ON THE HOLY MARTYRS
PRÆSTABILIS, FELIX, VICTOR, CYRICUS, JANUARIUS, HEROLUS, PAUL, MINERVUS, AQUILINUS, HERACLIUS, DIONYSIA.
AT THE ROMAN PORT.
CommentaryPræstabilis, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Felix, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Victor, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Cyricus, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Januarius, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Herolus, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Paul, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Minervus, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Aquilinus, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Heraclius, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
Dionysia, Martyr at the Roman Port (S.)
G. H.
Four copies of the ancient Hieronymian Martyrology set forth to us these holy Martyrs, and that which excels in antiquity, the Epternach, indicates them to us in these words: At the Roman Port of Præstabilis, Memory in the Hieronymian Calendars, Felix, Victor, Cyricus, Januarius, Herolus, Paul, Minervus, Aquilinus, Heraclius, Dionysia. Which with little variety are related in the other three copies of the same Martyrology. For in place of Cyricus in the Lucca MS. Cyriacus is read, and in the Corbie MS., printed at Paris, in place of Herolus is Herulus; so in place of Minervus is Menerus in the said Lucca and Blumian: in which there is also Heraclius, and in the Corbie Eraclius, for which in the Epternach is Heradius, and in this alone Dionysia is added. Who, or certainly Dionysius, is in others reckoned among the Martyrs of Lampsacus. But her, on account of the antiquity of the codex, under this caution we also permit to be joined to the Martyrs. Of these various ones are found in other ancient calendars: and in various others. and in the Arras of the Cathedral Church and the Tournai of the monastery of S. Martin these things are read: At the Roman Port the birthday of SS. Præstabilis, Felix, Januarius. To whom are added in the Vatican MS. of S. Peter Victor and Cyricus, in the Barberini Gerulus and Cyrinus, above Herolus and Cyricus: which Cyricus is also found in the Laetian MS. These are, moreover, the Martyrologies from which and three others we gave the genuine Martyrology of Bede with the auctarium of Florus. The martyrdom-contest being omitted the names are related in the Tallaght MS., of Felix, Victor, Cyricus, Januarius, Paul, Herolus, Aquilinus, Minervus, Eradius, Dionysius. In the MSS. of Augsburg of S. Udalric and of Paris of Labbé, Præstabilis, Victor, Felix, Cyricus: in the Aachen MS., Præstabilis, Felix: which last is in the Auctarium of Greven to Usuard. As also the Author, here he is called Victor. But Cyriacus is in the MS. of the monastery of S. Cyriacus, unless he be treated of as their own Patron, which we do not judge. We illustrated on the second day of March the memory of SS. Paul, Heraclius, Secundula or Secundola, Other Martyrs in the same place March 2 Januaria, Luciosa, Martyrs in the same Roman Port, whom we judge diverse from these: as also another Paul with Primitivus or Primitiva crowned in the same Port on the XXIV day of February. and Feb. 24.
ON SS. BONINUS, SATERIUS AND PAULINUS,
MARTYRS AT PAVIA IN INSUBRIA.
CommentaryBoninus, Martyr at Pavia in Italy (S.)
Saterius, Martyr at Pavia in Italy (S.)
Paulinus, Martyr at Pavia in Italy (S.)
D. P.
Philip Ferrarius in the General Catalogue on this XV of May has these things: At Pavia of SS. Boninus, Saterius and Paulinus Martyrs. In the Notes he adds, From the tables of the Church of S. Gervasius at Pavia, in which their bodies are preserved: the rest is unknown. That church is sacred to SS. Gervasius and Protasius, famed more for antiquity and the relics of the Saints than for opulence and magnificence of building, adorned at once with the dignity of a Priory and a Parish, the Fathers of the third Order of S. Francis ministering in it: as the Rector there of our Society Scaramucia Visconti wrote to us in the year 1679, adding that the bodies both of these Martyrs and of SS. Chrysanthus and Fortunatus, whom we mentioned above, are kept in a marble ark, placed on the left wall of the choir behind the high altar: on whose tomb, of slight ornament to appearance, the following inscription is read affixed,
D. O. M.
OPPOSITE THIS PILLAR IN A STONE VESSEL LIE
THE BODIES OF THE SAINTS CHRYSANTHUS AND FORTUNATUS
PRESBYTERS. LIKEWISE OF THE SAINTS BONINUS,
SOTERIUS AND PAULINUS MARTYRS. KAL. NOV.
1626.
ON SS. JANUARIUS AND PELAGIA,
MARTYRS OF LAMOSINA.
CommentaryJanuarius, Martyr of Lamosina in Cilicia (S.)
Pelagia, Martyr of Lamosina in Cilicia (S.)
G. H.
The memory of these Saints is extant in the MS. codices of the Martyrology of Troyes for the Church of S. Lupus, and another transcribed from it and carried from Frankfurt to Cologne for the Carmelite Order: in which these things are read on this XV of May; In the Lamosinian territory of SS. Januarius and Pelagia. Maurolycus the Sicilian Abbot in his Martyrology writes these things: Likewise in the Lamosanian field of SS. Januarius and Pelagia. The same has Constantius Felicius in his Calendar or historical Ephemeris, printed at Urbino. But where the Lamosinian territory or the Lamosanian field is situated, is not sufficiently clear. Stephanus of Byzantium on cities has these things: λάμος ποταμὸς Κιλικίας, καὶ ἡ παρ᾽ ἀυτὸν χώρα λαμουσία, τὸ ἐθνικὸν λαμούσιος. Lamus a river of Cilicia, and the region round about Lamusia, and the gentile Lamusius. Whether therefore for Lamusia, also called Lamosia, and the region or territory Lamosine, let others judge. Lamus flows into the sea near Pompeiopolis, and thence the region or territory is called Lamotis by Ptolemy: and both Lamus and Pompeiopolis were Episcopal cities under Seleucia, the metropolis there.
ON S. EUTITIUS THE PRESBYTER,
MARTYR AT SURIANO IN ETRURIA.
PrefaceEutitius, Martyr at Suriano in Etruria (S.)
G. H.
Ferrarius, in the General Catalogue of the Saints, on this XV of May refers S. Eutitius, Presbyter and Martyr, at Suriano in Etruria: and then in the Notes relates that Suriano is a town by no means obscure, Sacred worship, at Mount Cimino, not far from the borders of the Falisci, between Viterbo and Faliscum, called Soriano in the Geographical maps, which in spiritual things is subject to the Bishop of Horta, in temporal things with the title of a Marquisate pertains to the dominion of the Duke of Altaemps, as Tullius Cima writes. There, as Ferrarius proceeds, it is established that S. Eutitius is venerated from the tables of the church of Soriano, from which, he says, we received the Acts. He adds, moreover, that he is treated of in the passion of SS. Gratilianus and Felicissima the Virgin, and of SS. Valentinus and Hilarius, Martyrs of Viterbo: Likewise that there is extant in the diocese of Horta a church dedicated to S. Eutitius, which by the neighboring peoples is wont to be frequented on his feast day. The same Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, from the monuments of the church of Horta and of Soriano (where he is especially venerated as a Tutelary) published this compendium of his Life.
[2] Eutitius, Presbyter of Ferentium, ministered secretly to the Christians in the persecution under the Emperor Claudius, converting many to Christ, among whom were Gratilianus and Felicissima. An epitome of the Acts from Ferrarius, When he had come to Faleria with a divine admonition to visit or bury their bodies, he instructed the parents of Gratilianus, still Gentiles, in the Christian faith, and cleansed them with the salutary waters. Thence forewarned of impending martyrdom, he returns to Ferentium: where, accused of preaching Christ against the decree of the Princes and of neglecting the gods, he is set before Maximus the Tribune. To whom when Eutitius had answered that he despised the gods as vain and mute images, which have eyes and see not; bound with chains he is delivered to prison. The next day led out (Dionysius the Bishop of Ferentium, who had interceded for Eutitius, being beaten with clubs and cast outside the city) first by flatteries and promises of honors and riches, to worship the gods, he is tempted by Maximus. But when he answered constantly that he could not renounce Christ the Creator of all, and adore the gods, which are the inventions and works of men; afflicted with stripes, he is hung on the rack, his mouth is bruised with stones, and at last led outside the city he is beheaded. Whose body, by B. Dionysius the Bishop, aided by the Clerics, is buried by night in a crypt: from which water imparting health to the sick, even unto the present is said to gush forth, and manna is several times collected, especially at the feast of Easter, Pentecost, the Assumption, and on this day, at which times of the year to the church of Eutitius (which built in the diocese of Horta has no
mean veneration among the neighboring peoples) a procession is wont to be made. His Relics, found in a stone bowl among the rubble, by Henricus the Bishop of Horta under Alexander VI the Supreme Pontiff decently laid up in a marble ark, are religiously preserved on the altar of the aforesaid church.
[3] Thus far the compendium of the Acts in Ferrarius: by whom indicated Ferentium was a city of Etruria formerly Episcopal, from whose ancient ruins Viterbo gradually grew, as we already said on the preceding day, XIV of May, on the Life of S. Boniface, Bishop of this or another Ferentine city. We grieve, moreover, that of the aforementioned Dionysius, also Bishop of Ferentium, no further notice is extant. The other city indicated, Faleria, was likewise Episcopal there, but also destroyed and the See of its Church united to Civita Castellana: in which S. Gratilianus the Martyr, as in the epitome of the Acts on August XII in Ferrarius is read, SS. Gratilianus and Felicissima being baptized, coming to S. Eutitius the Presbyter, was baptized by him: who, when he had converted to Christ S. Felicissima the Virgin (who, captive in her eyes, had by the prayer of Gratilianus received her sight) together with her widowed mother, both Eutitius the Presbyter baptized, and then is related to have escaped by flight. We have entire Acts from several MSS., even of that place where the bodies are: and everywhere SS. Gratilianus and Felicissima are said to have suffered under the Emperor Claudius, in the fourth year of his Empire: which, if understood of the first Emperor of this name, would note the year 44 of the Christian era. But this one did not proclaim a persecution against the Christians, and only expelled the Jews from the city. But if you understand the second of that name, you will indeed have the time of some persecution begun in the year 269, but no fourth year of his Empire will you find: because that tyrant reigned not much more than two years, extinguished by plague in the year 270, and his brother and successor declared Quintillus was slain on the seventeenth day after by the soldiers, and Aurelian raised up, who in the year 272, new edicts being published, revived the persecution, again lulled to rest by his death in the year 275. The twin persecution of this Claudius and of Aurelian could have been confused into one, and the author of the Acts thereby deceived, having written Claudius where Aurelian should have been written. Meanwhile the Legend of S. Eutitius also names Claudius, which from the autographs of their ancestors, in Latin, was transmitted to us under public faith by Theseus Pennatius of Soriano, by the grace of God and Apostolic authority a public Notary, registered in the Archive of the Roman Curia, and Chancellor of the Episcopal Court of the said land of Suriano in civil and criminal matters: there is added, moreover, the memory of SS. Valentinus the Presbyter and Hilarius the Deacon, but it is more likely that under Maximian, as crowned at the same time with SS. Eutitius, Felicissima and Gratilianus. But the Passion of these, to be given on the III day of November, in place of Claudius names Maximian, who began to reign only in the sixteenth year after the death of Claudius. If therefore, while these were suffering, Eutitius was still alive, the same and not another of whom we treat here, not only is he not crowned under Claudius, but neither under Aurelian. This noted Doctor Tullius Cima, he who in the year 1645 was Governor of Soriano for the Duke of Altaemps, who turned the aforesaid Legend from Latin into Italian and then in the year 1658 had it printed at Ronciglione in his native land: where, rendering the Latin context almost word for word, in place of Claudius he substituted the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian: which assuredly is far more fitting than to substitute two Eutitii for one, of whom one in the Acts of SS. Gratilianus and Felicissima, the other in the Passion of SS. Valentinus and Hilarius, is commemorated.
[4] These things moreover, when he had narrated how the Angel of the Lord led the Saints safe out of the river, of S. Eutitius he speaks thus: And the inquisitors returning, suddenly by the nod and judgment of God, after SS. Valentinus and Hilarius. a most fierce bear attacked them, and killed of them more than eight men, and the others, mangled, fled. But the fleeing said, how these servants of God were true worshippers of Christ, but let us also believe in Him in whom those blessed Martyrs themselves believed. And coming they found B. Eutitius the Presbyter, seeking him out where he was hidden, and cast themselves at his feet, saying: Good Father of the souls of those believing in Christ, free us by thy holy doctrine, and show us the faith of the most blessed Martyrs Valentinus and Hilarius, whom we impiously, by the command of the most wicked Demetrius, slew in the river. But he enjoined them a three-day fast, and on the holy Lord's day baptized them with all their families. The martyrdom of SS. Valentinus and Hilarius being related, inflicted on them by command of Demetrius the Proconsul, these things are added. After a long time, indeed, Demetrius the Proconsul was struck with a pain in the side, who, burning and gasping, ran quickly, and coming where the bodies of the holy Martyrs rested, and casting himself on the pavement, began to cry out and say: Succor me, servants of the most high God, and torment me no more. Then the Saints gave him the drowsiness of sleep, and Demetrius the Proconsul: and through a vision said to him: Have Eutitius the Presbyter come to thee, and he will restore thee to health: only keep his admonitions, and be no more incredulous. Who, awaking, immediately sent his soldiers to the mountain, which is called Golden: and coming they found B. Eutitius praying: who said to him: Demetrius the Proconsul asks thee to come quickly to him. Who immediately rose from the pavement, and commending himself to the Lord, went on with them. But when he had entered where the Proconsul lay half-alive, he said: The Light of life, which is Christ, let Him heal thee. But he was tormented the more. Then S. Eutitius said to him: Hear me, Proconsul, and believe in Christ thy Creator and thou shalt be saved. Then the Proconsul says to him: I believe Christ the Son of God. Then blessing the water he baptized him, saying: Dost thou believe in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? Then he answered, saying: I believe God Almighty to be my true Saviour. Immediately he was made whole, so that he never again felt that pain. Thus there, and then the martyrdom of Demetrius himself is subjoined.
[5] A signal memory of this Saint is extant in S. Gregory, book 3 of the Dialogues, chapter 38. Redemptus, Bishop of the Ferentine city, a man of venerable life, appearing to Bishop Redemptus he foretells who about seven years ago (that is, before the year 600) migrated from this world; as he was still very familiarly joined to me in a monastery placed nearby, this which in the time of John the Younger my predecessor he had learned of the end of the world, as had become widely and far known, being asked by me he himself narrated to me. For he used to say that on a certain day, while according to custom he was going about his parishes, he came to the church of B. Eutychius the Martyr: but the day declining toward evening, he willed a bed to be made for him beside the sepulchre of the Martyr, and there after labor rested. When at midnight, as he asserted, he could neither perfectly wake, nor sleep; but depressed as is wont by sleep, his waking mind was burdened by a certain weight. And before him that same blessed Martyr Eutychius stood, saying, Redemptus, art thou waking? To whom he answered: I am waking. Who said: The end of all flesh is come. The end of all flesh is come. The end of all flesh is come. After which threefold voice the vision of the Martyr, with the grace of Almighty God, the calamities to be inflicted by the Lombards. which appeared to the eyes of his mind, vanished. Then the man of God rose, and gave himself to the lamentation of prayer. For soon those terrible signs in heaven followed, so that spears and fiery battle-lines were seen from the part of the North. Soon the savage nation of the Lombards, drawn out of the sheath of its habitation, raged upon our neck: and the human race, which in this land by reason of too great a multitude, as in the manner of thick standing corn, had risen up, cut down withered. For the cities were depopulated, the camps overthrown, the churches burned, the monasteries of men and women destroyed, the estates desolated of men, and destitute of every cultivator the land lies vacant in solitude: no possessor inhabits it, the beasts have occupied the places which before a multitude of men held. And what is being done in other parts of the world, I know not. For in this land, in which we live, the world now does not announce its end, but shows it.
[6] On this occasion and at this storm, among many others whom the Lombards killed out of hatred of the Catholic faith, that S. Landus too, the Patron of the city of Horta, was crowned with martyrdom, we said it seemed to us more probable on the V day of May: The Legend is given from a MS. with the Instrument of the Translation. and in the Appendix to that same day we shall refute the conjecture of those who read the letters P. E. S. inscribed on a little stone found within the sepulchre thus: Presbyter Eutitius buried [him]. Those things therefore being omitted we wished and asked that the History of the Saint be sent to us, which (as is said in the sentence to be brought forth after it) on his feast was read by the Priests at Matins and the other Canonical Hours, when Henricus Brunus the Bishop, Secretary of Alexander VI, visited the place, and brought the body of S. Eutitius into the temple dedicated to that same Saint, Ughello being witness. The aforesaid History is indeed no longer found in the church of Soriano, because the usage of reciting it at Matins has fallen into disuse: yet the people of Soriano scarcely doubt that the MS. which we said was found by Theseus Pennatius among the autographs of his ancestors, is that very one which was sought: for so has the title of that old transcript: The Martyrdom of S. Eutitius of Ferentium extracted from the old Catalogue, which is preserved at Viterbo in the Cathedral Church of S. Laurence. Tullius Cima also says that that very thing is found registered in the Episcopal archive of Horta, which in the year 1649 he found at Soriano, when he was acting as Governor there and had it transcribed to be rendered into Italian. To this context therefore we subjoin the Instrument of the aforesaid Translation, with some Corollaries concerning the church of the Saint and the salutary liquid gushing forth there, partly from the Italian booklet of the already named Tullius Cima, partly from the sworn depositions of the people of Soriano likewise transmitted to me, under the public faith of the Notaries and Magistrates of Soriano and of the four Curate Presbyters of the church itself.
LIFE
From a MS. of the Church of Viterbo.
Eutitius, Martyr at Suriano in Etruria (S.)
BHL Number: 2779, 2780
FROM THE MS.
[1] In the times of Claudius Augustus Caesar a great persecution arose against the Christians, that all should be compelled to sacrifice to idols, to burn incense to the gods, and that those who would not sacrifice should first experience various torments upon them, and afterwards be punished with death. At the same a time B. Eutitius the Presbyter had returned to the city of Ferentium for the business of Christ, After visiting the bodies of SS. Gratilianus and Felicissima, which the Angel had revealed to him, when after a few days the Angel of the Lord said to B. Eutitius, Arise and go to the Faleritan city, to the holy Martyrs Gratilianus and Felicissima, where their bodies rest
in a new sarcophagus, and celebrate in that place vigils with hymns, and the divine mysteries of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ: and then return to thy own city Ferentium: because after a few days thou must receive the crown, and shalt rejoice with all the holy Martyrs, who with Christ are to reign forever.
[2] Then B. Eutitius the Presbyter, as if waking from sleep, hastened to the holy Martyrs, where their bodies are buried, and confirming his parents in the faith, and there performed the divine mysteries. And the parents of B. Gratilianus coming cast themselves at the feet of B. Eutitius, saying, We give thee thanks, holy Father, because through thy preaching our Lord God Jesus Christ has gained our son Gratilianus, and us together with him. Then B. Eutitius admonished them of the faith and doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ, and at the same hour departed, and returned to his own city Ferentium. B. Eutitius was seized by the apparitors of Maximus the Tribune, and offering him to the soldiers they said: led to Maximus the Tribune. Behold the man who has despised the commands of the Princes, and counts their decrees for nothing, and blasphemes our gods, and broke them in his house. Therefore when the soldiers had heard, they led him to Maximus, and narrated all in order.
[3] Then Maximus the Tribune said to him, Art thou Eutitius, the seducer of the magicians? who destroyest the commands of D. Claudius the Prince, and esteemest the gods, the governors of the commonwealth, for nothing? he argues the vanity of the idols. B. Eutitius answered: I have counted and count for nothing the vain idols, deaf and mute, which have eyes and see not, have ears and hear not, have nostrils and smell not, have a mouth and speak not, hands and feel not, feet and move not. Ye worship the figments of men and my Lord Jesus Christ, who made all things, who deigned to fashion us from the slime of the earth, ye have destroyed and ye know not. For all your commands, and your Princes are such, as a wineskin filled with wind. The commands and orders are from my Lord Jesus Christ, who rules and governs all things. For the Lord Himself says: By me Kings reign, and tyrants hold the earth. Prov. 8. 15 Hearing these things Maximus the Tribune ordered him to be sent chained into the public custody, and commanded that no one should enter to him.
[4] Bishop Dionysius being beaten with clubs and cast out, But the next day the most impious Maximus ordered a tribunal to be prepared in the praetorium: and commanded every kind of torments to be brought before him. Before the tribunal of the Judge was found Dionysius the Bishop, who presided over this city. He, when he learned that B. Eutitius the Presbyter had been apprehended, offered himself to Maximus the Tribune saying: Suggest to thy Piety, most sacred Tribune, why dost thou slaughter a servant of God, who prays for thee and for the commonwealth? Then Maximus ordered Dionysius the Bishop to be beaten with clubs, and sent outside the city. Therefore Maximus the tribune began to interrogate B. Eutitius with bland speeches, thinking to recall the holy mind from its good purpose, saying to B. Eutitius: Hast thou known what our most sacred Prince Claudius has established throughout all the kingdoms? B. Eutitius the Presbyter answered: And truly I have known, and I know. His commands are like those of one of the wicked men, who know not their Creator and adore Him not; namely they adore gods of wood and stone, of marble, of plaster, of bronze, whose images are of silver or gold, the workmanship of men's hands: which if they are not guarded, thieves overturn and snatch them, nor can they help the most foolish men who adore them: of whom the Psalmist says, Let those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them. Ps. 113. 8
[5] B. Eutitius therefore said to Maximus the Tribune, Maximus, between an image and its maker, which is stronger, he perseveres in his confession, and which is better? Maximus said to him: Then ought we not to worship them, because they are made by the hands of men? B. Eutitius said to him: I have already said that those men were most wretched, who lived the time of their life ill, in the uncleannesses, delights and concupiscences of the world. Maximus said to him: Then thou dost not adore our gods, and despisest the commands of the Princes? Thou hast blasphemed those whom we adore, and dost publicly confound them? B. Eutitius said to him: Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us, saying: When ye shall stand before Kings and Presidents, think not how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour, what ye shall speak. Matth. 10. 19 It is not ye who speak, but the spirit of your Father, who speaks in you. Maximus says to him: And ye, who for love of Him deliver your bodies to various torments, what reward shall ye have? B. Eutitius answered and said: That which He Himself promised, saying, He who shall lose his soul for my sake, shall find it for eternity. Matth. 16. 25. & 19. 29. And again the Lord says in the Gospel, He who shall leave father, or mother, or sons, or wives, or fields for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and shall possess eternal life.
[6] Maximus the Tribune said to him: Is there besides this another life? B. Eutitius said to him: There is another life, and despises the torments threatened against him. which never has an end, which also the Lord promised to those who love Him. Then Maximus the Tribune says to B. Eutitius: For the salvation of our most invincible Lord the Prince Claudius, if thou dost not sacrifice to the immortal gods, I will make thee perish by various torments: but if thou shalt sacrifice, I will make known thy doctrine to Claudius, and thou shalt be multiplied in riches and goods. S. Eutitius says to him: Let those sacrifice to them who have despaired of their souls: for my Lord Jesus Christ will be propitious to me, for whom I fear not to suffer. But know ye, who stand in this judgment, that unless ye cease from the worship of the gods, ye shall be damned in the eternal judgment; where the fire shall not be extinguished, and the worm shall not die; where sinners shall mourn without end, where the devil is bound and knotted, where sinners shall be tormented unto ages of ages, where neither woods nor stubble burn, but the souls of sinners. At this preaching many believed in Christ the Lord. Then the most impious Maximus ordered him to be beaten with clubs before him, saying; Mock not the gods and goddesses, and prate not insults to the Judges with a rash mouth, lest the people depart from their worship.
[7] At that hour the most wicked Maximus commanded S. Eutitius to be raised on the rack: After the rack beheaded, and while B. Eutitius was being tortured he said: Lord Jesus Christ, help thy servant. Then the sacrilegious Maximus ordered him to be taken down from the rack, and his mouth to be bruised with stones. S. Eutitius rejoiced and exulted in the Lord, acting manfully. And when Maximus had seen that through torments he could not overcome S. Eutitius; he ordered him to be led outside the city not far from the town and to be beheaded. But led outside, that they might decapitate him, he said to the executioners: Give me a little respite, that I may pray for myself to my Lord Jesus Christ. Then B. Eutitius casting himself on the ground, with weeping eyes said: God Almighty, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit, and number me among the holy Martyrs, because it is time that the earth conceal my body. I pray Thee, Lord, that all who shall have invoked my name and shall have been converted to Thee, may have a portion with us in the eternal ages, and in this age in whatever tribulation they shall worthily have cried out to Thee, may merit to obtain their petitions, and to enjoy with us in the future, because Thou art God, abidest and reignest unto ages of ages. Amen. Then the executioner holding his sword struck with one blow, and he migrated to the Lord on the day of the Ides of May, that is, on the fifteenth day of the month of May.
[8] [The Passion of the Saints who were crowned together, Eutitius the Presbyter, Valentinus the Presbyter, Hilarius the Deacon, Gratilianus and S. Felicissima, and others whom it is long to relate.] b These things hearing B. Dionysius the Bishop, he is buried in his own little estate. where he was hidden on account of the persecution of the pagans, went by night with his Clerics to the body of B. Eutitius, and lifted it with hymns and prayers, and placed it in his little estate and his crypt, more than c fifteen miles, wondrous to say, from the city of Ferentium; and they fasted in that place, and remained and watched some days, giving thanks to the Lord, who in that same place showed many wonders: the blind are enlightened, demons are put to flight, and the sick are healed; where prayers flourish now and ever and unto ages of ages d.
[9] After many years, peace being given to the Church of God, the religion of the Christians began to grow and increase, and the church not small built there in part with walls they adorned, and in part with crypts most amply dug through, like caves, that is, ditches under the earth, whence flows forth a little water. A church is built over the sepulchre: Of this water those who are not well drink; and through the invocation of B. Eutitius are forthwith restored to health. But in that same crypt within the church, on the right side toward the East they placed the body of B. Eutitius the Presbyter, and the bodies of other Saints together with him: and so they affixed his body with white marble slabs, that as it were an ark may be seen on this side and on that. In that place the Lord has shown many wonders unto the present day. And beside this body of Eutitius, as we said, there is another crypt, which extends in length more or less than thirty feet, where the bodies of the Saints rest in a sarcophagus. And daily thence little waters run drop by drop, which through the intercession of the Saints afford help to those drinking. But on the other, the left, side they constructed an altar of B. Stephen the Protomartyr and Levite and of other Saints, and around the altar little marble columns and capitals foliated like lilies, and above, on the heads, marble slabs like arches of every size they constructed. Throughout the whole church from place to place they constructed altars, to the honor of the holy Saints and holy Virgins of God, who reign with the Lord forever.
[10] He is venerated with a yearly feast. Let us all rejoice in the Lord, dearest Brethren, in honor of B. Eutitius, Presbyter and Martyr, whose feast is celebrated today: who despised the world, and spurned vain riches: who feared not the commands of the Princes, counted their punishments for nothing: who for the love of God contended unto death, and drew many to the faith, and led them to the heavenly kingdoms: who feared not the threats of the judges,
and sought not earthly glory; for the love of Christ laid down his soul, and with the sword unsheathed was struck by a blow, and migrated to the Lord, whose power abides unto ages of ages. Amen.
ANNOTATA.
THE TRANSLATION OF S. EUTITIUS.
Done and described in the year 1495.
Eutitius, Martyr at Suriano in Etruria (S.)
BHL Number: 2781
FROM THE MS.
[11] In the name of the Lord. Amen. Since the People and the whole community of the land of Suriano of the Ortan city of our diocese, The body among the rubble of the church to be restored both from the report of their ancestors, and also from old and ancient custom, and also from several miracles done and granted in several persons by the most devout S. Eutitius, whom the Church has canonized, were wont to venerate him as a peculiar Saint and singular Protector before the divine Clemency and with devout mind and affection of soul greatly to venerate him; desiring to repair with due honors the venerable church, situated in their territory outside the walls of Suriano, under the name of the said Saint, yet fallen by age, and according to their means to adorn it with buildings, freeing and absolving themselves from every fault and burden of conscience; came to us Henricus Brunus, Bishop of the Ortan and Castellan city, asking that there be given to them the faculty to adorn the aforesaid church with due buildings, that they might more decently perform the ceremonies, devotions, and their vows. And when the said license and faculty being obtained, several of the aforesaid people and community with peculiar devotion had come to the aforesaid venerable church; and emptying it, because it was filled with ruins, by digging out and emptying a part of the aforesaid church, in which both the older and the modern men of the said land of Suriano and also the surrounding townsmen performed their vows and ceremonies to the aforesaid Saint, found or discovered a marble ark, in which were found Relics and corroded bones. And when also The Priests and lettered persons of the said land made more certain of the discovery of the said ark or sepulchre, in a marble ark when the people of Suriano had found, made of marble slabs, came to the aforesaid venerable church with the history of the said saint, which every year on the feast of the said Saint was read by the Priests at Matins and the other Canonical Hours; and recognizing from the history and the composition and signs of the ark or sepulchre, that those would be the bones and venerable Relics of the said Saint, with the greatest devotion and with such ceremonies as they could venerated the aforesaid Relics. But because the said People and community could have been subjected to our reprehension and correction, who bear the Pastoral care of their souls, they had it consulted through the Most Reverend Lord Cardinal de Ursinis with our Most Holy Lord Alexander VI, the Roman Pontiff, Alexander VI being asked by them that, the solemnities being observed and a diligent investigation and inquiry being had, concerning the aforesaid venerable Relics such a manner be observed, that thereby every stain and defect of mind in venerating the Relics might be wiped away.
[12] Hence it is that we Henricus the aforesaid Bishop, and Secretary of the Most Holy Lord the Pope and of the sacred College, and in this part Commissary by the letters of the same Most Holy Lord directed to us in the form of a Brief, and presented by the provident men Peter Pennacius, Cichus Ferracutus, Master John Lombardus, and Sebastian Jannottus, Officials of the said Community, of which Brief the tenor follows, and is such. Alexander Pope VI. Venerable Brother. Health and Apostolic benediction. There have caused to be set forth to us the Community and Men of our land of Suriano, of thy diocese, that they once found in a certain marble pillar, he commits its inspection to the Bishop of Horta: situated near the altar of the church of S. Eutitius, several and various Relics, which although they judge to be of that Saint, yet they dare not publicly show them, and affirm them to be the Relics of that saint. We therefore, inclined to their supplications in this part, and not having certain notice of the premises, to Thy Fraternity, in which in these and other things we have a special trust in the Lord, by these presents commit and command, that to the said church thou betake thyself personally, and concerning the premises, whether those be true Relics of that Saint, diligently inquire; and if thou shalt so find, the said Relics, during or after the solemnities of Mass, with due veneration and reverence, to the whole people publish and show, and declare them to be true Relics of that Saint, and decree them to be venerated by all the faithful of Christ. Notwithstanding the Apostolic Constitutions and Ordinations, and other things to the contrary whatsoever. Given at Rome at S. Peter's under the Ring of the Fisherman on the XIV day of April 1466 [sic], the IV year of our Pontificate.
[13] The tenor of the said Brief being first seen, and the power and commission attributed and committed to us by virtue of it through the Apostolic See, he goes to the place and all things being examined, wishing to proceed to execution; to the said church of S. Eutitius we personally betook ourselves, and diligently submitting it and the cave or crypt to our eyes, and having the History and Legend of the said Saint read; the said church and crypt being seen and diligently scrutinized, the said History or Legend of S. Eutitius himself being seen and heard, the ark or sarcophagus made of marble slabs being seen, and the Relics existing in it, and found in that same part of the church, as the History itself narrates, the sayings and attestations of very many trustworthy witnesses being seen, examined upon a business of this kind, very many miracles being heard there done and shown by our supreme Creator and Redeemer through the intercession of the said Saint, he declares it to be the true body of S. Eutitius all and singular things at last being seen opportune upon a business of this kind; the names of Christ, of the most glorious and blessed Virgin Mary the mother, and of S. Eutitius being invoked, sitting as on a tribunal in that church of the aforesaid Saint, we say, pronounce and declare, that the said Relics in that church and the said sarcophagus or ark, were and are of the said Saint Eutitius, Presbyter and Martyr, and that they ought to be devoutly venerated, as befits the Relics of the Saints; and that all the premises be publicly and openly preached and announced to the peoples. Of all and singular which things we ask a public instrument to be made by the Lords Ogerius de Gazinis of Canelli of the Diocese of Acqui, and Lucas Marzarius of Cortemilia of the diocese of Alba, public Notaries, and to be fortified by the impression of our seal for firmness of strength.
[14] The above-written pronouncement and declaration was brought forth, given and judicially made, by a public instrument, by the aforesaid Reverend Lord Bishop and Commissary, sitting where above, and described by the command of that Most Reverend Lord Commissary in the said church by me Lucas Marzarius public Notary, in the presence of the Venerable Lords Presbyters, John Francis Ser-Petri, Nicholas Antonii Franchini, Peter Paschalis Lipici, all of the place of Suriano and the greatest part of the people of Suriano, and very many other men and women from the surrounding towns. In the year of the Lord's nativity 1496, the 14th Indiction, on the XV day of the month of May, in the IV year of the Pontificate of our Most Holy Lord the Lord Alexander by divine providence Pope VI. ✠ I Lucas Marzarius of Cortemilia of the diocese of Alba, by the authority of the sacred Empire a public Notary, was present at all and singular the premises together with the aforenamed witnesses being asked, and being asked likewise with the aforesaid Venerable Lord Ogerius Gazinus the public Notary subscribed with my own hand, and here subscribed myself with the appending of my usual sign of the Notariate in faith of the premises ✠ There followed a similar subsignature and sign of the other already named Notary. But that the transumed exemplar in the year 1679, on the 30th of April, agrees with the original, existing in a certain box or archive of the writings of the church of the most glorious Martyr S. Eutitius, attests Andreas Guidi of Suriano of the Ortan Diocese, by the grace of God and Apostolic authority a Notary, registered in the Roman Archive; to whom faith of his legality is made on the XXII of May by the Priors of the People and Land of Suriano, in their Prioral Palace, Andreas Cellius the Secretary subscribing and affixing the seal of the Community of Suriano.
ANALECTA
On the church of S. Eutitius and the manna gushing forth there.
Eutitius, Martyr at Suriano in Etruria (S.)
FROM THE MS.
[15] Tullius Cima, after a faithful translation of the Passion of S. Eutitius from the Latin into the Italian language, The body behind the altar no mention being made of the Notarial Act already produced, which I should believe never came into his hands, as it did not befall Ughello to see it; concludes his little work, as he had set forth in the title, by those wonders which in his time were noted in that place. And first beginning from the site and position of the sacred bones, he says: On the left side of the church is the altar of the Saint, and behind it a hollow place, having two little doors; of which one serves for entrance, the other for exit. That place is surrounded by an iron grating drawn toward the altar, where the relics of S. Eutitius are preserved within a round ark, decently fashioned; to which likewise toward the altar there is contiguous a marble slab, also enclosed in the aforesaid grating, and engraved with the following letters. with the title: The Relics of S. Eutitius the Martyr, found among the rubble in a stone bowl, by command of Alexander VI the Supreme Pontiff, Henricus the Bishop of Horta caused to be placed here on the Ides of May 1496.
[16] In the same part of the church, in which the altar stands, at an interval of about eight paces, in the nearby sacristy a stone, there is a chamber somewhat lower than the rest of the pavement of the church, into which only the Priests are wont to enter: where a square base is seen, about four palms high, and above it a slab of Tiburtine stone, from which, though naturally dry, manna gushes at the time in which Mass is celebrated at the aforesaid altar: and the greater is the number of those sacrificing, so much the more copious also the liquid, so that thereby at times whole little vessels are filled; more especially on the XV day of May, the anniversary of the Saint himself, when besides the huge crowd of inhabitants and foreigners flowing in from everywhere, many Priests also assemble, that at that altar they may perform the sacred rites. the manna sweating during Mass That manna, moreover, is like ordinary water as to color; and through certain little channels made around the stone it is led into a round vessel placed beneath, and is kindly distributed to those asking it, that they may use it against various infirmities: since for this it has been found to avail with great efficacy. But also from that marble, on which I said the aforementioned inscription was engraved,
larger and more frequent drops are said sometimes to have exuded, notable for their white color; which I too can, as a witness from sight, affirm.
[17] To the chamber already described there is contiguous a cemetery, where within an enclosing wall are seen very many bones collected into a heap: likewise in the crypt from certain traces which whether they can be reckoned to be of Martyrs or of others, is left to the reader to discern. To the cemetery, moreover, there is placed a little crypt, in whose bottom the farthest wall is seen to redden with many as it were bloody spots, where from the upper part alone there continually gush forth drops of red color: of which what the cause is is unknown, and thereby the greater is the wonder of the beholders. Then there follows a pumice-like tract, toward the smaller door of the church, and at the end another crypt, in whose upper part are noted two hollows, distant about two palms from each other, and bearing some likeness of human footprints. But how these were impressed in such a place, is conceived with difficulty: for it would be necessary (if, as the common people persuade themselves, they are from the feet of the Saint himself) that the earth was much higher in that crypt, so that Eutitius, prostrate with body bowed forward while praying, could, his feet raised back on high, the miraculous drops trickle. touch the vaulting. However it be, from those alone, whether footprints or cavities, and not from any other part of the little crypt, drops of water continually trickle, which water received by a stone vessel placed beneath, is devoutly taken by the well and the sick, and not less savorily, inasmuch as it is light and pleasing. It has, moreover, been found by experience: that when some wished to use it either for cooking or another profane end, the rashness was chastised by prodigious signs, and also by the suppression of the miraculous flow for several continuous months. But the aforesaid water is the more certainly believed not to be from nature, because the whole crypt itself, excavated within solid tufa, by its nature most dry, sustains exceedingly little earth on the surface.
[18] And so for the increasing of the worship of the Saint shining forth with so many prodigies, A Confraternity instituted. there was instituted not so many years ago at Soriano a Confraternity under his name: to which all the chief men of that region have given their names, and govern it with excellent laws. And not content with this, they testify the magnificent generosity of their soul, by undertaking a new and more capacious church from the foundations; of distinguished, as is believed, appearance and adornment, to yield to none of those which are seen in these parts. Thus far Tullius twenty-two years ago, within which it is credible that the fabric, which then was first begun, has been completed. Meanwhile lived Andreas Guidus, the Notary subscribed to the transcript of the aforesaid Instrument concerning the Translation of the sacred bones, to whom, dead not long after, an excellent testimony of singular probity, this year 1680 on the sixth Ides of February, the Curate Rectors of the Parochial church of S. Nicholas of Suriano wrote on oath, Gregory Callistus, Salvator Scotolonus, Bernardinus Miccius and Eutitius Paces.
[19] This Andreas Guidus, son of the late Avenerius, in a letter to the Reverend Father Bernardinus Coroaginus, Priest of our Society, the present worship directed to Viterbo, continuing the information begun by Tullius, asserted that in the said church of S. Eutitius before his venerable Relics there always burns a lamp, under the care of a certain pious Hermit dwelling there, because the cells and habitations of the Convent are distant from Suriano about a mile and a half: and that in that same church four Chaplains always minister, obliged to celebrate Mass there three times a week; besides that many other Priests, especially on festival days, run thither to sacrifice, to foster the devotion of the people of Suriano, who are wont to be present in great frequency. Moreover on the Monday of Easter and the like day of Pentecost, as also on the 1st and 15th day of May, the said church is wont from immemorial time to be visited processionally by the Clergy and by five Confraternities, there Canonically erected, the persons of every chief note intervening with the Magistrate of the place.
[20] But there is especially notable a white Tiburtine stone, placed upon a certain stone pillar, the flow of Manna which had ceased and raised four palms from the floor of the pavement. For this, although otherwise it is always found most dry, yet during the sacrifice of the Mass, while the consecration of the Body and Blood of the Lord was being made, was wont to sweat openly and conspicuously, so that the running drops, led off into the little channels prepared for it, did not cease to flow until after the Communion of the Priest; which being performed the miraculous liquid ceased to trickle, and the stone returned to its first dryness. This so copious flow indeed stopped about twenty or twenty-five years ago: but three years ago the aforesaid stone began again to sweat somewhat a little, and we trust it will return to its former abundance. Meanwhile it consoles us, that in its stead the Marble, erected over the altar and the holy body, recently begun to be restored, that namely on which is read engraved the memory of the translation made in the year 1496, continues most copiously to sweat; and since five days ago, namely on the XV of May of the year 1679, the Most Illustrious Lord Altaemps sacrificed there, the liquid collected in a flask filled it. Nor is unlike, and less efficacious for conferring health, another, trickling from the vault of the little crypt, which is believed to have served S. Eutitius for performing the exercises of prayer and penance.
[21] This therefore is the Manna (for so flowings of this miraculous kind are commonly called by the Italians) whose miracles Brautius the Bishop celebrates in his Poetic Martyrology in this distich: for curing diseases.
The tomb of the Martyr pours waters and manna on certain days, Whence relief is at hand for the sick.
Of the same an authentic instrument sent to us is subscribed by the proper hands of ten witnesses, from the elders of the community: who all, as a thing often found by their own eyes, affirm that in the manner said the manna gushed from the stone at the time of the Canon in former years; and from the Marble, which is on the altar, still gushes; as also water from the vault of the crypt: whose efficacy they prove by the multitude of votive offerings affixed to the altar; one too says he experienced it, when he was burdened with a quartan fever, and the obstructions of the spleen thence born. Nay even in this very year 1680, in which we are also printing and hope to bring forth into light the first volumes of May, Brother Augustine of Melia, of the stricter observance of the Order of S. Francis and at present Guardian of S. Maria del Poggio of S. Maria of Suriano, on the III day of February affirmed, to which the Guardian of the Recollects attests and before the Notary Florigius Christopher of Suriano testified in the word of truth and with breast touched in priestly manner the following things. I attest that, in the year 1679 in the month of July, having gone to S. Eutitius the Martyr's of this place, with my companion, and together with Father Master Hilarion of Suriano of the Order of Preachers, Lector of the Congregation of the Oratory in the city, and with two Fathers of the same Congregation of the Oratory: and after the conclusion of the Masses having entered, together with the Hermit alone of that place, into the little cell, in whose midst a stone is raised aloft; from the same, which before and after I inspected dry, in sight I beheld three drops (as they call them) of manna leaping forth to flow out, one of them bursting forth higher: which, wondering, I venerated the glory of the most holy Trinity… Moreover two other Brothers of our same Order told me that afterwards on other occasions they inspected manna flowing from the same stone.
[22] But the next day, namely the IV of February, before the same Notary presenting himself the Schoolmaster of Suriano the Reverend Lord Jerome Cherubinus, previously incredulous: one of the four Chaplains of the Society of S. Eutitius, whose diligence in all these things was at hand, his breast likewise touched in priestly manner: I attest, and the Presbyter schoolmaster of the place he said, that to me and the Lord Andreas Guidus of good memory, formerly conversing about the manna of S. Eutitius, Father Augustine of Melia… very keen in the investigation of the truth, and exceedingly incredulous, was perceived upon this miracle, on the part of the common people (as he used to say) too credulous; but afterwards asserting that he had both seen and touched the same manna; and was heard by me thus speaking; That in the manner of Thomas I have been confirmed, that for the truth of this miracle I would undergo death. The same, moreover, on the same day in another instrument, but of like faith, I attest, he says, that after the Ides of May in the year 1679 up to this point, after the conclusion of the Mass, in the church of S. Eutitius in the field of Suriano, I several times entered into the little cell, existing under the roof of the same church apart from the altar and the sepulchre of the Martyr some paces: and often no, now one, now two, now three, now four drops of manna, with which the Tiburtine stone, which stands in the midst there, had flowed, I beheld: and especially one while the Reverend Lord Octavian Schirattus was performing the Sacred rite: and only once the stone bathed with holy liquid, as much as would cover half a palm.
[23] Likewise also Vincentius Cherubinus, equally a Priest in the same Instrument, and his brother. I attest, he says, in almost the same manner as my brother above-written: and moreover only once that I saw the described stone bathed with holy manna, as much as a whole palm could cover, with which a cloth anointed I keep with devotion. And on the day of S. Stephen of the past year, the Mass being concluded, in the presence before the others of a certain woman from S. Martino, and the Lady Catharine wife of the Lord Laurence de Patritiis, that I found in the channel, into which the Epitaph of the sepulchre flows, somewhat of manna; which sent in a flask I delivered to be carried to the Reverend Lord Dominic de Patritiis, Schoolmaster at S. Martino, sick at Suriano: who since he has now recovered, perhaps by the virtue of the manna returned unhurt to his duties.
[24] Finally on the VIII day of February Theseus Pennatius the aforementioned Notary, The measure of the slab sweating manna with the witnesses Flaminius Mancinus and Vincentius Cherubinus, Presbyters of Suriano, being requested by the Lords Officials of the Confraternity of S. Eutitius, personally went to the country temple of that same Lord Eutitius of the territory of Suriano: And I myself, he says, saw with my own eyes inside it a certain most ancient stone of Tiburtine stone, of the length of about four palms, and of one and a half breadth about, existing upon a certain private altar, in which stone are read the below-written letters, sculpted with the sign of the Cross at the head in this manner and form following:
✠ STEPHANUS VATES TIBI MARTYR
EUTILIIS PELIÆ MARMORIS DEDI
I have nothing further to add by way of explanation: and the inscription. only I note, that by this inscription is sufficiently clearly overturned the common opinion, by which that stone is said to have afforded the Saint the use of a sacrificial altar, to whom it was offered long after death: and to this judgment favors the measure of the stone itself, in breadth only one and a half palms, and so by no means sufficient for sustaining the sacred Chalice and Paten, unless perchance that stone was placed crosswise on the sacred Table.
ON SS. QUIRILLA AND SOPHIA,
VIRGINS AND MARTYRS PRESERVED AT ROME.
CommentaryQuirilla, Virgin & Martyr preserved at Rome (S.)
Sophia, Virgin & Martyr preserved at Rome (S.)
G. H.
Philip Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of the Saints, who are not in the Roman Martyrology
Roman, Memory of S. Quirilla, thus begins this XV day of May: On the Ides of May, at Rome of S. Quirilla, Virgin and Martyr. And in the Notes he alleges that he has those things, From the tables of the Church of S. Martin in the Mountains, where her Relics are preserved. Following Ferrarius, Arturus du Monstier, in the Sacred Gynaeceum of the Virgins, has the same. Antonius Philippinus of the Carmelite Order, Prior of the Convent of SS. Sylvester and Martin in the Mountains at Rome, on the Antiquity of the said Church, chapter 16, published a certain Inscription engraved on marble, which the accurate observers of similar antiquities at Rome judge to have been made about two hundred years ago, in which on page 77 these things are read: In the times of the Lord Sergius the younger the Pope there were laid up in this sacred altar the Bodies of BB. Sylvester and Martin the Pontiffs … with whom also were reposited the bodies of BB. Sother, Paulina, Memia, Juliana, Quirilla, Theopistis and Sophia, Virgins and Martyrs. Mention also of all these is in Octavius Pancirolius, in the Hidden Treasure of the City of Rome, region 2, church 41, page 226; but in place of Sophia is written Sosia. Meanwhile in the Auctarium of Greven to Usuard and in the Calendar of a MS. Breviary which was in use in the parts of the Rhine, on this XV of May, and S. Sophia. is celebrated the memory of S. Sophia, and "the Virgin" is added in the Martyrology written in English by Richard Whitford and printed at London in the year 1526. In the MS. Calendar of the Carmelites of the Convent of Mechlin, and in the written additions of the Charterhouse of Brussels to Greven, to the title of Virgin is appended, "And Martyr." Wherefore that at once the memory of each may be preserved, we set them forth together here, for the further inquiry of the Romans, by which these things can be proved or disproved.
[2] The sacred memory of S. Quirillus the Martyr, but with two Companions and at Axiopolis in Bulgaria, is celebrated on May IX; as also of S. Sophia on September XXX, but the widow and mother of the holy Faith, Hope and Charity, Virgins: from whom we judge these Virgins and Martyrs diverse. Charles Bartholomew Piazza in the Roman Sanctuary relates that S. Quirilla the Virgin and Martyr is venerated in the church of S. Martin in the Mountains, where her body is kept. But the memory of S. Sophia the Virgin is inserted in the Calendar of the Breviary of Mainz printed in 1495 and 1507, and of Camin in Pomerania published in the year 1521, so that she seems to pertain to these Ides of May.