Charitina

ON ST. CHARITINA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR, PERHAPS AT AMISUS IN PONTUS,

Probably in the year 304.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

The distinction of the Saint from a martyr of the same name: her eulogies in the Ecclesiastical Fasti: the arena and time of her martyrdom: the credibility of her Acts.

Charitina, virgin and martyr, perhaps at Amisus in Pontus. (S.)

BY J. G.

That the illustrious martyr of Christ Charitina, whom all the Greek Fasti and certain more recent Latin ones announce on this day, [of St. Charitina, who is different from another announced on the 4th of September,] is altogether different from the martyr Charitina who is celebrated in the Sirletian Menology on the 4th day of September, the very reckoning of the times in which each suffered makes manifest. For ours, as the Greek monuments by common consent affirm either expressly or tacitly, bore away the palm of martyrdom under the emperor Diocletian, and so either at the end of the 3rd century or, more probably, at the beginning of the 4th century; while the other was crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Hadrian, and hence before the middle of the 2nd century. But whether our Charitina is different also from her who is recorded on the 15th of January in the Basilian and Sirletian Menology is not so clear at first sight. That she is distinct might be urged by these considerations: that the contest of our Martyr is marked on the 5th day of October, while that of the other is marked there on the 15th day of January; and that ours is said to have been the slave of a certain Claudius, the other of Claudian, a Christian man; ours to have been most bitterly tortured for the Christian faith under the count Domitius, the other under the count Domitian. Nevertheless, to our predecessors Bolland and Henschenius, at the 15th day of January among the Passed Over, the holy Martyr commemorated on that aforesaid day and on the present day in the Menologies just mentioned seemed the same. That Cardinal Baronius held the same opinion I judge for this reason, that Charitina, recorded in those Menologies on the 15th day of January and the 5th of October, was announced by him in the Roman Martyrology not on the former day, but only on the 5th of October; which that most learned compiler of the Martyrology would certainly not have done unless he had believed that the Martyr celebrated on these different days in both those Menologies was the same.

[2] [yet the same, as it seems, with her who is commemorated somewhere on the 15th of January,] And indeed, besides the fact that the Basilian and Sirletian Martyrologies not infrequently commemorate the same Saints on different days, as could be shown by various examples, the discrepancy between the names Claudius and Claudian, and between Domitius and Domitian, is so slight that, even if these had not originally been written in abbreviated marks, as perhaps was done, one could easily have been written for the other through the carelessness or haste of copyists. To me at any rate that difference of names, such as it is, is not of so much weight that I should dare on that account to establish our Charitina as different from her who is commemorated on the 15th of January in those two Fasti, since, namely, not only as many but more indications concur which show one and the same Martyr. For both she and ours have the same name of Charitina, the same servile profession, and the same time of martyrdom, namely under the emperor Diocletian. Our Charitina has moreover these things in common with the other alleged one: that, delated to the count, she professed the Christian faith before him freely and fearlessly; that by the tyrant's order her head was shorn and shaven and soon tortured with fire; that, thrown into the sea, she emerged from it unharmed and presented herself to the astonished judge; that then, bound to a wheel, she was ordered to be burned with coals, and her teeth were torn out. What more? Each of those two Charitinas is so like the other that it would be like a prodigy if they were not one and the same Martyr. This opinion of ours and of our predecessors can also be established from the fact that neither in the Typicon of St. Sabas, nor in the printed Menaea, nor in the Greco-Muscovite Ephemerides, nor in the Slavo-Russian Menology does that different Charitina appear on the 15th day of January, and finally from the fact that Charitina, martyr under Diocletian, is announced on no other day than the 5th of October; so that Baronius and our predecessors seem with full right to have denied that there were two martyrs of the same name. Wherefore, until someone proves by better arguments that they are distinct, I gladly subscribe to their opinion, and I place before the Acts of our holy Martyr, which are to be edited, the memorable things which the Ecclesiastical Fasti present about St. Charitina both on this day and on the 15th of January.

[3] Her contest on the 5th day of October is related thus by the Menology of the Greeks, her cruel martyrdom from the Greek Basilian Menology formerly put forth in Greek by order of the emperor Basil Porphyrogenitus, and published in print in Greek and Latin at Urbino in the year 1727 by the zeal and labour of Annibale Cardinal Albani: Ἡ μάρτυς τοῦ Χριστοῦ Χαριτίνη, ὑπῆρχεν ἐπὶ Διοκλητιανοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ Δομετίου κόμητος, δούλη οὖσα Κλαυδίου τινός, περὶ ἦς ὁ κόμης ἀκούσας, γράφει τῷ κυρίῳ ἀυτῆς ἀποστεῖλαι πρὸς ἀυτὸν ἀυτὴν εἰς ἐξέτασιν ὡς Χριστιανὴν ὑπάρχουσαν. Ὁ δὲ κύριος ἀυτῆς λυπηθεὶς, σάκκον ἐνδυσάμενος ἐθρήνει ἀυτὴν. Ἡ δὲ παρεμυθεῖτο ἀυτὸν, λέγουσα· μὴ λυποῦ κύριέ μου. Τὰ γὰρ λείψανά μου, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐμῶν καὶ τῶν σῶν παραπτωμάτων δίδωμι. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· μέμνησό μου ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐπουρανίου βασιλέως. Τότε ἀπεστάλη τῷ κόμητι· καὶ Χριστανὴν ἑαυτὴν ὁμολογήσασα, ξυρίζεται τὴν κεφαλὴν· καὶ ζέουσαν ἀνθρακίαν καταπάσσεται. Εἶτα δεσμεῖται λιθοβαρεῖ *, καὶ ῥίπτεται ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ. Καὶ ἐδέξατο τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς βάπτισμα· καὶ ἐξελθοῦσα, ἐνεφανίσθη τῷ κόμητι. Καὶ ἰδόντες ἀυτὴν οἱ περιεστῶτες, ἐθάυμασαν. Τότε τοὺς ὀδόντας ἐκριζωθεῖσα καὶ τῶν χειρῶν καὶ τῶν ποδῶν τοὺς δακτύλους ἀποκοπεῖσα, ἐτελειώθη.

[4] These words the most learned interpreter translates into Latin thus: is recited, translated into Latin, Charitina, martyr of Christ, lived in the times of the emperor Diocletian and of the count Domitius, the slave of a certain Claudius: when a report of her had come to the count, he wrote to her master that she should be sent to him, because it was necessary that an inquiry be held concerning her as a Christian. Then her master, affected with grief and clothed in sackcloth, lamented her lot. But she consoled her master, saying: Do not afflict yourself, my lord: for I shall deliver my remains for my sins and yours. To whom he said: Remember me before the heavenly King. Sent therefore to the count, and having professed herself a Christian, first her head was shaven and sprinkled with a glowing coal; then, a huge stone being hung from her neck, she was plunged into the sea and had the water of the sea for baptism. Coming out of it, she came into the sight of the count and rendered the minds of the bystanders astonished at the greatness of the thing: at last, her teeth having been torn out and the fingers of her hands and feet cut off, she ended her life. The Latin version of Peter Arcudius, in Ughelli, Italia sacra, volume 10 of the Venetian edition, Anecdota, column 269 and the following, agrees with this, and there agree, as to substance, the printed Menaea of the Greeks at this day, the Sirmondian Synaxary, Maximus Margunius, bishop of Cythera, and the Sirletian Menology, except that in this last, in place of the count Domitius, the count Dionysius is once written, perhaps from a printer's error. But of this below, at number 13.

[5] and torments omitted in the former eulogy, from the other, In an almost similar manner the martyrdom of St. Charitina is related in the Basilian Menology praised before, at the 15th day of January; where, however, certain torments omitted in the former eulogy are specifically enumerated from the Acts of the holy Martyr, as will be manifestly plain to one who compares the two eulogies with each other. Here, then, is that one, as it stands in part 2 of the same Menology, page 110: Ἡ μάρτυς Χαριτίνη ὑπῆρχε δούλη Κλαὺδιανοῦ τινὸς Χριστιανοῦ ὄντος, καὶ εὐλαβοῦς· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς βασιλείας Διοκλητιανοῦ καὶ Δομετιανοῦ κόμητος διαβληθεῖσα, ὅτι τὸν Χριστὸν σέβεται, ἐκρατήθη, καὶ παρέστη ἐνώπιον τοῦ κόμητος. Καὶ ὁμολογήσασα τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ ὅτι Χριστιανή ἐστι, τύπτεται ἰσχυρῶς. Εἶτα ξυρᾶται τὴν κεφαλὴν, καὶ στακτὴν ζέουσαν καταπάσσεται. Καὶ δέχεται ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀυτῆς ὄξος δριμύτατον· καὶ μετα λαμπάδων τὰς πλευρὰς καταφλέγεται. Εἶτα δεθεῖσα ἀπεῤῥίφη ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ. Παραδόξως δὲ διασωθεῖσα, καὶ ὑγιὴς τῆς θαλάσσης ἐξελθοῦσα, παρέστη τῷ κόμητι. Καὶ ἰδών ἀυτὴν ὁ κόμης, ἐξεπλάγη· καὶ προσέταξε γενέσθαι τροχὸν, καὶ δεθῆναι τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκεῖ, καὶ ὑπὸ τὸν τροχὸν τεθῆναι πυρὸς ἄνθρακας. Καὶ τούτου γενομένου, ἐτιμωρεῖτο ἡ

Ἁγία. Εἶτα ἐξεῤῥιζώθη τοὺς ὀδόντας, καὶ ἐκ τῆς πολλῆς ὀδύνης, καὶ τοῦ ἀφορήτου πόνου παρέδωκε τὸ πνεῦμα τῷ Θεῷ.

[6] likewise translated into Latin, are enumerated, But that anyone may the more easily know what has been added in this eulogy to the former, or set out more clearly, I transcribe here its Latin version from the said Menology of the Greeks. It runs thus: Charitina, martyr, the slave of a certain Claudian, a Christian and pious man, in the times of the emperor Diocletian and of the count Domitian, being delated because she worshipped Christ, is seized and set before the count. And having confessed Christ, and professed herself to be a Christian, she is most grievously beaten: then boiling drops and most sharp vinegar are poured over her shaven head: next her sides are burned with torches: at last, bound, she is plunged into the sea. But, snatched away by divine power, and escaping sound from the sea, she stood before the count, who was astounded at the sight of her, and ordered a wheel to be made, and the Saint to be bound to it and burned with coals placed beneath. When this had been done, Charitina was tortured. Then her teeth were torn out, and she, exhausted by most grievous pain and intolerable suffering, gave up her spirit to God. So far the more recent interpreter of the Basilian Menology, much more accurate both here and often elsewhere than Arcudius, since he translates these words, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς βασιλείας Διοκλητιανοῦ καὶ Δομετιανοῦ κόμητος, into Latin in this manner: In the times of the emperor Diocletian and of the count Domitian; whereas Arcudius on the contrary here called Domitian, or Domitius, emperor together with Diocletian, which most certainly conflicts both with the Greek text and with historical truth.

[7] and from the Menaea the manner of her death is inquired into. One circumstance of her martyrdom remains, which renders our holy Champion more illustrious, and which is entirely passed over in the eulogies recited above. For if faith can be had in every respect in the Acts of St. Charitina and in two little verses of the Menaea, she sent forth her spirit to those above not so much by the force of the torments, which the latter eulogy nevertheless seems to insinuate, as by the power of fervent prayer, the prison of the body being loosed as if of its own accord. Hear the little verses of the Menaea, consonant with the Acts of the holy Martyr:

Ὅπὲρ δί εὐχῆς εἶχε, σαρκὸς τὴν λύσιν, Ἰδοὺ, δί εὐχῆς λαμβάνει Χαριτίνῃ.

He who after prayers underwent death, Behold, after prayers obtains for Charitina to die.

That is, since she had earlier by her prayers obtained this miracle, that, thrown into the sea with a stone hung at her neck, she emerged from it unharmed, afterwards she obtained by her prayer, through the merits of Christ, who died on the cross after pouring out prayer, this benefit, that before the outrage to her chastity could be inflicted she committed her immaculate soul to her Creator, the most wicked design of the criminal judge being baffled. The most learned Baronius perhaps had this in view when he wrote in the Roman Martyrology that she sent forth her spirit while engaged in prayer. Hear his words: On the same day, the passion of St. Charitina, virgin, who under the emperor Diocletian and the consular Domitius, having been tortured with fire and thrown into the sea, when she had escaped from it unharmed, her hands and feet being cut off and her teeth wrenched out, sent forth her spirit while engaged in prayer. Arthur du Monstier agrees with Baronius in his Gynaeceum, and moreover designated the arena of St. Charitina, which Baronius had omitted, following Galesini after a fashion, writing thus: In the East, the passion of St. Charitina, virgin and martyr.

[8] Against this arena of St. Charitina there protest, with their Flavius Dexter in his Chronicle, the Spanish writers The arena of her martyrdom, not in Spain, as pseudo-Dexter praised by Tamayo at this day, page 414, who confidently define that she suffered in the year of Christ 296 at Carthago Spartaria (commonly Cartagena, a city situated in the kingdom of Murcia) under Diocletian for the sixth time and Crispinus, most noble Caesars, being consuls. That is, since they nowhere found the arena of the holy Martyr expressed clearly enough in the ancient Fasti, according to their custom they dragged Charitina into Spain and devised that she fell for Christ at Cartagena in the year 296; and how unhappily on every side, it is pleasing to show here. That Diocletian Augustus was consul for the sixth time in the year of Christ 296 cannot indeed be denied; but that he had Crispinus as colleague in the consulship in that year is truly as foreign to the truth as anything can be, as will immediately be plain to anyone who inspects the consular Fasti of Reland. For all the monuments adduced there by Reland proclaim that in that year Constantius Chlorus held the consulship with Diocletian. Moreover pseudo-Dexter calls Diocletian at that time only a most noble Caesar, whereas he had already twelve years before, that is, in the consulship of Carinus for the 2nd time and Numerian, been raised to emperor, and had soon obtained the title and dignity of Augustus, and had never enjoyed the title of most noble Caesar, as afterwards befell Constantius, Galerius Maximian and others. But, says Bivar, an error crept into the codex of Dexter, which has Crispinus (for Constantius Chlorus). What then? Will Diocletian, long since Augustus, on that account have been rightly called there most noble Caesar, or will Charitina on that account have suffered in the year of Christ 296 at Cartagena in Spain, into which the Spaniards can demonstrate from no instruments worthy of faith that she set foot from the East, as the posthumous writings of Nicolás Antonio not obscurely indicate?

[9] But not Dexter alone, but also Julian, archpriest of Toledo, and others contend, in the Epitaphs of the Saints of Spain, testifies that Charitina was buried by Claudius at Carthago Spartaria, as is shown in Tamayo, in the Spanish Martyrology, at this day. I know that that epitaph is there ascribed to Julian, archpriest of Toledo; but I likewise know that, even by those Spaniards themselves who enjoy a reputation for even the slightest learning, that Work of Julian is held at this time in no other light than the Chronicle of their Dexter and the other monstrous hydras of lies, so many times routed and given over to destruction both by our predecessors and by the most learned Nicolás Antonio praised above and others. Nor does it help the followers of pseudo-Dexter at all that about the year of Christ 296 a certain Decimius was consular governor or judge of the province of Baetica. For even if Decimius ought to be read for Domitius in the eulogies enumerated above, as Bivar contends at page 313, not even so would the followers of Dexter make out anything for an arena at Cartagena. For since the province of Cartagena, as Tamayo himself admits at this day, page 417, was not at that time contained among the circles of the province of Baetica, but was placed under the dominion of the consular of Hither Spain, or Tarraconensis, that Decimius could by no means have given judgment at Cartagena, set up a tribunal, and corrected the holy Martyr as subject to his authority and put her to the supreme punishment. Tamayo nevertheless praises Bivar's subtlety at the cited page, who would much more rightly have exploded, as they deserved, the laboured trifles of pseudo-Dexter and his Spanish followers.

[10] but is to be placed in the East, Moreover, that Charitina was not put to martyrdom in the West, much less at Carthago Spartaria, can be shown from the fact that the old Latin Fasti, most accurate in enumerating the names of their martyrs, nowhere make mention of her, and that the name of St. Charitina was transcribed into the Martyrology of Galesini and into the present Roman Martyrology from no other source than the Greek monuments, as Galesini and Baronius indicate in their Notes. Add that Charitina appears in all the Greek Fasti, both ancient and more recent, with the name of her arena indeed suppressed, but on that very account to be denied to the Western Church. For whenever the Basilian Menology and other monuments of the Greeks announce some Martyr from the Western Church, nothing is more customary and more ancient with them than to indicate the arena of the same Martyr in the most express words, as it is easy to demonstrate by the examples of Saints Agatha, Lawrence, Vincent and others: and accordingly, since the Greek monuments do not express by name the arena of Charitina, it is a sufficiently evident indication that that Saint by no means belongs to the Western Church, and that she suffered for Christ in the East, although the name of her arena was not known to the writers of the Menaea and Menologies; which, however, ought to seem wonderful to no one, since it could easily have happened that, of the almost innumerable Acts of the holy Martyrs who suffered in the East, whose abridgements they themselves present, either some did not reach them entire in every respect, or these were not so diligently written as to bear exactly the topographical and other characteristics of the things done by so great a multitude of Saints.

[11] and probably about the year 304, One or the other, and perhaps both, may have befallen the Acts of St. Charitina which served as a light to Symeon Metaphrastes when he put forth her Martyrdom in Greek. For in him, as also in the Basilian Menology and the printed Menaea, the name of her arena, where Charitina suffered, is nowhere found expressed. If, however, there is room for conjectures in an obscure matter, I do not know whether it could not be elicited with sufficient probability from the Basilian Menology and the printed Menaea compared with the narrative of Metaphrastes. It will be helpful to have tried. That our Charitina was crowned with martyrdom under the emperor Diocletian, the Menologies and Menaea of the Greeks expressly relate; and that this did not happen, as Surius relates, in the year 290, that is, in the first years of the emperor Diocletian, in which, as Eusebius testifies, book 8, chapter 1 of the Ecclesiastical History, the emperor showed himself kindly towards the Christians, but rather about the year of Christ 304, when, at the instigation of Galerius Maximian, a most atrocious persecution had already been stirred up against Christians of every order, Metaphrastes seems to indicate, since he binds the martyrdom of Charitina to no other time than that in which impiety once obtained dominion and stirred up the emperors with fury against those who held the belief of the Christians. For if there was ever a time in the East to which these words of Metaphrastes could more exactly fit, it was certainly that in which Galerius Maximian, when in the year 303 he had driven Diocletian to the purpose of a most cruel persecution, exercised together with him a most impious and most cruel butchery upon Christians of every sex, age and condition.

[12] Then, namely, as Lactantius testifies in chapter 15, Christians in the East were indiscriminately hurried off to burning, a general persecution against the Christians having been stirred up, plunged into the sea with millstones tied to their necks, unheard-of kinds of torments devised, and such as are related in the Acts of St. Charitina. Then, except in Gaul, over which Constantius Chlorus presided, as the same Lactantius testifies in chapter 16, the whole earth subject to the Romans was harassed, and three most bitter beasts, namely Diocletian, Maximian Herculius and Galerius Maximian, so raged that the same writer rightly added soon after: Not if I had a hundred tongues (supply: were there) and a hundred mouths, a voice of iron, could I comprehend all the forms of crimes, or run through all the names of punishments, which the judges throughout the provinces inflicted upon the just and innocent. And although in that year Galerius Maximian was not yet properly Augustus or strictly emperor, yet, since already from the defeat of Narses he had refused the name of Caesar and then reckoned himself among the emperors, being inferior to Diocletian in imperial name, yet not unequal in authority and power, Metaphrastes for that reason either called him too emperor, or perhaps had regard to the emperor Maximian Herculius, raging against the Christians at Rome at the same time. However that may be, the adduced words of Metaphrastes indicate clearly enough that a most atrocious persecution against the Christians began to be stirred up in the year 303, and in so far agree with the Basilian Menology and the Menaea and add light to them.

[13] Now, since, while the persecution of Diocletian and Galerius Maximian was raging in the Eastern regions,

[the count Domitius, vicar of the emperors, raging against them at Amisus in Pontus.] a certain Domitius, their vicar, was at Amisus on the Euxine Pontus, before whom the holy martyrs Clement of Ancyra and Agathangelus were brought to be tortured by him in dreadful ways, as their Acts, in volume 2 of January, pages 466 and 478, testify, I should readily believe that he was not different from the most crafty and most savage count Domitius under whom Charitina suffered, and that she accordingly underwent martyrdom at Amisus in Pontus, where he had set up his tribunal. I so conjecture because Amisus is a city near the sea into which Charitina is narrated to have been thrown, and because there is no circumstance of her martyrdom which, as will become plain to one who considers it, does not fit this arena; and then because a good many indications concur which, taken together, betray the same tyrant Domitius. For the Domitius of Amisus and ours have the same name, the same age, the same fury in searching out Christians, the same craftiness and cruelty. Add that Eusebius, in book 8 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 12, when he had enumerated the various torments with which martyrs were tortured in Arabia, Cappadocia, Mesopotamia and other places, testifies that the same kinds of punishments were applied against the Christians in Pontus, or at any rate ones not unlike in the manner of their atrocity to those which Charitina endured, as the Menologies, the Menaea and Metaphrastes write. Nor indeed does it overturn our conjecture that many things in the Acts of St. Clement of Ancyra praised above displeased Baronius. For although a hyperbolic amplification of punishments seemed to him to have been sometimes used in them, he did not on that account deny that Domitius was prefect of the people of Amisus at this time, nor did he himself establish that he was different from Domitius, the tyrant of Charitina, nor has anyone else so far shown by certain arguments that he was different. Therefore, having established, so far as was permitted in a matter not wholly explored, the arena of our holy Martyr and at the same time the very time of her martyrdom, I proceed to the credibility and authority of her Acts.

[14] The Acts to be edited, of Metaphrastes, who is vindicated from calumnies, That these Acts, which Aloysius Lipomanus, bishop of Verona, put forth translated from Greek into Latin in the year 1558, are a genuine Work of Symeon Metaphrastes, as Leo Allatius asserts in his Diatribe on the writings of the Symeons, pages 124 and 126, the learned, so far as I know, agree to a man. But because even today, among certain people deluded by the calumnies scattered by heretics and unbelievers, Metaphrastes and the Acts of the Saints which bear his name are wont to be ill spoken of more than is just, it will not be out of place to enumerate here some things which equally commend this man and his genuine Works. That he was not a trivial schoolmaster, such as Gesner and Hospinian paint him, but on the contrary was, in the not very advanced 10th century, master of the palace of Constantinople, and so was eminent in an office which was the highest of all among the dignities of the imperial court, and sought even by the sons of the emperors themselves, our Bolland, in the Preface to volume 1 of January, page 18, and Leo Allatius, in the praised Diatribe, page 25, have shown so evidently that those who from ignorance of Greek matters have made him a common trainer of boys from among the people ought to be suffused with shame. Before Symeon Metaphrastes ascended to the summit of so great a dignity, he had already been made by the emperor Leo protosecretary, patrician, and, as it seems, grand logothete, or supreme chancellor, as it is called among us, as William Cave rightly writes in his Ecclesiastical Writers, page 402. And the praised Allatius asserts, at page 33, that the authority and celebrity of our Symeon in the Greek church were so great that his writings were read publicly in the churches daily, that they were praised by the Fathers in council for confirming dogmas and establishing the sequence of events, and that they thought weight was added to the truth of their opinion if they had shown that he had asserted the same things as they. And lest this should seem said by him without ground, Allatius presently gathers many testimonies of the ancients abundantly proving his assertion, which, if you please, consult in the cited place.

[15] they are a genuine Work and not to be rejected. But, you will say, there exist in Metaphrastes many old wives' tales, which no one will believe proceeded from a man adorned with the highest dignities of the imperial court and endowed with so great authority. But I answer that old wives' tales are indeed found in certain Lives which are wont to be wrongly sold under the name of Metaphrastes; but that these are genuine offspring of the master of the imperial court the already often praised Leo Allatius most rightly denies at page 119 and the following. I confess indeed that in historical as well as chronological matters Metaphrastes sometimes went astray no less than most other authors; nor should I dare to undertake to defend all his writings in every respect; but, to insist only on the Acts of St. Charitina, which he seems to have taken from older ones, and which are equally to be vindicated, let me be permitted to ask what there is in them that savours of an old wives' tale or surpasses human belief? Is it that, no proof or juridical conviction having preceded, blows are inflicted on Charitina and an iron collar is put upon her? But, what is much greater, as Lactantius testifies in chapter 15, priests and ministers or deacons were at that time condemned without any proof to the very extreme punishments of martyrdom, or, as he himself says, to confession. Is it that the holy Martyr dared to call her judge crafty and cunning? But certainly the younger Maccabee martyr heaped far harsher things upon king Antiochus himself, in 2 Maccabees, chapter 7, and it would not be difficult to demonstrate that certain martyrs under Diocletian spoke not a whit more mildly. Perhaps this will displease in the Acts of St. Charitina, that heavier punishments, not in accord with the customs of the Romans, are said to have been inflicted on her? But consult Lactantius, cited at number 12; hear also Eusebius, book 8 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 12: The things which were done in Pontus (against the martyrs of Christ) strike horror even in the telling. Perhaps this will offend you, that the Virgin, supported by divine power, did not immediately succumb to the most atrocious torments, and that she emerged unharmed from the sea? But the Ecclesiastical Fasti are full of prodigies of this kind, of whose credibility no sane person doubts. Or finally will you say that it savours of an old wives' tale, or surpasses human belief, that the judge ordered the Virgin, unconquered by torments, to be subjected to outrage and insult? But no one who has read Eusebius is ignorant that women endowed with outstanding chastity, and even virgins devoted to God, were from time to time handed over by the tyrants to procurers for every kind of turpitude. Certainly the judges of that time did not so keep themselves within the bounds of modesty and shame, but that, on the contrary, as the same Eusebius testifies, book 8, chapter 12, they ordered foul and indescribable tortures to be inflicted without any pity on certain martyrs in Pontus, in their bowels and private parts. Not therefore on this head, nor on the others enumerated above, are these Acts of St. Charitina to be rejected as unworthy of Symeon; nor, whatever recent writers, scourges of the martyrs, may strive against them, as unworthy of all credibility. I have therefore judged that they should be edited from our copy of the manuscript codex of the Queen of Sweden marked number 13, together with the Latin version of Lipomanus.

* i.e. λίθῳ βαρεῖ

ACTS.

By Symeon Metaphrastes.

From the Manuscript of the Queen of Sweden marked number 13. Translated into Latin in Lipomanus, volume 6, from page 313.

Charitina, virgin and martyr, perhaps at Amisus in Pontus. (S.)

By Metaphrastes

ἘΚράτει ποτὲ τὰ τῆς ἀσεβείας καὶ βασιλεῖς ἐπὶ τοὺς τὰ Χριστιανῶν φρονοῦντας ἐξέμαινεν. Ὑπασπισταὶ δὲ ἀυτοῖς καὶ ὑπηρέται τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἔρευναν ἔργον ἐποιοῦντο, καὶ πολυειδεῖς τοῖς ἑυσεβέσιν ἠπείληντο βάσανοι. Μηνύεται οὖν κόμητι τινὶ καὶ ἡ γενναιοτάτη Καριτίνη, ὅτι μὴ μόνον τὰ Χριστιανῶν ὑπάρχει τιμῶσα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλοὺς πρὸς τὴν ἀυτῆς θρηκείαν * ὑπάγεται, καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦς τὰ Χριστιανῶν ἑλομένους ἀσφαλεστέρους ἐπὶ τὸ ὀικεῖον σέβας παρασκευάζει. Ἐφίσταται οὖν ὁ κόμης αὐτῇ ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίδι κατοικούσῃ καὶ κατὰ μόνας ἑαυτῇτε συγγινομένῃ καὶ τῷ Θεῷ. Ἐφίσταται δὲ καὶ θυμοῦ πλήρης, καὶ παραυτίκα πληγὰς ἀυτῃ ἐντείνει, κλοιόντε σιδηροῦν περιτίθησι, καὶ τὴν δικαίαν ὑπατικῷ τῷ παρὰ πάντα ἀδίκῳ δικαστῇ παραδίδωσιν. Ὃ δὲ τάτε τῶν κολάσεων ἐυθὺς προτίθησιν ὄργανα, τὴν Μάρτυράτε τῷ ἀυτοῦ βήματι παραστήσας οἴκτειρον, εἶπε, πρὸ τῆς τῶν κολαστηρίων πείρας ἀυτὴν, σώφρονι χρησαμένη τῷ λογισμῷ, καὶ τοῖς ἀθανάτοις θυσίαν προσένεγκε. Τρία γὰρ ἃν οὓτω τὰ μέγιστα κερδανεῖς τότε τῶν θεῶν κράτος ἐξιλεώσῃ, τήντε τῶν κρατούντων εὐμένειαν ἐπίσπασῃ καὶ τὸ ἑπανθοῦν τῆς ὣρας οὐ βασάνων δριμύτητι μαρανεῖς.

[2] Τούτων ἡ Μάρτυς ἀκούσασα πρὸς οὑρανὸν μὴν αἴρει τὰ ὄμματα τὴν ἐκεῖθεν ἐκκαλουμένη βοήθειαν, τῷ δὲ τοῦ σταυροῦ φραξαμένη σημείῳ, ποικίλος μεν εἶ τὸν τρόπον, ὑπατικὲ, καὶ τὸ ἧθος ὓπουλόστε καὶ ἀπατηλὸς, ἔφη. Ἀλλ᾽ εἰς ἀνόμητον * σεί τὸ σκολιὸν τοῦτο σαφῶς ἀποβήσεται. Ὅυτε γάρ με κολακεύων αἱρήσεις, οὔτε ἀπειλῶν καταπλήξεις, οὐ σημβουλεύων μεταπεῖσαι δυνήσῃ, οὐδὲ μαλάξαι τὸ ἐν ἐμοὶ τοῦ διὰ Χριστὸν παθεῖν πρότυμον· ἐπὶ τῷ μόνῳ γὰρ καὶ ἀληθεῖ Θεῷ πέποιθα καὶ τούτῳ τὸ πᾶν τῆς ἐμῆς ζωῆς ἀνατέθεικα. Εἴ τι οὖν ἐμοὶ πείθη, σαυτὸν μᾶλλον ὄικτειρον τῆς ἀπάτης. Σαυτῷ συμβούλευσον τὰ χρηστότερα· ὅπερ ἐστὶ, τὸ μὴ ξοάνοις κωφοῖς προσανέχειν, περὶ ὧν εἶπε ποῦ ὁ ἡμέτερος προφήτης ἐν πνεύματι· Θεοὶ, οἳ τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν οὐκ ἐποίησαν, ἀπολέσθωσαν· καὶ· οἳ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμονια. Καὶ πάλιν· Τὰ ἐίδωλα τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον, ἔργα χειρῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ὅμοιοι, ἀυτοῖς γένοιντο οἱ τιμῶντες ἀυτὰ.

[3] Ἐπειδὴ τούτων ἤκουσεν ὁ δικάζων, θυμῷ πάλιν ὑποπλησθεὶς, ἀυτὸς μὲν ἐκέλευεν ἐν χρῷ τὰς τῆς κεφαλῆς θρίχας ἐκτεμεῖν. Τὸ δὲ ἐγίνετο, καὶ τούτῳ θαῦμα μέγιστον ἠκολούθει· ἆυτις γὰρ ἡ κεφαλὴ κατάκομος ἦν· καὶ ὁ δικαστὴς πλείονι τῷ θυμῷ κινηθεὶς ἀνθρακιὰν ἐπιτεθῆναι τῇ κεφαλῇ προστάττει· εἶτα καὶ ὄξος ἀυτῆς καταχέεσθαι, τὰ τῶν ἀλγηδόνων οὓτω δριμύτερα παρεχόμενος. Ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἡ γενναία, Κύριε Ἰεσοῦ Χριστὲ, εἶπε, τῶν ἐπὶ σοὶ πεποιθότων ἡ ἀσφαλὴς βοήθεια, ὁ τοὺς σοὺς ἁγίους τρεῖς παῖδας ἐν μέσῳ καιομένης φλογὸς ἀφλέγετους διατηρήσας, ἀυτός μοι καὶ νῦν παραστὰς πρὸς τὰς διὰ σὲ κολάσεις ἐνίσχυσον, μήποτε τοῖς τῆς ἀληθείας ἐχθροῖς εἰπεῖν ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ γένοιτο· Ποῦ ἔστιν ὁ Θεὸς ἀυτῶν· Καὶ μετὰ τὴν εὐχὴν τῶν ὁδυνῶν ἡ Μάρτυς ἀνίεται, καὶ ἦν οὓτω ῥήμασιν εὐχαριστηρίοις δοξαζουσα τὸν Θεόν. Πρὸς ἃπερ ἆυτις ὁ ὑπατικὸς χαλεπήνας σιδηροῦς ὀβελίσκους ἐκπυροθέντας κατὰ τῶν μαστῶν τῆς Μάρτυρος ἐμπαγῆναι προστάττει· Τῆς οὖν χαλεπῆς ἀυτῇ τὶς δὲ προσενεχθείσης βασάνου, αἱ μην σάρκες τοῖς σιδηροῖς ἐκείνοις ὀβελίσκοις ἐδαπανῶντο· τὸ δὲ τῆς καρδίας τοῦ πρὸς Χριστὸν διάπυρον ἔρωτος ἐπὶ πλέον ἀνήπτετο· εἶτα καὶ λαμπάδας πυρὸς κελεύει ταῖς πλευραῖς ἀυτῆς ἐπικαίεσθαι· ἡ δὲ, καὶ τῶν λαμπάδων ὑφαπτομένων, τῶν εὐχῶν ἐκτενέστερον ἐίχετο, καὶ τῆς τιμωρίας ἀνεθεῖσα πρὸς τὸ θεοῦσαι τοῖς θεοῖς ἠναγκάζετο.

[4] Ἐπεὶ δὲ

καὶ καρδίᾳ καὶ χείλεσιν ἀμετάθετος ῆν τὴν ὁμολογίαν, ἐπίσης αὐτῇ καὶ ὁ δικάζων, τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ κακῷ ἔνστασιν ἀνένδοτος ὢν, κελεύει ταύτην λίθον τοῦ πραχήλου ἐκδεθῆναῖ, καὶ οὓτως αὐτὴν κατὰ βυθοῦ θαλάσσης ἀπορριφῆναι· οὗπερ δὴ γενομένου, εὐχαριστῶ σοι, Κύριε, ἡ Μάρτυς ἐβόα, ὃτι με διελτεῖν δι᾽ ὓδατος θαλαττίου διὰ τὸ σὸν εὐλόγησας ὄνομα, ὣστε καὶ καταρὰν εὑρεθῆναι κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ἀναστάσεως· ἀλλά σου δεῖξον, ὡς ἀεὶ καὶ νῦν ἐπ᾽ ἐμοὶ τὰ θαυμάσια, δι᾽ ὧν ἐπὶ πλέον δοξασθήσεται τὸ μέγα σου ὄνομα εἰς τοὺς ἀιῶνας. Ἀμὴν. Ταῦτα οὕτως ἐκείνητε προσηύχετο, καὶ τὰ δεσμὰ διαλύετο, μόνοστε ὁ λίθος τῷ βυθῷ κατεδύετο· ἣ δὲ, ὢ τοῦ θαύματος, ἀτρόμῳ ποδὶ τοῖς τῆς θαλάσσης νώτοις ἐφίστατο καὶ τῶν ὑδάτων οἷα στερεᾶς ἐπιβαίνουσα πρὸς τὸ αἰγιαλὸν ἐπορεύετο· ἐν τούτῳ δὲ καὶ τὸν ὑπατικὸν ἰδοῦσα προσμένοντάτε καὶ τὸ τοῦ πράγματος πέρας ἰδεῖν, ὅπερ ἃν ἑγένοιτο, ἐκδεχόμενον, χαίροις, ὑπατικὲ, λέγει· οὐ δὲ μέχρι καὶ νῦν συνῆκας τὴν εἰς ἐμὲ τοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν ἐμοὶ Χριστοῦ δύναμιν; ἢ τυφλώττειν ἔτι φιλονεικεῖς, καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπομάχεσθαι;; Εἰ μὲν οὖν τοῦ σκότους ἀφέμενος τῷ ἀληθινῷ προσδράμῃς φωτὶ, σεαυτῷ πραγματεύσῃ τὴν σωτηρίαν· εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔτι τοῖς προτέροις ἐμμεῖναι θελήσεις, ἐμοὶ μὲν πολλῶν ἄιτιος ἀγαθῶν, τῇ δὲ σῇ ψυχῇ ἀπωλείας πρόξενος ἔσῃ. Ταύτην ὁ κατάρακτος * τὴν παρρησίαν οὐκ ἐνεγκὼν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὸ περὶ ἀυτὴν θαῦμα καταπλαγεὶς ἐξίστατότε ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ἀφωνίᾳ κατείληπτο. Ὀψὲ δὲ ποτὲ καὶ μόλις ἀνενεγκὼν συνιέναι μὲν οὐκ ἐβούλετο· φησὶ δὲ· Μεγάλην ὄιεσθαί με τοῦ Γαλιλαίου τὴν δύναμιν πείθουσι τὰ γεγενημένα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώγε γοητείᾳ μᾶλλον ἐξειργασμένα διαλέξαι ταῦτα πειράσομαι. Οὓτως ἔφη, καὶ τοῖς παρεστῶσιν ἀυτίκα τὰς ὅψεις ἐπιβαλὼν γυμνῶσαιτε τὴν Μακαρίαν εὐθὺς καὶ περιαγκωνήσαι· προστάττει τροχῷτε προσδῆσαι καὶ σωρείαν ἀνθράκων κάτωθεν ὑποστρῶσαι καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν τροχὸν ἐλίττειν συχνότερον, ὂπως τῇ κατὰ βραχὺ μελῶν ἐκτριβῇ κατωδύνως ἡ Μάρτυς ἀπαλλαγῇ τῆς ζωῆς. Τὰ μὲν δὴ τοῦ μηχανήματος κατὰ τάχος ἀπήρτισθο· ἡ ἄνωθεν δὲ πάλιν ἐπικουρία τὰ συνήθη, καὶ νῦν ἐπεδείκνοτο καὶ ἄγτελος καταπτὰς τήντε τῶν ἀνθράκων φλόγα ἐσβέννυε, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν τῶν δημίων ἰσχὺν ἐξέλυεν, ὡς μὴ δὲ τὸν τροχὸν ἐλίττειν μηδαμῶς δύνασθαι.

[5] Κᾴνταῦθα τοίνυν ὁ ἄρχων διαπορούμενος, ὁμως ἐν ταῖς βασάνοις ἄλλας ἐπινοείν οὐκ ἠπόρει· Τοὺς τῶν χειρῶν οὖν ὄνυχας ἀυτῆς καὶ ποδῶν ἐκσπασθῆναι προστάττει, καὶ οἳ μὲν εὐθὺς ἐξεκόπτοντο· τῇ δὲ, ὡς ἐτέρου πάσχοντος, ἡ βάσανος ἐνομίζετο καὶ πάλιν ἀυτὸς τοῖς προτέροις ἔτερα προστιθεὶς, ἐκκοπῆναι ταύτης καὶ τυὺς ὀδόντας, διεκελεύετο· ἀλλ᾽ ὢσπερ ἐκείνη τὰ δεινὰ φέρειν, οὓτω μὴν ούδὲ ἀυτὸς πάλιν τὰ δεινὰ ἐξευρίσκειν οὐδαμῶς ἀπηγόρευκεν. Ὑβρίσαι τοίνυν τὸ καταρὸν ἀυτῆς σῶμα ὁ μιαρὸς ἐπενόει καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ὑπηρέτας ἐπιστραφεὶς λάβετε, φησὶ, ταύτην, καὶ ἐπί τινα τῶν ὑψηλῶν καὶ μεσαιτάνων τόπων ἀγάγετε κήρυκέστε κατὰ πάσης τῆς πλησιοχώρου φοιτῶντες ἐφ᾽ ὕβρει τῇ ταύτης ἀκολάστων χορὸν συγκαλείθωσαν· μετὰ γοὗν τὸ ἰκανῶς ὑβρισθῆναι πρός με πάλιν ἐπαναγάγετε, ὣστε προστεθῆναι τάυτῃ καὶ τὰ λειπόμενα. Ἡ δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ Μάρτυς πρὸς ἀυτὸν, ἔστι μοι Χριστὸς, ἀπεκρίνατο, πάντα μετασκεύαζων θελήσει μόνῃ καὶ ῥοπῇ νεύματος, ὃς καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχὴν ἄσπιλον προσδέξεται σήμερον, τὰ σὰ, βέβηλε, διασκεδάσας βουλεύματα. Τᾶυτα εἰποῦσα, χεῖραστε ἅμα καὶ φρένας καὶ ὄμματα πρὸς οὐρανὸν ἄρασα τῷ ποθουμένῳ Θεῷ προσηύχετο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἠύξατο μετ᾽ ἐιρήνης ἀυτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα παρέθετο, καθαρὸν θύσασα καὶ σῶμα καὶ πνεῦμα τῷ, δἐ ὃν πάντα παρ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐλογίζετο, βέλτιον ἀποθανεῖν μᾶλλον, ἢ καὶ παρά γνώα * ἀμαρτεῖν κρίνασα.

[6] Ὁ δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὸν ἀυτῆς θάνατον ἀθάνατον παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ τὴν μανίαν στρέφανειν ἐθέλων ὐπατικὸς τί μηχανᾶται; Ἐν σάκκος τὸ τάυτης σῶμα μετάγε ψάμμου πολλῆς βληθῆναι κελεύει, καὶ τῷ τῆς θαλάσσης ἐναπορριφῆναι βυθῷ, οὐ μᾶλλον ἐκείνην ἢ Χριστιανοὺς τὸ λοιπὸν τιμωρούμενος, καὶ πλούτου καὶ δόξης ὃσης ἀποστερεῖν ἀυτοὺς τῶν λειψάνων βουλόμενος. Εἶχε μὲν οὖν οὓτως τῷ ὑπατικῳ πέρας τὸ κέλευσμα, καὶ κατὰ κυμάτων ὁ νεκρὸς τῆς Μάρτυρος ἔρριπτο· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν τούτῳ σου, Χαριτίνη, ὁ τοὺς ἀυτὸν δοξάζοντας ἀντιδόξαζων Θεὸς ἐπελάθετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν, ὡς ἔθος, μεγαλεῖα ποιῶν ἐπεδείκνυτο, καὶ τρεῖς μὲν ὃλας ἡμέρας τὸν νεκρὸν εἷχεν ἡ θάλασσα, καλῶς ἑκείνη φυλάξασα καὶ μηδὲν ὃλως λυμηναμένη, ἀλλὰ τὸ τὸν κοινὸν δεσπότην θεραπεῦσαν σῶμα καὶ ἀυτὴ πάντως καταιδεσθεῖσα εἷτα τῇ γείτονι χέρσῳ προσφιλῶς παραδίδωσι, καί τις ἀνὴρ, ὁ Χλαύδιος ὄνομα ἐπιεικὴς τὸν τρόπον καὶ μέτριος, ὃς καὶ τὴν Μάρτυρα ἐκ πρώτης θριχὸς ἀνεθρέψατο, πιστῶς ἀνιλόμενος, λαμπρῶς τε μυρίσας καὶ περιστείλας λαμπρότερον ἔν τινι τιμίῳ τόπῳ κατέθετο, τάφον ἀυτῇ σχεδιάσας, οὐχ ὢς ἐκείνῃ πρέπων, ἀλλ᾽ ὢς ὁ καιρὸς ἐδίδου, καὶ ὁ τῶν τότε κρατούντων φόβος ἤπειγε. Τοιοῦτον τῇ Χριστοῦ Μάρτυρι Χαριτίνῃ τὸ τέλος, πέμπτην τῷ τηνικαῦτα τοῦ Ὀκτοβρίου μηνὸς ἄγοντος ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰεσοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς ἀιῶνας τὼν ἀιώνων. Ἀμήν.

Charitina, delated to the judge and seized, Impiety once obtained dominion and stirred up the emperors with fury against those who held the belief of the Christians ^a. And it was the office of the guards and ministers to search out the Christians; and threats of manifold torments were held over the pious. To a certain count ^b, therefore, the noble virgin Charitine too is delated, because she not only holds the Christians in honour but also induces many to her religion; nay more, she renders those who have taken up the belief of the Christians more secure in their worship. The count therefore comes to her ^c, as she dwelt in hope and passed her time apart with herself and with God. And he comes full of wrath, and at once inflicts blows upon her, and puts an iron collar ^d upon her; and hands her over to the consular, a most unjust judge. And he at once sets forth the instruments of punishment; and when he had caused the Martyr to be set before his tribunal, he said: Have pity on yourself before you make trial of the punishments, using wise consideration; and offer sacrifice to the immortals. For thus you will gain three very great things. For you will render the power of the gods propitious to you; and you will draw to yourself the goodwill of the emperors; and you will not cause your blooming beauty to wither with sharp torments.

[2] [she is moved neither by his blandishments nor by his threats, but on the contrary detests the idols,] When the Martyr had heard these things, she lifts her eyes to heaven, calling forth the help that proceeds thence; and, fortified with the sign of Christ ^e, she said: You are indeed of shifting character, O consular, and crafty and cunning; but this perversity will plainly return to you for no profit; for neither will you take me by flattering, nor terrify me by threatening, nor will you be able by counselling to lead me over to another opinion, nor to soften the eagerness to suffer for Christ that is ready in me. For I trust in the only and true God ^f. If therefore you believe me, have pity rather on your own error. Counsel yourself to what is more useful, namely not to worship deaf images; of which our Prophet said somewhere in the spirit: "Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish;" and: "The gods of the gentiles are demons, but the Lord made the heavens ^g." And again: "The idols of the gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. Let those who worship them become like them ^h."

[3] [wherefore she is afflicted with various torments, not without miracles following:] After the judge heard these things, filled again with wrath, he ordered her hair to be shaved to the surface ⁱ. And this was done, and a very great miracle followed. For the head was again covered with hair. At which the judge, moved with greater wrath, orders burning coals to be placed upon her head, then also vinegar to be poured upon her, thus making her pains sharper. On account of which the noble Virgin said: Lord Jesus Christ, sure and firm help of those who have placed their trust in Thee, who didst preserve Thy holy three children unburned in the midst of the burning flame ^k, do Thou also now stand by me, and strengthen me for the punishments undergone for Thee, lest at any time it be permitted to the enemies of the truth to say of me: Where is their God? And after the prayers the Martyr was relieved of her pains, and praised God, giving Him thanks. Which the consular at once taking ill, orders iron spits ^l, glowing hot, to be driven into the breasts of the Martyr. This grievous torment therefore being inflicted on her, her flesh was indeed consumed by those iron spits; but the love of her heart towards Christ was kindled the more; then also he orders torches of fire to be applied to her sides. But she, even while the torches were being kindled ^m, persevered the more intensely in her prayers. But when relieved of the torture, force was used that she should sacrifice to the gods.

[4] thrown into the sea, she escapes from it unharmed; tortured again in vain, But when she was unchangeable in her confession both in heart and in lips, the judge, who was as constant in obstinacy for evil as she was in the torments, orders a stone to be tied to her neck and her so to be cast into the depth of the sea ⁿ. When this had been done, I give Thee thanks, O Lord, the Martyr cried, that it has seemed good to Thee that I should pass through the water of the sea for Thy holy name, whereby I may be found clean on the day of the resurrection; but show, as always, now too Thy miracles in me, through which Thy great name may be the more glorified for ages of ages. Amen. So she prayed, and the bonds were loosed, and the stone alone was sunk in the depth. But she (O miracle!) stood with firm and steady foot upon the back of the sea, and, walking over the waters as over solid land, went on towards the shore ^o. Meanwhile, when she had seen the consular remaining and waiting to see what the outcome of the matter would be, she says: Hail, consular. Have you not even now understood the power of Christ who works in me? Or do you still strive to be blind and to resist the truth? If therefore, leaving the darkness, you come to the true light, you will procure salvation for yourself. But if you wish to persist in your former ways, you will indeed be for me the cause of many good things, but you will bring about the destruction of your own soul. When the execrable man could not bear this freedom of speech, and was astounded at the miracle which had befallen her, he was beside himself, and voice and speech failed him. But when at length he had with difficulty come to himself, he was unwilling indeed to understand. And he said: That the power of the Galilean [p] is great, the things which have been done persuade me; but I will try to show that these

things were rather done by sorceries [q]. So he spoke, and, at once casting his eyes upon those who stood by, he orders them at once to strip the Saint and, her hands being bound behind her back, to tie her to a wheel [r], and to spread beneath it a heap of coals with certain cutting iron instruments, and to turn the wheel round frequently, so that, her limbs being crushed little by little, the Martyr might depart from life with grievous pain. And the machine was at once completed. But the heavenly help now too showed its wonted aid; for an angel, descending, both extinguished the flame of the coals and dissolved the strength of the executioners, so that they could not turn the wheel round at all.

[5] Hence the governor, perplexed in mind and plainly ignorant of what to do, when by order of the judge she was to be subjected to outrage, she dies piously. did not hesitate to devise other punishments. He orders therefore the nails of her hands and feet to be torn out. And they were forthwith cut off. But the torment was reckoned by her just as if another were suffering it [s]. And he again, adding other things to the former, orders her teeth also to be drawn: but as the governor did not tire in devising grievous punishments, so neither did she tire in bearing them. Therefore the criminal thought to subject her pure body to outrage. And turning to the ministers, he said: Take her, and lead her to some lofty and central place, and let heralds, going through the whole neighbouring region, call together a band of lewd men to bring outrage upon her. And after she has been sufficiently subjected to outrage and insult, lead her back to me, that I may add to her what is lacking. But the Martyr of Christ answered him: I have Christ, who changes all things by His will alone and by His nod alone, who will also receive my soul today immaculate, your counsels, O profane man, being scattered and dissipated. When she had said this, lifting up her hands, her mind and her eyes together to heaven, she prayed to God, whom she desired. And after she had prayed, she laid down her soul with Him in peace, sacrificing her pure body and spirit to Him for whose sake she reckoned all things as nothing, judging it better to die than to sin, even against her will [t].

[6] But the consular, who wished even after her death to nourish his immortal madness within himself, Her body, thrown into the sea, is drawn out from it unharmed and buried. what does he contrive? He orders her body, with much sand, to be put into a sack and thrown into the depth of the sea, thereafter tormenting not so much her as the Christians, and wishing to deprive them of the riches and glory of her relics [u]. And so the consular's order was carried into effect; and the body of the Martyr was thrown into the waves. But not even then, O Charitine, did God forget you, who in turn glorifies those who glorify Him; for then too, as He is wont, He was shown doing great things; and the sea held the body for three whole days, beautifully preserved and affected by no harm whatever. Then the same sea, which worshipped the common Lord, itself also wholly revering the body, hands it over in friendly fashion to a certain neighbouring land. And a certain man, whose name was Claudius [x], gentle and moderate in character, who had brought up the Martyr from her earliest age, having faithfully taken it up and splendidly embalmed it, deposited it in a certain venerable place, a sepulchre being hastily built for her, not as befitted her, but as the time allowed and as the fear of those who then held power [y] prescribed. This was the end of Charitine, martyr of Christ, on the fifth of the month of October. In Christ Jesus our Lord. To whom be glory and power for ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. By this name the impious judge blasphemously calls Christ the Lord, having afterwards obtained a very wicked imitator of his crime in Julian the Apostate, who too was compelled to acknowledge the victorious hand of the avenging God.

q. That is, since the most unjust judges could not deny those prodigies, sometimes performed while a whole city looked on, lest they should be compelled to confess that the Christians were worshippers of the true God, they ascribed those miracles, with the utmost madness, to the sorceries of demons.

r. Gallonio shows a wheel of almost this kind at page 27, letter B, except that the heap of burning coals among the iron spikes is not expressed there. And that this punishment of the wheel was very often inflicted not without fire, Pitiscus teaches from Apuleius and Euripides in his Lexicon, at the word Rota.

s. That is, either through the abundance of divine consolation with which she was flooded; or God withdrawing His concurrence, so that the instruments of punishment should not exert their strength upon the holy Martyr.

t. That is, than to suffer, even unwillingly, the lustful contagion of her virgin body; for, as all the chaste judge with St. Ambrose, danger to chastity is for good women heavier than death.

u. To this point look the words of Eusebius, book 8 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 6: But the bodies also of the royal chamberlains (killed by Diocletian and Maximian Galerius for the Christian faith) … their lawful masters themselves judged ought to be dug out of the sepulchre and thrown into the sea, lest anyone, reckoning them, laid in sepulchres, as gods, as they themselves indeed supposed, should adore them in future, or honour their relics with the due cult of dulia.

x. The Sirmondian Synaxary makes this Claudius different from the master or lord of St. Charitina, whom it calls Claudian. I, following Metaphrastes and others, have called Charitina's master Claudius, and nothing prevents him from having had among his household a man of his own name, to whom he entrusted the care of nourishing and instructing Charitina from her tender years, and finally of burying her body as the straits of the times allowed.

y. These seem to us to have been Diocletian, Maximian Herculius and Galerius Maximian, whom Lactantius, chapter 16, calls three most bitter beasts, and who, as Eusebius, cited in Annotation u above, hints, took precautions in every way that the bodies of the Martyrs should not be duly buried.

* θρησκείαν

* ἀνόνητον

* these are redundant: τὶς δὲ

* θεῶσαι or rather θῦσαι

* κατάρατος

* perhaps γνωμην?

* perhaps τρέφανι

* perhaps ἐκείνην