Celsus

ON ST. CELSUS, BISHOP AT POZZUOLI IN CAMPANIA,

AT AN UNCERTAIN TIME

Celsus, bishop at Pozzuoli. (S.)

BY H. D.

[1] What of the Acts of St. Celsus On this day there is celebrated by the church of Pozzuoli, under the rite of a greater double with an octave, St. Celsus, bishop, confessor, lesser principal patron of the city [Ordo divini officii cotidie servandus in civitate et dioecesi Puteolana (Naples, 1845), p. 50.]. When he began to be venerated, or from what ancient sources are derived the things that circulate about his deeds, I could not find out, after I had long and much turned over books and codices and questioned all the most learned men of Pozzuoli. Ferrari, in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy P. 694., testifies that he saw manuscript Acts of St. Celsus, in which work he put together a brief Life of him, and in another work he asserts only that he took the mention of St. Celsus from the Tablet of the Church of Pozzuoli Catalogus generalis sanctorum, p. 434.. Tutini also affirms, in a manuscript work, that his legend is kept in the cathedral church of Pozzuoli: la sua leggenda il di cui originale si conserva nella cattedrale di Pozzuoli his legend, the original of which is preserved in the cathedral of Pozzuoli [Antichità sagre della chiesa de Pozzuoli, cap. I, in Scherillo, Della venuta di S. Pietro apostolo nella città di Napoli (Naples, 1859), p. 203.]. That this is to be understood of the lessons of the office of St. Celsus is demonstrated from what Tutini brings forward afterwards, and it is probable that these very lessons, and not more prolix acts, were seen by Ferrari. That the priest Giulio Assanti, one of the witnesses who in the year 1619 were present at the solemn translation of the relics of St. Celsus, spoke of the same office is all but certain. In the authentic Acts which are preserved in the convent of the Poor Clares of St. Celsus at Pozzuoli he writes this: Et io similmente tengo l'officio di detto santo qual copia ho cavato dal officio del vescovato et avanti il concilio Tridentino et il breviario nuovo fatto da Pio V, sempre il Capitolo et Clero di detta chiesa diceva l'officio di detto S. Celso coll' ottava [And I likewise have the office of the said saint, a copy of which I drew from the office of the bishopric; and before the Council of Trent and the new breviary made by Pius V, the Chapter and Clergy of the said church always said the office of the said St. Celsus with the octave] In Scherillo, pp. 202, 203.. However that may be, whether or not there existed acts distinct from the lessons of the office, both have perished.

[2] brought forward by Ferrari Let us inquire, then, of those who read them, such as they were, what they contained about the deeds of St. Celsus. We have first Ferrari, who, as we have said, speaks of our saint in two places. In the first work he has this: Celsus, a disciple of St. Peter the Apostle, is said to have been created by him bishop of Pozzuoli, at that city. There is a church in the territory of Pozzuoli which is called St. Petrillus de Quarto, because in it Celsus was consecrated fourth bishop by St. Peter. It is also said (as the ancient tradition of the place has it) that Celsus, in the year following the departure of blessed Peter, received as guest St. Paul with his companions as he was going to Rome to Caesar, to whom he had appealed. For so it is read in the Acts of the Apostles: "The south wind blowing, we came from Rhegium to Puteoli, where, having found brethren, we were asked to remain there seven days." Moreover, Celsus, when he had presided for some time over the church of Pozzuoli and had won many from the Gentiles for Christ, at length, dying, flew away to the heavenly seats on the nones of November. And he at once adds: From the manuscript monuments of the Church of Pozzuoli, which celebrates him as patron of the city on this day by concession of Pius V and Sixtus V, Supreme Pontiffs. Then there follows straightaway the Annotation. It does not seem likely that Celsus was the fourth bishop of Pozzuoli and died in the year of the Lord 50, as the manuscript acts which we have seen have it. It is more probable that he was the second bishop and departed about the year of salvation 80. For it seems that 50 was written for 80 Catalogus SS. Italiae, p. 694.. In the later work, after he had announced our saint in these few words: At Pozzuoli in Campania, of St. Celsus, bishop, he subjoins this brief commentary: From the Tablet of the Church of Pozzuoli, by which he is venerated on this day, and the ecclesiastical office is solemnly performed for him by concession of Pius V and Sixtus V, Supreme Pontiffs. The people of Pozzuoli proclaim him a disciple of St. Peter the apostle not from any written monuments but from ancient tradition, as they say. We have seen his image painted on the wall of the choir of the cathedral church together with images of other saints Catalogus generalis SS., pp. 433, 434.. Thus he.

[3] seems to be judged. To one reading Ferrari's first statements it is natural to understand that that brief synopsis of his of the Life of St. Celsus was taken from the written monuments of the church of Pozzuoli. In the last, however, it is expressly affirmed that it is established by no written monuments that he was a disciple of St. Peter. Moreover, if you take away what is narrated about St. Peter in the synopsis, very little remains, and that, even if not notably expanded, could easily grow into Acts. That Ferrari spoke less accurately is suggested by the fragment which Tutini brought forward from the ancient office. But this man Celsus, filled with sevenfold grace and with an abundance of all virtues, his merits demanding it, was chosen by the Lord. By the imposition of the hand of blessed Peter the apostle, the divine clemency commanding it, he received the office of consecration: and thus promoted bishop of this land, which is now called Puteoli, for before it was called Dicaearchia, the people and common folk, led by the error of paganism, possessed by darkness and obstinate in blindness of heart, sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, a most wicked and unjust nation, which, deceived by diabolical fraud, worshipped gods of gold and silver and stone with very great veneration, etc. In Scherillo, op. cit., p. 204.. Where you see that mention is made of St. Celsus, ordained bishop by St. Peter, in a certain document which either is not distinct from the Acts which Ferrari saw or perhaps flowed from them.

[4] The lessons of the Breviary of Pozzuoli By order of Leo Cardenas, bishop of Pozzuoli, who in the year 1649 had the proper offices of the saints of his diocese published, Luke Wadding, of the Order of Minors, undertook to reduce the Acts of these saints to the norm of ecclesiastical lessons, as he himself says [Officia propria sanctorum ecclesiae Puteolanae (Rome, 1649), p. 7; in Scherillo, op. cit., p. 192.]. Now, on the feast of St. Celsus, he presents the following Life, put together from the ancient office [A decree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites of the 13th of May 1649 approves the lessons for SS. Alexander and Proculus, martyrs, Onesimus, martyr and bishop, Patrobas and Celsus, bishops of the church of Pozzuoli … revised and examined, in Scherillo, op. cit., p. 190.], divided into three lessons. Lesson IV. Celsus, ordained bishop of Pozzuoli by Peter the apostle, displayed in life and conduct the loftiness which he bore in his name. For, freed from all cares from his tender years, he set up a heavenly life on earth. Given to prayer, he persisted in supplications day and night, and professed to know nothing save Christ and him crucified. After receiving the anointing of the sacred chrism, he so governed himself that, provoked by no insults, he was ever moved to anger, nor by any praises lifted up to pride, but, as is said of Paul the apostle, he served the advantage of the flock committed to him with all humility and tears. Lesson V. The city of Pozzuoli was then wrapped in the ancient errors of heathen superstition, and, amid the delights of the shore of Baiae, given over to unworthy pleasures. Hence it most obstinately rejected both the purity of the Christian religion and the admonitions of its most holy pastor. Wherefore it is incredible to tell with what constancy he sustained very many labours in rooting out the cult of empty gods, with what zeal he applied himself to the salvation of his fellow citizens straying from the way of truth, with what patience he bore the plots and machinations of wicked men who were busy putting him out of the way. Lesson VI. There shone forth in him especially charity towards his neighbour, so that he loved not only friends but enemies too, to whom he repaid benefits for injuries. He was moved by such compassion towards the needy that whatever he had he bestowed on the poor, which kindness towards the destitute he showed beforehand from his very boyhood. Amid these and other works of piety, when he had brought very many from the cult of idols to the Christian religion, both by example and by sermons, having governed the church of Pozzuoli most holily amid the immense storms of persecutions, he flew away to heavenly glory, and was deservedly afterwards enrolled by the people of Pozzuoli as a particular patron. His body is honourably preserved in the church dedicated under the same name [These things from a transcript sent from Pozzuoli "from the originals among the offices and masses proper to the diocese of Pozzuoli, with which they agree, saving, etc."].

[5] The history of St. Celsus uncertain, And so we have completed all the testimonies about St. Celsus that have their root in any antiquity whatever

seem to have We omit what [Flaminius Cornelius, Hagiologium italicum (Bassano, 1773), vol. II, p. 275, has about St. Celsus, drawn, as the author says, from manuscript monuments of the church of Pozzuoli. For it is manifest to the reader that he copied Ferrari's elogium with a few things suppressed.]. That the copy of the Acts which Ferrari saw was written out very recently you might perhaps deduce from his having thought that 50 could have been written for 80. But much more the whole character of the story smells of a compiler of a more recent age, nor is anything of what we have brought forward about St. Celsus proved to have been drawn from an ancient source. To pass over those commonplaces by which the saint's life, conduct and virtues in discharging his office are proclaimed, we have heard three principal things from the witnesses brought forward: that St. Celsus was appointed bishop of Pozzuoli by St. Peter; that he was the fourth prelate of this city; that St. Paul, making for Rome, was received as a guest by him. How empty, indeed ridiculous, is the argument drawn from the name of St. Petrillus de Quarto, that St. Celsus should be numbered in the fourth place among the bishops of Pozzuoli, it is superfluous to say. It is evident that the church de Quarto drew its name from having been built at the fourth milestone from the city, and not at all from a fourth bishop Scherillo, op. cit., p. 206.. That it was erected in the place where St. Peter offered the holy sacrifice and laid hands on Celsus is denied with almost the same right as it is asserted. For the ancient sources are silent about the coming of the prince of the apostles to Pozzuoli, silent also about the first bishops of the city, and their historical series begins with Julius, who in the place of St. Leo the pope was sent with Hilary the deacon to Ephesus in the year 448 Prosperi Tironis epitoma chronicon, MG., Auctores antiquissimi vol. IX, p. 480.. No cause remains, then, for us to act as judges among those who have disputed at length whether St. Celsus was the first bishop of Pozzuoli or the second, after St. Patrobas Scherillo, op. cit., c. VI., and whether he received episcopal consecration from St. Peter at Rome or at Pozzuoli [More pleasing is the opinion which holds that Celsus was consecrated by the apostle at Rome after the death of Patrobas and sent to Pozzuoli. So Ughelli, Italia sacra, vol. VI, p. 272.]. That the history of the bishop Patrobas is a pure and simple fiction no one is unaware Acta Sanctorum, November vol. II, 1, p. 222., but neither is it demonstrated by any probable arguments that Celsus was a bishop.

[6] but his cult most certain. Although ancient and credible documents, even martyrologies, are silent about the name of St. Celsus, it is nevertheless beyond doubt that cult was shown to him in the city of Pozzuoli from time immemorial, as they say. One of the seven ancient churches of the place, which stood in the quarter called Pusterla, was sacred to St. Celsus. Overthrown by an earthquake in the year 1538, rebuilt by bishop Matteo Castaldo Scherillo, op. cit., p. 217., it was at length destroyed when the convent of which we shall speak presently was built. In this church the relics of St. Celsus long rested. When the bishop mentioned wished them to be accorded greater honours, he had them translated in the year 1548 into the cathedral church, recently rebuilt. But, if you believe the testimony of the priest Assanti In the Acts of the translation of St. Celsus already cited above., the saint himself showed by indubitable arguments that the matter displeased him. For scarcely had the sacred pledges arrived at the bishop's palace, accompanied by the canons and the whole clergy, when a horrible tempest arose and was prolonged for eight continuous days. As some suspected that the cause of the commotions of earth and air was the translation of the relics, the bishop ordered them to be carried back to St. Celsus's own church, and in fact tranquillity was restored to the sea and serenity to the sky. Some years later there was erected, in the very territory of the parish of St. Celsus, a monastery of virgins dedicated to the holy patron. The church was completed in the year 1619; but the convent was handed over to the Reformed Poor Clares only on the 29th of December of the year 1628. Now, on the 4th of November of the year 1619, on the vigil of St. Celsus, the relics were escorted with solemn pomp from the old church (which was a few paces distant from the new) through all the streets of the city and translated to the new church Italia sacra, vol. VI, p. 272.. There exist in the monastery manuscript Acts of this translation, which we have often cited [We have cited them from Scherillo, op. cit., p. 218 and passim, who excerpted those acts.], and older than which we have been able to find no complete monument of the cult of St. Celsus. Ughelli affirms that the sacred body of St. Celsus is preserved in the church built by him where the nuns of St. Francis now live Ughelli, vol. cited, p. 272.. There is, as is evident, no church built by St. Celsus. But Ughelli plainly confuses the new church of the nuns with the old church of St. Celsus, over whose site the area of the monastery extends. The body of the holy patron is believed to be preserved by the present nuns.

[7] His liturgical office. Of the saint's liturgical office we have spoken here and there. We have heard the priest Giulio Assanti testify that he saw a certain office older than the Council of Trent Scherillo, op. cit., p. 203; above, n. 1.; Ferrari affirms an office granted by the supreme pontiffs Pius V and Sixtus V Catalogus sanctorum, p. 434.; whether that was old or new remains uncertain. Finally, we have said above that by order of bishop Leo de Cardenas the office of St. Celsus was renewed together with the rest placed in the Proper of Pozzuoli [The history of the Proper of Pozzuoli renewed by Wadding has been briefly put together by Scherillo, op. cit., pp. 190–94.]. The proper Mass, which begins: Then Samuel took the horn of oil (I Kings XVI), and in which St. Celsus is said to have been consecrated by St. Peter, the people of Pozzuoli still sing — which they do laudably — but they do not shrink from producing it as a historical document too, which everyone would disapprove [Scherillo, op. cit., p. 205; on pp. 608–609 he placed the whole Mass among the documents.]. Of St. Celsus one thing is certainly established: that he began to be venerated as a saint by the people of Pozzuoli at an uncertain time. That he was a bishop is established by no credible documents; and that he was appointed and consecrated bishop by St. Peter is to be relegated among the fables.