Achillius

ON SAINT ACHILLIUS,

BISHOP OF LARISSA IN THESSALY.

ABOUT 330.

Achillius, Bishop of Larissa in Thessaly (S.)

G. H.

Larissa, the metropolis of Thessaly, which from that Province was also called Larissena, among the ancient Bishops had S. Achillius, inscribed in various Greek calendars on the XV day of May. A eulogy from the Menology of the Emperor Basil. The Menology of the Emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus adorns him with this eulogy. Achillius the Wonder-Worker flourished under the Empire of Constantine the Great. He was the son of Christian parents, taught piety by these, and instructed in the discipline of the external sages, then also diligently cultivated in the meditation of divine Scripture, and adorned with elegant speech and due virtue, was initiated Archbishop of the city of Larissa. Afterwards, on account of many things happily done, and miracles wrought, having obtained an illustrious name, together with the divine Fathers he was present at the Council of Nicaea against Arius the heretic. But when for the orthodox doctrine he had strenuously contended, and had vanquished the heretics, he excited the admiration of all. Returning afterwards from Nicaea to his See, when he had performed many miracles, and raised great and very many temples to the glory of God and the Saints, full of joy he migrated to the Lord. These things in the Menology of the Emperor Basil. another from a MS. Synaxary I subjoin another from a MS. Greek Synaxary of the Church of Constantinople, preserved at Paris in the Clermont College of the Society of Jesus.

[2] On the same day the memory of our Holy Father Achillius the Wonder-Worker, Metropolitan of the city of Larissa. He lived in the age of Constantine the Great, born and educated of pious parents: by whom taught singular piety with the external disciplines and the heavenly philosophy, he cultivated his mind with all virtues together. Then he was proclaimed Archbishop of second Thessaly among the Larissaeans by the peoples of all Greece. Summoned also to the great Synod of Nicaea, he contended against Arius and his followers, and condemned them with anathema. But returning to Larissa, he overthrew very many shrines of idols, and drove the demons from the bodies of men: and when he had built very many sacred temples from the foundations and adorned them with every worship, he himself, very many other miracles being wrought, passed his life in peace. Thus there, which almost the same things are read in the printed Menaea, and in Maximus the Bishop of Cythera, and it is added that he labored in the said Nicene Council with the other Fathers even to the end. and in the Menaea. That was held in the year 325, so that he seems to have lived at least up to the year 330. Of the same Ferrarius makes mention in the General Catalogue. To the eulogy in the printed Menaea is prefixed a distich, affirming the fame of the miracles, and alluding to the name of the city Λαρίσσα and Λαλεῖν to speak.

Λαλεῖ Λάρισσα σὰς ἀριστείας ξένας, Μνήμην ἔχουσα καὶ θανόντος σου, Πάτερ.

Larissa speaks the wonders of thy virtue, Commemorating thee even buried, Father.

ON SS. SIMEON, ISAACIUS, BACHTISOE,

MARTYRS IN PERSIA UNDER KING SAPOR.

4TH CENT.

Simeon, Martyr in Persia under King Sapor (S.)

Isaacius, Martyr in Persia under King Sapor (S.)

Bachtisoes, Martyr in Persia under King Sapor (S.)

G. H.

Known is the cruel persecution of Sapor King of the Persians, stirred up against the Christians in the fourth century of Christ, and often mentioned by us: in which these athletes of Christ, by shedding their blood, were crowned with martyrdom. A eulogy from the Menology of Basil These in the Menology of the Emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus are adorned with this eulogy. Simeon, Isaacius and Bachtisoes, Martyrs of Christ, were sprung from the region of Persia under the impious Sapor. But since they were Christians, they were apprehended by the Persians, who adored fire; and delivered to Sapor, they were ordered to deny Christ, and to sacrifice to the sun and fire. But they answered saying: We do not deny Christ, as being the true God and the creator of all things: but the sun and fire, namely the works of His hands, we plainly despise. By this answer they stirred the wrath of the Tyrant: wherefore bound by their hands and feet in four parts and torn asunder, where they are said to have been beheaded. they were cruelly beaten. Then thrust into prison, for seven days they received no food. After these things led out of prison, when they had constantly endured manifold torments, at last with cheerful soul their sacred and venerable heads being struck off, they consummated their martyrdom. Thus far the Menology of the Emperor Basil. Another from a MS. Synaxary, Another eulogy in the MS. Synaxary of Constantinople, preserved at Paris in the College of the Society of Jesus, is thus recited. The combat of the holy Martyrs Bachtisoes, Isaacius and Simeon.

These in Persia under King Sapor professing the faith of Christ, where they are said to have been cast into the fire, were apprehended and led to the President; before whom when they had announced themselves Christians, they endured many and various torments. And when they would not consent to the President, with their other disciples cast into the fire, they obtained the crown of martyrdom. Thus there, as in other MSS. which almost the same things are had in the MS. Menaea of Milan of the Ambrosian library, and of Turin of the Duke of Savoy, and on the following day in the printed Menaea, and the MS. of Dijon of Peter Francis Chifletius, and in all these they are said to have been cast into the fire. But in the last, namely the Chifletian, the same kind of punishment, a distich also being added, is thus inculcated:

Πρὸς πῦρ ἓν συμπνέουσι, τρεῖς ὁμόφρονες, Ἰσαὰκιος, Συμεών τε καὶ Βαχθισόης.

Three with one mind breathe together toward one fire, Isaacius, and Simeon with Bachthisoes.

Meanwhile in the most ancient of all, the Menology of the Emperor Basil, the same Martyrs are said to have been beheaded. But since those words that they were cast into the fire with their disciples are also had in the martyrdom of SS. Heraclius, Paulinus and Benedimus, one might suspect that from these to those they were rashly transferred through the sloth of the copyists. If the Acts of these or those Martyrs were extant entire, as they seem to have been, this scruple could be satisfied. For now we suspend our judgment, and leave it free also to the reader.

THE FEAST OF THE HOLY RELICS

AT AVIGNON IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD DE FARGUES.

The Feast of the Holy Relics at Avignon, in the house of the Lord de Fargues

BY THE AUTHOR D. P.

S. Benedict, the founder of the Bridge of Avignon, gave us the first occasion of knowing the piety and learning of the most noble man D. Richard Joseph de Cambis, Lord de Fargues, when he had undertaken the labor of transcribing with his own hand all the monuments which pertain to that Saint, published in our April on the XIV day. The same then most kindly communicated a little commentary collected by him concerning the Saints, whose worship especially flourishes in the city of Avignon: in which on the XV day he writes thus. The domestic chapel of my house, erected with the assent of the Apostolic See and consecrated by the great Vicar of the Archbishopric of Avignon, is enriched with many Relics, most of them notable, of various Saints and holy women, for the greater part Martyrs, given to me at Rome: of which that a feast should be kept on the XV day of May the aforesaid great Vicar ordained, by a public Instrument, of which this is the tenor.

[2] The Vicar of Avignon Ludovicus Maria de Suarez, Presbyter, Doctor of both Laws, Apostolic Protonotary, Provost of the holy Metropolitan Church of Avignon, of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord, Fr. Dominic de Marinis, by the grace of God and the Apostolic See Archbishop of Avignon, and Assistant of our Most Holy Lord the Pope, Vicar and Official general. To all and singular, to whom these our present letters shall come, we make faith and testify, that in the year and on the day below-written there were exhibited and presented to us by the Most Illustrious and Noble Lord de Fargues, a citizen of Avignon, certain wooden boxes, in which are contained the Relics of the Saints, some confirmed by the authority of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Cardinal Vicar of our Most Holy Lord the Pope, others by the approbation of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Vicegerent, the Prefect of the Apostolic Sacristy, and of others whom it concerns; and the said boxes were decently sealed, together with the seals of the aforesaid Cardinal and Prelates, and their letters duly signed and sealed.

[3] Which boxes indeed we, receiving with due honor and reverence, as far as was in us, the body of S. Eleodorus the Martyr after worship paid, opened: and in one of them we found the body of S. Eleodorus the Martyr, together with an authentic and public instrument, signed by a Notary, and with the seal of the Most Eminent Cardinal Ginetti the Vicar of the Pope, under the Date at Rome XV November 1660, in which it is borne, that in the year 1648 on the XXV day of September, the Lord Alexander Argolus, Vicegerent of the Most Eminent Cardinal Vicar, gave the aforesaid body to the Lord Laurence Jannotus the Roman; then the said Jannotus gave it to the Lord William Leslie, a Scottish Presbyter, on the IV of April 1660, and the said Leslie to the Lord de Fargues, together with the same faculties granted to him, on the XV day of November 1660.

[4] In another box the leg of S. Maxima M. with a glass flask with the blood of the same Saint, and the Relics of other Martyrs, with the letters of D. Ambrose Landucci, Bishop of Porphyrium, Prefect of the Apostolic Sacristy. In another the arm of S. Lielumus M. of the bones of the Saints Pontianus, Secundinus, Gaudentius, Antonius, Lavinia, and Silvia MM. from the Cemetery of Cyriaca: and by the Most Eminent Cardinal Martius Ginettus, to the Most Eminent Cardinal Barberini the said Relics were given, as appears from the letters of February 1654, and then by the same Most Eminent Barberini, to D. Richard Joseph de Cambis given, as appeared to us from the public Instrument of donation, duly subscribed by a public Notary and fortified by the seal of the Most Eminent Cardinal Vicar. In another the arm of S. Primitivus M. and part of the hip of S. Hadrian M. from the cemetery of Priscilla, with the letters of D. Mark Oddus, Bishop of Hierapolis, the Vicegerent, under the day XVI June 1658. In another indeed the hip and of the bones of S. Severus M. and of the head of S. Constantia M. from the cemetery of Priscilla, with the letters of the aforesaid D. Mark Oddus under the day VIII January 1659. received from various Prelates at Rome, In two others we found the arm of S. Anselmus M., the arm of S. Victoria M. with a glass flask with the blood of the same; the leg of S. Faustina Virgin and Martyr. The jaw with the teeth of S. Januarius M., of the bones of S. Silverius M., the collarbone of the breast of S. Emerentiana M., of the ribs of S. Aurelia M., two fingers of S. Licinius M., a glass flask with the blood of S. Romanus M., of the bones and inward parts of SS. Aemilianus and his Companion MM., bones, ashes and teeth of very many Martyrs from the cemeteries of Cyriaca and Priscilla with the letters of D. Octavian Carraffa, Archbishop of Patras the Vicegerent, and D. Ambrose Landucci Bishop of Porphyrium Prefect of the Apostolic Sacristy XIX and XXX June 1661.

[5] In another box of the bones of SS. Severinus and Justinus MM. with the letters of the Most Eminent Card. Ginetti Vicar of the Pope III November 1658. In another of the bones of SS. Venantius, Zosimus, Valerius, Juvenalis MM., and S. Innocentia Virgin and Martyr, from the cemetery of Priscilla extracted by D. Ascanius Rivaldus the Vicegerent, as in the public Instrument XXXI May 1658. Likewise in another the bones of S. Joachinus, Teutonius and Eliseus MM. and part of the head of S. Hilaria V. M. from the cemetery of Saturninus, together with the letters of the aforesaid D. Ambrose Landucci VIII June 1659. In two other boxes part of the leg and of the bones of S. Fortunatus M., part of the leg of S. Honoratus M., part of the arm of S. Prosper M., part of the arm and of the bones of S. Constantius M., the leg of S. Clement M., part of the legs of S. Faustus M., part of the shoulder of S. Victorius M., part of the shoulder of S. Felix M., with the letters of D. Mark Gallius Bishop of Rimini, Vicegerent of the Most Eminent Cardinal Ginetti. Likewise in another of the burned bones of S. Victoria, and of the ashes of the bodies of SS. Agnes and Emerentiana VV. MM. from the sacristy of the church of S. Agnes on the Via Nomentana outside the city of Rome, as is established from the letters of Cardinal Antonius Barberini, the commendatory Abbot of that same monastery of S. Agnes XXX May 1658.

[6] Which sacred Relics being diligently seen and considered by us, in the domestic chapel of a noble citizen and also the authentic letters of the concessions of the same recognized legitimately signed and sealed, according to the faculty granted to us in the above-written authentic letters, to satisfy the devotion of the same Lord de Fargues, we agreed to expose the same to public veneration in his domestic oratory or chapel, in which by Apostolic authority the celebration of Mass is found granted, visited and blessed by us: and that in it any Priest Secular or Regular may celebrate Mass in honor of the said holy Martyrs, whose Relics are venerated in the said oratory or chapel, of the common of very many Martyrs, and according to the Rubrics of the Roman Missal on any XV day of the month of May, which day in honor of those Saints we assign and grant as a feast: he ordains them at the same time to be festively honored on May 15 and also that on any XII day of the month of October a festive Mass be celebrated of the common of one Martyr of S. Eleodorus M. in the same oratory or chapel, according to the aforesaid Rubrics of the Roman Missal.

[7] In faith of which we have commanded these present letters, fortified with the seal of the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Lord Archbishop of Avignon and with our subscription, to be made through the Secretary of the Archbishopric of Avignon. Given at Avignon in the Archiepiscopal Palace, on the XX day of the month of January in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand six hundred and sixty-nine. and of S. Eliodorus separately Oct. 12. This Instrument being thus described in Latin, the Lord de Fargues himself adds again in French as he had begun: One arm of S. Eleodorus M. I gave to the Carmelite Virgins at Avignon, and one bone of the hip taken from the same holy body to the church of the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, and in both places on the said XII day of October the Office and Mass of him is celebrated. There are also kept in the same chapel various other relics, of S. Francis de Sales, S. Benezet, S. Peter of Luxembourg, and S. Veredemus Bishop of Avignon, and also of very many other Saints: which all together with the aforesaid are enclosed under the altar of the aforesaid Oratory, before which altar by night and by day a lamp is fostered, perpetually burning to the honor of God and of the aforenamed Saints.

[8] by an example several times imitable in like cases. We treated on the XVII day of April of S. Anicetus the Roman Pontiff and Martyr, and narrated how John Angelus, Duke of Altaemps, received his body from Clement VIII the Supreme Pontiff, which on the XXII day of October of the year 1604 he placed in a marble chapel, erected for this by him within his Palace. We mentioned also that when in the year 1661 we were at Rome, on the very day of Easter, then falling on the XVII of April, there was celebrated in the same Palace by the Roman people the feast of the same S. Anicetus, with a frequent concourse of the whole city; for that chapel lies open to the common people only on that day. In these things, moreover, we wondered nothing greatly, since the excellence of so great a Prince, and the most known sanctity of the Pontiff, merited that prerogative, that in a private chapel of this kind one had so holy a pledge, the other obtained public worship at least once in the year. We know not that elsewhere at Rome there is extant an example of such a Privilege: but that even to private citizens, to whom for the merit of their nobility is granted the use of a domestic Chapel, it should sometimes be indulged that, to honor the Relics of the Saints which they have laid up there, by a yearly feast instituted through the Ordinary, they should invite their fellow-citizens, by no example hitherto had we found. Such therefore now finding, which may imitate

all those who in their domestic oratories have a great abundance of the Relics of the Saints, collected with singular piety and diligence, and disposed in most beautiful order in elegant cases (as here at Antwerp we know some to have) we have judged it altogether necessary here to set it forth, for the increasing of the veneration of the Saints at this time, in which so many innovators daily rise up, who, full of the Jansenian, not to say Calvinian spirit, attempt to extinguish the fervor of pious devotion received from our ancestors, making suspect whatever pertains to it, under the cold pretext of feigned zeal, as if it had crept into the Church through popular abuse, with prejudice to the supreme Godhead.