Martyrs Martia

ON THE HOLY MARTYRS MARTIA, MARTIANUS, HIEROTES, ANTIGONUS, JANUARIUS, TUTELLA, GABIANUS, QUIRIULUS, MARINUS, FELIX, DONATUS, FORTUNUS, HELBIANUS, GAGUS, PAULUS, GAIOSA, GALLOSA, GALLUS, LUPICINUS,

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.

Martia, Martyr (Saint)

Martianus, Martyr (Saint)

Hierotes, Martyr (Saint)

Antigonus, Martyr (Saint)

Januarius, Martyr (Saint)

Tutella, Martyr (Saint)

Gabianus, Martyr (Saint)

Quiriulus, Martyr (Saint)

Marinus, Martyr (Saint)

Felix, Martyr (Saint)

Donatus, Martyr (Saint)

Fortunus, Martyr (Saint)

Helbianus, Martyr (Saint)

Gagus, Martyr (Saint)

Paulus, Martyr (Saint)

Gaiosa, Martyr (Saint)

Gallosa, Martyr (Saint)

Gallus, Martyr (Saint)

Lupicinus, Martyr (Saint)

[1] We concluded the first class of African Martyrs with the forty anonymous Saints, because this number is customarily appended at the end to other Saints proposed by their proper names; after whom, in the same Martyrology of Saint Jerome written in Anglo-British script nearly a thousand years ago, A second class of Martyrs in the ancient records: the following are added, with no place or other word interposed: "of Marcia, Hierotes, Quiriulus, Maurinus, Donatus, Fortunus, Helbianus, Gagus, Paula, Gaiosa, Galla." In the Lucca Martyrology far more are listed, whose company is led by

Saint Marcia, as Florentinus observes, and he thus prints it: "of Marcia, Hierotes, Antigonus, Januarius, Tutella, Gabianus, Quiri, Julius, Marinus, likewise Felix, Florinus, Donatus, Fortunus, Helbianus, Gagus, Paula, Gaiosa, Galla." In the Paris edition the name of Martianus is prefixed, then Marcia, Hierotes, etc., and in place of Florinus, Florianus is said, whom we omit along with the other Felix because they are placed in the preceding class. At the end the following are found: "Paula, Gaiosa, Gallosa, Galla, Lupicinus." The fourth Martyrology of Saint Jerome is held by the distinguished Julius Henricus Blumius, which agrees with the Lucca one, omitting Martianus, Gallosa, and Lupicinus. Some of these Martyrs' names are read in the printed Bede: "of Martia, Herodes, Antigonus, Januarius, Tutella, Gabianus, Quiriulus, likewise Felix, Florianus, Rogatus." In the Reichenberg manuscript, in place of Herodes, Horotis is written; the rest do not differ. In Rabanus they are thus expressed: "of Marcia, Hierotes, Antigonus, Januarius, Tultella, Gabianus, Quiriulus, Marinus, likewise Felix, Florianus, Donatus." From those which are read in the Additions of Usuard published by Greven, these names pertain here: "Donatus, Paula, Julius, Marcia, Hierotes, Antigonus, Januarius, Tutilla, Gabianus, Quiriolus." In the Aachen manuscript: "Martia, Jherotis, Antigonus, Januarius, Tutilla, Gabianus, Quitillus, Marinus, Felix, Donatus." In the Reichenau one: "Martia, Hierolius, Antigonus, Januarius, Gabianus, Quiriulus." The Monte Cassino and Altemps manuscripts have: "Martia, Antigonus, Januarius, Marinus." The same, omitting Marinus, are read in the Roman manuscript of the archive of Saint Peter. The Barberini manuscript: "Antigonus, Marinus, Gabianus." The Prague manuscript: "Donatus, Paula." But only Antigonus is in the Liège manuscript of Saint Lambert. To him Januarius is joined in the manuscript of Saint Cyriacus, but under the preceding day. In another manuscript are Donatus and Januarius. And the memory of Martia and companions is commemorated on this day in the Roman Martyrology. But Marinus with Asterius is in the Calendar of an ancient Breviary. But Asterius belongs to the following class.

[2] Behold the cult of these Martyrs set forth from eighteen distinguished Martyrologies, but with some diversity of reading: names variously written thus Martia and Marcia are written; and Hierotes, Hierolius, Jherotis, Herotis, Horotis, and Herodes; Antigonius and Antigonus; Tutella, Tultella, Tutilla, and Tutila; Quiriulus, Quiriolus, Quiriulus, Quitillus, and with the names divided, Quiri and Julius—and below there is another Julius among the others. Likewise Marinus and Maurinus, from whom a different soldier Marinus is reported separately. In place of Donatus, Rogatus is read in Bede. Finally, Fortunus and Furtinus, as also Helbianus, Belbianus, and Hebianus. In a single Martyrology are Martianus, Gallosa, and Lupicinus.

[3] The arena of martyrdom is nowhere expressed, nor do we dare rashly to join them to those who suffered in Africa, Did they suffer in Africa? where the following are also recorded as having suffered. What if they were killed in another place in Africa, or under different Emperors? This conjecture is favored by Florianus being intermingled with them, who is considered the standard-bearer of the African Martyrs. Galesin, and following him Canisius, who had found them all together from both classes in the printed Bede, they seem wrongly assigned to Rome or to Ebora assigned them to Rome, restoring Donatus in place of Rogatus, as is read in other sources. We rejected this conjecture of Galesin above regarding the African Martyrs, to whom we said these should rather be joined. Much less should these be attributed to Ebora of the Carpetani or Ebora of the Lusitanians, since in the Chronicle of Flavius Dexter, which they use as their foundation, not even one of them is mentioned.

[4] Works of the same authority as the Chronicle of Dexter have come forth—the Adversaria and Chronicle under the name of Julian, Archpriest of Saint Justa, From these, Marcia is fabricated as the sister of the Emperor Trajan, and in the Adversaria, number 78, the following is transmitted: "Marcia Matidia, sister of the Emperor Trajan, a most holy Virgin, suffered in the persecution of Antoninus Pius at Rome with other companions on March 3. She was Spanish, and Trajan had no other sister besides this one." On account of these words, Antonio de Quintadueñas in his book On the Saints of the City and Diocese of Seville, pages 231 and following, contends that the discussion in the Roman Martyrology on this day concerns Marcia, here surnamed Matidia, the sole sister of the Emperor Trajan, and her companions, and that with Galesin they underwent martyrdom at Rome. But the same Quintadueñas in his book On the Saints of Toledo, published fourteen years after the former one, assigns the same Martia and companions along with the above-listed African Martyrs to Talavera, or Ebora of the Carpetani, citing in both cases the Roman Martyrology and Galesin, then following the Chronicle of Dexter, as now the Adversaria of Julian. We are surprised that two Martyr Martias were not introduced into the Spanish Martyrology, since on the other hand Tamayo Salazar attacks Quintadueñas with considerable censure, asserting that he was deceived by a gloss fabricated among the works of Julian: whose words savor of mere invention. from the Adversaria of Julian, Likewise, in the Menologion and Martyrology no prerogative of virginity is noted; therefore he deviates from the trustworthiness of the Martyrologies. That there was no Marcia who was a sister of Trajan, nor a Christian, nor a Virgin: therefore whatever the otherwise most learned Father has written about Marcia Matidia must be rejected. Thus Tamayo Salazar, who would that he himself also suffer a modest word against his own Martia and companions, ascribed to Spain with absolutely no right, since in the said Martyrologies no mention is made of Ebora of the Carpetani or of Asclepiades as Governor in Spain—that these are fabricated glosses and mere inventions, and that the trustworthiness of the Martyrologies is thereby violated. Meanwhile Quintadueñas attempts to establish his opinion from the same Adversaria of Julian, in which at number 75 the following is found: "Matidia Augusta, sister of the Emperor Caesar Trajan, a disciple of Saint Clement, a disciple of Saint Clement received the body of Saint Onesimus, killed by Tertullus the Prefect of Rome, and enclosed it in a silver casket." The Acts of Saint Onesimus, disciple of Saint Paul, collected by us, we gave on the sixteenth day of February, and we showed that those Acts, which exist translated from the Greek in Lipomanus and Surius, are of another Saint Onesimus who suffered martyrdom at Puteoli in the third century of Christ, and that this one was the Master of Saints Alphius, Philadelphus, and Cyrinus, who obtained the laurel of martyrdom in Sicily under the governor Tertullus; and that the name of this governor, as usually happens in confused matters, seems to have been transferred from the disciples to the Master Onesimus, and from him to the other, older and more illustrious Onesimus. Furthermore, we said at number 16 that Matidia Augusta was the niece of Trajan through his sister Marciana, and the mother of Matidia Augusta, wife of the Emperor Hadrian. Finally, we indicated that little trust should be placed in the authority of Julian alone, which is confirmed above all from this evidence.

ON THE HOLY AFRICAN MARTYRS GAIOLA, FELIX, EMERITUS OR EMETERUS, CELEDONIUS, LIKEWISE FELIX, SAVINIANUS, LIKEWISE FELIX, JULIUS, ANOTHER FELIX, MARINUS, DONATA, NICEPHORUS, CARISSIMUS, CLAUDIANUS, PAPIAS, LUCIOLA, SABIANUS OR SABINIANA, JUNULA, ASTERIUS, PHOTIUS, GEORGIUS, ISICUS, SISINNIUS, CASTUS, BASILIUS, SOLUS, ARTILAUS, ANTONIUS, CYRICUS, EUTICUS, GORGONIUS, ASCLIPIUS, FRUNIMIUS, AND ZOSIMUS,

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.

Gaiola, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Felix, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Emeritus, or Emeterus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Felix II, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Savinianus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Felix III, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Julius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Felix IV, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Marinus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Donata, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Nicephorus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Carissimus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Claudianus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Papias, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Luciola, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Sabianus, or Sabiniana, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Junula, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Asterius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Phocius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Georgius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Isicus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Sisinnius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Castus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Basilius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Solus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Artilaus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Antonius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Cyricus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Euticus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Gorgonius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Asclipius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Frunimius, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

Zosimus, Martyr in Africa (Saint)

[1] This third cohort of the soldiers of Christ advances, far more numerous than the two preceding ones, which the aforesaid Martyrology of Saint Jerome, which we possess written in ancient script nearly a thousand years ago, thus presents: "In Africa: of Gaiola, Felix, African Martyrs in the Martyrology of Saint Jerome, Emeterus, Celedonius, Felix, Sabinianus, Calagurris, Meterus, likewise Celedonius, Julius, Felix, Marinus, Donata, Nicephorus, Carissimus, Claudianus, Papias, Luciola, Felix, Sabianus, Junula, Fovius, Asterius, Georgius, Sisinnius, Basilius, Artilaus, Isicus, Cyricus, Euticus, Gorgonius, Antonius, Frunimius, Asclipius, Castus, Solus." The same, but with the order occasionally varied and some names written differently, are placed in the Lucca Martyrology of the same Saint Jerome as follows: "In Africa: of Gaiola, Felix, Emeterus, Celedonius, likewise Felix, Savinianus, Galogorus, likewise Emeterus, Felix, likewise Celedonius, likewise Julius, Felix, Marinus, Donata, Nicephorus, Carissimus, Claudianus, Papias, Luciola, Salianus, Junula, Astrius, Photius, Georgius, Isicus, Sisinnius, Castus, Basilius, Solus, Artilaus, Antonius, Cyricus, Euticus, Gorgonius, Asclipius, Frunimius." The same are listed in the Martyrology of Saint Jerome published at Paris, thus expressed: "In Africa: of Gaiola, Felix, Emerita, Cellidonus, likewise Felix, Savinianus, Galogorus, likewise Emeritus, likewise Felix, likewise Ecaeledonus, likewise Julius, Felix, Marinus, Donata, Nicephorus, Carissimus, Claudianus, Papias, Luciola, Sabiniana, Junola, Asterius, Photius, Georgius, Isicus, Sisinnius, Castus, Basilisolus, Artilaus, Antonius, Cyricus, Euticus, Gorgonius, Asclipius, Frunimius, Zosimus." Thus far three codices of the Martyrology of Saint Jerome, in the last two of which, after the first two—namely Gaiola and Felix—the two words "depositio reliquorum" were interposed, which we omitted along with the first manuscript, since we do not sufficiently grasp what is signified by them. With the Lucca manuscript nearly agrees what the distinguished Julius Henricus Blumius found in Germany.

[2] In other Martyrologies some of these Martyrs are listed: and in others: for the manuscript Martyrology of the Queen of Sweden has: "In Africa: of Gaiolus." The manuscript of Centula, or Saint Riquier: "In Africa: of Saints Gaiolus, Felix, Nicephorus, Claudianus." The Prague manuscript: "Gaiola, Felix." The Labbé manuscript: "Gaiola, Julius, Castus, Solus." The Augsburg manuscript: "Gaiulus, Emeterius, Julius, Castus." The Aachen manuscript: "Gaiolus, Julius, Castus." In Greven, Solus is added. Thus far the more ancient Martyrologies, from which this diversity of vocabulary should be noted: Gaiola is also called names variously expressed Caiola, Gaiolus, and Gaiulus; Emeterus appears twice, also as Hemeterus, Meterus, Emeterius, Emeritus, and Emerita; Celedonius also as Celedonus, Cellidonus, and Ecaeledonus; Sabinianus, Savinianus, Sabianianus, Sabianus, and Sabiniana; Galogorus and Calogorus; Photius, Focius, and Fovus. Likewise, the names Basilius and Solus have been conflated into one, Basilisolus, through the error of scribes. Saints Emeterius and Chelidonius, Martyrs at Calagurris in Spain, are venerated on this day; lest they perhaps be listed here, we omitted three in the title.

[3] Galesin celebrates one with this eulogy: "In Africa, of Saint Lucius, Bishop and Martyr, Was Lucius a Bishop? who, under the Emperor Valerian, was slain for the glory of Christ and illustriously crowned." Ferrarius in his Catalogue transcribes Galesin, who makes no mention of that Lucius in his Notes; hence on what basis, in the silence of the others, he calls him a Bishop and places him under the Emperor Valerian

suffered, is not clear. Marinus and Asterius, crowned at Caesarea in Palestine, are also listed on this same day, perhaps assigned to this day on which African Martyrs of the same name are venerated, Other Martyrs of the same name. because their birthday was unknown, Eusebius, who treats of them, making no mention of the day. The Greeks venerate Asterius on August 7; nowhere, so far as we know, do they venerate Marinus; and in the Martyrology of Saint Jerome, seven other Martyrs are interposed between the two, which it suffices to have noted.

ON SAINTS EMETHERIUS AND CELEDONIUS, MARTYRS AT CALAGURRIS IN SPAIN

Preliminary Commentary.

Emetherius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

[1] Calagurris, an ancient city of the Vascones, mentioned by Titus Livius, Julius Caesar, Valerius Maximus, Pliny, and others, called "mountainous" by Paulinus writing to Ausonius, situated on a hill at the banks of the Ebro river, also called Fibularia. these Martyrs were slain, Indeed, a second Calagurris is designated by Pliny near the city of Osca among the Nascican peoples, surnamed Nascica or Julia Nascica in ancient coins, of which today not even traces are said to survive. The former is still a famous city, adorned with an episcopal see from ancient times, called in our age Calahorra and assigned to the kingdom of Old Castile. The Romans recognized and praised the most faithful citizens of Calagurris, but a worthier fidelity to God was demonstrated there by two brothers, Emetherius and Celedonius, venerated on March 3. illustrious Martyrs of Christ from among the soldiers of Caesar, to whose veneration the day of March 3 is consecrated.

[2] The Acts of martyrdom were committed to writing by contemporaneous authors, The original Acts destroyed by the fury of tyrants: which Aurelius Prudentius Clemens deplores having perished through the fury and violence of tyrants; to his diligence we owe all our knowledge of these Martyrs. He published, among other works composed around the year 400, the illustrious poem entitled Peristephanon, in which he celebrates in fourteen hymns the crowns of illustrious Martyrs, and inscribes the first hymn to these Martyrs, Emeterius and Celedonius of Calagurris: others written by Prudentius, which, collated with manuscripts, we give in first place. That Prudentius was Spanish by nationality and a native of Calagurris is transmitted by Athanasius Lobera in his History of Leon, chapter 25. And Prudentius himself in this hymn calls that city "our town" and presents first the contest of these Martyrs, after whom he subjoins the praises of Saint Laurence, the Spanish Archdeacon, Saint Eulalia, the Lusitanian Virgin, the eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa, Saint Vincent of Saragossa, Saints Fructuosus, Bishop of Tarragona, and the Deacons Augurius and Eulogius.

[3] After Prudentius we subjoin the illustrious eulogy of these Martyrs a compendium from Gregory of Tours inserted by Saint Gregory, Bishop of Tours, in book 1 of On the Glory of Martyrs, chapter 93, where he confirms his statements by citing several verses from that hymn of Prudentius. In third place we give certain Acts written in prose, which we found in an ancient manuscript codex of the library of the illustrious monastery of Saint Maximin near Trier: others from manuscripts. Tamayo Salazar published these same Acts on this day in the Spanish Martyrology from three manuscript codices of Toledo at Montesión, Segovia, and Astorga. A great part of the same Acts is found in the Breviary of Burgos published in the year 1502, distributed into eight lessons, with a single one on the Gospel with its exposition interposed. In fourth place we give another compendium of the Life of these Martyrs, which we transcribed at Rome in the library of the Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory from manuscript books collected by Father Antonio Gallonio, and another manuscript who had noted that it was sent from the ecclesiastical records of the Church of Burgos in Old Castile.

[4] The ancient veneration of these Martyrs among the people of Calagurris is indicated by the aforementioned Prudentius in his Hymn on these holy Martyrs; that the Gothic Church also formerly used it is asserted by Tamayo Salazar to be evident from the Isidorian Breviary. He adds that Saint Isidore transmitted this Prayer in the Blessing of the Office of Saints Emeterius and Celedonius in the Breviary: "Almighty God, to whom the most blessed Martyrs Emetherius and Celedonius, on account of the seal of confession and faith, A prayer of Saint Isidore concerning them in the Gothic Church: sent aloft to heaven the stole and the ring: may He preserve you with both gifts of grace. Amen. That through you, powerful in the virtue of both faith and confession, you may be considered citizens of the eternal heavenly fatherland, whose twofold feast you celebrate today with rejoicing. Amen. That just as the native people rejoice in the twofold reception of their bodies, so may the entire Church rejoice to be protected and defended by their patronage. Amen." This same Blessing was inscribed in his Commentary on the Chronicle of Dexter, page 314, by Francisco Bivarius, marveling that the names of these Martyrs were not inscribed in this Chronicle, and the cult among the Mozarabs, indeed suspecting they were omitted through the negligence of copyists. The veneration of the same is represented by the Mixed Missal, called that of the Mozarabs, likewise the Breviary, together with that according to the rule of Blessed Isidore, published at Toledo in the years 1500, 1502, and 1551. In the Breviary of Évora published in the year 1548, nine Lessons on their Life are found. and others.

[5] No less is the veneration of these Martyrs inscribed in other ecclesiastical calendars. Certainly the most ancient Martyrologies that exist under the name of Saint Jerome Mention in the Martyrology of Saint Jerome, also have their names, but intermingled with the names of other Martyrs, with the word Calogori or Galogori added, as if of some Saint, whom Lucas d'Achery thus inscribed in the Index to the Martyrology of Saint Jerome published by him at Paris: in which, to the African Martyrs Gaiola and Felix are added Emerita, Cellidonus, and with two others interposed, Galogorus, likewise Emeritus, and with another interposed, likewise Ecaeledonus; but the last three are better joined together in the ancient codex written nearly a thousand years ago: "Calagurris, Meterus, Celedonius," though Emeritus is read more correctly in the Lucca manuscript of the same Saint Jerome, whom we removed from the class of African Martyrs in that same place. In the genuine Bede, this day is blank, which Florus supplied with these words: "Of Saints Emytherius and Chelidonius, and at Calagurris, Martyrs"—which is emended in the Martyrology by Rosweyde to read "crowned with martyrdom at Calagurris." In the Augsburg manuscript, Emeterius is mingled with other Martyrs, and in others: and then is added: "The birthday of Saints Eucherius and Celedonius." But they are more correctly expressed in the Roman manuscripts, one of the Archive of Saint Peter and the other of the Vatican Library, as also in the manuscripts of Monte Cassino, Paris, and Trier: "On the same day, the birthday of Saints Emetherius and Celedonius." In the last, "in Spain" is added; in the other, "Calcu" is written corruptly for Calagurris. About these and others, Wandelbert composed these verses:

"On the fifth of the Nones, Magra defends with pious love, And here Emitherius and Chelidonius and Marinus and Asterius shine, renowned for their shed blood."

[6] Other Martyrologies agree with the Acts to be given in third and fourth place. Thus Usuard: of Usuard "On the same day, the birthday of Saints Emitherius and Celedonius, who, first soldiers at the city of Leon in Galicia, when the storm of persecution arose, afflicted with very many torments for the confession of the name of Christ, were brought all the way to Calagurris, and there crowned with martyrdom." of Ado, Notker, etc. In Ado, Notker, and the printed Bede, the words of Gregory of Tours are added concerning the ring and stole carried up to heaven, to be given below and indicated above in the Blessing of Saint Isidore. Usuard agrees with the Roman Martyrology, and with words more altered, Maurolycus. We shall say below that their feast is celebrated with solemn worship among the monks of Saint-Léger on the Kalends of March, on which day Galesin says: "At Calagurris in Spain, of the holy Martyrs Hemiterius and Chelidonius, whose illustrious contest, consecrated to everlasting glory, is celebrated in a singular hymn by Prudentius." Again on this March 3: "At Calagurris, of the Senators Hemiterius and Chalendonius, of whom commemoration was also made above on the Kalends." Where the word "Senators" is superfluous. Thus in the Hagiologion of French Gaul by Philippe Labbé they are called Cantherius and Celedonius, just as also in the manuscript Martyrology of the Abbey of Goillon, for the city of Leon in Galicia is read the city of Langres in Gaul; otherwise it agrees with Usuard, from which it should also be corrected. Tamayo Salazar honors them with this eulogy in the Spanish Martyrology: Spanish Martyrology "At Calagurris in Spain, of Saints Emetherius and Celedonius, Martyrs, who, being sons of the Blessed Marcellus and Nonna, and soldiers of the Trajan Legion, were apprehended at the city of Leon, of which they were citizens and residents, for the faith and the name of Christ, and afflicted with tortures; afterward brought to Calagurris Fibularia, at last, as heavenly soldiers, they were exalted by martyrdom with the laurel of victory." Thus far that source.

[7] Some things related here require some investigation. These Saints were also considered brothers by Prudentius, and soldiers who followed the standards of Caesar. That they were legionary soldiers is reported by tradition in the manuscript Acts. It is added in the Acts of the Breviary of Évora: "From that legion in which their father, Saint Marcellus the Martyr, was a Centurion"; the ancient Acts of this saint under October 30, also published by Baronius in his Ecclesiastical Annals at the year 298, record that he was one of the Centurions of the Trajan Legion. Having related these, he adds here at number 9: "Moreover, the sons of that same Marcellus, twelve in number, also shared in his triumph: Claudius, Lupercus, Victorius, Facundus, [they do not seem to have been begotten by the father Saint Marcellus, Centurion and Martyr] Primitivus, Hemeterius, Chelidonius, Faustus, Januarius, Martialis, Servandus, and Germanus, who all, undergoing the same contest for the confession of Christ, were also distinguished with the same crown of martyrdom." Thus Baronius in that place. Tamayo Salazar notes in the margin of the Acts of these two Martyrs that it is added in the Astorga manuscript that they were brothers of Saints Facundus and Primitivus. These are venerated on November 27, on which day the same Tamayo published their Acts from five different manuscripts, without any mention of the parent Saint Marcellus, and he prefaced that he appends these so that the learned reader may recognize the filiation from Saint Marcellus the Centurion as uncertain. And at last he concludes his dissertation by asserting that their contest should be assigned to the times of the Emperor Antoninus Pius. In the same way, Ambrosio de Morales, cited by Baronius under November 27, shows from their Acts that they suffered under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and could not have been sons of Saint Marcellus the Centurion. Martín de Roa, in his work On the Saints of Córdoba, subscribes to this and does not admit that Saints Faustus, Januarius, and Martialis are to be considered sons of Saint Marcellus the Centurion: for no memory of this matter is found in the ancient Sanctorals or Breviaries. But the Acts of these Martyrs, below at number 4, state that no other Martyr of that period is found. The author of those Acts, evidently, after making such an investigation, did not know even the tradition about their father and ten brother Martyrs; indeed, he did not believe they were put to death in the most atrocious persecution throughout Spain: nor were they killed in the persecution of Diocletian. and consequently, what is read in the last Acts—that their origin, native land, and the time of their Martyrdom had been utterly obliterated and was unknown. They are reported to have served in the army in the city of Leon, but not to have been citizens and residents. That they are venerated there even now with an ecclesiastical office under the double rite, as also in the diocese of Burgos, is asserted in the Order for reciting the divine office. Nevertheless Morales, in book

10, chapter 21, and others after him: they are venerated with solemn rite at Leon. but that when they heard that a slaughter of Christians was being carried out at Calagurris, they went there of their own accord, inflamed with the ardor of undergoing martyrdom.

[8] Very many Spanish writers, cited by Tamayo Salazar, whom we mostly possess and have read, treat of these same Saints: Various authors treat of them: some, such as Saint Eulogius, Marineus Siculus, and others, we cite in the Notes; about others we shall treat below in the discussion of the Translation of the bodies. The history of these Martyrs written by Salvador Fons we have not yet seen.

ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM

by Aurelius Prudentius: Hymn from the Peristephanon.

Emetherius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

BHL Number: 2532

In golden letters Christ inscribed them there, And marked with signs of blood, He delivered the same, written, to the earth. By this noble lineage the happy land of Iberia is distinguished throughout the world. This place seemed to God worthy to hold their bones, That it might be the chaste host of the blessed bodies; Here it drank in the hot streams, stained with the double slaying. their bodies in Spain shine with miracles: The inhabitants now throng to the sands stained with holy blood, Entreating with voice, with vows, with offerings. Nor does the stranger fail to come, the settler from the wider world, For fame, that betrayer, has run ahead to every land, That here are the Patrons of the world, whom those who pray should seek. No one here, in praying, has vainly heaped up pure prayers; Joyful from here the suppliant returns, his tears wiped dry, Perceiving that all he asked for justly has been granted.

[2] So great is the care of our advocates for our perils: They do not suffer that anyone should have poured forth an idle murmur with his voice. They hear, and straightway carry it to the ear of the eternal King. they themselves pray to Christ, Thence from that very fount lavish gifts flow down upon the earth, Which irrigate the causes of suppliants with the remedies sought. The good Christ has never denied anything to His witnesses; Witnesses whom neither chains nor dreadful death have frightened From confessing the one God at the cost of their blood: dear to Him on account of their Martyrdom. But a longer light repays such loss of blood. This manner of death is glorious; this is worthy of upright men: To give over limbs eaten by diseases, woven with languid veins, To the enemy's sword, and to conquer the enemy by death. A beautiful thing it is to suffer the blow beneath the persecutor's blade: Through the ample wound a noble gate is opened for the just. The mind, washed in a red font, leaps from its seat in the heart.

[3] Nor had they previously led a life ignorant of harsh toil As soldiers, whom Christ calls to the everlasting belt of service. before the warfare of the world, Their accustomed valor in war and arms now serves the sanctuary. They leave the standards of Caesar; they choose the sign of the Cross. And in place of the wind-blown mantles of the dragons that they bore, They carry before them the glorious Wood that subdued the dragon. They count it worthless to bear javelins in their ready right hands, they choose the standard of the Cross: To strike walls with siege engines, to surround camps with ditches, To stain impious hands with bloody slaughter.

[4] By chance at that time a savage leader of the worldly court Had commanded the second posterity of Israel to go to the altar, To sacrifice to black idols, to be deserters of Christ. they refuse to sacrifice to idols: The plague, girded with the sword, was pressing upon free faith. That faith, brave and undaunted by the love of Christ, Eagerly sought out the rods and axes and two-pronged claws. The prison impedes necks bound with harsh fetters. The torturer exercises his barbarous hands throughout every forum. having despised the torments, Truth is deemed a crime; the faithful voice is punished. Then also virtue, struck down by the sword, sadly struck the ground, And heaped upon mournful pyres, drank in the flames with its mouth. Sweet it was then for the just to be burned; sweet to endure the sword.

[5] Here the dear hearts of the two brothers grow strong, Whom faithful companionship had joined through all time. they remain undaunted: They stand ready to bear whatever the final lot may bring, Whether the neck must be offered to the public axe, After the violence of crashing blows, after fiery racks; Or the breast must be offered to leopards or lions. burning with the love of Christ: "Shall we, begotten by Christ, be dedicated to Mammon, And bearing the image of God, shall we serve the world? Far be it that the heavenly fire should mingle with darkness. Let it suffice that our life, captured at first under a bond, Has paid every debt, having discharged the things of Caesar. It is time to render unto God whatever is properly God's. Go, you Masters of the standards, and you Tribunes, stand by: Take away the golden torques, the rewards of the wounded. The glorious wages of the Angels now call us hence. Christ there presides over white-robed cohorts, And reigning from His lofty throne, condemns the infamous gods, And you who fashion for yourselves laughable monsters as divinities."

[6] As they speak these words, the Martyrs are overwhelmed with a thousand punishments. The rigid bonds entwine both hands in fetters, They endure atrocious torments. And steel encircles their chafed necks with heavy rings. O the obsolete oblivion of silent antiquity! These things are begrudged us: even fame itself is extinguished. For the blasphemous attendant once carried off the records, Their Acts were destroyed by the torturers. Lest the instructed ages, through tenacious books, Should spread abroad the order, the time, and the manner of the passion With sweet tongues through the ears of posterity. Yet this alone does ancient silence withhold: Whether they nourished long hair in unbroken chains, With what pain the torturer adorned the men, or with what punishment.

[7] The ring of one, the stole of the other, are carried up to heaven. That praise is not hidden, nor does it grow old with time, That gifts sent upward flew through the breezes, Which by gleaming ahead might show that the way to heaven lay open. Representing the faith of the one, a ring is borne upon a cloud; The other gives a pledge of his mouth—the stole, as they say. Snatched by a heavenly breath, these enter the innermost light; Through the axis of the shining firmament the gleam of gold is hidden, And for a long time the whiteness of the fabric flees the pursuing gaze. They are borne upward all the way to the stars, and are seen no more.

[8] They themselves are slain by the sword, The assembly standing by saw this; the executioner himself saw it, And checked his hand, hesitating, and grew pale with astonishment; But nevertheless he carried through the blow, lest the glory be lost. Do you now believe, O once brutish paganism of the Vascones, What sacred blood your cruel error sacrificed? they go to God: Do you believe that the spirits of the victims were carried back to God?

Who with wolfish jaws devour the seized entrails, Who strangle the very minds and mingle themselves with the senses. Then the man, already full of his own enemy, is brought forward raging, Breathing forth foamy spittle, rolling his fierce eyes, To be purified by an inquisition not of his own crimes. You may hear, though no torturer is present, pitiful wailings. The body is torn as if by lashes, yet no lash is seen. And the man himself is stretched upward by invisible bonds. By these means the virtue of the Martyrs shakes the filthy thief: the possessed are cured: It restrains, tortures, burns, and strikes it with chains. The tormented robber strips himself from the marrow he had possessed. He leaves the prey unharmed; he flees with dry jaws; From the lowest nail to the hair of the head, he restores all things safe. Confessing that he burns, for he is an inhabitant of Gehenna.

[10] And other sick are healed: Why should I speak of bodies purged white from long diseases, When a cold, discoloring tremor shakes the limbs? Here the swelling leaves the face; here the true color returns. This good the Savior Himself has granted, that we may enjoy it, When He consecrated the members of the Martyrs to our town, the Spaniards rejoice, Which now preserve the settlers whom the Ebro washes. Stand now, O mothers who compose hymns, for your children received back; Let the joyful voice of wives ring out for the health of their husbands; and celebrate their feast: Let this day be festive for us; let it be a consecrated joy.

EULOGY

by SAINT GREGORY OF TOURS.

Emetherius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

The sick are healed by their aid: The city of Calagurris in Spain possesses the Martyrs Hemeterius and Chelidonius, and frequently beholding the miracles wrought by their power, it receives remedies for various illnesses. For these Martyrs, seized by the persecutor and dragged to execution, while they were afflicted with various punishments on account of the confession of the divine name, having received the sentence of final condemnation, were led out to be beheaded. the ring and the stole are carried up to heaven. And when the executioner was cutting off their heads, a great miracle appeared to the people. For the ring of one and the stole of the other were received by a cloud and seen to be carried up to heaven. All who were present followed with astonished gaze the gleam of the gold and the whiteness of the linen as far as the sight of their eyes could reach. Aurelius Clemens bears testimony of this event in his Book of Crowns with these verses, saying:

"That praise is not hidden, nor does it grow old with time, That gifts sent upward flew through the breezes, Which by gleaming ahead might show that the way to heaven lay open. Representing the faith of the one, a ring is borne upon a cloud; The other gives a pledge of his mouth—the stole, as they say— Snatched by a heavenly breath, these enter the innermost light. Through the axis of the shining firmament the gleam of gold is hidden, And for a long time the whiteness of the fabric flees the pursuing gaze; They are borne upward all the way to the stars, and are seen no more."

OTHER ACTS

from various manuscripts.

Emetherius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

BHL Number: 2533

From manuscripts.

[1] Even if the veil of obliterated forgetfulness covers the antiquity of the ancient passions by which the blessed Martyrs Emetherius and Celedonius were consecrated, and the trustworthiness of the deeds; nevertheless, because their living distinction of merits, by its very silence, demands to be proclaimed, and neither ought to lie hidden nor can, let celebrated praise take the place of authors: which, even if it does not fill the measure of heavenly glory with its own worthiness, may at least fulfill the annual tribute with solemn vows against the envious silence of those times. Because this has been undertaken on the basis of innumerable examples of their proven condescension—that the offices of the obedient servant should begin what the merits of the one who praises cannot equal—this service is to be valued not in words but in vows. Prologue of the author. For in a certain way the effect of impossibility is greater, because judgment ceases in love, and affection is always lavish and profuse with its own modesty: which does not think of what it can do while it compensates by willing. Let the attempt be reckoned as fullness, and let having dared be perfection, while the weakness of the one who asserts lies hidden beneath the greatness of the subject; and what the one who praises cannot attain, he does not fear to have ascribed to himself; and thus he securely approaches his discourse, who is excused by the very magnitude of the discourse he is about to deliver. Nor has the entire sequence of history abolished the envious oblivion; but a living portion of fame, growing green again through the order of the ages, has sprouted, so that it may easily be understood from what is revealed how magnificent is what lies hidden. Therefore the order of the report must be pursued and the admirable narrative of praise: so that what speech does not fill in its form, the story may supply in truth.

[2] It is reported that Emetherius and Celedonius were legionary soldiers, and that they first served there with secular wages, where now the ancient name of the camp designates the town. And when Galicia, still united with the province of Tarraconensis, was considered part of Hither Spain, the deadly blast of the pagan trumpet sounded, which harassed the observance of the Christian name with a savage persecution. Soldiers in the city of Leon, Behold, here fame deserts us, and the glory of distinguished deeds falls silent, suppressed; but the forgetfulness itself is proved to have been deceived, since faith inserts into the hearts of believers what silence denied to the ears of hearers. Whether therefore betrayed by the works of their past life, because they served the God who is Prince of all even in their secular camps, or set on fire by a sudden ardor of the Holy Spirit, having laid down the weapons of the world, to this battle

they ran; happy in both, glorious in both: who either followed the Lord from the beginning, or were chosen by God so that they might merit unexpected rewards. But whence do we suspect that this was the place of their passion, they profess the faith of Christ: since the city of Leon is separated from it by great distances? Shall we believe they were dragged here, or that they came of their own accord? Let us cast the conjecture of our judgment in both directions, so that everywhere we may discern a renowned and sublime distinction. Set aside the storm of persecution, swelling into shipwrecks of the faith: they were carried to the desire of the flourishing palm, stirred by the reports. Among the first dignities of the heavenly kingdoms are surely to be placed those who came to their passion unsought. It is a mark of outstanding devotion to leap forth amid torments, where it would have been no crime to have lain hidden.

[3] Thus, I believe, one addressed the other: "It has been a long time, dearest brother, they exhort one another to martyrdom: since we have been serving in these vain wages of this world, where only idle discharge is enclosed in the briefest end of fleeting time. Let us therefore now follow the victorious standards of the true King. Behold, now the war of faith is at hand, in which there is occasion for us to advance our order of military service. Let the heavenly novitiate receive the veterans of the world: having cast aside mortal weapons, let it take up divine arms, which do not tremble in conflicts nor are broken and dissolved by feeble points. Immediately we shall feel ourselves more strongly fortified, when the raised banners of the name of our standard-bearer are brought against the enemy who is to be conquered by us. Let the breastplate of virtues, woven with the work of faith, fortify the fearless breast; let the impenetrable confidence of the guardian of hope cover the places of wounds set against them. Let the raised pinnacles of charity, adhering to one another, raise the crest of the helmet; let vibrant confession strike the enemy everywhere with its missiles. These are the everlasting defenses; these are truly the sacred shields fallen from heaven, wrongly interpreted by the error of paganism. And while one was saying these things, the other reproached himself for having hesitated so long, replying thus: "Do you doubt, brother, to employ me as a companion in the highest affairs? Am I so known to you from our past fellowship that I seem to need persuading toward heavenly glory? Nay rather, having broken off idle talk, let us prove this by deeds, and let us seek out the lurking enemy of the faith, wherever he may be. Let our spirit burn to undertake the journey. For in a certain way, to be put on display is a mark of sluggish belief."

[4] But since we have thus far discussed their having come here of their own accord, let us not suppose they were dragged here. Whence, serving as soldiers in secular camps, they were not deemed fit for Martyrdom unless they were betrayed by the example of their former life. And indeed they could have received the final lot of their sentence, having been seized in that same place, had the persecutors not thought they could be overcome by prolonged tortures on account of the constancy of their suffering. The renowned merits of their virtues are apparent for so long a time, during which the final punishment is deferred: how often, I believe, through so many circuits of cities, while the persecution raged around them, were the torments repeated, the paths of wounds retraced, and the sentence more frequently delayed to increase the pain, so that the closing of scars might restore the frenzy of the executioners. they suffered cruel torments, How often did the health granted to their tortures begin to torment them more severely by sparing them, so that what had ceased in the torturing might grow in the agonies? What kinds of torments did the executioner and ingenious cruelty devise, so that novelty might find a place for punishment in a body so often lacerated? How often, then, did claws succeed to flames, and flames to claws, so that the former might close the gaping paths of blood, and the latter might cut again the pre-burned marks of wounds? We can discover everything in one way: that nothing is not suffered by the one enduring evil from a raging persecutor, who is so long preserved while confessing. In what place should we put the fact that no other Martyr of that time is found? How much do we believe was added then to the fury of the persecutor, that these alone confess while all others deny God? With how many goads of fury does paganism press upon them, in whom it judged resistance to be obstinacy? Cruelty is not scattered among many, nor is the attention wearied and exhausted by the punishments of very many. Two sustain whatever was prepared for entire populations. No one can press with greater force of inquisition than one who thinks he ought not be conquered by a few. What voices do we believe the most constant Martyrs uttered amid these great torments; what signs of heavenly powers, when, dragged through prisons over such prolonged times, neither the squalor of custody afflicted them, nor wasting diminished them, nor pallor disfigured them, nor pain assailed their senses, but their fearless and comely countenance they are believed to have been strengthened from heaven mocked the vain frenzy of rabid fury amid the exquisite torments of their limbs? How often amid the pressing threats, from the confidence of those confessing, was the voice of heavenly exhortation heard? How often, when the lictors applied their torches, did fire testifying to the power of divine light shine forth?

[5] It can undoubtedly be understood what great wonders were performed during that tempest, of which the pagan envy feared to reveal the deeds to posterity. For I think that the judge of that time spoke thus secretly to his associates: "Listen, my attendants: We ourselves have seen unspeakable miracles, and although we do not wish to believe, we have shuddered. We have received in our ears the insulting reproaches of steadfast tongues. The Acts of the Martyrdom are burned: We have seen that those who were tortured were stronger than the torturers, and although we were driven to their torments by the edicts of our Princes, we yet ceased with the public shame of cruelty. Let us at least gain the mockery of the time to come. Let no age read this; let no volumes preserve it, lest the Christian faith should ever be armed by such an example, or magnify the glory of their God with such clear virtue. Let our persecution have some profit, if a fire consumes these acts."

[6] What will your malice profit you, foolish and senseless paganism? You did not wish us to know what we believe. The uncorrupted faith of the senses remains, even if the memory of the documents is buried: he who has begun to know God knows that He has always been able to do all things. That indeed which, after the capital sentence was pronounced, the sight of the applauding people received, the hostile treachery was unable to take away. For they report that, going to the place of the consummation of their victory, they sent ahead to heaven signs of the future gift: The stole and the ring were carried up to heaven at the time of the slaying. the stole from one, the ring from the other, was given to the obedient sky; and the lofty throne of the Lord received the gifts of victory, not valued at the cheapness of their material forms, carried by a sustaining breath, gladly embracing the proffered vessels of the twofold pledge—one being a sign of faith, the other a token of favor. These, received by the swirling motion of the air in the sight of all the bystanders, were lifted on high for so long a time, to the wonder of all, until they completely disappeared from human sight.

[7] Hail, soldiers of Christ; hail, noble pair! And may the heavenly choir visit this festival of due honor with solemn gladness. This day, then, a Gaetulian exile would never have been hindered from celebrating with eager vows, if either the solitude were not destitute of the fellowship of men, or, what is worse than solitude, surrounded by barbarism. This is what the savage enemy was unable to take away: that the titles of the sacred bodies and the imprinted vestiges of the blood to be adored, here where he thought he had conquered, he consecrated. And indeed the sacrosanct witnesses of God would have inspired all these things to be adorned by the brilliant discourses of others in the most eloquent mouths of men, had they not reserved for the services of the priest however humble an offering of a small gift; with the help of God the Father with Jesus Christ, His Son, who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, through all ages of ages. Amen.

c Tamayo: "inhibitus."

ANOTHER COMPENDIUM

From the Ecclesiastical Records of the Church of Burgos, Metropolis of Old Castile.

Emetherius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

BHL Number: 0000

Not by any negligence of our own people, but by the pagans'

it was brought about by the supreme wickedness and malice of the pagans that the birthplace, native land, Why little is known about them. and also the time of martyrdom and the kinds of torments of the brothers Emitherius and Celedonius, most outstanding Martyrs (which memory, passed down from fathers to sons, holds to have been most atrocious) are utterly obliterated and unknown. For it is established that the Consul, by whom they were subjected to martyrdom, having marveled at their constancy and miracles, reported to his council that it pertained to the majesty of their gods that the praises and astounding miracles of such distinguished Martyrs be forever buried in silence, lest, with the images of the pagans despised, Christ be preached everywhere and venerated by all.

Therefore few traces remain to us, which pious writers afterward committed to memory: They were soldiers at Leon: namely, it is perceived by conjecture that Emitherius and Celedonius were legionary soldiers and served under a Roman Consul in Spain; moreover, that the city of Leon in Spain drew its name from the legion in which these Martyrs served, so that the legion, which had a long encampment there, gave the city its beginning and, as it were, its seed. Although there are those who say that the name was given by Leovigild, King of the Goths.

This also could not slip from the memory of men: that the holy Martyrs encouraged one another with mutual exhortations (for the speech of each survives) to desert the Roman military service and follow the victorious standards of Christ. Tortured at Calagurris, But after they professed themselves to be Christians and were deported to the city of Calagurris, and were held in chains for many days, with what torments they were tortured, with what miracles they astonished the Consul and the torturers themselves—the greatest care and caution of the Consul was exercised so that this would not come to public knowledge. But the malice of the wicked was unable to conceal beheaded, what is celebrated with the greatest admiration in their martyrdom. For when the holy Martyrs were being dragged to execution, about to be beheaded, they gave signs by no means ordinary as to where they would depart after their heads were severed. For one cast forth a ring, the other a stole, followed by signs, which, having slipped from their hands, were seized—whether by the wind or by a cloud—and carried upward with such speed that, in the sight of all, they penetrated the heavens in a moment of time. Their bodies lie at Calagurris, buried: but their heads in the Collegiate Church in the town of Santander in the diocese of Burgos, the heads having been brought to Santander. buried with the greatest veneration of the people.

ON THE RELICS AND MIRACLES OF SAINTS EMETERIUS AND CELEDONIUS,

Historical Commentary.

Emetherius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

Celedonius, Martyr at Calagurris in Spain (Saint)

§ I. Various Depositions and Translations of the Bodies.

[1] then translated to the Cathedral church, Tamayo Salazar asserts under March 3 that there is a perpetual, albeit pious, contention concerning the place of the tomb or deposition of the sacred relics of the holy Martyrs Emeterius and Celedonius; and he first notes that in the manuscript Legendaries of Astorga and Segovia it is read that, after the contest was completed in the city of Calagurris, where they are solemnly venerated on March 3: near the torrent called the Arenatus, where they underwent the capital sentence, their bodies were buried. Lobera adds in chapter 25 of his History of Leon that during the persecution of the pagans they were concealed, and that the river Arenatus is still today called Arnedo, and the territory adjoining it is called the Valley of Arnedo; from its name two towns there, Arnedo and Arnedillo, are believed to have derived their etymology. Between these another place called Herce is interposed, from which Lobera professes to be a native; he adds that when the persecution ceased, those sacred bodies were discovered and publicly revealed. perhaps also on August 31: They are now preserved in the Cathedral church of the city of Calagurris, and they are regarded as the principal Patrons of the entire diocese and neighboring territory, and by their intercession and merits the Divine Majesty works great and very frequent miracles. Their feast is celebrated in all the churches of Spain, and in this church of Calagurris with such solemnity and joy of every kind that it is not thought that that day is surpassed by the cult of any Saint, or equaled by the attendance of few Saints. In the Order for reciting the divine office for the years 1636 and 1647 of this century, it is prescribed for the people of Calagurris under the double rite of the first class without an octave on March 3, then brought to the monastery of Leyre, with no mention of them being made on August 31, on which day Ferrarius inscribed them in the General Catalogue of Saints, from the Records, as he says, of the Church of Calagurris, which honors them on this day as principal Patrons with the highest honor. Perhaps by the Records of Calagurris should be understood Marietta, who in book 2, On the Saints of Spain, chapter 25, wrote that this is done because March 3 ordinarily falls during the Lenten season. Gonzalez Dávila reports in volume 2 of the Ecclesiastical Theater, page 336, that the divine office is recited concerning them on that same August 31, How their heads were brought to the town of Santander. and indeed that the bodies of these Martyrs are preserved at Calagurris in the Cathedral Church; to which perhaps some solemn Translation of them was made on that August 31.

[2] In the diocese of Pamplona there exists the illustrious monastery of Leyre, which is considered the head of more than seventy other monasteries of the Benedictine Order; Antonio de Yepes treats of it at great length in century 4 of the Benedictine Chronicle at the year of Christ 840, and publishes this document sent to him by the Prior of the place, drawn from the archive: "To the glory of Almighty God and the honor of the holy Martyrs Emeterius and Celedonius, whose sacred bodies were deposited for a long time in the venerable monastery of Leyre, and which in succeeding times were translated to their own city of Calagurris, the city of their martyrdom; nevertheless a great portion of their relics is still contained there." It is added from the report of the same Prior brought back to Calagurris, that many bones of these Martyrs are preserved in a most ancient chest, on which this title is inscribed in gilded Gothic letters: "Emeterii et Celedonii." And the feast of these is celebrated on the Kalends of March in this monastery with the highest solemnity, with which the greater feasts of the same Order are customarily celebrated. A certain donation was made there by the illustrious Lady Sancha Fortunione, some bones being retained: in the Spanish Era 1117, in whose public instrument the following is found: "In honor of the holy Savior, the twelve Apostles, and Saint Martial the Bishop; in honor of Saint Virilus the Abbot and Saints Emeterius and Celedonius ... whose relics are deposited at Leyre, etc." The rest is hidden—namely, on what occasion and in what years these sacred bodies were either brought to the said monastery of Leyre, or preserved there, or finally returned to Calagurris.

[3] Prudentius, Gregory of Tours, and those who wrote the Acts of their Martyrdom, each in their own times, assign these relics to Calagurris. The persecutions of the Moors followed, and they held Calagurris for a long time; King Garcia VI of Navarre wrested it from them in the year 1045, by the favorable will of God Calagurris wrested from the Moors in the year 1045 by Garcia VI, and the patronage both of Saint Aemilian, Presbyter of Tarazona, who at that time, as Dávila reports, was seen fighting against the Moors, and of the Martyrs Emeterius and Celedonius, because the King desired to recover the fields, sands, and river irrigated by the blood of these athletes, and to storm that city in whose Cathedral church, established from the time of their Martyrdom, their bodies had been deposited, which had been and still were the most faithful protection of that place. Relying therefore on their patronage, King Garcia happily accomplished this on March 3, the day consecrated to these Martyrs, on the day of Saints Emeterius and Celedonius: and restored the city, wrested from the Moors, to the worship of Christ. These things are reported in the Life of these Martyrs by Juan Basilio Santoro, inserted in the first part of his Hagiography, published at Bilbao in the year 1585.

[4] The Cathedral church of this city is consecrated in honor of the Virgin Mother of God assumed into heaven; and its principal chapel is dedicated to these holy Martyrs, whose bodies are preserved therein for the public veneration of the people. Some relics of the same Martyrs were brought to the Church of Saint John the Baptist at Triviño by Aznar, Bishop of Calagurris, when he consecrated it with solemn rite in the year of Christ 1251, some relics in the church of Saint John at Triviño. on the second Sunday of July, which then fell on the ninth day of that month. That their heads are said to be in the town of Santander, we have reported above.

[5] But Vicent Antoni Domènec, On the Saints of Catalonia, and Salvador Pons, in a particular commentary on the Life, Miracles, and Translation of these Martyrs, contend that their sacred relics were translated to Catalonia. Were these bodies translated to Catalonia? Since we have not yet obtained his work, we here transcribe the Acts of the Translation, which are reported from these authors by Tamayo Salazar under October 19. He thus writes:

[6] "When the bodies of the holy Martyrs Emeterius and Celedonius, who suffered at Calagurris Fibularia in Spain, had been translated to a town anciently named Sallers, to the town of Sallers? and had rested there honorably for several centuries, Don Joan Ramon de Cardona, Count of Cardona and Admiral of King Martin of Aragon, among the other terms and conditions under which he had granted the County of Sallers in fief to Don Ramon de Pinós, this was the more solemn and necessary one: that he should deliver the same sacred relics of the holy Martyrs, long kept in the church of Sallers, thence some of their relics were brought to Cardona, so that they might be transferred as soon as possible to the church of Cardona. When this matter was being negotiated back and forth between the townspeople of both towns, at last the agreement of the nobles was confirmed by the individual inhabitants. Hence, so that the Translation might achieve its effect, the Count of Cardona ordered that a day be solemnly published October 19, 1399 on which the

relics were to be received in the city of Cardona. Therefore on the appointed day, namely October 19, in the year of the Lord 1399, the Count Joan himself, with his son Ramon and his brother Hug, and other knights and nobles, together with the entire community of the city of Cardona of both sexes, and the Countess and his daughter Joanna and four sisters of the Admiral or Fleet Commander, with solemn pomp: with all the household, clergy, and people appeared; and having organized a solemn procession, over which Berenguer de Torrigues, Abbot of the monastery of Santa Maria of Serrateix, presided, with the monks of the same monastery in attendance, as well as the venerable Canons Regular of the monastery of Saint Vincent of the Augustinian Order at Cardona, with its Abbot Francisco Besora, they arrived at the church of Sallers; and having received the holy bodies of the Martyrs, returning to the church of Cardona with their own rejoicings and every kind of music, they placed the sacred relics in the same church. After this, when some time had passed, the Most Excellent Dukes, deciding to construct a most magnificent chapel in the same church beneath the high altar, deposited in their own chapel: had it completed in the manner of the chapel of Saint Eulalia in Barcelona, where within a silver chest, enclosed in a silver chest: which Lady Francisca Manrique, wife of the first Duke Ferdinand, donated, skillfully made, the bodies of the holy Martyrs rest today. To them God daily grants remarkable benefits, so that by their intercession He may impart mercy to the inhabitants."

[7] Thus far the narrative of the Translation in Tamayo Salazar, who believes that only some portion of the remains is kept among the people of Cardona. What if someone should suspect that these are perhaps the bones of other Martyrs, or are they perhaps those of other Saints? or of those killed in Catalonia itself for the faith of Christ? Thus on this day we treat of another Saint Emeterius, and in the Lucca Martyrology of Saint Jerome two Emeteriuses and Celedonii are placed. In the Paris edition they are called Emerita and Emeritus, as well as Celledonus and Ecaeledonus. In that same Martyrology seven Emeritae and four Emeriti are found. But no sufficiently legitimate conjecture, without solid literary evidence, can be devised that could avail to undermine the piety of religious peoples, confirmed over the long flow of centuries. Let this be said for both sides. We shall add some things that are recorded concerning these Catalonian relics of the Martyrs, or miracles performed through their invocation, by Antonio Vincente Domènec.

§ II. Miracles from the Spanish Account of Antonio Vincente Domènec.

[8] [When the Saints were invoked, a man who had dangerously fallen from a bridge was rescued:] In the year 1578, when Vicenç Monclús, a weaver of Cardona, was coming from Lluçanès and crossing the bridge of Saint Mark, which is encountered below Gironella, it happened that the mule on which he was riding, feeling its foot caught between two stones, fell over the parapet of the bridge upon its rider, who had already slipped downward over the parapet—and the mule itself also fell. But while for a brief span of time both hung clinging from the said parapet, in evident danger of immediate death, the wretched man, remembering the holy Martyrs, began to invoke them. They immediately appeared in youthful form: one of them seized the tail of the beast and the thigh of the rider; the other grasped the man's arm and the beast's ear with his hands, and having set both upright on their feet upon the bridge, they disappeared.

[9] One regarded as dead is suddenly healed: In the year 1592, Friar Joan Pedrolo, a Carmelite, while he was preaching at Cardona, had fallen into a certain stupor of the mind with delirium, and had reached the point where he was given up by the physicians, and those who were caring for the sick man had already placed him upon a bier for burial; when he was heard by the attendants repeatedly invoking Saints Celedonius and Emitherius, who soon, with God's assent, visibly stood by him and miraculously restored him to perfect health.

[10] In the year 1572, Jordi Aimeric, Lord of the Ostalets, offspring obtained from a sterile marriage: who had lived with his wife for more than ten years without children, promised to offer in honor of these Saints as many pounds of wax as the child to be granted him would weigh; and the year had not passed before, a daughter being born to him, he discharged his vow as one obliged.

[11] Joan Salavert was in his fifteenth year of age, one at the point of death is restored to himself, as he himself afterward narrated as a merchant of Cardona, when he fell into a madness that brought him to the brink of death, already given up by his parents. He invoked these blessed Martyrs, and immediately they presented themselves to him in youthful appearance, in equestrian garb, worthy of admiration, and cured him in the year sixty-six of the same century.

[12] A certain knight of Barcelona, Lord of Sentmenat, had his arm most grievously affected and inflamed by gangrene, one man's arm healed of gangrene, to such an extent that the physicians had already decided to amputate it the following morning. A household maidservant approached him, greatly afflicted by the pronouncement, and advised him to invoke the Saints of Cardona. He obeyed her counsel, and behold, the Martyrs, conspicuously visible, touched his arm and left it whole.

[13] A certain woman, an inhabitant of the town of Sanahuja, had suffered for seven years from her shin, another's shin cured of ulcers, perforated in two or three places by an ulcer or abscess. She vowed some offering to the Martyrs, and immediately obtained relief from the affliction and thenceforth complete health.

[14] A bishop is prevented by a miracle from taking away the relics. In the year 1581, on the twenty-fifth of April, Don Hugo de Montcada, Bishop of Urgell, visiting Cardona, asked and obtained from the Chief Consul a small particle from the relics of the Saints, and the chest was opened for this purpose and he obtained it. Thereupon there was murmuring among the people, and soon an open sedition against the Consul; and when he had withdrawn from the death threatened against him, they went to the Bishop; and at that very moment an immense hailstorm covered the vineyards and fields, and did not cease until the Bishop returned the relics. It was then observed by many trustworthy persons that no harm had been inflicted by the hail upon the vines, then most abundantly flowering, and their most tender shoots.

[15] Against hailstorms, the same relics provide a sure refuge for the inhabitants. And indeed often at other times throughout the year, whenever a storm of lightning, thunder, and hail breaks out, and the inhabitants consider that nearly all hope of safety has perished, all the clergy in that church institute a procession to the chapel of the Saints and place lighted candles upon the high altar; where, after singing a hymn with an antiphon, they add the praises of the same Saints, which an immediately desired tranquility follows. Sometimes the bodies themselves are even heard to move within the chest as a sign that the storm will soon cease. At other times, during a stormy night, certain lights are seen descending in the form of a fiery crown above the sacred relics, and, as it were, purifying the heavens with a certain noise they make with them. There are also times when those same torches are seen to settle upon the hands and heads of the priests who employ the customary exorcisms against the clouds threatening destruction, or upon the bell tower; and when this is seen, having ceased to ring the bells as a signal of the storm, the same bells are rung in a manner different from before as a sign of joy and of the grace obtained.