CONCERNING ST. ACACIUS, BISHOP AND CONFESSOR, AT MELITENE IN LESSER ARMENIA.
THIRD CENTURY
PrefaceAcacius, Bishop and Confessor, at Melitene in Armenia (Saint)
[1] Melitene, or Melitine, the chief city of Lesser Armenia, has had various illustrious Saints: among these St. Domitian is celebrated on the tenth of January, who was Bishop there at the end of the sixth century: in whose Life various information about the said city is adduced. Another is St. Polyeuctus, the celebrated Martyr, who suffered there under the Emperors Valerian and Gallienus. More ancient than these is St. Acacius, who was Bishop there and a glorious Confessor under the Emperor Decius, whom the Greeks celebrate on various days, sacred cult on March 31. and especially on the thirty-first of March, on which day the following verse indicates that he was held in the greatest veneration among the Greeks:
"On the thirty-first, Acacius attained the end of life."
The Greeks sing these verses to him in their Menaia:
"For Acacius dying, who was an angel of the earth, the angels of heaven prepare a place."
[2] The following eulogy is found in the printed Menaia and in Maximus, Bishop of Cythera. Eulogy in the printed Menaia, "When in the times of the Emperor Decius, Acacius was strenuously laboring to impart the Christian faith to men, he was seized and brought before the Consul Marcian; and being questioned about what he taught, he expounded the whole doctrine of our faith in God and refuted the trifles and inventions of the Pagans. For this reason he endured torments and was delivered to prison. But when it seemed to Marcian that report ought to be made to the Emperor Decius concerning this holy man, he wrote to him the chief points of the examination that had been held. Then, by order of Decius, he was released from prison, bearing about on his body the marks received for the confession of Christ; he converted many to the faith of Christ and, renowned for the glory of his miracles and teaching, rested in peace." The same account, but somewhat more expansively, is read on the twenty-ninth of March in the Menologion composed by order of the Emperor Basil in the tenth century of Christ. We have found similar material for the thirty-first of March in the Ambrosian Library in manuscript Menaia, and various manuscripts. of which some are marked with the number 378 and the letter N, others with the number 148 and the letter O, and the Menaia preserved at Dijon in the possession of our Chifflet agree with these. On the same day the Copts and the Orientals celebrate the Contest of St. Acacius, Bishop of Melitene, whom we believe to be this same person.
[3] Another day dedicated to St. Acacius is the seventeenth of April, on which we have copied the following found in the manuscript Menaia of the Duke of Savoy at Turin: cult on April 17 "The memory of our holy father Acacius, Archbishop of Melitene, the Wonder-worker." On which day also in the small Greek Menologion rendered into Latin by Genebrard, the following is read: "Simeon, the Persian Bishop, and Acacius, Bishop of Melitene." The same is read for the said day in the new Greek Anthology, but in the appended eulogy only the Acts of Simeon are celebrated. Following the example of these Greeks, the same Acacius, Bishop of Melitene, is mentioned by Molanus in his supplement to Usuard and by Ferrari in his General Catalogue.
[4] A third day, celebrated for the discovery of the relics of St. Acacius, Bishop of Melitene, is the fifteenth of September in the printed Menaia and in Maximus of Cythera, likewise in the Menologion of Cardinal Sirletus: on which day the following verses are added in the Menaia: Discovery of the relics on September 15.
"We who honor the finding of the relic, may we find, O Acacius, release from evils."
[5] These things the Greeks relate concerning St. Acacius, Bishop of Melitene, but whether all are to be attributed to one and the same person is not equally clear. Another, younger Acacius, Bishop of Melitene, praised by the monk Cyril. St. Euthymius the Abbot was born and educated at Melitene: in whose Life, published by us on the twentieth of January, under the name of Cyril, the following is found about another Acacius, at number 6: "As time went on, when Euthymius had already passed out of infancy, the Bishop entrusted him to teachers of letters. These were Acacius and Synodius, who were renowned in the choir of Readers for their nobility, prudence, and moderation, and were well trained in the divine Scriptures, and had not neglected secular learning either; who, after many contests undertaken for Christ, were both appointed, separately and in their own time, to the administration of the Church of Melitene:
by the illustrious narratives of whose many deeds the city of Melitene is most delightfully refreshed to the present day, as things that truly befit the governance of the Church and the care of souls." Then, when Acacius was Bishop, the aforementioned Synodius explained to St. Euthymius, as number 54 of the said Life continues, celebrated at the Council of Ephesus, he explained, I say, about Cyril of Alexandria and Acacius of Melitene, how they displayed a fierce and vehement zeal for the orthodox faith: and that an ecumenical Council was soon to be convened at Ephesus against the impious Nestorius. When these things had been thus said by Synodius, Euthymius was glad at heart, having heard such things about Acacius, whom he used to visit when he was a boy and by whom he had been instructed in letters. His zeal then shone forth splendidly at the Council, especially in a speech full of the Spirit delivered before the Fathers, in which, prophesying that peace would soon be at hand, he exhorted all to revive, take courage, and raise up their languishing strength: is he a Saint? whence his sanctity is also highly commended by Baronius in the Annals for the year 431. Whether this one is surnamed Thaumaturgus on the seventeenth of April, as the elder Acacius is called Confessor on this day, we do not venture to determine.
[6] We know that knowledge of the earlier Bishop St. Acacius was long since transmitted to the Latins from the Acts of his disputation with Marcian, Acts of the disputation of St. Acacius, which are indicated above in the Menaia, and which were formerly translated more extensively from the Greek language, and which we append here from Bonino Mombritius and four ancient codices, namely those of the monasteries of St. Maximin near Trier, of St. Hubert in the Ardennes, and two from Utrecht; of which one belongs to the Collegiate Church of the Holy Savior, and the other to the Carthusian monastery there: and the name is frequently written Achatius. These events are said to have taken place on the fourth day before the Kalends of April: given from Latin manuscripts on which day the Martyrology of Rabanus is thus inscribed: "On the same day, the Passion of St. Achatius": which from there was transferred into the printed Bede; but he is called Achartius: and in the Bede cited by Molanus in his supplement to the first edition of Usuard, cult on March 29, and by Canisius in the German Martyrology, and from these citations by Ferrari in the General Catalogue, but he is erroneously ascribed to Germany. From the Acts which Molanus asserted to exist, some are read in the manuscript Florarium in these words: with a long eulogy "St. Achatius, who in the time of the Emperor Decius was a certain shield and refuge of the Antiochene region." The Utrecht Carthusian manuscript reads: "Achatius, Bishop and Confessor." A distinguished summary added by an ancient hand to the Ado manuscript from the monastery of St. Lawrence at Liege is of this kind: "Likewise St. Achatius, who in the time of the Emperor Decius was a certain shield and refuge of the Antiochene region, from the Liege manuscript who, brought before the governor Martian, had so great a disputation of rational words with him that the governor himself, with his objections, was unable to match his responses: nor again could he counter the objections of that man with his own replies. And so, defeated in the mutual contest of words, he ordered him to be received into prison, and made known to the Emperor all the words that had passed between them, so that by his command it might be decided what should be done concerning him. But when all the proceedings had been read, the Emperor Decius, marveling at the disputation of such frequent response, was turned to laughter: and he soon gave Marcian the governorship of Pamphylia; but Acacius, whom he greatly admired, he restored to his own estimation and his own law." These things are placed under the twenty-ninth of March, but on the day before, "The Passion of St. Acatius the Martyr" is inscribed in the ancient manuscript Calendar of St. Maximin. And on the thirtieth of March in the Barberini manuscript the following is found: "Elsewhere the Passion of Acacius the Martyr." The Carmelite manuscript of Cologne reads: "On the same day, Blessed Acharius the Confessor." But more correctly in the Martyrology printed at Cologne and Luebeck in the year 1490 and in Greven's supplement to Usuard, one reads "Bishop and Confessor," but also Acharius is written in place of Acacius.
ACTS OF THE DISPUTATION
From four manuscript codices and Mombritius.
Acacius, Bishop and Confessor, at Melitene in Armenia (Saint)
BHL Number: 0025
[1] Whenever the glorious deeds of the servants of God are recounted, Brought before Marcian we give thanks to him who both protects the one who endures in suffering and crowns the victor in glory. Accordingly Marcian, the Consul, promoted by the Emperor Decius, an enemy of the Christian law, ordered a certain Christian named Acacius to be brought before him, whom he had heard was a kind of shield and refuge of the Antiochene religion; and when he was brought in, he said: "You, a man living under Roman laws, ought to love our Princes." He denies that he can sacrifice to the gods, Acacius answered: "And who holds the Emperor more at heart, or by whom is he so loved, as by Christian men? For first of all, constant and continual prayer is made for him, that he may pass a long life in this world, govern the peoples with just authority, and receive a most peaceful time for his rule. Then prayer is made for the welfare of the soldiers, for the state of the world and the globe." Marcian said: "These things I too commend, but, so that the Emperor may more fully recognize your obedience, offer sacrifice to him together with us." Acacius said: "I beseech my God, who is true and great, for the welfare of the King: but sacrifice neither ought he to demand nor we to render. For who would pay vows to a man?" Marcian said: "Tell me to which of the gods you pour forth your prayer, so that we too may pay our vows to him." Acacius said: "I wish you to know what is profitable and to recognize the true God." Who worships one true God, Marcian said: "Declare his name to me." Acacius said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Marcian said: "Are these the names of gods?" Acacius answered: "Not these, but he who spoke to them is the true God; him we ought to fear." Marcian said: "Who is he?" Acacius answered: "The Most High, Adonai, seated upon the Cherubim and Seraphim." Marcian said: "What is a Seraph?" Acacius answered: "The minister of the Most High God and the attendant of his exalted throne." Marcian said: "What vain philosophical disputation has deceived you? Despise invisible things: rather acknowledge the gods whom you can see." Acacius answered: "Who are those gods to whom you command me to sacrifice?" Marcian said: "To Apollo our savior, the dispeller of pestilence and famine, by whom the whole world is preserved and governed." Acacius answered: "Do you command me to sacrifice to him who once served with Neptune, who tended another's cattle? Or to Aesculapius, struck by lightning? Or shall I offer sacrifice to the adulterous Venus and the other monstrosities? Shall I then adore those whom I disdain to imitate? Whom I accuse, whom I abhor, whom I despise? He abominates the gods of the Gentiles as wicked men: Whose deeds, if anyone should now commit them, he could not escape the severity of your law -- and yet in some persons you worship what in others you punish?" Marcian said: "It is the custom of Christians to fabricate many curses against our gods; therefore I command you to come with me to Juno and Jupiter, so that celebrating together a sweet banquet, we may render to the divinities what is their due." Acacius answered: "How shall I sacrifice here to him whose tomb is known to be in Crete? Has he perhaps risen from the dead?" Marcian said: "Either sacrifice or die." Acacius answered: "This is what the Dalmatians also do, skilled in the art of robbery, when they have beset the narrow passes and secret places of the road to do harm, He denies that he can be compelled to this except unjustly: hunting individual travelers: and if any wayfarer has set foot there, he is bound by this condition, that he must leave either his money or his life. No one there, therefore, asks what is reasonable, but what he who compels is able to do. Your sentence is similar, in which you command either that unjust things be fulfilled, or you threaten destruction: I dread nothing, I fear nothing. Public law punishes the fornicator, the adulterer, the thief, the corrupter of the male sex, the sorcerer, and the murderer: if I am guilty of any of these, I condemn myself before your verdict. But now, because I worship the God who is true, I am led to punishment: compelled not by law but by the will of the judge. Therefore the Prophet cries out, threatening: 'There is none who seeks God; all have turned aside, they have together become useless.' Therefore you cannot acquit yourself: for it is written, 'In whatever he judges, so shall he be judged.' And again: 'As you judge, so shall you be judged, and as you do, so shall it be done to you.'" Marcian said: "I was not ordered to judge but to compel: whence, if you shall despise this, be certain of punishment." Acacius answered: "And I have been commanded never to deny my God. If you serve a man who is frail and carnal, who will soon depart from this world, whom you know will shortly be eaten by worms -- how much more ought I to obey the most powerful God, He refuses to persuade others to apostasy. by whose power all things that exist in the world are established, and whose saying that is: 'Whoever shall deny me before men, I also will deny him before my Father who is in heaven, when I come in glory and power to judge the living and the dead'?" Marcian said: "What I always wished to learn, you have suddenly confessed -- namely, the error of your persuasion and law. God has a son, then, as you say?" Acacius answered: "He has." Marcian said: "Who is the Son of God?" Acacius answered: He explains how God has a Son "The Word of truth and grace." Marcian said: "Does he have a name?" Acacius answered: "You did not ask about his name, but about the power of the Son himself." Marcian said: "Explain his name." Acacius answered: "He is called Jesus Christ." Marcian said: "Tell me, from what wife was he conceived?" Acacius answered: "God did not beget a son in the manner of a man, from sexual intercourse with a woman, but with his own right hand he first fashioned Adam. For far be it from you to affirm that the touch of a mortal maiden was fitting to the divine majesty: he composed the limbs of that first man from clay, and when he had completed the entire form, he granted a soul and spirit. So also the Son of God, the Word of truth, proceeded from the heart of God, and therefore it is written: 'My heart has uttered a good word.'" Marcian said: "Is God then corporeal?" Acacius said: "He alone knows; we indeed do not perceive his invisible form, but we venerate his power and might." Marcian said: "If he is not in a body, he is also ignorant of heart, for sense cannot exist without members." Acacius answered: "Wisdom is not born in these members, but is given by God: what then does the body have to do with understanding?" He refuses to persuade others to defect. Marcian said: "Look at the Cataphrygians, men of ancient religion, converted to my sacred rites -- they have left what they were and together with us pay vows to the gods -- and you likewise hasten to obey. Gather all the Christians of the Catholic religion and law, and with them imitate the religion of our Emperor. Let the whole people who depend upon your judgment come with you." Acacius answered: "They are all governed not by my command but by the precept of God. They hear me, therefore, if I persuade what is just: but if perverse and harmful things, they despise me." Marcian said: "Hand over to me the names of all." Acacius answered: "Their names are inscribed in the heavenly book."
are inscribed in the heavenly book and noted in the divine pages; how then shall mortal eyes behold what the mortal and invisible power of God has recorded?" Marcian said: "Where are the magi, the companions of your art, or the teachers of this artful deception?" Acacius answered: "We have merited and do merit all things from God: but we abhor the practice of the magical art." Marcian said: "You are therefore magi, because you introduce some new kind of religion." Acacius answered: "We destroy those whom you first make and then fear when made by you: for gods would fail you if either the craftsman lacked stone or the stone lacked the craftsman. But we fear him, not whom we have fashioned, but by whom we have been fashioned. He who created us as Lord loved us as a father and snatched us from eternal death as a good patron." Marcian said: "Give me the names, lest you yourself succumb to punishment." Acacius answered: "I myself stand before the tribunal, and you ask for names? Do you hope that you can conquer many when I alone extinguish myself? If names are dear to your heart, I am called Acacius, and if you seek my proper name, I am called Agathosangelus, and my companions are Piso, Bishop of the Trojans, and Menander the Priest. Do now what pleases you." Marcian said: "You will be received into prison so that the Emperor may learn of the proceedings and by his command it may be determined what should be done concerning you." And so, when all the proceedings had been read, the Emperor Decius, marveling at the disputation of such frequent response, was turned to laughter, and he soon gave Marcian the governorship of Pamphylia, but Acacius, whom he greatly admired, he restored to his own estimation and his own law. These things were done by Marcian the Consul under the Emperor Decius on the fourth day before the Kalends of April.
Annotationsp. Mombritius reads "tertio Kalend." (the third before the Kalends).
q. That he afterward converted many to the faith of Christ and rested in peace, more renowned for the glory of his miracles and teaching, we have related above from the Menaia.