Lucius

CONCERNING SAINT LUCIUS, POPE AND MARTYR,

IN THE YEAR 255.

Preliminary Commentary.

Lucius, Pope and Martyr at Rome (Saint)

Section I. The veneration and cult of Saint Lucius. Translations of his relics. Encomia from the Lives of the Pontiffs.

[1] Among the illustrious Pontiffs of the Holy Roman Church who confirmed the Christian faith by the shedding of their blood, Saint Lucius the Pope is venerated on the fourth of March, inscribed in ancient and modern Martyrologies alike. Among other Martyrs [The cult of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr, indicated in the Martyrologies for the fourth of March] whom we shall presently mention, two others bearing the name Lucius are also noted, so that it is difficult to say whether this Pontiff is indicated in the ancient Martyrology of Saint Jerome, and likewise in those of Augsburg and Labbe. Florus, or whoever supplemented Bede, in an ancient manuscript has the following: "Of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr." The Cassinese manuscript in Lombard script prefixes "Birthday," in place of which in the Dacherian manuscript one reads "At Rome." The Vallicellian manuscript of the Congregation of the Oratory at Rome transmits this: "At Rome, on the Appian Way, the birthday of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr." These words are found nearly verbatim in the other Cassinese manuscript, the Altaempsian, and the manuscript of Saint Paulinus of Trier. In the manuscript of Cardinal Barberini is added: "Who was the twenty-third from Saint Peter." In the manuscript of Queen Christina of Sweden, written in the diocese of Mainz: "At Rome, the passion of Saint Lucius the Pope, who was beheaded by Valerian" -- which is indicated with slightly altered words in the manuscript of Saint Martin of Trier. Usuard writes the following: "At Rome, on the Appian Way, the birthday of Blessed Lucius, Pope and Martyr, who during the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus was banished into exile on account of the Christian faith, and afterwards, by the divine will, being permitted to return to his Church, completed his martyrdom by decapitation." The manuscript of Ado adds to this: "He was buried on the Appian Way at Saint Sixtus. He held the episcopate for three years, three months, and three days." In the edition of Ado published by Rosweyde there is inserted: "He decreed that two Priests and three Deacons should not abandon the Bishop in any place, on account of the ecclesiastical testimony." All of which is also read in Notker and the printed Bede, and in very many manuscript Martyrologies. Wandelbert has the following:

"Then Lucius the Pope shines on the fourth by a precious death, and the excellent company of eight hundred and ten Martyrs."

We treat of these Martyrs separately. In the present Roman Martyrology it is added that he labored greatly against the Novatians, and that he is celebrated with the highest praises by Saint Cyprian. Maurolycus, Felicius, Galesinius, Canisius, and other more recent authors may also be consulted; among whom Ghinius numbers him among the Canons Regular.

[2] In the Catalogue of the Roman Pontiffs, which Lucas Holstenius left prepared for the press from the most ancient parchments of the Palatine Vatican Library, Encomia in the Lives of the Pontiffs: these few things are recorded: "Lucius, by nation a Roman, son of Porphyrius, held the see for three years, three months, and three days. He decreed that two Priests and three Deacons should not abandon the Bishop in any place. He ordained seven Bishops, four Priests, and four Deacons." In the Catalogue of the Pontiffs brought down to Liberius, and published with the Paschal Canon of Victorius by Bucherius from our copy, page 271, the following is read: "Lucius, three years, eight months, ten days. He lived in the times of Gallus and Volusian down to Valerian III and Gallienus II. He was exiled, and afterwards by the will of God returned safe to his Church, on the third day before the Nones of March, under the Consuls SS." -- perhaps one should read "under the aforesaid Consuls he died," or "suffered martyrdom." In the book concerning the Roman Pontiffs, which circulates under the name of Damasus, the Life of Saint Lucius is set forth as follows: "Lucius, by nation a Roman, son of Porphyrius, held the see for three years, three months, and three days; he was crowned with martyrdom. He lived in the times of Gallus and Volusian down to Valerian the third and Gallienus, Consuls. He was banished into exile, and afterwards by the will of God returned safe to his Church. He decreed that two Priests and three Deacons should not abandon the Bishop in any place, on account of the ecclesiastical testimony. He was also beheaded by Valerian on the fourth day before the Nones of March. He gave all the authority of the Church to his Archdeacon Stephen. He performed three ordinations, two in the month of December: four Priests, four Deacons, and seven Bishops in various places. He was also buried in the Cemetery of Callistus on the Appian Way, and the episcopate was vacant for thirty-five days." So it reads there, and these things are printed in the volumes of the Councils; we also transcribed them at Rome from an ancient manuscript codex of Queen Christina of Sweden, brought down to Boniface II, that is, to the year of Christ 530. We have nearly the same in the manuscript codex concerning the Deeds of the Supreme Pontiffs, which is attributed to Bernard Guidonis of the Order of Preachers, Bishop of Lodeve.

[3] Anastasius the Librarian, in his work on the Lives of the Pontiffs, asserts that he was beheaded on the third day before the Nones of March and buried on the eighth day before the Kalends of September. The same copy of ours published by Bucherius has the third day before the Nones of March, that is, the fifth day of March; the same is read in Abbo of Fleury concerning the same Pontiffs, and in the second ancient manuscript codex of Bosius in the Acts of Saint Cecilia, which we shall discuss below. Some have followed this dating in their Martyrologies, and at the third day before the Nones of March, Rabanus Maurus has the following: "At Rome, of Lucius, Pope and Martyr. He was thrust into exile on account of the faith of Christ, cult on the fifth of March, and afterwards by the will of God returned safe to his Church; he was also beheaded by the Emperor Valerian, and was buried in the Cemetery of Callistus on the Appian Way." But many have referred it to the eighth day before the Kalends of September. and the twenty-fifth of August, Bellinus, in the Martyrology according to the custom of the Roman Curia printed in the year 1498, and Molanus citing him in his first edition: "At Rome, of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr." Maurolycus adds, "under Valerian." Longer encomia, similar to the preceding ones, are found in the very ancient manuscript Martyrologies of Saint Martin of Tournai and Saint Lambert of Liessies. Others celebrate a certain Translation of his relics on the same twenty-fifth of August; thus the author of the manuscript Florarium: perhaps on account of the Translation of relics, "The Translation of the holy Pontiffs Lucius, Pope and Martyr, Adalbert, Bishop of Prague and Martyr, and Saint Eleutherius, the first Bishop of Tournai." We treated of the last on the twentieth of February, and shall treat of Saint Adalbert on the twenty-third of April. The Martyrology under the name of Usuard printed at Cologne, and another at Lubeck with the Doctrinale Clericorum, printed in the year 1490, have the following: "In Denmark, in the Church of Roskilde, the Translation of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr." Hermann Greven, who died in the year mentioned above, in his additions to Usuard restricts this as follows: "The Translation of the head of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr, from the city of Rome to Denmark, to the Church of Roskilde." Canisius has the same in his Martyrology published in German. or of the head to Roskilde. In the manuscript Florarium, the Translation of Lucius, Pope and Martyr, is again referred to the twelfth of March. Roskilde is an episcopal city of Denmark situated on the island of Zealand. That there was a singular veneration of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr, in this kingdom, we gather from the Breviary of Schleswig printed in the year 1512, in which the Ecclesiastical Office is prescribed for this fourth of March concerning Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr, with nine Lessons at Matins, the first six of which are taken from the Acts of his life and translation made under Pope Paschal; concerning which Lesson VI has the following.

[4] Then after many years Paschal, the most pious Prelate of the city of Rome, The solemn Translation of the body performed by Pope Paschal, together with Blessed Cecilia and her companions, namely Saints Urban, Maximus, Valerian, and Tiburtius, raised up his body and placed it under the holy altar in the Church of Blessed Cecilia, which he himself had built, in the times of the Emperor Louis, in the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 822, Indiction 15. Paschal was installed as Pope on the twenty-eighth of January in the year 817, in the year 822, and died on the fourteenth of May of the year 824. He wrote a letter concerning the revelation made to him by Saint Cecilia, urging him to complete the labor he had begun in searching for her body. "Then," he says, "hastening to the Cemetery of Saint Sixtus outside the Appian Gate, into the City, we found the body situated among his fellow Bishops in golden vestments together with the venerable Spouse ... and we honorably brought it within the walls of this city of Rome. For the love of whom, the Title which the holy Pope Gregory the First, the distinguished Doctor, had dedicated out of pious devotion, and which through the forgotten times of old had long stood torn apart by the decay of age and nearly shattered by the collapse of its ruins -- by the grace of God we caused it to be restored to a better state from its foundations, and to the honor of Almighty God, to the Church of Saint Cecilia with the relics of her and others, we placed the body of the same Virgin together with her dearest Spouse, and Tiburtius and Maximus"

Martyrs, as well as Urban and Lucius, both Pontiffs, dedicating and placing them beneath the sacred altar; and there, for the praise of the Creator, we established and built a monastery in honor of Blessed Gregory and the holy Virgins or Martyrs Agatha and Cecilia, next to her Church, in the place called Colles-iacentes.

So writes Pope Paschal in his letter, which Baronius published at the year 821, and from better manuscript codices Antonius Bosius in his treatise on the Lives of these Saints, and on the various discoveries of the bodies of the said Saints. Anastasius the Librarian, in his work on the Lives of the Pontiffs, narrates the same in the Life of Pope Paschal. Moreover, lest the memory of the event should perish, Pope Paschal left before the face of the altar below in the Confession this inscription on a marble tablet, which we give here from Baronius and Bosius:

"Paschal the First, renewing this Church from its foundations with zeal for the faith, with the inscription added: while he searches for the sacred bodies, raises up the venerable body of the holy Martyr Cecilia, found, enclosing it in this marble. Lucius and Urban, Pontiffs, are joined to her as companions. And you, witnesses of God, Tiburtius, Valerian, Maximus, you hold worthy fellowship with those named. Rome devoutly honors these distinguished Patrons."

[5] Concerning the new discovery of the sacred bodies and their solemn reposition, the said Antonius Bosius published a treatise with this opening: "Since the sacred bodies of Blessed Cecilia the Virgin a new investigation was made in the year 1599 and of the holy Martyrs Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus her companions, and of Urban and Lucius the Pontiffs, had lain hidden for many centuries -- that is, for a space of nearly eight hundred years -- just as they had been deposited by Pope Paschal the First in the Church of Saint Cecilia, unmoved and unseen by mortal eyes; at length in the year of Christian salvation 1599, in the eighth year of the pontificate of Clement VIII, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of November, they were again revealed to the city of Rome." We set aside the entire history of this discovery, since it pertains chiefly to Saint Cecilia, and excerpt only a few things. Cardinal Paul Sfondratus, at the direction of Cardinal Paul Sfondratus, nephew of Gregory XIV, Cardinal Priest of the title of Saint Cecilia, ordered the bodies to be sought, and he himself was present with trustworthy witnesses, who were Paul, Bishop of Isernia, the Vice-Regent of the Vicar of the Supreme Pontiff; James Butius, a Canon of the Lateran; then Peter Alagona and Peter Morra of the Society of Jesus; and several from the household of the same Cardinal. When the sacred bodies of Saint Cecilia and her companions had been found and raised, the most illustrious Cardinal Sfondratus, recalling that Paschal, in addition to the aforesaid, had also placed the bodies of Blessed Urban and Lucius the Pontiffs in the same church, the bodies were found on the twentieth of October ordered the workmen to dig deeper near the upper place in order to search for them. Immediately beneath the marble chest from which the body of Saint Cecilia had been extracted, another similar chest was uncovered, in which the bodies of the two Pontiffs Urban and Lucius were deposited, each separately wrapped in its own veil; yet they lay in reversed position, so that the head of the first inclined to the right, as did that of Blessed Cecilia, while the head of the other inclined to the left of the high altar... When the honorable Sanctuary had remained for an entire month in the sight of the people, Pope Clement VIII, with the Cardinals, reposed on the twenty-second of November, who numbered forty-two present, on the twenty-second of November celebrated the Sacrifice of the Mass and replaced the sacred bodies, as the inscription engraved on a silver tablet and placed within the casket of Blessed Cecilia teaches, which we give here.

"Here rests the body of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr, which, having been found at the revelation of the same by Pope Paschal the First, was translated into this church and deposited under this altar together with the bodies of the holy Martyrs Lucius and Urban, Pontiffs, as well as Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus, consecrated to the same holy Martyrs.

Again after nearly eight hundred years, under Pope Clement VIII, it saw the light with the same Saints on the twentieth of October in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1599. The body of this holy Virgin, the aforesaid Lord our Pope Clement, having enclosed the old wooden casket in which it lay within a silver one, replaced it untouched and unchanged in this same place where it had been deposited, after the celebration of the solemn Masses, with the greatest devotion and tears, in the sight of all the people, on the twenty-second of November, on the very feast day of the Virgin, 1599.

At her side in another separate casket the aforesaid three Martyrs Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus rest; and also beneath the body of the Virgin in another similar chest the aforesaid two Martyrs and Pontiffs Lucius and Urban, just as they were all deposited there by Pope Paschal."

"I, Paul, Cardinal Priest of the Holy Roman Church of the title of Saint Cecilia, Sfondratus, to whom, though a most wretched sinner, it was given by God Almighty to find, to see, and to venerate the aforesaid bodies, which by the long passage of time had lain almost in darkness, have recorded this memorial with these letters. In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1599, on the twenty-second of November, during the pontificate of Clement VIII, Supreme Pontiff, in the eighth year of the same pontificate."

Finally, an epitaph placed by Cardinal Sfondratus in the pavement above the titles of the Saints was inscribed with golden letters on black stone in these words: epitaph displayed.

BENEATH THIS ALTAR

Rest the bodies of the Holy Martyrs Cecilia the Virgin, Valerian, Tiburtius, Maximus their companions, Lucius and Urban, Popes, consecrated to the same holy Martyrs.

[7] Masinus in his survey of Bologna, at this fourth of March, lists some relics of Saint Lucius, Pope and Martyr, in the church of the monastery of Nuns called by the name of Jesus and Mary, Relics at Bologna and Roskilde -- are they of this Saint Lucius? of the Order of Saint Augustine, built in this century. Meanwhile, both here and at Roskilde, it is to be feared that these may be relics of some other Martyr Lucius, since we celebrate two others of that name on this very day, and in January and February alike we assigned the birthday of six others from ancient records, and shall do the same often in this work of ours. Aringus treats at length of the sacred cemeteries constructed on the Appian Way in Book 3 of his Roma Subterranea, from Chapter X, and then in Chapter XI describes the celebrated Cemetery of Callistus, its designation before Saint Callistus the Pope, and then its various subdivisions; and under it are contained the cemeteries of Saint Cecilia, Other cemeteries joined to the Cemetery of Callistus. of Saint Sixtus, and another called by the name of Praetextatus, to which the original burial is assigned by various authors. The said Aringus treats of these in Chapters XIV, XV, and XVI.

* secundum i.e., "second"

* tres i.e., "three"

* perhaps "by the long passage of time"

Section II. The written Life of Saint Lucius. His homeland. The duration of his See. His letters, and the letter of Saint Cyprian addressed to him.

[8] Besides the encomia on Saint Lucius hitherto set forth, according to the testimony of Peter the Deacon, Librarian of Monte Cassino, in his work on the illustrious men of Monte Cassino, the Passion of Saint Lucius the Pope was written by Benedict, also known as Guaiferius, of Salerno, a man distinguished for his holiness and piety, sweet in speech, great in talent, and eloquent in discourse. He flourished in the time of Abbot Desiderius, in the eleventh century of Christ. The Life of Saint Lucius written by Guaiferius, So writes Peter, who enumerates the rest of his literary works in the same place; among which is the History of the discovery of the body of Saint Secundinus the Bishop, which we gave on the eleventh of February, where we cited other encomia of Guaiferius from Leo of Ostia and the same Peter the Deacon of Monte Cassino in his book on the Origin and Life of the just men of the monastery of Monte Cassino. John Baptist Marus, a Roman Canon, in his annotations on Peter the Deacon writes that the works of Guaiferius, written in Lombard script on ancient parchments, are held in the library of Monte Cassino under the number 280, and adds that the first words of the Passion of Saint Lucius the Pope are: "The most courageous and illustrious pursuits of the virtues." We ourselves were at the monastery of Monte Cassino, received with every kindness and courtesy; and we caused whatever we wished to be copied, and found nearly all the documents written in Lombard script. But before us, Abbot Cajetanus, Cardinal Baronius, and Antonius Gallonius had obtained these Acts transcribed from there; from whose sixth codex we obtained them at Rome at the house of the Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory; incomplete, given from the manuscript: but to our regret the work is clearly incomplete, because the principal part is missing from the Cassinese Codex itself. In its place we append a small supplement from the Breviary of Schleswig, perhaps drawn from similar sources.

[9] In assigning the father and homeland of Saint Lucius, the ancient codices of Anastasius the Librarian on the Lives of the Supreme Pontiffs differ among themselves. First, in the two manuscript codices of Marquard Freher and another of Cardinal Mazarin, one reads "by nation a Roman, son of Porphyrius," the homeland of Saint Lucius, as the cited Palatine and Queen of Sweden parchments along with the Pontifical Book have it, and the codices of the Councils and the Annals of Baronius agree. Meanwhile, the text of Anastasius printed from the library of Marcus Welser expressly affirms: "Lucius, by nation a Tuscan, from the city of Lucca, son of Lucinus." The same appears to be read in the codices of Thuanus and of the Most Christian King, since no mention of any discrepancy is made among the variant readings. On which account, Francis Maria Florentinus, lest he defraud his native Lucca of the due honor of so great a Pontiff and Martyr, appends the following to the ancient Martyrology published by himself at this fourth of March: "What if from long residence he were called Roman by country, but Lucchese by origin, with his father bearing the double name Porphyrius Lucinus? The conjecture is supported by the name Lucius, which was customary among the ancient Lucchese, as is shown by that Lucius Castronius Paetus, whom Cicero mentions in familiar letter 209, and Pope Lucius III, who was without any controversy a Lucchese. It is easy to suppose that this man, called Umbald before Allucingus, wished to assume the name Lucius from his fellow countryman Lucius the Martyr."

[10] Concerning the time during which he held the See, authors differ greatly. In the book on the Roman Pontiffs, and in the other deeds and catalogues with Anastasius the Librarian cited above, three years are consistently assigned, and in most sources also three months, though in others two or eight, the duration of the See, and finally three days. On the other hand, Eusebius, an ancient author, in Book 7 of his Ecclesiastical History, Chapter 2, writes the following: "Meanwhile at Rome, when Cornelius had held the episcopate for about three years, Lucius was appointed in his place; but having scarcely discharged that office for a space of eight months, on his death he bequeathed the episcopal office to Stephen." And in Greek the time is expressed thus: "Having served in the ministry for not even eight full months." This can certainly, and indeed must, be explained as referring to his presence among the Romans, as if for the rest of the time he was in exile. And first it is certain that Saint Cornelius died on the fourteenth of September, and it is reported universally that the episcopate was vacant for thirty-five days; therefore Saint Lucius must necessarily have been created on the fourteenth day before the Kalends of November, that is, the nineteenth of October, from which day to this fourth of March there intervene four months and sixteen days, to be assigned to his See: one year, four months, and sixteen days. to which we believe, with Panvinius, Baronius, Petavius, and other more precise chronologists, one year must be added; and thus he could have performed two ordinations in the month of December -- the first in the third month of his pontificate before he was sent into exile, and the second after his return, also in the third month before his death.

He was created, moreover, in the times of Gallus and Volusian, in the year

of Christ 253, crowned with martyrdom in the consulship of Valerian III and Gallienus, in the year 255. When, therefore, three years are counted, they appear to span three different years of the Christian Era, in two of which he presided over the Church for little more than two months.

[11] Saint Cyprian from Africa wrote two letters to Saint Lucius: the first when he had been raised to the summit of the Apostolic Chair, which we regret has perished; but the latter, The letters of Saint Cyprian addressed to him, when he had returned from exile to Rome, in order to congratulate him together with his African episcopal colleagues on his return; and in this he mentions the earlier letter, saying that they had recently offered congratulations when he had been appointed to the administration of the Church. From this, many commonly infer that he was banished immediately at the very beginning of his pontificate and that he did not remain long in exile; and thus they simply acknowledge an error in Eusebius, nor can it be explained by reference to Saint Lucius's presence among the Romans -- which we also concede, if that word "recently" cannot be explained by reason of the many years which one might wish to assign to his pontificate. But we subjoin here that single letter, the latter is given here, since it contributes much to the deeds of Saint Lucius, and it is the fifty-eighth in order.

[12] Cyprian together with his colleagues sends greetings to his brother Lucius.

Recently indeed, dearest brother, we congratulated you Congratulations on his return with greater glory: when the divine condescension established you as both Confessor and Priest in the administration of his Church, with a twofold honor. But now no less do we congratulate you and your companions and the entire brotherhood, because the benign and generous protection of the Lord has brought you back to us once more with the same glory and praises; so that the Pastor might be restored to his flock for feeding, and the helmsman to his ship for steering, and the ruler to his people for governing; and it might appear that your banishment was divinely arranged, not so that the Bishop, banished and driven out, should be absent from the Church, but so that he might return to the Church greater than before. By the example of Daniel and the three youths, For the dignity of martyrdom was not less in the three youths because, having been cheated of death, they came forth unharmed from the fiery furnace; nor did Daniel stand any less consummated in his praises because he who had been sent to the lions as their prey, protected by the Lord, lived for his glory. In the Confessors of Christ, deferred martyrdoms do not diminish the merit of their Confession, but display the marvels of divine protection. We see represented in you what those brave and illustrious youths proclaimed before the king: that they themselves were prepared to burn in the flames rather than serve his gods or adore the image he had made; yet God, whom they worshipped and whom we also worship, was powerful enough to deliver them from the fiery furnace and to free them from the king's hands and from the punishments at hand. This we find accomplished in the faith of your confession and in the Lord's protection of you: Divine protection is acknowledged: that although you were prepared and ready to undergo every punishment, the Lord nonetheless withdrew you from suffering and preserved you for the Church. By your return the dignity of the Bishop's confession has not been diminished, but rather the priestly authority has grown the more; so that a Prelate stands at the altar of God who exhorts his people to take up the arms of confession and to undergo martyrdom, not by words but by deeds; and, with the Antichrist approaching, prepares his soldiers for battle, not only by the encouragement of speech and voice, but by the example of faith and courage.

[13] We understand, dearest brother, and perceive with all the light of our heart the salutary and holy counsels of the Divine Majesty: whence the sudden persecution recently arose there, and whence secular power suddenly broke forth against the Church of Christ and against the blessed Martyr Bishop Cornelius and against all of you -- so that the Lord might show, for the confounding and refuting of the heretics, which was the Church, which was the one Bishop chosen by divine ordination, which were the Priests joined with the Bishop in priestly honor, persecution reveals the true Priest: who was the united and true people of Christ, bound together by the love of the Lord's flock; and who they were whom the enemy assailed, and who on the contrary were those whom the devil spared as his own. For the adversary of Christ does not persecute and attack any but the camp and soldiers of Christ. Heretics, once prostrated and made his own, he despises and passes by; he seeks to cast down those whom he sees standing. And would that the opportunity might now be given, dearest brother, that we might be present there with you on your return, we who love you with mutual charity -- so that we ourselves too, being present with the rest, might share the most joyful fruit of your arrival. What exultation there is of all the brethren! What a rushing together and embracing of each one coming to meet you! the joy of the faithful at his return: The eyes of those clinging to you can scarcely be satisfied, and the very faces and eyes of the people can scarcely be sated with looking. From the joy of your arrival the brotherhood there has begun to understand what the coming joy of Christ's advent will be like and how great; since his coming will soon draw near, a certain image of it has already preceded in you -- so that, just as John, his precursor and forerunner, came preaching that Christ had come, so now, with the Bishop and Confessor and Priest of the Lord returning, it might appear that the Lord himself is also now returning. In our stead, I and all our colleagues and the brotherhood send these letters to you, dearest brother, and representing to you by letter our joy, we express the faithful services of our charity; here also in our sacrifices and prayers we do not cease to give thanks to God the Father and to Christ his Son our Lord, and at the same time to pray and petition prayers offered that He who is perfect and perfects may guard and perfect in you the glorious crown of your confession -- He who perhaps recalled you for this very reason, lest your glory might be hidden if the martyrdoms of your confession were consummated abroad. For the victim that provides to the brotherhood an example of virtue and faith ought to be sacrificed in the presence of the Brethren. We wish you, dearest one, always to be well.

[14] So far the letter of Saint Cyprian, sent in his own name and that of his fellow Bishops and people. Would that the equally pious and Spirit-filled response of Saint Lucius, so far as we can gather, had survived! There survives a Decretal Letter of the same to the Bishops of Gaul and Spain, in which he prescribes various matters concerning their actions and judgments; certain things from the decrees of the same are also read in Gratian, and excerpts from these are found again in the volumes of the Councils. The letters and decrees of Saint Lucius. Finally, Saint Cyprian, in Epistle 67, treating of Saints Cornelius and Lucius, indicates the labor he undertook against the Novatian heretics: "For they," he says, "full of the Spirit of God and established in glorious martyrdom, judged that peace should be granted to the lapsed, and declared by their letters that the fruit of communion and peace should not be denied to those who had done penance." But the letters which Saint Lucius wrote on this matter no longer survive.

LIFE

by Guaiferius the monk,

from the Cassinese manuscript.

Lucius, Pope and Martyr at Rome (Saint)

BHL Number: 5022

By Guaiferius. From the manuscripts.

CHAPTER I.

Encomium of martyrdom. The birth of Saint Lucius, his holy youth.

[1] The most courageous and illustrious pursuits of the virtues, which were formed for believers as a common treasure by the teaching of the sacred faith, we discern most deeply engraved and impressed in the armor of the Martyrs above all. For it was there that they directed themselves by labor, by constancy, and by greatness of soul to that summit whence their most glorious deeds are presented throughout every nation, throughout every land, before the eyes of all, in everlasting memory. This is the effect of the resolute endurance of their discipline, which not only did not bring them anything delicate or soft, but even granted them the strength to exhaust the hands of those who struck them, and to overcome every force of all hostility. The Martyrs, strong by the grace of God, fought, For the power of God and Christ, who is wisdom, enrolled them in that most thronged and singular service of his; this chosen race of warriors he consecrated with the new sacrament of military service among the praetorian soldiers of his Court -- so that, armed with fortitude of soul, they might come under the blow with naked body, might dread nothing harsh, fear nothing difficult, consider nothing intolerable; might despise all human things, and do all things gravely, all things constantly, all things splendidly; and finally might overcome the world itself not only in battle but in war. Moreover, this consecration of the Eternal Emperor was both instituted for his glory (not, however, as though he lacked anything) and prepared for the protection of the human commonwealth -- lest, like a ship solidly and durably built of strong timber, fastened together with a tenacious frame, adorned with varied colors and gold, with a flexible rudder, firm ropes, a lofty mast, a distinguished fighting-top, gleaming sails, and finally all equipment both fit for use and handsome to behold -- if no helmsmen steered her and no rowers drove her, the sea would easily swallow her with all such furnishings or a storm would dash her upon the rocks; in the same way, the principalities and powers of this world, and the spiritual wickedness in the heavenly places, would go about to destroy that most beautiful and excellent creature, the beloved creature of the Creator, the image of God, the likeness of the Redeemer, the mirror of the world, the dignity of heaven -- by frequent, violent, and habitual assault, if many Martyrs had not fought for her under divine instruction.

[2] But against such battle-lines and their forces, against powerful tyrants spread through every city throughout the whole world, the response came not with a multitude of soldiers, not with a great number of legions, not with gleaming weapons, not with infinite wealth; but only by twelve chief commanders who discharged the offices of both Emperor and Soldier at once, first and foremost the Apostles, who exposed themselves to the enemy forces, who knew not how to sound the signal for retreat, who in no way refused battle -- distinguished by no material armor, not even light armor, for even a staff was forbidden to them. and among them Saint Peter, And from among these chief commanders, that Simon, by far the most excellent of all, the Prince of all, the Standard-bearer of all, upon whom from the solidity of his faith and the affection of his love toward the Lord and Savior the name Peter was imposed -- in the City, where the throne and dignity of the earthly Empire gleamed, he pitched the camp of his virtues; and so great a man, full of God, was he in conquering, that no one after him would dare even to hope for, let alone desire, a similar triumph. For he would not have fought in a contest worthy of himself had he measured himself against others who could have been overcome without the greatest praise and glory. He ascended to the steep and difficult heights of the Capitoline citadel so that, having dislodged Jupiter from his throne, the remaining demons elsewhere in the cities might more easily follow in the same ruin. Intent therefore upon his most diligent work, by his example he roused others: he trained debaters and judges according to his own judgment, who would themselves subdue monstrous abominations by the power of the Crucified, purge the world of filth, thoroughly tame wickedness, restrain wrath, envy, avarice, lust, and every plague from human minds; they themselves naked too, for whom there was no resource in their household affairs, no advantage of riches beneath the sky. and subjected the Empire to the Priesthood: They were indeed to change the consulship into a pontificate, the government into a prelacy, the magistracy into a priesthood; the praetorship, the prefecture, indeed the senatorial dignity itself and all such offices into ecclesiastical dignity; and with their flashing standards they were so to subdue the world that today you may see all nations, all kingdoms, indeed the Roman Empire itself, obedient to the decrees and commands of the Roman Priest.

[3] But against them, that Roman power set in motion its victorious standards -- though without lasting success -- directing its force against them with fiercer spirits than against any other enemies; as though they were sorcerers, as though they were traitors to the fatherland, as though they were born for the public ruin, the Roman Pontiffs imitated this, it assailed them with every kind of torment. It tried the cross on Peter, exile on Clement, servitude on Marcellus, chains on Alexander, the sword on Lucius. And while throughout the whole world it afflicted some of the household of Christ like rabid beasts, killed some as fierce and untamed creatures, drove the sword into others as into something diseased, and among them Saint Lucius, in a glorious triumph, extinguished others as monstrous offspring, and slew others as deformed and feeble -- it could not turn its monstrous cruelty away from its own familiars, from its own household, not even from itself. Behold this Lucius of the Porphyrian family, a Roman citizen, Supreme Pontiff, of whose triumphant title the present day boasts, powerful in the dignity of the name of that family which, so that Rome might survive, imposed limit and end upon the fury of Carthage and Numantia -- indeed upon the whole world -- on account of his timely service among the Roman people, was put to death by a capital sentence under the Emperor Valerian.

[4] But it seems worthwhile to unfold in order, for the benefit of posterity, a Patrician by birth, how this man of complete integrity and high birth, a Patrician endowed with a prudent mind, polished in speech, the most eloquent of jurists, the most learned in law of the eloquent -- to whom heaven had destined the majesty and amplitude and dignity of the Priesthood -- from his earliest years gave himself entirely to sacred customs and duties, having resolved to deny himself pleasures and vices; cultivated in piety and learning, and how those who had abandoned piety, mercy, and humanity, even those hardened by the bonds of treachery, lust, and hatred, he led into the citadel of peace, quietude, and religion -- not by austere severity, not by lax permissiveness, not by a most gloomy gravity, but by the contrivance of varied and vehement speech, full of spirit, full of breath, full of sweetness, full of truth. Nor would it be beside the point to tell in what manner, when confronted with the furious Emperor on the charge of being a Christian, following the procedure as the laws of Rome and the nations seemed to require -- passing from the charge to the defense, from the defense to the issue -- he spoke with prudent and splendid reasoning and verbal contest those things that pertain to civil society, to common sense, to nature, and to morals, always emerging superior. For on an open field, he is stirred by the proposal of an eternal reward, where he had Christ as spectator and the principalities and powers as onlookers, the rewards set before him and the greatness of his soul had lifted him up -- so that while fighting in place of a rampart and before the enemy's position, it befell him to be pressed down and bent but never moved, so that, having won the greatest grace, he might carry off the triumph born of virtue to the heavenly kingdom.

[5] Therefore, in pursuing this glory and nobility, judging utterly execrable what he had perceived to be the source and principle of all disturbances, first he closed the doors of his soul against the monster of intemperance (which indeed is a defection from right reason and from all rationality, temperance removes vices, so that the soul infected by it could neither be governed nor restrained), once he had admitted into the hospitality of his mind the ruler and mistress of virtues, temperance. He had made his appetites obey right reason, and as a worthy man he kept sound judgment, did all things rightly, and maintained a moderate, constant, and tranquil spirit -- lest he waste away with troubles, lest he be broken by fear, lest he exult in vain glory, lest finally he burn with any desire except the heavenly one. For when virtue had established itself on the highest and most eminent place, whence it might go to survey the entire vista it had illuminated, he acquires virtues: making good use of its powers, it dedicated the breast of the blessed man as a treasury free and marvelous to its companions alone -- whence good, useful, and honorable things -- justice, continence, prudence, greatness of soul, generosity, piety, friendship, hope, faith, charity, and the remaining virtues opposite to vices -- could easily be sought. Thus indeed, by divine providence, such ornaments were ordained to belong to him who was destined to preserve the laws, the City, and the true sacred rites; who would come forth into the forum, onto the rostra, into the senate-house to speak concerning Christ. Attentive therefore to the human race as the creation of the supreme divinity -- indeed as the likeness of God -- he surveys the abundant and constant material of evil on all sides: some laboring under want, he turns others from vices: others anxious with ambition, others torpid with sloth, others stained with luxury; some shaken by impatience, others puffed up with cruelty; some raving with anger, fury, and cruelty -- against which pitiable passions the good man applied the labor and strength of his heart, and, having become all things to all men according to the Apostle, he bore the interests of all and of each; 1 Cor. 9:22 and he offered a due measure to each, having become all things to all men, indulgence as to a brother, veneration as to a parent, respect as to a superior: on this one he took pity, that one he moderated; this one he aided, that one he instructed; and to all who labored day and night among so many errors with a sick mind, he showed the safest and most well-known path to living blessedly and eternally, in these words.

CHAPTER II.

The exhortation of Saint Lucius concerning the contempt of earthly things and the imitation of Christ and the acquisition of virtues.

[6] All things are slippery and uncertain, nor can those things be called good which, with a specious but deceptive pleasure, entice wretched mortals: money, rank, power, The goods of this world are unstable and perishable: and other things of this sort, at which so many men, led on by blind desire, stand dumbfounded. These things are possessed with toil, are viewed with envy, make everyone anxious, no one truly happy, no one truly secure. No one stands on stable ground; all are tossed about, hanging, fluctuating, dashed against one another; some drag others down as they fall, some are the destruction of others. This is slaughter, not life -- a heaping up of those who rush upon one another. Let each answer to himself as he wishes and believe that pleasure is the highest good; let him place glory and the pomps of the age and the worst vices in the category of supreme happiness: yet all human things are brief and perishable, not extending into any longer portion of time; they pass quickly and are concluded at an immature end short of their growth, so that not even they were able to stand for long. Let us also extend, if you will, the limit of our age to those things that glory in their antiquity, the middle of which few reckon at a hundred years; then let the mind be led to the longest and infinite stretches of time: what proportion would these ages make when compared with eternity, even if our lifespan indulged us up to a thousand years? Since such is the case, we hand over this small and brief span, the short time of life is poorly spent: in which we are compelled to live according to the custom of others, entirely to negligence and sloth, so that our very living is plainly the same as dying. For human life from childhood flows away through luxury and intemperance, inert with torpor, wearied by wantonness, held in suspense by ambition, eager for trade, wandering and inconstant and displeasing to itself; vices press upon it from every side, surround it from every direction, and do not allow it to be well employed, or to be spent on any good thing, or to raise its face, or to lift its eyes to the sight of truth. At length it compels the wretched creature to adore gods fashioned by its own fingers; it delights in bowing its captive body before senseless images, senseless fictions, and most abominable monsters; and it is pleased to depress its sublime stature, made for heaven leaving behind idols and with its face raised toward its God, to the ground with the posture of other animals that go bent toward the earth.

[7] For this life, moreover, sailing in so great a tempest, in so surging a sea, in a stormy deep, there is no salvation except through jettisoning cargo, no rest except in shipwreck, no harbor except destruction. Therefore one must rise above all the allurements of the world and the idols invented by human error; one must go to God, one must direct the mind to heavenly things. Look there, raise your eyes there, lift your suspended heart there; do not prostrate yourself at the couches of dead men, do not fall before a creature made for your service; preserve your dignity, preserve your sublimity, preserve the likeness of God; God is to be worshipped, persevere as great as you are; be such as God made you; look upon yourself, be present to yourself, return to your mind -- so that in order to know God, you may first recognize yourself. He makes heaven the homeland for those who believe in him, who will give eternal rewards, he builds a dwelling above the sun and stars, where honors are eternal, joys infinite, peace everlasting, rest perpetual; and moreover with inestimable love he adopts men as sons, and causes them to share the name and dignity of divinity, which belongs to himself alone. Therefore, from this small and perishable passage of time, let us give ourselves with our whole soul to those things that are immense, that are eternal, that are better for the better; to which indeed we are led by the love of Christ alone, where we are forbidden by no lengthy span of the age, where all are admitted, where we are not constrained nor enslaved; but safe, free, and eternal, we enjoy the free and open heaven; where no terror will invade us, no anger torment us, no disease afflict us, no suspicion provoke us, no envy persecute us, no fear trouble us, no fickleness disturb us. If you judge rightly, would not even these blessings alone, as it were, of the eternal gift be reckoned as having been snatched and taken away from us? Come now, suppose that today a magistrate, whether for a trial or merely for his own amusement, should order you to be led out -- first beaten with rods, then bound to a stake, to expose your neck to the executioner's axe, and thus to present an execrable spectacle to the people in the presence of your relatives and loved ones, your wife and children standing by, while supplications offered on every side for your deliverance availed nothing -- you would then know the weight of that empty and windy happiness in the terror of so great a crisis, martyrdom is to be preferred to the pleasures of the world: and you would reflect upon it for every moment of your life. Certainly, if it were then possible for you freely to evaluate the magnificence and those glittering goods -- golden beds, tables gleaming with golden vessels, a great array of servants, perfumes, garlands, fragrances, the most exquisite feasts brought from Cadiz, from the dawn, and from the furthest Ocean -- you would surely feel, in reviewing and counting over all the days of your life, that not a single one worthy of memory, but all equally lost and equally ruinous, had remained with you; and that you were more wretched and unfortunate than that man of Syracuse, over whose neck, amid all that coveted splendor, a sword hung from the ceiling, suspended by a horsehair.

[8] Or do you think that those people are living who are hideous, raving, and most violently driven by the impulse of pain, the misery of tyrants, of weapons, of blood, of tortures -- whose countenance is threatening, whose brow gloomy, whose face savage, whose step hurried, whose hands restless, whose color changed, whose sighs frequent; whose eyes flash, whose hair stands on end, whose breath is stopped, whose lips tremble, whose teeth are clenched; who stamp the ground with their feet, who clap their hands again and again, of the proud, who convulse their whole body -- hideous to see, dreadful of face, deformed by every passion of wrath; or do you by right yield the name of life to those who are stirred by some dishonorable deed or word of others, if some proud man has turned his back on their speech or openly laughed; who, if they were not admitted to dinner with others,

or if admitted, were placed not in the middle but perhaps in the last seat; if upon their greeting, the one greeted did not deliberately return the mutual salutation -- they believe these things are done in earnest to insult them. What do you think of the envious, who are saddened by others' happiness, of the envious, who delight in others' misfortunes, who violate others in order to obtain some advantage, overturn the laws of nature, depart from humanity, and destroy the man within man? Is this not eternal misery and inhuman pleasure? Nor do you think them dead, for whom long-prepared wealth and abundance of goods and the magnificence of royal dwellings are always a source of fear lest the cruelty of some Praetor or some intervening fault strip away all their grand array. And those harassed by diseases and pains, to whom iron and fire are applied, whose bones we see broken and wounded, of those subject to evil passions, whose veins are extracted, whose limbs are amputated -- do they live? What of those inconstant ones who cannot stop their own wavering, who abhor tranquility, who are in turmoil with every motion of the soul, whom regret for what they have begun holds, and fear of beginning anew; weak to endure anything, patient neither in labor nor in pleasure; who often change their plans and revolve back to the same ones; who in a manner flee from themselves, who leave no room for novelty, for whom life itself and the world are a weariness? All these indeed, upon whom such pestilent passions assail, I would not undeservedly call dead from misery rather than alive -- especially since little opportunity is given for them, detained in the custody of the body, to enjoy their own pleasures, and for those cast out, beyond everything that is called wretched, miserable, and irremediable, an irrefutable sentence will inflict torment.

[9] A peroration urging flight from the world, The mind must therefore be restrained on the downward slope and impelled against the steep; there is no doubt that it strives while ascending. Patience, fortitude, and perseverance must struggle, so that they may subdue the vices that carry a man to the worst, and so that they may not bury in an infernal abyss a creature so bright and radiant and beautiful in more than one respect, born to transcend the summits of heaven. Let us therefore go and destroy -- for it is better and more just -- the pleasures of the world; and let us renounce riches, which should more truly be called occupations; for when these are admitted, all good things are overturned. Small indeed are the things necessary for the protection of man, which can satisfy the body's needs: cold is removed by a simple covering, hunger and thirst are settled by moderate food; there is no reason to accuse nature; everywhere and in all places lie the things by which you can nourish yourself. What, after all, will it matter to you if the belly is served with exquisite arts and the palate is stimulated and the stomach is filled? These things will not go on for long. We are travelers here, indeed guests; we remain in a foreign place. Do you wish for proof? Wait a little, and you will utterly forget the luxury and the beloved lodging. Let us correct the errors to which we have been too indulgent; let us return to our boundary, Christ, who will not suffer us to wander; and the imitation of Christ, in whom he who walks bravely does not stumble, he who is carried more swiftly does not fall; in whom speed suffers no interruption. Behold, he summons us, enrolled in the heavenly service, to receive our donatives; vast are they, as we have said, and equally divine, which he promises us for so great an expedition; we shall attempt nothing in vain, we shall be forbidden nothing. All things will yield, all things will comply; thus indeed we shall change servitude into sovereignty and slavery into freedom -- no longer to change again.

CHAPTER III.

The deeds of Saint Lucius in his Pontificate. The beginning of the persecution against him.

[10] When these things had been spoken by Lucius, the people in great numbers strove eagerly, some before others, to raise the Christian religion to the heavens, to enroll their names, and to demand the faith. The faithful, moreover, were daily kindled with no small desire to entrust the Pontificate to him, after the death of Saint Cornelius, as soon as heaven should claim Cornelius, acclaiming him as the most fitting successor, who could administer the Roman Priesthood with both learning and virtues. He is consecrated Pope: Meanwhile, while the laurel of Martyrdom is presented, white and resplendent, to Cornelius in heaven, Lucius obtains the Supreme Pontificate, with the assent of the whole Church. It was his longstanding practice to pay the debts of those who could not pay, he aids the afflicted, and even as a private citizen to intercede against the Praetorian faction so as to free those oppressed by their judgments; to have mercy on orphans, to console the afflicted, to provide for the poverty of the needy, and to defend the stranger and the widow. For he emulated that memory and model of our Fathers, Job, the most courageous of men, whose these and other most generous words concerning such duties Scripture had taught him: "I saved the poor from the hand of the mighty, and I aided the orphan who had no helper. Job 15. The mouth of the widow blessed me; I was clothed with justice and wrapped about with equity; I was the eye of the blind and the foot of the lame; after the example of Job, I was a father to the helpless; I examined cases without exception, and breaking the jaws of the unjust, I snatched the spoil from the midst of their teeth."

[11] And although he devoted himself entirely to these duties to such a degree that he was thought scarcely to have enough leisure to devote to other institutions of piety and religion, yet with a golden balance he was accustomed to examine the sum of affairs in such a way that he turned the minds and eyes of all with equal admiration in either direction. He consecrated seven Bishops, he consecrates seven Bishops, as it were craftsmen and guardians of human life (for it was fitting that the Paraclete should show his inhabitant to be powerful in the substance and number of his gifts), the law serving as teacher -- to whom the breast and the right arm of separation should fall, so that they might be Priests, so that they might ascend to the Lord's altar, so that they might offer the saving sacrifice; who should be full of knowledge, full of diligence, full of greatness, full of faith, full of all divine understanding -- indeed full of all the virtues of God. Finally, with this most opportune gift he established them in the possession of judgment and defense, to hear cases, for his own assistance, so that in the Church, by the word of doctrine, by great solicitude, and by the labor of vigils, they might win for themselves the goodwill of sinners -- being about to teach them rather to follow that path by which they might arrive at the knowledge of the true God, from which they had departed. Such indeed were the Bishops whom the Bishop of Bishops, the Pontiff of Pontiffs, the Priest of Priests, the Prince of Princes, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords approved for bearing the vessels of the Lord -- of outstanding virtue, having nothing lax, nothing dissolute, fearing no lapse of soul or body, that they might be holy in body and spirit, that they might be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore Lucius wished none of these to be common (for they would then belong to the many) but to belong to God alone, as the separated portion of the Sacrifice showed; nor indeed did he send them to wage war or to fight against the enemy, but rather to pray with uplifted hands like Moses, so that while they devoted themselves to prayer the people might triumph over the invisible enemy, and devoted to prayer: so that they might drive away the most wicked Amalekites -- that is, the demons -- far from the very camp, lest, if they should cease and lower their hands, the victors should perceive themselves routed by the vanquished, with their legions regrouped once more.

[12] Moreover, there was preserved among them, in the execution of the most sacred Ministries with a singular array, the ancient custom of the ecclesiastical constitution: he offers sacrifice with great ceremony: for indeed a great and prosperous crowd of ministers thronged about when there was solemn approach to the divine Mysteries; and he was distinguished with liturgical vestments which could equal the augural staff or ^acrown of an inaugurated Pontiff whose face was veiled -- though he was marked by a still more beautiful adornment of the mind. The most zealous man also devised for all of them a better garment, that it might grow in the delight of eyes and in distinction, called the Dalmatic: which both in itself and by the dignity of the Priesthood appeared more precious than the embroidered toga, the ^cpalm-woven tunic, and the ^dpurple cloak fastened with golden clasps. He also granted the Levites permission to use this same vestment. He grants the use of the Dalmatic to the Deacons: Thus this singular man, endowed not only with virtue, constancy, and gravity, but also with distinguished ornaments, together with that attending senate of his, before the divine rites and the Sacred ceremonies, proceeded to give the streams of life from the sacred laws, from the tablets of the Testament, from the privilege of the Gospel, to the peoples who thirsted; so that the pontifical vestments might lend authority and the abundance of the sacred word might create faith, The Faith of Christ is propagated: while he strove to raise the city, broken by evils, cast down by fear, and weakened by luxury, to the hope of heavenly dignity and freedom. Thus indeed, what might have seemed marvelous, through long labor the religion prevailed even amid crimes themselves, so that with proper words and free discourses the name and faith of Christ were celebrated street by street throughout the entire City.

[13] At this, the Pontiffs of the Capitol, companions of the demons, the storm of the fatherland, the whirlwind of peace, the tempest of tranquility, recklessly turbulent, hurled every crime, every abomination, every assault of discord, and finally every torch of envy and every wicked weapon of venomous hatred against this the pagans rise up with violence and fury against Bishop Lucius; and they suddenly drove the fanatics under their jurisdiction throughout the entire City, the dregs of all the temples, to conspire against the professors of the Christian name; and then through the forum and the rostra they assembled whatever men of the people they could muster with all possible zeal, as men of that persuasion, and prepared them, either goaded by the most bitter hatreds or won over by bribes, as a force for this kind of prosecution. Then with these coached witnesses and trained accusers, they burst into the Senate-house, the multitude indeed crying out that they had come to appeal to the Emperor and the Senate; they declared that it was a matter of nearly destroying the Majesty entirely and overturning the Republic, unless immediate provision were made; that therefore all other matters must be set aside, and provision must be made for wives and children, for altars and hearths, and especially for the immortal gods, and they must take care, lest, when headlong ruin had engulfed them unawares, the gods be implored in vain -- gods who are as hostile to those who violate their sacred rites as they are to those who are unwilling to avenge them. This outcry, having struck terror not only into the Senate and the other dignitaries but into the City and the Emperor himself, drove the courage from their hearts; and immediately they granted them the authority to speak freely whatever they wished in the atrium of Jupiter. When the Senate was convened, the greatest among them in both rank and age said: "I shall exercise my right of speaking, O Emperor, with your leave and that of the magistrates -- a right which Jupiter Optimus Maximus is believed to have yielded in this temple first to the Pontiffs and Kings, then to the Consuls, and finally to you by private authorization; for it is not right to be indignant at my opinion, which is spoken not against you but for you, since the ancient authority of instructing and correcting has compelled us with respect to those whom a recent benefaction has admitted into our college. But let it be permitted to express indignation and to bear it bitterly, so long as I do not suffer the Republic to be undermined by so wretched a loss through my silence; so long as I accuse its conservators -- if they can rightly be called such -- of sloth; so long as I, the interpreter of divine religions, defend the faith of the immortal gods, oppressed, deserted, and destroyed by wicked and furious men, not only with my voice but with every power of soul and body -- because for those who neglect such things, as for those who would bring light to the sky, it will not be possible to be fortified by long impunity against fiery darts..."

The remainder is not found in the manuscript.

the same often represent the augural staff, or augural rod, Pontifical ornaments, a pontifical implement, likewise the crown -- although in the manuscript, rather than "crown," what seems to be read is "horn," the use of which in sacred rites I do not see.

APPENDIX

From the Lessons of the Breviary of Schleswig.

Lucius, Pope and Martyr at Rome (Saint)

BHL Number: 0000

Pope Lucius... shining like the splendor of the brightest sun, most powerfully overcame all the snares of enemies, all the deceits of tyrants, and all the contests of their threats and torments. While defending the Church, When he was teaching the Church of the faithful, admonishing the Christian people, strengthening the faithful in their good resolution, condemning the impious, rebuking heretics, and convicting idolaters, the enemy of the human race, unable to endure this, attacked him with his satellites. The blessed man is led before the judges and accused as a sacrilegious person; and when questioned concerning the faith, the doctrine, he is captured, and religion (for there was no need to question him about his lineage, since they knew him to be Roman by birth, the son of Porphyrius), he replied that he believed in one God, the Father Almighty, he professes his faith, and in his only Son, and in the Holy Spirit, who made heaven and earth. But the devil, envying the so great constancy and firmness of faith of this most holy man, after a short time had elapsed, set his dogs in motion, roused up tyrants, animated executioners, and armed the entire militia of hell. To overcome the holy Pontiff they gathered from all sides, raging and raving; and that whole army of wolves, leaving aside the sheep, rose up against the shepherd, so that by killing the shepherd they might more easily scatter the flock of sheep. Then the noble and venerable Pontiff Lucius, like the most gentle lamb, is led to the sacrifice. He is slain. At last, after many tribulations and torments, he is beheaded by the most impious Prefect Valerian.