Yet those also recognize ancient
records, who, Luperculus being expunged, insert
Optatus and Pompidianus. Less also
do I understand, why the same Sammarthani (unless they found other Acta than those which
we have produced, cited by Scaliger) name Decius
the Emperor, under whom the Saint suffered,
about the year of Christ 250, instead of Dacianus, Governor of Spain
in the year 303.
[7] To one considering all things meanwhile it seems better
to leave his own S. Lupercus to Saragossa and to the other
Martyrs of Saragossa, confounding him with S. Lupercus, Bishop of Saragossa, of whom from Prudentius I treated
on the 16th day of April; and to give, as older than that one, S. Luperculus
for this day to the Elusates as a Martyr, not however a Bishop,
since not even to themselves is this certain. But as
concerns the kinds of manifold torture applied to the Saint,
I fear lest in exaggerating these the credulity of the later writers,
lacking true Acta, and following only the traditions of their elders,
wont rather to add than to subtract,
has indulged itself somewhat more: as also John
Tamayus abused Saussajus, when, extending the anchoresis first asserted by
him, he said that the Saint
from boyhood inhabited the desert, where many into
his company he drew as disciples. So minds
prone to embellish narratives, almost always to what is found
add something. more probably of an Elusate Martyr other [than Lupercus,] But how often it happens that on account of
the affinity of names something is transferred from one
to another Saint without any certain foundation, which
here seems to have been done, in ascribing the Saragossan origin and Dacianus
the Governor to Luperculus of Elusa, we are taught by most frequent
examples in this work, and are compelled
mostly to suspect falsity.
[8] one of the Patrons of the people of S. Papulus, The aforepraised Bishop Peter ends that little
work of his, on five Saints in the same diocese; namely Papulus,
occurring on the 1st of October; Berengarius,
praised by us on the 26th of May; the two Maidens,
instructed by S. Saturninus, whose feast is observed on the 16th
of November; S. Lupercius aforesaid; and B. Raymund
the Knight, whose body rests at Puy de Siuran of the Order
of Jerusalem, I know not to what day
to refer it. He ends, I say, the Bishop Peter that little work,
with a commemoration of the marvels which are in the same
diocese: of which the first he reckons the rock of
Nauroza, which formerly is said to have lain open threefold to a horseman;
but now offers passage to none, the ridges
joined together; and that as a sign of modesty now exiled
from the world; the other on the contrary memorable thing is the monastery
of the Virgins of Prouille, under the Rule of S.
Augustine instituted by S. Dominic, the Chamber of the Mother of God
called: then concluding; I, says he, Peter, with whom deserve to be reckoned the Virgins of the monastery of Prouille.
unworthy Bishop of S. Papulus, having frequently experienced their purity
and merits, bear testimony,
before God and the whole world,
flattery ceasing, to be given for my most dear daughters.
Wherefore if the bodies of the Saints, with whom from
the neighboring cemeteries we are to rise again; by their own household
with proclamations of praise we have judged to be noted;
we can the glorious Virgins, in countenance and
works Angelic in life described, with glittering
fame in the beauty of virtue, as patronesses
magnify, whose memory remains in holy blessing
glorious. Thus far he, I know not
whether rather to be believed the uncle of his namesake successor in the Bishopric of S. Papulus,
than his brother; inasmuch as he died, and that
in advanced age, as from the various offices he held seems to follow,
in the year 1388, as is read in his Epitaph among the Sammarthani in the Archbishops of Bourges;
while the other survived until the year 1412.
[9] These things now being prepared for the press, while for S. Martial,
Apostle of the people of Limoges, Acta, seen by the author of the Epitome and by Saussajus, to be illustrated on the 30th day of this month,
I turn over more carefully the book of Histories
of Gallican History, by Francis Bosquet, a most learned
man, edited with the appendix of the second Part; among
the ancient Lives of the Saints, there for proof
or judgment collected, from manuscript Codices I find
on page 161 the Life or Passion of S. Lupercius the Martyr,
who was of wondrous beatitude in Life, and
of perfect virtue in combat; and he suffered in the city of Helisona,
in the province of Gaul, on the 4th of the Kalends
of July. Treating of this Life, the same Bosquet on page
159, book 4 of the part or volume 1, chapter 13, His Acta,
he says, written in elegant style, Scaliger says he read,
in his Notes on Ausonius: though they are given as apocryphal by Bosquet. which we do not judge to be the same as
these, which from a Ms. Codex we publish.
But why not? The style certainly, for that rude
age in which they were written, the 13th or 14th century (for neither
do they seem to be reckoned more ancient), is elegant enough.
Why therefore not? I believe, because they are so insipidly
contrived, that a learned man, such as Scaliger was, could not
approve them. But it is one thing to praise the style, another to praise the thing
itself described by the style: another certainly did not
see Peter, Bishop of S. Papulus, and Saussajus,
whose Epitome taken thence we have given above. That this
may appear more clearly, I will not be loath to insert the Acta themselves here,
as apocryphal, and in the appended Censures and
Notes to demonstrate them such.
ACTA LESS APPROVED,
Published from a Ms. by Francis Bosquet.
Lupercius or Luperculus, Martyr among the Elusates in Novempopulania (S.)
BHL Number: 5071
FROM BOSQUET.
[1] Precious to the Lord and awaited are the combats of the Martyrs,
The Author excuses his own slenderness, trusting in God. which are worthy for the dignity
of their miracles to be written: but yet
without trembling of fortitude they cannot
be begun to be written: because when the undertaking of great
things is considered, it is no wonder
if the multitude of the work to be taken up be feared:
and although by slender speech it cannot be explained,
how much of itself the truth of the passion declares, yet there is set down
the purpose of the matter itself, though to contain it
is arduous, and may seem to have a beginning, and in this
to have something of trembling it is said: but it is hoped
that by the supreme Maker, and divine instruction,
the beginning of the one beginning may be formed, and by the persistence
of talent be brought to its effect.
[2] This most blessed Lupercius therefore, born in
the city of Caesar-Augusta Saragossa, born at Saragossa of middling parents,
but in merits exalted, was humble on earth, in
the heavens chosen, to whom this was the distinguished light of nobility,
to serve Christ without fault; and not
swelling with pride of family, but having ornaments of
character; and not taking from parental
praise vainglory, but giving thanks in virtues,
by example entering the supreme example, the treasure
of the Lord retaining, with a clean heart embracing
it, but also with Christ poor he reigned
in the converse of humility, in the richness
of charity, in the light of chastity, in the fatness
of the divine precepts; and thus he gave himself wholly to the Lord's
discipline, that from his very infancy he drew near to the Lord;
and placed in the body, as if
he bore nothing of the flesh. With this instruction therefore the most blessed one
being girt, and great by venerable works,
the guilt of the world trodden down, to be initiated with divine arms drew near, and Lupercius, holily educated,
with happy arts to the palm, won from the public
enemy, to be exercised in the warfare of Christ,
in the temple of Christ first a voluntary
sacrifice and devout, namely the victim of the offering
of pure flesh, by the genius of a pure mind he renders to God, more renowned
in mind than in name, and greater in merit than
in rank, without offence performing his office.
And he desired to grow in merit, and what he had received
to augment, by whose hidden deed sooner, as in
did Christ suffer his gifts long to be hidden in him,
which had come from above, and by him humbly
seemed to be embraced.
[3] bidden to lift glowing iron with his hand, At length, while he was still exercising the apprenticeship of the Christians,
by miracles his virtue is betrayed, and
by heavenly signs is made illustrious. For he himself, coming
on a certain occasion to the smith's work, a glowing mass of iron
drawn out of the burning furnace, despised
by the craftsman, is compelled to lift the kindled iron with his hand,
and to declare of what weight it was.
Then the most blessed man Lupercius, not unaware,
that, although he was mighty in true virtues, does it unharmed and defines the weight. he was
ready to obey all: forthwith his hand being placed under
(so much did he presume of Christ) he lifted the iron higher,
saying: With heat, it is hot, but it has nine
pounds weight, which afterward to have so much only, in
the balance was found, as his free voice had foretold;
and so in one kind he propagated a double miracle,
since neither did the heat of the fire injure, nor had the weight
of the iron deceived. At length, his vices broken, in himself
he had no vapor of lust, who so freely long
bore the burnings: for he who conquered the element of fire,
before extinguished the flames of the flesh; and that in the very
weighing he might prove the weight of the iron, this was of the divine
virtue, that the unbelieving people might rather believe
Lupercius to be a servant of God. And so when he was
ten years old, coming to the city of Oloron,
he found there five blind men, At ten years he enlightens 5 blind men at Oloron, who from the years
of their birth had never seen, and sat
at alms daily. But when the Saint saw them weeping
before the gate, with spittle he anointed their eyes,
and they were enlightened by the prayer and belief
of holy Lupercius. Then the multitude of the people
signed themselves with the sign of the Lord, and believed
in God, because they saw the mighty deeds which the Lord Jesus
wrought in the virtue of his servant Lupercius;
and that of those who from birth the light
had not seen, by the prayer of his servant their eyes were opened.
[4] But when he was twelve years old, he longed for the desert,
and there, his body afflicted, at twelve he sought the desert, long
he served God. Afterward he was taken and chained, and thence
returned, and came to the city of Helisona,
upon the river Gelisa; where there was a serpent, which
was called Echina, for fear of whom for four and
and it was in the caverns of the mountains and
rocks. But the holy one of God Lupercius said
to the bystanders of the city; Let us go to the serpent,
and cast it out of the field which it possesses. To
which when S. Lupercius had come, it went out, he frees Helisona from the serpent. and wished
to seize him. Then the holy one of God, praying,
against the serpent took his stole, with which
he was clothed, and bound it about its neck,
and dragged it as far as the river Gelisa, and
charged it to touch no bank of the river,
until it should enter the sea. Then the multitude
of the people praising God, knew
that grace in his servant Lupercius had been
revealed, by showing so great a virtue against
years old, there came to him a paralytic, whose name
was Astericus, having from 28 years much
leprosy: for whom S. Lupercius prayed two hours,
and signed him with the sign of the Cross, and kissing him
said: Stand upon thy feet. In the same hour he stood, and
was made whole. Behold how S. Lupercius in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ wrought
many good things, whence many believed in the Lord
Jesus Christ our Saviour. But
yet few things are written, for still greater
are his virtues, than here are written.
[5] In that time the devil seized the Governor
Dacianus, a citizen of Helisona; Dacianus about to rage against the Christians, who reigned over
fourteen Sees. Then he sent an edict throughout
all the land, that all the Senators should assemble
in one. But when there had been gathered
seventy Senators, he sitting on the tribunal,
and all the Princes and soldiers around
him standing, of whom there was no number, ordered
Dacianus himself that all the iron torments which
they had prepared for the Christians, before the sight of the people
should be brought, that all who should see the works of the torments,
should fear to offend the Governor. They brought
therefore the swords arranged and sharp, he sets forth the instruments of torment.
frying-pans, cauldrons, most sharp saws, harsh shackles,
iron hooks, iron helmets, and many other
torments, of which there was no number, and
he began to say: If anyone shall contradict, so as not to sacrifice
to our Gods, I will cut out his tongue, and his eyes
I will pluck out, his ears I will stop up, his jaws I will pull apart, his teeth
I will tear out, his brain from his head I will scatter, his arms
I will pull off, his neck I will pound, his shins and feet
I will cut, and even the upper parts of his body to the worms
I will deliver. Which heard, many who were thinking
to believe in God, seeing the torments set forth,
for fear were turned away, so that almost none
said, I am a Christian.
[6] Whence when an inestimable people had been gathered;
The Saint presents himself to him, having renounced all, behold the holy one of God Lupercius, seeing
many Senators and Princes of Dacianus gathered,
blaspheming Christ, and the demons
adoring, all his gold, and whatever in the world
he had obtained, distributed to the poor, and put off
the cloak with which he was girt, and casting
it on the ground, within himself began to say. The devil
has blinded the eyes of those, that they may not know
God. For the holy one of God Lupercius himself was
much gold, and had come to Dacianus,
that with him he might proceed. But standing in
the midst of the people, he began with a loud voice to say: Thy images
cut down, O Governor, because they avail nothing,
because they are not Gods whom thou adorest, but the works
of the hands of men. The Gods who made not heaven
and earth, let them perish. But hearing
his voice, the Governor made silence, and looking on him
said: Thou, man, not only doest injury, but
also commandest the gods: these are they to whom one ought to give
thanks. Therefore now enter, and sacrifice to Apollo,
who contains all the earth, and governs
the world. Tell me, however, of what city art thou,
and what is thy name, or for what cause hast thou
come hither? S. Lupercius answered: I by men
am called Lupercius, and in Christ a Christian
I am; but generally at Saragossa
to Christ, I do well with him. Again said
the Governor, Enter, that thou mayest sacrifice to great Apollo.
S. Lupercius said, I will not sacrifice
to demons. Be ashamed, Governor, since they are not
gods, but are deaf and dumb works of men,
fashioned by hand.
[7] Then the angry Governor ordered him to be hanged on the rack,
and therefore he is variously tortured. and to be tormented with claws, so that his intestines
were burst, and these punishments faithfully in Christ
he sustained. Then he ordered him to be taken down, and outside the city
to be led: and through four parts the flesh
fell from his body destroyed, which
with a rough hair-cloth he ordered to be wiped off. Again he applied to him
an iron helmet, and ordered him unshod to be led upon
spikes, and the blood flowed down from his feet,
as from a fountain. Again he ordered him to enter the city,
and seeing that no torments prevailed against him,
he ordered to be made a great little altar, and his neck
with sharp nails to be pierced from within, and with one iron
sharp point his sinews to be plucked out; and seeing that those
torments did not harm him, he ordered him to be taken down,
and with an iron hammer his head to be pounded, until his brain
through his nostrils dripped, and he the more in
Christ was comforted. Then he ordered him into prison
to be thrust, comforted by Christ appearing, and in a narrow stocks to be stretched. Again
the Governor ordered a column which scarcely ten and
eight men carried, to be set upon his belly: and
while he was in custody, he blessed the Lord,
who comforted his soul and members, that
he might conquer the enemy the devil. And behold a light
most bright shone in the custody: but in the same night
the Lord appeared to him, saying: Be comforted,
Lupercius, fail not, since I am with thee.
By myself I swear, and by my Angels and by
my power, that among those born of women
there is none greater than John the Baptist, who intercedes
for thee. Be strong in the truth, and do not fail,
since I am with thee, and I will not forsake
thee; and immediately the Lord ascended into heaven. The holy
Lupercius did not cease to entreat the Lord;
nor did he see it through sleep, for this vision
had appeared to him, the light being made daylight. and again and a third time tortured,
[8] Then the Governor ordered the holy one of God to be brought forth
from the prison, and to come before his sight,
and he was singing to the Lord, saying: God, to my help
attend, Lord, to help
me make haste. But entering to the Governor he said
to him: Be thou with Apollo, I am with God
whom I invoke. Again the Governor ordered him to be stretched
and scourged, and beaten he received on his back a hundred
stripes, and on his belly forty, and the Governor wrote
If any magician shall be able to undo the magic arts of the Christians,
let him come to me, and I will give him two hundred
pounds of gold, and six hundred of silver, and many
possessions, and he shall be second in my Kingdom.
Then holy Lupercius with a loud voice cried out
saying: Lord Jesus Christ, who didst deign
to descend from heaven to earth, free all,
who by the devil are held, and free my soul,
and give me the seal, that I may be worthy to enter the gates
of Paradise. Seeing therefore the Governor the Saint praying,
ordered him to be beaten by the lictors, and again
to be detained in custody. But on another day the Governor ordered
and in the midst of it S. Lupercius he commanded to be put.
Then one of the Princes, whose name
was George, seeing the magana, and applied to the wheel, and the wheel turning
and roaring, within himself began to say:
Thinkest thou to be freed from this torment? Then looking on
him the Lord said to him: Lupercius, be mindful
of the time, in which Christ between two thieves
was crucified. And looking up to heaven he said to him:
I am mindful, Lord, of thy command; and he said:
Lord Jesus Christ, whose dominion remains
unto the age of the age, crown of those who praise thee,
strength of those who endure, fortitude of believers, life of those
who hope, helper, succor me in this tribulation.
Thou, Lord, before thou madest heaven and
earth, thou thyself art, whose spirit over the waters
was borne and rested, and no one of men
saw thy Majesty, nor can see it;
with perpetual wisdom thou didst found heaven, and filledst the clouds,
who rainest upon the just and the unjust.
Lord, who didst create heaven and earth, and the mountains
by thy virtue didst magnify, he invokes Christ: who commandest the assembly
of the winds, and those who believed not
in thee, into tartarus didst deliver. Lord God,
who in the later time didst send us thine only
son, whom within the chamber of Mary's womb,
by thy mercy thou didst enclose, which no one
of men can understand; who didst walk
upon the waters of the sea, and thy footsteps appeared
not on the sea; who from five loaves five
thousand men didst satisfy; now hear me, Lord,
and hasten, that thou mayest snatch me from the pains
which have surrounded me, because in thee my soul
trusts, to whom is glory unto the ages of the ages,
Amen.
[9] The prayer being completed, he was put into the wheel
and the magana fastened tight. Hence the Master of the soldiers, seeing nothing harmed But the Governor lifting
himself up, said to all his Princes: You see
that there is no other God, but Apollo and Hercules,
and Diana, and Athena, and Amandorus, and
Ypoculus, and Neptune, who hold the heavens in their palm,
through whom Kings reign, and the powerful
obtain Kingdoms. And he added: Where is thy God,
Lupercius, Christ the crucified, whom Pilate and
the Jews slew? Why does he not come, to free
thee from my hands? And immediately the Lord came
into the midst, and said: Thinkest thou, I can
free thee from this magana, that they may believe and trust
and know, with his whole army is converted. that thou art my servant,
Lupercius? Behold the hand which fashioned
the first-formed Adam, it itself will give thee endurance:
and B. Lupercius was comforted. But seeing,
one of the soldiers, Anatolius by name, who was
Master of the soldiers, that the servant of God all
the torments for Christ had sustained, believed with
all his army, crying out, Lupercius, servant
of Christ, we also believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ the crucified, who can free us
from this peril. But hearing this, the Governor ordered them
to be cast outside the city, into a desert place; and setting
them in a precipice, After the molten lead, the sign
of Christ being made by them, he ordered them to be struck. Then he ordered
S. Lupercius to come before his sight, and
he ordered lead to be melted, and the mouth of the venerable
Lupercius to be opened, and it to be poured in; which became
as cold as water, and he felt nothing of evil. Then
the Governor ordered him to be loosed, and fiery nails into his head
to be fixed, and a great carved stone
to his head he applied, and so ordered him to be rolled.
And by the command of the Lord every kind of punishment was plucked out,
and the lead like water became cold,
and no wound on the Saint appeared. Which
seeing, Dacianus the Governor, was angry, and ordered
him from the head downward to be hung, and on his neck
to be applied. Which done, the Governor ordered a bronze ox
to be brought, a bronze ox, etc. and fixed in it most sharp iron nails,
and within it the Saint he put, that his members
might be burst, and become as dust:
but he within gave thanks to God.
[10] Which seen, the Governor ordered the Saint to be cast out thence,
and into custody to be put, comforted by a nightly visitation of God and with an iron sinew to be bound,
until he should devise how to destroy him,
because no torment prevailed against him. But in the same
night, in the custody God appeared to him,
and said to him: Be comforted, Lupercius, fear not
whatever torment shall be added to thee;
for I am with thee. Be comforted in virtue, and
in true confession. And saying this, the Lord ascended
into heaven. But he did not cease to say,
I give thee thanks, Lord my God, since
thou hast appeared to me. Then the Governor ordered him to be brought,
and between maganas to be thrust back, and strongly to be bound,
and on his head a saw to be put and to saw, that more easily
his members might be burst: but he
the more in Christ was comforted, and the Lord said
to him: Be comforted, fail not, since
I am with thee in all thy passion. he enlightens a blind boy, To whom
to me a son blind, deaf and paralytic,
and behold I am confounded before my neighbors; but if by
thy prayer my son shall be saved, I will believe
in thy God. Seeing therefore the holy one of God the faith
of the woman, he said to her; Bring me thy son,
and taking the infant he placed him upon
his knees, and laying his hand on him he prayed to
the Lord, and the prayer being completed he breathed into
his eyes, and immediately they were opened, and sight
he received; and the woman said to him: O servant of God, grant
that he also may hear and walk; and S. Lupercius
said to her: It suffices him: for his walking shall not
be known, until the day when I shall have called him:
then he shall hear the voice of the Lord, and shall come to me.
And the woman spoke to him no more: for she feared
him, because she saw his face like an Angel
of God.
[11] But the Governor began to walk about in his palace,
and looking back he saw the Saint standing in a wonderful
sign, and a multitude of the people around him:
who, the sign of Christ being made, struck the earth with his foot, and converts many;
and there went forth a fountain of living water, and he baptized them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; and
they entered with him into the city. There were baptized
then by S. Lupercius one thousand six hundred and eight,
who immediately believed in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and entering to the Governor they said:
Be thou with Apollo, and we with our Lord
Jesus Christ. And looking at the holy ones of God,
the Governor was troubled like a lion, and ordered them
to be hung by the feet, and to be struck with the sword. Crowned
were they all in the name of the Lord through holy Lupercius.
Then the Governor said to the holy one
of God: By the sun and the seventy and eight
gods, and their mother Diana, I adjure thee, he despises the flatteries,
consent to me, son Lupercius, as to a father, and sacrifice
to Apollo, who contains all the earth, and
thou shalt be free from horrific torments. The holy one
of God said to him; Where were these gentle words hidden?
So long a time in thy hands I am, and
to various torments thou hast delivered me. For also through thee
the grace of my God I acquired, and all, who in
my God believed; but gentle speeches,
and sweet words from thee until now I have not heard.
Or art thou ignorant, Governor, that the race of the Christians
is immortal, and against all the torments of the devil
resists, enduring all? Why dost thou persuade me
to sacrifice to thy Apollo, and to do thy
will? Feigning that he will sacrifice:
[12] … Then the Governor was made glad, and
began to kiss his head. But holy Lupercius
did not permit it, saying: Such is not the custom
of the city of Helisona, I will first sacrifice to the gods,
and so thou shalt kiss my head. And again he said
to the Governor: Thou art sickly, and the sun will decline;
I cannot today sacrifice to thy gods; but
command me today into custody to be thrust back, that tomorrow
I may sacrifice to the gods. The Governor answered: Thou shalt not be in
custody to be delivered to punishments, but for these stripes,
which I ordered to be laid on thee, pardon me, as thy
father. Then the servant of God bent his knees, and prayed
saying: What God is great, like our God?
thou art the God who doest wonders. Then he said to the Governor,
Gather all the elders and princes with thee,
and I will stand in thy palace, I and the Priests
of the gods, and all the army of the soldiers, that all
may see when I shall have sacrificed to Apollo. Then
the Governor commanded the herald, that he should cry with a loud voice
saying: Assemble, all peoples, to the temple
of the gods, he is rebuked by the mother of the enlightened blind boy, because Lupercius the servant of Christ
will sacrifice to the great God Apollo. Which the woman
hearing, whose son had been born blind, and by
the prayer of S. Lupercius enlightened, forthwith
disheveled the hairs of her head, and tore her garments;
and lifting up her son, she passed along crying
with a loud voice, and saying: Woe to thee, Lupercius, who
didst raise the dead, and enlighten the blind, and heal the lame, and many good things didst work against
the enemy: how dost thou wish to sacrifice to Apollo,
turning away all the peoples, who desired to believe
in the name of Jesus Christ the Saviour? May God not permit
this to be done. and he raises up that paralytic. Woe to thee, devil, and to thy
works! But the Saint hearing the voice of the woman,
silence being made, called her to himself, and said:
Set the infant before me. And he said to the infant: Christ,
who enlightened the hidden things of darkness,
he commands thee, that thou stand upon thy feet; and
come, and speak to all.
[13] In the same hour rising the infant came to the servant
of God, and he said to him: To thee I say, boy, enter
into the temple of the pagans, and say to the idol
of Apollo: To thee says the servant of Christ, go out quickly.
And the boy entering into the temple, through whom the demon, bidden to be present in his idol, said to the idol:
To thee I say, idol deaf and blind, and
dumb; deception and ruin of the souls
believing in thee; Lupercius the servant of Christ calls thee. And
Apollo began to cry out: O Jesus the Nazarene, all
to thyself thou hast drawn, and now against me thou hast made manifest an infant
of three years. Whence is this, that such a boy
should enter to me? The idol, coming, stood
before the servant of God. S. Lupercius said to it:
Art thou the God of the Pagans? The idol answered;
Dost thou not know, Lupercius, that I am? Bear with
me one hour, and I will declare to thee all things. And the servant of God said
to it; Whatever thou wilt, say.
The idol answered, and said; How did God
create heaven and earth, plant Paradise
to the East, and say, Let us make man to
our image and likeness? But also our Prince
was cast down from heaven, and we all
with him, because he said in his heart; Into heaven I will ascend,
and above the stars I will exalt my throne;
I will sit in the side of the North, I will reign in the clouds,
and I will be like the Most High. Therefore the angry Lord
took away from us our glory, he confesses his own impotence. and cast us
like rain upon the face of the earth; and therefore we were made
the least of all creatures, and on
this account I remain in those statues; and if I can seduce
anyone, this is gain to me. S. Lupercius
said: Wretch, since thou art a most wretched creature,
and by thy own merit art damned, why dost thou deceive
the minds of men, and hast wished to make them stray from the truth?
I will send thee into hell; and thou shalt be there until
the day of judgment, when thou shalt render account
before the tribunal of Christ. And entering into the temple,
he breathed upon the idol of Hercules, The Saint, the other idols being scattered in a heap, and the statues of all
the images, and they became as dust.
Again he said: Go, all you gods of the Pagans, into perdition,
and nowhere appear. Then the demons
roaring began to flee, saying; Great
is the God of the Christians, who can snatch
those believing in him from tribulation.
[14] And therefore the Priests of the Pagans, confounded
vehemently, is beheaded. and lifting the holy one of God, brought him
before the governor, and made known the perdition
of their gods, how into the lower
hell he had sent them. Therefore the Governor said to S.
Lupercius: Hardened is thy heart, as I see,
Lupercius, because thou wilt not adore our gods:
wherefore I order thee outside the city by the apparitors
to be led, and to undergo capital sentence…
… on the 4th day of the Kalends of July, our Lord
Jesus Christ reigning, together with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, unto the ages of the ages. Amen.
NOTES BY D. P.
p Here again something seems to have dropped out, namely, "But S. Lupercius suffered."
* or dost thou reproach? and he professes himself a Christian,