ON SS. PRIMUS THE PRESBYTER, MARCUS THE DEACON, JASON AND CELIANUS,
MARTYRS AT TERGESTE IN ISTRIA.
UNDER HADRIAN.
PrefacePrimus the Presbyter, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
Marcus the Deacon, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
Jason, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
Celianus, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
G. H.
Tergeste, a coastal city of Istria on the Upper or Adriatic Sea, had various athletes, who under the Heathen Emperors gained the palm of martyrdom. Of these we gave on the XII of April S. Lazarus the Deacon: whose sacred body together with the Relics of SS. Primus & Marcus, The bodies of SS. Primus & Marcus translated to Verona: of whom we here treat, & of S. Apollinaris the Subdeacon, to be referred to the VI of December, were translated to Verona in the year 755, & on the XI of the Kalends of June deposited in the church of S. Firmus the greater: as we have more fully deduced at the Acts of the said S. Lazarus. On which occasion Augustinus Valerius, in the Ancient monuments of the Veronese Saints, also treats of SS. Primus & Marcus, & asserts that their Life is described in several ancient books from the parchments of this city. The Acts of the Martyrdom: This we obtained at Florence in a parchment codex of the Most Illustrious Senator Carolus Strozzi, & we give it here. They are said there to have been martyred on the VI of the Ides of May, their cult on the 10th of May. & on that day that their feast is celebrated the said Augustinus Valerius noted, & Ferdinand Ughellus among the Bishops of Verona & in the forty- first of them, S. Anno, whom to have translated their bodies is also indicated below at his Life on the XXIII of May.
[2] a compendium of the Acts. Peter de Natalibus, Bishop of Equilium, in book 4 of the Catalogue chapter 151, has this compendium of the martyrdom: Primus, Marcus, Jason & Celianus Martyrs, in the city of Tergeste, suffered in the time of the Emperor Hadrian, under Artasius the Governor: who ordered Primus the Presbyter & Marcus the Deacon to be beaten with clubs, & under their bellies a fire to be kindled, then molten sulfur to be poured into their mouths. And when they had overcome all these tortures without any harm to themselves, & many thereupon had been converted, he commanded Jason & Celianus to be beaten with clubs so long, until being beaten they should send forth their spirit. Then Primus & Marcus to be beheaded outside the city walls. their burial on the 11th of May, Whose bodies in the same tomb, near the same city, were buried on the fifth of the Ides of May. These things Peter de Natalibus in the Catalogue, from which their compendia seem to have been composed & referred to the XI of May by the author of the MS. Florarium, the author of the Viola Sanctorum printed at Hagenau in the year 1508, the names inscribed in various Calendars Grevenus in the Supplement to Usuard, Witfordus, Maurolycus, Felicius, Canisius, Galesinius, in their Martyrologies; Ghinius in the Birthdays of the Canonical Saints, Ferrarius in the general Catalogue & in another of the Saints of Italy. As to the other LXXX, then converted to the faith & beaten with clubs, & cast outside the city, whether they are to be referred to as Saints, in the silence of the ancients we do not define.
ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM.
From the Florentine MS. of Carolus Strozzi.
Primus the Presbyter, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
Marcus the Deacon, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
Jason, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
Celianus, Martyr at Tergeste in Istria (St.)
BHL Number: 6923
FROM THE MS.
[1] In the persecution of Hadrian In those days, when Hadrian held the empire, there was much persecution against the servants of Christ, & they were enduring most savage punishments: whom the Lord was calling to the rewards of His grace. For the Lord was proving His athletes, for whom He was preparing a perpetual & heavenly crown. For now hardly did Christians publicly walk openly in the cities, but in caves & mountains & through caverns of the earth, or through desert places they hid themselves in secret places. At the same time there were two most Christian men at the Tergestine city, which is of the province of Istria: SS. Primus & Marcus one of them a Presbyter by name Primus, & the other a Deacon by name Marcus, according to the birth of this world noble in lineage, but nobler according to the faith of Christ: who never at any time for fear of the persecutors betook themselves to a hidden place, but secure of God's eternity, daily manifested to the most pagan peoples that they were Christians. But they shone like stars in the midst of heaven & illustrious among the obscure peoples.
[2] At the same time therefore it happened that a certain most wicked & most iniquitous man, by name Artasius, obtained the Governorship of the Tergestine city. accused before Artasius the Governor, But certain ones suggested concerning the two men, saying: Because these two men do not rest day & night, unto the subversion of our gods, to proclaim vain words among the peoples with public mouth, saying: that their Christ is holy, & all our gods are nothing. The Governor hearing this commanded the crowds & his Office, that they should exhibit the Saints of God in his sight. Who when they had entered in, the Governor of iniquity seeing them said: You, an elder of so great an age, why do you proclaim such things, as has been suggested to us, among the people with your own mouth, & say that your Christ is God, but our gods seem to be in nowise gods to you? & having confessed the faith of Christ, S. Primus the Presbyter answered: If anyone has suggested this against us the servants of Christ to your power, he has spoken nothing false in your ears: because we always proclaim this, that the idols
which you worship are empty: for divinity dwells in the heavens. Artasius the Governor said: And do you dare to speak such words? Behold, now all things are manifest, which about you were said, who in our sight speak such things. But what in our absence?
[3] And he said to the Decurion: I order them to be stretched out & beaten with clubs, & under their belly a fire to be kindled. And when these things were being done, S. Marcus said: Learn, they are tortured with fire & clubs: son of iniquity, what kind is the power of our Lord Jesus Christ: attend diligently, since you have ordered us to be consumed by fire, & our belly is in no way scorched by the fire. Behold, what kind of physician & consoler we have, who consoles souls, & strengthens our members. Artasius the Governor said: By the immortal gods, that if you do not sacrifice to the gods, with diverse kinds of torments I will wear away your members. S. Marcus answered him: Who are the gods, to whom you compel us to sacrifice? Artasius the Governor said: Do you not know the immortal gods, Jupiter, Mercury, they spurn the gods, Hercules, Juno, Minerva, Apollo & the others, who are seen to dwell in this city? S. Marcus answered: Of these so great gods I have never heard: for I know that there is one God in the heavens, who in Trinity reigns Himself with the Son & the Holy Spirit, who before all things were made was borne over the waters. But that you may know, I will tell you what kind your gods are: let the old man dispute with me, & let us dispute about your gods: & thus at last you will know what you worship. Artasius the Governor said: Will you dispute anything about our gods or about the god Jove? But B. Marcus was thirty- eight years old, & he said to the Governor: Jove, whom you call a god, what divinity can he have, who to all chastity even unto death stood forth an enemy, the adulterer of his own sisters? But in Mercury what divinity is found, or what in Apollo or the rest, whom you call gods? For they are all figments, who in this world as much as they are honored by you, so much the more in hell is a hundredfold punishment doubled for them. Now of our God learn, most wretched one, how great marvels upon the earth He has done.
[4] But the most iniquitous Governor hearing these things, said to S. Primus: But you, little old man, whom your vanity has led to such disgrace, what do you say? Against To this blasphemer & contumaciously proclaiming injury to our gods do you answer nothing? S. Primus answered: I speak truth by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that I am confounded to speak with you: for as you see my Deacon speaking, so understand me also studying in silence: because there is one Holy Spirit, who speaks through our mouths. the sulfur being dissolved & poured into their mouths they remain unharmed, But Artasius the Governor, moved with anger, ordered sulfur to be brought in & dissolved, & to be forced into the mouths of both. And when it had been so done, to the Saints it was in the mouth as to a man enduring heat, when he has drunk something cold: & as if from one mouth thus they magnified the Lord, so that the Governor wondered & those who were present at their endurance. But all the peoples cried out, saying: Great is the God of the Christians, whom these worship, who have now suffered such torments, & none of them is contaminated: we pray & ask, O God of the Christians, that we may be worthy to be made yours. The Priests of the idols hearing these things cried out to the Governor, saying: Take away these evil men & inflicting injury to the gods from this city. And when Artasius the Governor had heard these things, he ordered them to be hung on the rack, & fire to be applied to their sides.
[5] from the 82 converts SS. Jason & Celianus beaten, But when this had been done, he ordered the men to be detained who in that hour believed, & being beaten with clubs to be cast outside the city. But the men were eighty- two in number, of whom two, beaten with blows, passed to the Lord: the name of one was Jason, & of the other Celianus. But after these things he commands a capital sentence to be pronounced upon the holy Martyrs: whom the ministers leading out together with the executioner outside the city, as far as three miles, there with knees set down poured forth a prayer to the Lord. And the executioner approaching cut off their heads: & thus they consummated the course of their contest in eternal rest. SS. Primus & Marcus beheaded. Hearing these things all the peoples of the Christians, who were hidden, came by night: & taking the bodies of all the four, in a nearby place they buried them, to the praise of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the most Blessed Martyrs, Primus the Presbyter & Marcus the Deacon, were martyred on the VI of the Ides of May, under the Emperor Hadrian, & Artasius being Governor of the Tergestine city, & our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom is honor & glory, & praise & power, unto all the ages of ages. Amen.