CONCERNING THE HOLY ROMAN MARTYRS CONSTANTIUS AND FAUSTUS, AT COLOGNE.
Historical Commentary
transmitted by Jacob Kritzradt, Priest of the Society of Jesus.
St. Constantius, Roman Martyr, at Cologne.
St. Faustus, Roman Martyr, at Cologne.
[1] Not far from St. Sebastian outside the walls of Rome, one enters into a subterranean crypt, commonly called the Cemetery of St. Callistus, above whose entrance this inscription is read, as Bosio writes in his Roma Sotterranea: This cemetery of the blessed Callistus, Pope and renowned Martyr — whoever shall enter it contrite and confessed will obtain full remission of all his sins, through the glorious merits of one hundred and seventy-four thousand holy Martyrs, together with forty-six Pontiffs, whose bodies are buried there in peace; who all came out of great tribulation, From the Cemetery of St. Callistus, and in order to become heirs in the house of the Lord, endured the punishment of death for the name of Christ. That part of the cemetery which is beneath the church of St. Sebastian has an easy exit, and many bodies rest there, but without name. Very many altars are also seen here and there along the way, and small chapels where sacred rites were once performed, and one must walk well stooped over, and employ many candles, since no light from the sun reaches there. Into the other part of the cemetery, however, from which the bodies of our two Martyrs were unearthed, no one may enter without special permission, nor does anyone dare without a most experienced guide, on account of the countless turnings and the length of the passages, which run all the way to the Tyrrhenian Sea, about two and a half miles distant. The cemetery lies more or less on level ground. Those who wish may read more about this cemetery in the Roma Sotterranea, most recently printed in Latin in two volumes at Rome.
[2] Balthasar Ballonius, a Religious of the Society of Jesus, received a privilege indirectly indeed from the Pope, but directly from the Most Eminent Cardinal Ginetti, Vicar General of His Holiness, granted in writing, whereby he was given the faculty to enter the aforesaid cemetery alone at his pleasure and to unearth whatever bodies he wished. Using that privilege, he extracted very many bodies of Saints, which were sent to various places. In the year 1645, in the month of May, Balthasar Ballonius, in the presence of several other outsiders, the bodies of Saints Constantius and Faustus were unearthed: and indeed in that very place where the previous year he had unearthed more than fifty bodies of saints to be distributed to various regions of the world, found a separate sarcophagus for each, Constantius and Faustus, composed of baked bricks and covered on the outside with lime, on which lime the name of each appeared to be inscribed. The sign of true martyrdom was a glass vessel with blood enclosed in each sarcophagus, which sign, unless it is found, no body is extracted. All the limbs together with the head were each placed in their proper positions.
All these things are excerpted from a letter of Father George Midderhoff sent from Rome on May 12 of the year 1646 to Father Hermann Crombach.
[3] This is established from the authentic instrument of the donation of the aforesaid bodies and of legal verification. The attestation of the Most Eminent Cardinal Ginetti, by which the sanctity of the two said bodies, unearthed from the Cemetery of St. Callistus as Roman Martyrs, is affirmed, runs as follows:
In the name of the Lord, Amen. By this present public instrument let it be clearly evident and known to all everywhere, that in the year from the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ one thousand six hundred and forty-six, of which matter this is the authentic approbation, in the fourteenth indiction, on the sixth day of the month of February, in the Pontificate of the Most Holy Father in Christ and Our Lord, the Lord Innocent, by Divine Providence Pope X, in his second year; whereas at another time, and in years past, Balthasar Ballonius, a Religious of the Society of Jesus, in recompense for his labors in extracting many and diverse sacred bodies of holy Martyrs from the Cemetery of Callistus of those who suffered in the City, received and obtained as a gift from the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Giovanni Battista Cardinal Alterio, then acting as vice-regent of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Vicar, certain bodies of those same holy Martyrs, and especially of the Saints Constantius and Faustus, Martyrs, with the faculty of donating them to other persons, sending them outside the City, and exposing them in churches, as he demonstrated through testimonial letters of said donation signed, as it appears, by the hand of the Most Eminent Lord Cardinal Alterio and sealed with his seal, which he showed to me the Notary and took back with him; and whereas the same Balthasar has until now kept the said bodies in his possession with the greatest veneration and reverence he could, and presently retains them, and wishing now to use and enjoy the faculty granted him as above, and to proceed to the donation made below, and so that the truth may always be apparent, to draw up a public instrument: Hence therefore it is that in the presence of me and the witnesses, personally present Balthasar Ballonius, who freely in every better manner, asserting and first and before all things, touching his breast as is customary, affirming that all and singular things narrated above were and are true, and that the aforesaid sacred bodies of holy Martyrs are the very same ones donated to him as above, donated, granted, and bestowed upon the Very Reverend Father Johannes Panhauss, Provincial of the Lower Rhine of the Society of Jesus, the aforesaid bodies of Saints Constantius and Faustus, for the purpose of exposing and placing them in the venerable Church of the College of Cologne of the said Society of Jesus, so that they may be devoutly and reverently venerated by the pious faithful; which sacred bodies the said Very Reverend Father Johannes received with the greatest devotion and reverence he could, and gave immortal thanks to the said Balthasar Ballonius the donor, present, and immediately in the presence of me and the undersigned witnesses placed and stored them in two square wooden caskets, each tied separately with a white cord, and each sealed in two places with the seal of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal Ginetti, Vicar of Our Most Holy Lord the Pope, and took them away with him, not only but in all respects upon which... Done at Rome in the professed house of the Society of Jesus, in the presence of the Very Reverend Lord Antonio Gerardo, Roman Priest, and the Very Reverend Father Ignatius Reichetto, Religious of the Society of Jesus, witnesses called, obtained, and requested for the aforesaid.
I, Leonardo de Leonardis, Roman citizen, public Notary of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord Cardinal, Vicar General of Our Most Holy Lord the Pope, requested concerning the foregoing, have subscribed and published the present instrument, attested in faith.
We, Marzio, Cardinal Priest of the title of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Ginetti, Vicar General of Our Most Holy Lord the Pope, and ordinary Judge of the Roman Curia and its district, make known and attest to all that the above-mentioned Leonardo de Leonardis, requested concerning the aforesaid, was and is a public Notary of our Curia, and such as he represents himself, and that full faith has always been and is presently given to his public writings and similar documents in and outside of court. In witness whereof... Given at Rome from our residence on this 8th day of February, 1646.
[4] In the year 1651, on March 14, after the relics of St. Gerold, which had come from Cremona, had been examined by the Most Reverend Lord Georg Strauius, two somewhat larger wooden caskets tied with a white cord were also opened, and on the first the name written on the outside was shown under these words: The Body of St. Constantius the Martyr. The same name, written inside on paper in the same words, was exhibited together with a glass vessel in which the blood of the Martyr was said to be preserved, but was now found to be completely congealed. In the other casket, of similar shape, material, and closure, more slender bones were found, which seemed to have belonged to some boy. The name of the same was written inside and outside, as in the above-mentioned casket, under these words: The Body of St. Faustus the Martyr. There was also found in it an earthen lamp together with the authentic instrument of donation mentioned above in section 3. When this had been read aloud in a clear and intelligible voice by the Notary Adenhewer, by command of the above-mentioned Most Reverend Lord Bishop of Joppa, to all and each of those present, these bones were shown to Dr. Bernhard Schulten, a most expert Doctor of Medicine, for him to give his opinion thereupon; who, having seen, inspected, and carefully examined them, likewise declared that they were human bones. And so the Most Reverend and Most Illustrious Lord Bishop of Joppa, aforesaid, pronounced and decreed that both bodies of the said Saints Constantius public veneration exhibited: and Faustus, Martyrs, according to the document set forth above in section 3, could be exposed and venerated both privately and publicly, no differently from the relics of St. Gerold mentioned before; and in further attestation, force, and efficacy thereof, having put on his mitre, he blessed incense, placed it in the censer,
and bowing deeply, incensed the relics of St. Gerold and the two bodies placed on the high altar with a triple pass, then recited the antiphon, verse, and collect of the aforesaid three Martyrs, named expressly.
These things were done and are of the year of the Lord 1651, on March 14, between the hours of 11 and 12 before noon, in the church of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, in the presence of the Noble, Most Distinguished, and Most Prudent, as well as Provident and Circumspect Lords, Lord Hermann Mylius the Elder, Lord Hermann Birckman von Strinden, Patrician, and Lord Hermann Mylius the Younger, all men of the senatorial order of the city of Cologne, as well as Peter Hergarden, Cleric of the diocese of Cologne, witnesses specially called and requested for this act. Concerning all of which a public instrument was drawn up by Christian Adenhewer, public Notary by Sacred Apostolic and Imperial authority, approved and enrolled in the Archive of the Roman Curia and the most esteemed Imperial Chamber of Speyer, who together with all and each of the above-named witnesses was present and personally attended while the things set forth above were done and transacted, and saw and heard all these things so done, and took note of them.
Finally, when in the year 1659 the Most Reverend Lord Bishop of Joppa, as Ordinary, had been asked to permit the feasts of the holy Martyrs Constantius and Faustus to be celebrated with public worship, he agreed, and granted us the choice of some time. celebrated annually. We therefore chose the days before Ash Wednesday, Monday and Tuesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, and asked him to approve this, which he also did through his Secretary, the Reverend Lord Peter Hergarden, and willed that we should honor God in his Saints. February 3, 1660.
So far the document sent from Cologne. However, since those feasts are movable and fall either in February or in the month of March; and since their bodies had not yet been transferred when we published the Acts of February, it pleased us to insert the record of this at the Kalends of March in our work.