CONCERNING S. APHRODISIUS, BISHOP OF BÉZIERS IN GAUL.
CommentaryAphrodisius, Bishop of Béziers in Gaul (S.)
[1] Béziers—called by some Bliterrae—an ancient city of Gaul in the territory of Narbonne, now in Occitania or Lower Languedoc, at the confluence of the rivers Orb and Lirou, distant about four leagues from Narbonne itself, celebrates on this day the feast of S. Aphrodisius the Bishop. Him, without indicating the place, the manuscript Martyrology of Aachen reports, and with the added word Confessor, the Calendars of the Breviary of Évora in Portugal and the Capuan Breviary published by Michael the Monk. Sacred worship But the Liège manuscript of S. Lambert, the Trier manuscript of S. Paulinus, one of Queen Christina of Sweden under the name of Ado, and another of ours under the name of Bede, have the following: "At the city of Béziers, the deposition of S. Aphrodisius, Bishop and Confessor." In the Vatican manuscript of S. Peter, the Vallicella manuscript of the Congregation of the Oratory at Rome, the Carmelite manuscript at Cologne, and the manuscript Florarium, "In Septimania" is prefixed, and Aphrodisius is variously written as Frodisius and Effrodisius. These matters are reported more accurately by Usuard throughout all handwritten and printed codices, and are as follows: "In Septimania, at the city of Béziers, the deposition of S. Aphrodisius, Bishop and Confessor. with the eulogy of Usuard: He, ordained Bishop of that city by the Blessed Paul, Bishop of Narbonne, renowned for his teachings of the faith and adorned with the merits of his virtues, rested in peace." The same is recorded in the Hagiology of France drawn by Philippe Labbé from an ancient manuscript Martyrology of the Abbey of S. Lawrence at Bourges, likewise in the Utrecht manuscript of S. Mary and the Brussels manuscript of S. Gudula, and in the Martyrology of Bellinus according to the custom of the Roman Curia, and in the German Martyrology of Canisius in its first edition; and Ferrari follows in his General Catalogue, who in the Notes cites the words of Usuard.
[2] These things were described by Usuard from the ancient Life of S. Paul, Bishop of Narbonne, which we have just given above; from which we repeat the following: "When Paul, the Priest and Confessor of God, had arrived at that time at the city of Béziers and built a church, which was not yet known, taken in part from the Acts of S. Paul of Narbonne, and having performed the divine priestly office, first sat there in the
Bishop's Chair... When through his teaching unbelief was declining and faith was growing, the converted superstition of the people of Narbonne... sent a delegation to the aforementioned Bishop, desired his religion, and longed to have a Church... And so, having ordained S. Aphrodisius as Bishop in his place, he arrived most swiftly at this city." Thus in the Acts of S. Paul of Narbonne, to which we have contributed various observations concerning the time in which he lived, which need not be repeated here, since they can be seen there.
[3] These are nearly all the things that can be said with certainty about S. Aphrodisius, since other narratives are not free from errors. Maurolycus certainly errs greatly when he writes: Errors in some calendars, "At Bourges, of Aphrodisius the Egyptian, Bishop of Bourges." Felicius has the same and calls him a Confessor. Galesinius compiles more in this manner: "At Bourges, S. Aphrodisius, Bishop. He, an Egyptian by birth, Prefect of all Egypt, having laid down the office of the Prefecture, came to Antioch, where, having received baptism, he placed himself under the instruction of the Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles; afterwards, having gone with him to Rome, he was sent thence to Gaul by the same, and having been consecrated Bishop of Bourges, he instructed that city in the precepts of the Christian religion; finally, having built a church and having done other things holily for the glory of Christ, he departed to heaven." Thus Galesinius, citing in his annotations Usuard, Eisengrein in Century I, and Volaterranus, Commentaries book 3—rather book 13—where the following is found on page 153: "Aphrodisius, Bishop of Bourges, taken from Volaterranus, a disciple of Peter, an Egyptian by birth, lies at Bourges." How far these things are from what Usuard has, from whom Galesinius departed along with others. From his Martyrology, the German edition of Canisius was augmented and altered in the second edition, and whereas before only the words of Usuard were read, these being expunged, the city of Bourges was substituted, but placed in Septimania—that is, part of Gallia Narbonensis—whereas Avaricum, the city of the Bituriges, was in Aquitania Prima. Eisengrein, part 5, distinction 3, relates marvelous things, citing Volaterranus and Peter de Natalibus, book 3, chapter 218. We would omit his fabulous narrative were it not that later writers also excerpted their material from it. from Peter de Natalibus: Thus he writes: "Aphrodisius, an Egyptian by birth, was Prefect of all Egypt at the time when the child Jesus, having fled to Egypt, was brought into the temple of the gods, and all the idols collapsed. When Aphrodisius, then Prefect, heard this, he approached the temple in which the images had been overthrown; and seeing the child Jesus, he adored him, and manfully defended him together with his parents from the fury of the priests of the idols, who wished to kill them in vengeance for their gods; and from that time he believed in Christ, as it were through a dream. But after the Lord's ascension, when the preaching of the Gospel had reached Egypt, abandoning the prefecture, he came to Antioch and was there baptized and became a disciple of Blessed Peter; with whom he afterwards went to Rome; by whom he was also directed to preach in the Gauls. He also associated himself there with S. Paul Sergius, Bishop of Narbonne, by whom he was ordained Bishop of Bourges and came to that city; where, persevering for a long time in the office of preaching and shining with the glory of miracles, he brought the entire populace of that city under the name of Christ. And mature in virtues and in age, he rested in the Lord on the eleventh day before the Kalends of April, and was buried in his church, distinguished by signs." Thus Peter de Natalibus, into whose account Eisengrein, from book 1 of the Ecclesiastical History of France which he cites, and Eisengrein: inserts the conversion of the people of Bourges and the house donated by Leocadius, the first Senator of the Gauls, from the family of Vettius Epagathus, who was crowned with martyrdom under the Emperor Severus after S. Irenaeus, and finally the church erected and adorned with the relics of S. Stephen—as though all these things had been accomplished among the Bituriges by S. Aphrodisius, although Gregory of Tours never mentions him. It is chapter 27 and 29 of book 1 that is designated here, indeed described by Eisengrein with Gregory's own words preserved, as though S. Aphrodisius had been Prefect in Egypt when Christ was born and had announced the faith of Christ to the Bituriges more than two hundred years later and had founded the said church.
[4] And these were writers outside of Gaul, whom Guillaume Catel and André du Saussay set above their own and more reliable authorities—the former in his History of Occitania, page 955, where he treats of the Bishops of Béziers, the latter in his Gallic Martyrology, which has the following: "On the same day, at Béziers, S. Aphrodisius, the first Bishop of that city. He, an Egyptian by birth, some of these things appear in the Gallic Martyrology, Prefect of all Egypt, having laid aside that office, came to the Blessed Peter at Antioch; illuminated by him with the word of life and cleansed in the sacred font, and afterwards, when the Prince of the Apostles himself was journeying to Rome, taken by him into his retinue, he assisted him in spreading the kingdom of Christ everywhere. Then attached to Paul as he set out for Gallia Narbonensis, when the latter departed for Spain, he adhered to Sergius Paulus, whom Paul had appointed as Bishop at Narbonne; by whom, as the harvest of the evangelical crop grew in this province, he was established as Bishop of Béziers; where, having for a long time devoted magnificent and outstanding labor to preaching the faith, to uprooting the impious rites, to bringing forth citizens for Christ, to spreading the most pure religion, and to founding and establishing a Church, at length, having accomplished glorious deeds, an indefatigable herald of Christ and most faithful minister, he proceeded laden with merits to the prize." Thus Saussay with magnificent amplification, if he could produce for it more reliable authorities than those we have given.
[5] Concerning the church, monastery, and burial of the body of S. Aphrodisius, the Sanmarthani treat in volume 4 of Gallia Christiana, page 64. And whereas Usuard and others say that he rested in peace, having done things holily, that he departed to heaven, did the Martyr carry his own severed head? and that he proceeded laden with merits to the prize, and finally call him a Confessor, others write that he was crowned with martyrdom in these words: "The church of S. Aphrodisius among the people of Béziers is most ancient, which the blessed Aphrodisius consecrated in honor of the Prince of the Apostles with his own blood, and designated as the primary church of all the churches of Béziers by the tradition of his severed head, which he carried from the farthest parts of this city into it, to the utmost astonishment of all, as most ancient legends relate. That this basilica was originally dedicated to S. Peter is manifestly indicated by two things: the church of S. Peter, then of S. Aphrodisius, the old seal of the Chapter of the Church, on which the image of S. Peter and Blessed Aphrodisius is engraved; and various most ancient foundations, in which burial is chosen in the church of S. Peter and S. Aphrodisius. But because this basilica was outside the city walls, the episcopal see was transferred, with a monastery: and an Abbey of the Order of S. Benedict was erected there, and the Apostolic See granted the use of pontifical insignia to the Abbots admitted to its bosom, affording them some consolation of their former dignity, such honor and ornament being bestowed upon their church, in which the bodies of the Blessed Aphrodisius and Gerald, Bishops of Béziers, were laid and still rest. the body preserved, Many centuries ago this Abbey was reduced from a regular to a secular state, and the monastery was changed into a Collegiate and secular Church. Then on page 67 it is said that through Raimond de Sérignan, the Abbot, the fraternity between the churches of S. Aphrodisius of Béziers and S. Paul of Narbonne was renewed fraternity. (which was so ancient that it had almost passed from the memory of men), on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of January in the year 1260, with Giraud then being Abbot of S. Paul; which association is found in the archives of the same church.