ON THE HOLY MARTYRS NARCISSUS, BISHOP OF GERONA, APOSTLE OF AUGSBURG, AND FELIX HIS DEACON.
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Narcissus, Bishop, Apostle of Augsburg, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
Felix, his Deacon, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
[1] Gerona, an ancient and illustrious city of Catalonia in Spain, watered by the river Unda, which soon flows into the Ter, adorned with an Episcopal See from ancient times, venerates among its Bishops Saint Narcissus, there crowned with the laurel of martyrdom for the faith of Christ. This is that Saint Narcissus whom Augsburg in Germany acknowledges as its first Apostle and herald of the faith: and to whom in the magnificent Basilica of the Monastery of Saints Udalric and Afra a principal altar eighty feet in height has been erected: The altar of Saint Narcissus whose image Bernhard Hertfelder presents in the Basilica of Saints Udalric and Afra, historically described by him and illustrated with copper engravings.
[2] A history of the deeds of Saint Narcissus written by contemporaries does not survive, and if any existed, it was irretrievably lost, as will be said below, together with the book of the Passion, Acts in the history of the conversion of Saint Afra when the pagans invaded. There survives the history of the conversion and passion of Saint Afra and companions, explained with a learned commentary by Marcus Welser, in which he judges that it was composed after peace had been restored to the Churches by Constantine the Great, while the memory was still fresh. It is indeed a marvelous conversion accomplished through Saint Narcissus, on the occasion of which most things concerning this Saint are reported, as the reader will be able to find in the said history of Saint Afra in the aforesaid Welser, to be elucidated by us on August 5. In the meantime we give here a certain summary of his life drawn by our John Gamansius from a parchment codex of the said Monastery of Saints Udalric and Afra, covered in white leather, Summary of the life and marked with the letter Z and the number 40, to which this title is prefixed: Lives of Saints Narcissus, Udalric, Simpert, and Afra: which the same Gamansius collated with the Blaturan manuscript, likewise a parchment Passional of the Saints, comprising ten items.
[3] To these we add a letter of Berengarius, Bishop of Gerona, to Sighard, Abbot of the Monastery of Saints Udalric and Afra, Relics, sent in the year 1087 with various relics of Saint Narcissus and other Saints. Abbot Sighard died in 1094. On the occasion of these relics, which consist of his vestments, an image was formed in silver down to the chest, and is depicted in the said book of Hertfelder on page 69: Silver statue: and indeed with an evil spirit, because when he was converting Saint Afra, he drove away by prayer and fasting a demon appearing in horrible form, and compelled a monstrous dragon dwelling at the Alpine Passes to be killed. The said letter of Berengarius has also been published by Marcus Welser on page 34, and by Antonio Vincenzo Domenech in his book On the Saints of Catalonia, folio 26, which, with some additions, is fuller than the Summary of the Life of Saint Narcissus as we give it here, appearing in the Augsburg codex. Miracles: To these we append a few miracles translated from the Spanish of the said Domenech into Latin.
[4] Berengarius acknowledges in the said letter that the day of the death of Saint Narcissus is unknown, Veneration on October 29. but the fourth day before the Calends of November was adopted for the feast of his passing, which the people of Augsburg also did: on which day the Birthday of Saint Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, is celebrated. Hence the occasion was given to Peter de Natalibus, Book 7, chapter 28, of the Catalogue, to err and to write that Saint Afra was converted to Christ through the preaching of Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, and was baptized with her whole household and mother, and recalled from sin. This error is found in various Martyrologies. And on March 18 But the Roman Martyrology proposes him to us on this day in these words: At Augsburg, Saint Narcissus the Bishop, who first preached the Gospel in Rhaetia, then having gone to Rome, when he had converted many to the faith of Christ at Gerona, there in the persecution of Diocletian he received the palm of martyrdom together with Felix his Deacon. Nearly the same things are read in the Martyrology of Galesinius, and somewhat more fully in the Additions of Molanus to Usuard in the year 1568. The above-cited Domenech followed, as did Tamaius Salazar in the Spanish Martyrology, and Rodrigo de Acunha cited by him, likewise George Cardoso in the Portuguese Hagiologium. Grevenus, Canisius, and others report them on both days. Inscribed in the Roman Martyrology for August 12 are Hilaria, the Mother of Saint Afra, and other companion Martyrs: for which day in the Prague Martyrology this is added: The head of this Saint Hilaria the Emperor Charles obtained in the city of Augsburg in the Monastery of Saint Udalric, Relics at Prague. and donated it to the Church of Prague. Likewise in the same head the Emperor deposited Relics of Narcissus, Bishop and Martyr, who converted Blessed Afra to the faith.
[5] Concerning the homeland and Episcopate before the conversion of Saint Afra, the Acts of the latter are silent, and only call him Bishop. Below in the Summary of the life he is said to have been Bishop of Gerona, Homeland. and in number 2, about to return to his own city of Gerona: but whether this means only his episcopal city or his native city is uncertain. Some more recent writers, on the mere authority of the recently discovered writings of Dexter and Maximus, Episcopal See, claim that he was Bishop of Braga and born at Scallabis in Lusitania; and crowned with the laurel of martyrdom under the Emperor Aurelian: for establishing which we have not yet seen sufficiently secure foundations. Together with the Acts themselves and the Roman Martyrology, Time of martyrdom. to which Regino, Hermann Contractus, Marcus Welser, and others assent, we judge that Saint Narcissus together with his Deacon Saint Felix suffered in the persecution of Diocletian, perhaps however while this persecution still continued after he had laid aside the purple.
SUMMARY OF THE LIFE
From the Augsburg and Blaturan Manuscripts.
Narcissus, Bishop, Apostle of Augsburg, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
Felix, his Deacon, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
BHL Number: 6031
[1] Therefore from the Western city of Gerona in Spain there arose a storm of Christian persecution; and all who dwelt there In the persecution of Diocletian were compelled by the most impious Emperors Diocletian and Maximian to sacrifice to idols. At that time there was in the same city a most holy Pontiff, by the name of Narcissus, which in our language can be said to mean most beautiful flower, a most noble man and most firmly grounded in the faith of Christ. When the fury of persecution broke out, he strengthened the people subject to him in the faith of Christ, and warned them not to fear the rage of the persecutors, with persuasive words, saying: Dearest brethren, be strong in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ: and do not fear the rage of the persecutors,
which will quickly pass like smoke: He strengthens his people of Gerona in the faith: and immediately the aid of consolation from the Lord will be with you. For no one will be crowned unless he has fought as a Christian. Blessed therefore is the man who endures temptation, because when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life. For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that shall be revealed in us: and therefore all who wish to live piously in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Do not therefore fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul: but rather fear him who, when he has killed the body, has power to cast the soul into the fire of Gehenna. You therefore, dearest brethren, so graciously and clearly taught by the Holy Spirit, come willingly and not unwillingly to the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you may be made sharers in his resurrection. For if you have been planted together in the likeness of his death and passion, you shall also be partakers of his resurrection. Instructed by these and other exhortations from the divine eloquence, all the brethren were ready and prepared to endure suffering for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the love of the heavenly homeland.
[2] And so the Blessed Pontiff Narcissus, Shepherd of the sheep of Christ, before all and above all, like a leader and guide of the flock, thus ran joyfully ahead, He is sent to Augsburg by Christ appearing to him offering himself willingly before everyone to suffering, desiring to be already immolated for the sheep of Christ, so that after the victory of suffering he might merit to precede them with the palm of martyrdom into the kingdom of God, having endured many injuries at the hands of wicked torturers for the name of the Lord. When he now believed himself to have reached the palm of victory, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said to him: Be strong, my dearest champion, and be patient and long-suffering to receive the crown that awaits you in my kingdom. You have not yet, as you think, grasped your crown: endure still a little while until the number of souls is fulfilled who are to believe in me through the word of your preaching. For it is necessary that you still announce and preach my word to other peoples and tongues: and after you have gained those peoples for me, you shall return here, and in this city of yours, Gerona, you shall receive your crown with honor. There is a city in the regions of Rhaetia, Augusta by name, not yet converted by any preaching, in which a great storm of persecution rages, To the house of Saint Afra with Saint Felix the Deacon: and the misery of fornication has greatly increased there. When therefore you have entered this city, you shall go confidently to a prostitute named Afra, and together with your Deacon Felix you shall drive out the demon who lurks in the house of her brothel, invoking my name, and you shall command him to go to the Julian Alps to kill a dragon; and you shall purify the house of her brothel with your prayers, and baptize the prostitutes who are in the same house. And when all things have been duly accomplished, you shall encourage that Church and the people whom you have purified for yourself to the kingdom of eternal life, and you shall ordain her Bishop, Dionysius, and thus at last with peace you shall return to this place of your station, to receive your crown, and to possess it without end with me and my Saints. Go therefore securely hence: for behold I send my Angel, who shall lead you to that place, With the addition of angelic companionship, and shall guard you always, and after the gain of many souls shall bring you back here to your crown, because while I guard and defend you, no one shall snatch you from my hand.
[3] Therefore the holy Bishop Narcissus, rising up and taking with him his Deacon Felix, He undertakes the journey: began to travel through long stretches of lands and difficult passages of rivers, until, with Christ as his guide, he arrived at Augusta, the city of the Alamanni: where at that time the persecution of Diocletian had so oppressed the Church of Christ that very few and almost none in the same city dared to confess Christ. Having entered the city, the Bishop and Felix the Deacon made the sign of the Cross of Christ upon their foreheads and entering the brothel of the prostitute named Afra, and praying for the peace of the Lord, they were kindly received, as if for shameful business. But seeing them engaged not in wantonness but in divine offices, Turning aside to Saint Afra she hesitated in her heart, considering that these men were not jesting but acting seriously, praying and singing psalms, and not caring for bodily food; pricked in heart she said to them: You have not entered rightly, my lords: for this house is unclean, and it is not fitting for you, He converts her to the faith, who are Christians and holy men. For we are filthy and polluted: and the power of Christ is endangered here, where vanity and impurity are continually practiced. The Bishop answered: I was not to go anywhere except where the grace of Christ commanded me. Do not therefore fear, because the grace of Christ is not polluted by you: rather, through the grace of God, you must be cleansed and purified. For just as the Sun, shining from heaven, penetrates the sewers and filth of the streets and yet is not made filthy, so rather it must cleanse and purify you, so that God may be glorified through your conversion, and that you may provide an example to other sinners. Afra answered: How then can I be purified, who have committed more sins than the sands of the sea and the drops of rain have numbers: because not only by fornication but also by the worship of idols have I ruined myself. For I have been devoted to the idolatry of Venus from my infancy until the present, and Venus cannot be worshipped except through uncleanness and fornication. The Bishop therefore answered: Nothing is impossible for Christ my Lord. But how he converted her to the faith of Christ, her and her whole household, and ordained a Bishop for them, namely the holy uncle of Afra, Dionysius, and killed the dragon, seek this in the book of Saint Afra, there you will find all those things. He baptizes her with her whole family After which he baptized Afra, Hilaria, Digna, Eunomia, and Eutropia, and ordained Dionysius as their Bishop, and dedicated the house of Hilaria as a church, in which, as long as he remained there, he celebrated the divine mysteries, And many others: and baptized many pagans converted from the worship of idols, and conferring many healings upon the sick, restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf by invoking the name of Christ. He works miracles:
[4] Meanwhile, the pagans hearing the fame of the blessed man reported to the judge Gaius, saying: Behold, the Pontiff of the Christians, Narcissus by name, expelled from his own territories, has come as a fugitive to this city, and is staying in the house of Afra the prostitute, He is sought by soldiers: and has converted many from the worship of the gods, preaching Christ his God. Then Gaius, angered, commanded his officers to seize him and compel him to sacrifice to idols: and if he refused to sacrifice, to torture him with various torments and kill him. But they came to the house of Afra and said to her: Bring out the men who have come to you, for they are Christians and despise our gods, He hides and is not found: preaching to you another God whom the people of this city and its rulers do not worship. But Afra, forewarned, had hidden them in the upper room of her house under bundles of flax which she had with her, and said to the officers: Why do you think Christians would come to me? Christians do not come to me, because I am a prostitute: but if you do not believe me, enter my house and search for them; but they believed her and, thinking they were hiding elsewhere, departed. The blessed Bishop Narcissus, having more fully instructed Blessed Afra and her companions over several days, He returns to Gerona: and those who had believed through him, and confirming them in the faith, returned to Spain and the city of Gerona, together with his Deacon Felix. They found the Church shaken by a severe storm of persecution, so that many were wavering in the faith, whom Blessed Narcissus, strengthening with paternal consolation in the faith, and exhorting those who were steadfast He encourages his people in the faith: to stand more firmly, encouraged all to endure suffering.
[5] Then, calling together all the faithful men and women, he set forth to them the reason for his journey, how Christ through his great grace and mercy had saved the prostitutes in the city of Augusta, as an example to all penitents, He sets forth the fruit of his mission: and so that his power might be preached among the nations. But when the whole Church of the faithful heard this, they wept and gave most abundant thanks to the Lord: who does not wish anyone to perish, but desires all to come to repentance and the remission of sins. Meanwhile, as Blessed Narcissus sowed the word of the Lord everywhere in Spain and converted many to Christ, he heard that the Church which he himself had founded in the city of Augusta was torn apart by the most savage persecution of the pagans: [On account of the martyrdom of Saint Afra and companions, he gives thanks to God:] to such a degree that scarcely the slightest remnants of the Christian religion seemed to have remained there. And that the blessed Afra too had stood before the tribunal for the name of Christ, and after a public profession, together with her whole family, had been consumed by martyrdom through burning by fire. Upon hearing this, the holy Bishop gave thanks to the Lord for the victory of the Martyrs Afra and her companions, but groaning deeply over the oppression and scattering of the sheep of Christ, and with many tears commending to the Lord the remnants of his planting in the city of Augusta, he established that the day of the passion of Afra and her companions should be solemnly observed in the Church. He also spread the history of their passion and conversion in the Churches of Spain.
[6] Meanwhile, the leading men of the city of Gerona, hearing that many were being daily converted to Christ by Blessed Narcissus, whom they had long since heard had fled to foreign regions to avoid the persecution, fearing lest the fame of his teaching might reach the ears of the Prefect of Spain, By the counsel of the pagan citizens of Gerona and lest perhaps his fury might rage against that city; they planned to kill him. But because he was a noble man and there were already many who had believed in Christ through him, fearing lest a sedition might arise among the people if he were killed publicly, they ordered their servants to watch him and, having found a suitable opportunity, to kill him secretly. On a certain day, therefore, while Blessed Narcissus, prepared to celebrate the sacred mysteries, was engaged in prayer, the unbelievers, who had long been lying in wait for him, suddenly bursting into the church, dragged him from the sacred altar and, having assaulted him with insults, struck him with a sword, Dragged from the altar, he is killed. and left him bloodied with slow wounds. Narcissus suffered on the fourth day before the Calends of November. At the same time, Blessed Felix his Deacon, in the same city of Gerona, was killed by the impious for the confession of Christ and departed to the Lord: to whom is honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Annotationsboy was transformed into that flower, as Ovid has it in Book 3 of the Metamorphoses.
Letter of Berengarius, Bishop of Gerona, concerning the Relics of Saints Narcissus, Felix, and Others.
Narcissus, Bishop, Apostle of Augsburg, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
Felix, his Deacon, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
BHL Number: 6033
[1] In the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1087, a certain messenger was sent from the Monastery of Saint Afra to the city of Gerona: whose journey, God who directed it accompanying him, he arrived safely at the aforesaid place, and brought back from there no small quantity of relics of the holy Martyrs together with the following writings.
To the most dear Father, Lord Sighard the Abbot, and the whole Congregation of Saints Udalric and Afra the Martyr, Sent from Augsburg to Gerona, he brings back a reply Berengarius, Bishop of the holy See of Gerona, with all his Clergy and faithful people: may they always enjoy all good things in Christ.
[2] Let the venerable affection of your fraternity know, dearest ones, that we have both seen your messenger, and have read with devout attention the letters delegated to us by your fraternity: and, overcome by the utmost devotion to you, have gladly agreed to your prayers (although you requested what is dearest to us after God). So great indeed is the integrity of love commended by Christ, that whatever one would most eagerly choose to retain for oneself, one would be horrified to consider it a crime unless one swiftly offered it to one who asks. Wherefore, dearest brethren, observing the laws of this charity, being presumptuous, if it must be said, And relics of another Saint Felix, we direct to your blessedness a munificent gift from the most sacred treasures of our salvation: namely from the bones, and flesh, and blood mixed with earth, and vestments of our most holy Doctor, Felix, Martyr of Christ, that is, him whom we regard as our Apostle and Prophet: not the one who is called the Deacon of the Most Blessed Bishop Narcissus: since he, translated by the most pious King of the Franks, Charles, rests with honor in the city of Paris: likewise from the vestment and stole of our most glorious Father Narcissus, Pontiff and Martyr of Christ, Of Saint Narcissus with which he was buried in his tomb. But we could not send you anything from his body, since it has been preserved incorrupt by the grace of God until now, just as it was on the day when his spirit was carried from this wicked world to the Lord. We also send you from the bones of the head and hand of the most precious Martyr of Christ, Saint Romanus, And Saint Romanus. namely the companion of the aforesaid venerable Martyr Felix of Gerona and Doctor of Spain. And the holy relics which we send, we have thus distinguished by attaching small labels to the casket (lest any error disturb the unknowing), so that whose pledges each one bears Carefully distinguished: may be unmistakably made known to the ignorant. Rejoice therefore in the Lord, dearest ones, and exult, and be glad that you have merited the pledges of three such great Fathers under the name of the Trinity. And to speak sparingly, if you preserve these gifts entrusted to your faith no more honorifically, at least no less reverently than they are guarded by us: so that with the patronage of those whose most precious pledge you have in your hands, you may be able both to enjoy the tranquility of the present life and to attain the rest of future blessedness. We also transmit to you the Passion of Saint Felix, in which we have noted for you the day of his birthday, namely the Calends of August.
[3] Likewise, it is worth inserting that (as the letters of the aforesaid Berengarius seem to indicate, and the annals attest) the Body of our Blessed Father and Martyr Narcissus, at the time of the delegation of the messengers of the Augsburg Brethren, was found incorrupt, and still preserved while wrapped in haircloth the marks of the wounds inflicted by the sword; just as the Martyr fell asleep in the Lord, wounded during the solemn celebration of Mass with three wounds, namely in the throat, the shoulder, and the calf. From the body which still exhibits the wounds inflicted And indeed after the burial of the sacred body, after many years had passed, he was found intact, with a vivid complexion, venerable white hair, and his right hand extended as if to bless. And when a certain Religious Abbot wished secretly to take a toe from his foot out of veneration, with all watching and marveling at the miracle, Nothing can be taken away. the foot was drawn back. These things, therefore, as we have read them, we have taken care to record in writing for your devotion, Brethren.
[4] Concerning the deeds of Saint Afra, know that we have nothing more than you do. But concerning Saint Narcissus we send what we have. For the book of his Passion, The Acts of the Passion have perished. and the day of his death, we have irretrievably lost when the Pagans invaded and devastated our Churches and depopulated our lands. The Feast of his Passing is celebrated by us annually with solemn care on the fourth day before the Calends of November, and the Translation on the fifth day before the Calends of October. Farewell and pray to Almighty God for us.
AnnotationsMIRACLES
From the Spanish of Antonio Vincenzo Domenech.
Narcissus, Bishop, Apostle of Augsburg, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
Felix, his Deacon, at Gerona in Spain (Saint)
[1] The tomb of this saint is made illustrious by miracles (as Caesar Baronius says in his notes to the Roman Martyrology), for there many lame and crippled persons are cured, Various miracles those afflicted with various infirmities are healed, such as those with fevers and others. But all miracles are surpassed by the fact that his body, dead for over thirteen hundred years, has persevered as intact and incorrupt as it now is. From the many miracles, however, I shall relate two so great and notable that they cannot be passed over in silence without great detriment to the history, and when related they will not be tedious to the reader.
[2] In the year 1580, on August 28, on which the Feast of Saint Narcissus was celebrated, Giovanni Vitalis, a baker of Gerona, Blood stains the flour because his feast was violated, between the second and third hour after midnight, while kneading flour for baking bread, was amazed to see the mass mixed with blood, and saw it dripping from the kneading trough itself. Astonished at this prodigy, the poor man begged the Saint to allow him to finish the work he had begun, promising that when it was done he would see to it that the miracle, depicted on a tablet, would be hung at his altar: and immediately he called his mother, his wife, and his servant as future witnesses of so glorious a miracle, which God was working in honor of his Saint.
[3] Not only Gerona alone, but the whole kingdom of Aragon and Catalonia, owes much to this Saint as its special protector against all the most powerful enemies. The Catalans experienced this by a manifest miracle in the time of King Peter, the third of his name among the Kings of Aragon, but the second among the Princes of Catalonia. Gerona occupied by the French When he had seized Sicily with a powerful army as due to him by right of his wife (since he had in marriage the daughter of King Manfred), and Charles, himself also called King of Sicily, had taken up arms against him; he came with a powerful army and his brother Philip, King of France, into Catalonia, and obtained Gerona; the surrender being made, with the consent of King Peter himself who despaired of defending it, by Raymond Folch, Viscount of Cardona. Having therefore taken possession of the place, the French were not only most burdensome to the natives, plundering and oppressing everyone: but they were also injurious to the heavenly beings themselves and to the sacred places, profaning chalices and other vessels destined for the divine ministries, and carrying off reliquaries fashioned of gold and silver for the reverent preservation of the relics of the Saints, having scattered the relics. Among these things it happened that the holy arm of Blessed Narcissus was broken; which divine justice was by no means willing to leave unpunished: therefore from the very tomb of the holy Bishop there issued innumerable swarms of flies, Because the relics of Saint Narcissus were violated, some tinged with a blue color, some with green, and speckled with red stripes; which, having entered the nostrils of men and horses, did not leave those they had occupied until they had taken away their breath and life, as they fell dead to the ground. For such was the effectiveness of the venom Soldiers are killed by flies. that whether they had bitten a man or a horse, death immediately followed the bite: and they inflicted such great destruction on the French army that of those who had poured into Catalonia in innumerable numbers, scarcely a third part survived: who, confessing themselves beaten and chastened by the just judgment of God, returned to France, everywhere lamenting the fate of their comrades. This so great miracle occurred in the month of September in the year 1286, and its account and confirmation is found in the Royal Archive of Barcelona in a certain book entitled Chronicle of the Kings of Aragon; and concerning the same a public instrument is visible in the Palace of the Vicariate of Gerona. And indeed the unfortunate Charles himself, during whose lifetime the soldiers had acted so insolently, did not bear the sacrilegious madness with impunity: but before he could set foot outside the borders of Catalonia, he himself was to be carried out dead, and his brother the King returned with his army, wretchedly treated and diminished, no otherwise than as if defeated in a bloody battle: so that the powers of earth may learn to reverence the more powerful citizens of heaven, and fear to provoke divine vengeance against themselves by offending them. Cardinal Baronius briefly mentions this miracle in the aforementioned Notes.