ON SS. FAUSTUS AND JANUARIUS AND MARTIAL, MARTYRS AT CÓRDOBA IN SPAIN,
MOST PROBABLY BEFORE THE YEAR 312.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Faustus, martyr, at Córdoba in Spain. (S.)
Januarius, martyr, at Córdoba in Spain. (S.)
Martial, martyr, at Córdoba in Spain. (S.)
BY C. B.
§ I. Their memory in the Sacred Calendars; the time of martyrdom uncertain: the opinion by which they are thought brothers rejected; the Acts to be published.
These three most valiant Athletes of the Christian faith, who, having endured most grievous torments for it, The Saints, who in some Sacred Calendars on the 28th of September, finally completing their contest by the punishment of fire, adorned Córdoba, a most celebrated city of Baetic Spain, by a most cruel kind of martyrdom, almost all the martyrologists, both the ancient ones whom we call Classical and the more recent, vie in commemorating; but not all do so on one and the same day, today. For Ado, in whose Appendix in Rosweyde these Córdoba Martyrs appear both on this day and again afterwards, for what cause I do not know, on the 9th day of November, marks them, following the author of the Little Roman Martyrology, neither on both those days nor on either of them, but on the 28th of September, and has obtained as his followers in this matter both Notker and some authors, far later than he, of the Auctaria of Usuard which are exhibited in Sollerius at the said 28th day of September, and by name, to whom Maurolycus, Galesinius and Ferrari are also to be joined, Belinus, Greven and Molanus; Usuard, however, celebrates our Córdoba Martyrs not on the 28th of September but on the thirteenth day of October, and the present Roman Martyrology does the very same, employing to this end the following words, which I subjoin: "At Córdoba in Spain, the birthday of the holy martyrs Faustus, Januarius and Martial, who, first tortured with the punishment of the rack, then, their eyebrows shaved off, their teeth pulled out, their ears and noses also cut off, completed their martyrdom by the passion of fire."
[2] Almost all these things are taken from Usuard; but, but in others they are commemorated on the 13th day of October, since he copied his entries almost word for word from Ado, why, I ask, having followed this his usual guide in that matter, did he not likewise follow him in listing our holy Martyrs not on this day but on the same day as he, the 28th of September? Our Sollerius, in his Observations on Usuard for today, inclines to believe that he did this for no other cause than that he had perhaps discovered that they are venerated today in Spain; but, although indeed they are in fact venerated today in most churches of that kingdom, as Martín de Roa teaches in the place to be cited below, yet who would say that this martyrologist did not perhaps find Faustus, Januarius and Martial inscribed today in one or more Hieronymian copies, and that hence too, in part, it came about that he transferred them here? I would not dare to assert that he would thus wander from the truth. For today these Córdoba Martyrs of ours are venerated in the Hieronymian copies extant in Fiorentini and others; and although in most of these they are shown disfigured both as to place and as to names, yet it is certain that they are commemorated in them at that time, and it may be that more correct Hieronymian copies than those we now have lit the way for Usuard. Nor, even if it were otherwise, could anything be inferred from it against us. For nothing prevents Usuard from being believed, persuading himself (and not undeservedly) that the Martyrs announced by Ado at Córdoba on the 28th day of September are the same as the Martyrs whom the Hieronymian copies mark today, either in that same place, with the place wrongly written, or certainly in the Spains, to have taken perhaps from the latter the day on which to commemorate them, but from Ado both the genuine names by which they had been called and the true place in which they had suffered.
[3] [they are said in the Acts adduced by Tamayo to have undergone martyrdom on this day about the year 298;] However that may be, on this day indeed Faustus, Januarius and Martial are marked not only by Usuard but also, as I have already indicated, in the present Roman Martyrology, and since they were therefore transferred here by our predecessors from the 28th day of September, on which, as has been said, they are commemorated by Ado and others, I could not but bring them into our Work on the present day. But is this day, on which, as I have already shown, they are listed in the present Roman Martyrology and in some other Sacred Calendars, also the very day on which, having shed their blood for Christ, they passed to those above, or were first born in heaven? I find this nowhere noted either by an ancient writer or in a document of approved faith. Nor could anyone easily, unless I am greatly mistaken, assign anything from which, I will not say the day, but even the year, or even only the century in which our Córdoba Martyrs fell for the faith can be determined with certainty. Indeed the Acts of them which Tamayo brings forward today in the Spanish Martyrology have toward the end: "Exulting," namely Faustus, Januarius and Martial, "they gave up their spirit to God on the third day before the Ides of October, in the year of the Lord CC. XCVIII or thereabouts"; and so they clearly teach that our Martyrs passed to heaven, having shed their blood for the faith, in the third century of the Christian era, and indeed on the thirteenth day of October. But what then? From their very beginning they also speak in the following manner: "Faustus, Januarius and Martial, natives of Legio Septima Gemina, a city of Spain, had as parents SS. Marcellus and Nona, a most illustrious woman, who, nourished by them from the beginning of infancy in the Catholic faith, afterwards gave for its defense an example most celebrated through the ages"; and thus they hand down no less clearly that our Saints were brothers, begotten of SS. Marcellus and Nona, and yet it is not on that account to be believed that this certainly agrees with the truth, as will become apparent from what is now to be said.
[4] The Marcellus who in the words last recited is thrust forward as the father of our Saints [but on account of these things, which by their authority that the Saints were brothers, as those which here] is none other than St. Marcellus, centurion and martyr, inscribed on the 30th day of October in the present Roman Martyrology as well as in the Martyrologies of Ado and Usuard. Him indeed the Acts produced at that day by Tamayo in the Spanish Martyrology affirm to have married in Africa, while he was serving there under the Roman standards, a most noble virgin named Nona, and of her to have begotten the sons Claudius, Lupercius, Victoricus, Emeterius, Celedonius, Servandus, Germanus, Acisclus, Faustus, Januarius, Martial and Victorius, who, all following in their father's footsteps, became first soldiers and then martyrs; and although they thus most openly agree with the Acts of our Saints, alleged above from Tamayo, which make these the sons of St. Marcellus the centurion by the same mother Nona and consequently full brothers, yet they by no means make the matter certain. For these Acts of St. Marcellus the centurion are taken in part from the fictitious Julian of Jerónimo de la Higuera, as the very title which they bear betrays, nor in the Acts of the same St. Marcellus the centurion which Ruinart lists among the Genuine and Select Acts of the Martyrs, published at Paris in the year 1689, page 312 and the two following, is mention anywhere made either of a marriage which Marcellus contracted with Nona, or of twelve sons, and by name of Faustus, Januarius and Martial, whom he begot of her.
[5] Moreover, since nothing occurs which even in any way insinuates that these three holy Martyrs of ours were sons of St. Marcellus the centurion are brought forward, persuade, in their Acts, inserted in the Work just praised, in Ruinart from page 597, indeed that writer, in the Admonition prefixed to them, having first stated that Faustus and his fellow martyrs are commonly reckoned by Spanish authors as sons of St. Marcellus the centurion, deservedly adds: "But since this cannot be confirmed either from their Acts or from any ancient author of approved faith, we await more certain arguments before we affirm it." So Ruinart, and indeed in my judgment most rightly; but our predecessors had already gone before him at the 3rd day of March in SS. Emeterius and Celedonius, MM., who are themselves thought by some to have been sons of St. Marcellus the centurion, bringing forward in the Commentary prefixed to their Acts, num. 7, things by which they not only call into doubt the sonship from Marcellus, but also insinuate that Faustus, Januarius and Martial do not seem to them to be his sons. And indeed, that Faustus, Januarius and Martial were neither sons of Marcellus the centurion nor brothers, but only friends and companions, seems to be indicated by what the governor Eugenius is related in their genuine Acts to have said to them, as will become apparent to one considering what is to be given below. Martial indeed once calls Faustus by the name of Brother in the same Acts; but nothing prevents it from being believed that he did this according to the custom familiar to Christians, who, because they were spiritual sons of the same mother the Church, used to call themselves Brothers.
[6] [do not make it certain, it is not to be believed that they underwent martyrdom about the year 298,] Nor is Tamayo to be listened to here, who today in his Spanish Martyrology charges Martín de Roa with error because he contends that our Córdoba Martyrs were neither brothers nor sons of Marcellus the centurion. For the Spanish authors who, as he says, affirm the contrary with unanimous consent are all more recent, and allege for themselves no ancient and trustworthy writer or monument. Nor indeed, unless I am greatly mistaken, could either they themselves or whoever first committed to writing what these say about the fraternal bond of our Martyrs have alleged for themselves a writer or monument of this kind. Now, since this and the other things adduced above are as I have said, indeed the Acts of them adduced by Tamayo do not make it certain that our Martyrs were brothers, and indeed begotten of the same father Marcellus and the same mother Nona; and as accordingly this is not to be believed, so neither is it to be believed without doubt, on the authority of those Acts, that Faustus, Januarius and Martial underwent martyrdom in the third century of the Christian era, or about the year CCXCVIII.
[7] [especially since the words in which they hand this down are not taken from the genuine Acts.] Hence, not at that time, but less definitely
speaking, most probably, since indeed the far greatest part of the Martyrs is known to have fallen for the faith in the first three centuries of the Church and before the fourth was far advanced, I indicated above in the margin that they flew up to those above by martyrdom before the year CCCXII. Moreover, there is no reason why anyone should perhaps still be troubled by a scruple from the fact that the Acts of our Martyrs published by Tamayo are taken in part from the genuine and original Acts of the same; for although this is so, yet the words transcribed here at num. 3, both those by which they most clearly hand down, as has been said, that Faustus, Januarius and Martial gave up their spirit to the Lord in the year CCXCVIII, and those by which they hand down that these were brothers, begotten of the same father Marcellus the centurion and the same mother Nona, were sought out not from those Acts of sound character but only from more recent writers or monuments, and consequently of doubtful credit in so ancient a matter, as Tamayo himself sufficiently indicates by expressing those in characters of one form and the others, which he thought were found in the genuine Acts of our Saints, in characters of another. These, which, faithfully copied from ancient monuments, as Baronius witnesses, Marineus Siculus first published in his Work On the Wonderful Things of Spain, made public in the year 1533 by order of the emperor Charles V, fol. 26 verso and following, were afterwards taken thence and brought into Surius's most ample Collection of the Acts of the Saints at the 13th day of October; and although they are not interpolated with Additions borrowed from elsewhere, yet they seem somewhat contracted.
[8] These, of which some things are said here, will be subjoined to this Commentary. Hence Ruinart thought that they should be changed and in some way corrected from four Manuscript Codices, of which one was of the Colbert Library, another of St. Corneille of Compiègne, the third of Blessed Mary of La Sauve-Majeure in the diocese of Bordeaux, and finally the fourth of the celebrated monastery of Clairvaux, and, thus restored to their original state, as he thought, should be exhibited to the studious reader among the genuine and select Acts of the MM., as he does in these at page 597 and the two following. But are they, even thus emended, free from every blemish? Tillemont, having stated beforehand, and rightly indeed, in the Note on them which he supplies in tome 5 of the Ecclesiastical Monuments, page 796, that the Acts of St. Faustus and his Companions seem to have been written in the very time of the persecutions, nevertheless affirms in the same place that these, even as they are exhibited by Ruinart, labor under various difficulties, which he presently enumerates. But although, as he says, these give room to fear that the Acts may have been corrupted, yet, as he confesses, they do not overturn their authority, nor did they deservedly seem to our Sollerius, in his Observations on Usuard for today, of such moment that they cannot easily be resolved. Since therefore the matter stands thus, and consequently nothing prevents these Acts of our Saints from being held worthy of a second printing, I shall subjoin them to this Commentary from Ruinart's edition, collated with the editions of Surius or Marineus Siculus and of Tamayo, adding Notes here and there, according to our custom, by which they may be both illustrated and, above all, the difficulties under which, as has been said, they labor in Tillemont's judgment may be resolved.
§ II. The ancient cult of the Saints, widely extended through Spain; the finding and translation of the relics, after they had long lain hidden, in the 16th century.
[Our Martyrs, from Prudentius, by whom, as appears, they are praised, seem to have been honored by the Spaniards already from the 4th and 5th centuries,] Aurelius Prudentius, in the book περὶ στεφάνων, or On the crowns of the Martyrs, enumerating in the fourth hymn the more celebrated Martyrs of Spain, sings thus:
From the great globe, its head aroused, Each city will go in haste to meet Christ, Bearing precious gifts in baskets. African Carthage will bring forth your bones, O Cyprian, doctor of eloquent mouth; Córdoba will give Acisclus and Zoilus and three crowns.
The three crowns which the city of Córdoba is here said by Prudentius to be about to offer to Christ, as precious gifts, on the last day of judgment, are most probably, considering his sense, the three holy Martyrs of ours, Faustus, Januarius and Martial, who all agree were crowned with martyrdom at Córdoba, as they are commonly thought by the learned (and not, as appears, undeservedly); and since that Christian poet who thus speaks of these Córdoba Martyrs of ours was born in the year 348 and consequently in the 4th century, and departed from among the living in the 5th century, this indeed is an argument that they were in the highest honor and esteem with the Spaniards already from these two centuries. Nor does it appear that it can be doubted that already then, if not in several cities of Spain, at least in that of Córdoba, they enjoyed the cult customarily paid to the Saints in that age. But did they already then likewise have there a temple consecrated to God under their names?
[10] Tamayo, immediately after he has related in the Acts mentioned above, which he lists today, that, burned by fire, they completed their martyrdom at Córdoba in the year 298 or thereabouts, subjoins: "Their bodies the fire did not so consume that some sacred bones were not found among the ashes, which, devoutly gathered by the faithful, they laid away in a hidden place of the city, [and already before the 7th or 8th century, if Martín de Roa records truly, a church] and, when peace had been given to the Church, the piety of the faithful who followed built a basilica in the same place." So he, yet saying nothing from which you could elicit even the century before which a temple already stood erected to our Saints at Córdoba; but Martín de Roa, from whose Spanish work on the Saints celebrated by the church of Córdoba Tamayo translated into Latin the more extended Acts of our Martyrs which he gives, in another little work which he wrote in Latin on the Martyrs of the church of Córdoba, having first in chapter 1 of it made a distinction of the Córdoba Martyrs into two orders, of which he assigns the first to those crowned under the administration of the Roman governors and the second to those crowned under the servitude of the Arabs, then begins chapter 2 thus: "For the Martyrs of the first order, that is, for blessed Acisclus and his sister, for Faustus and his Companions, and for blessed Zoilus, the church of Córdoba, a thousand years ago and more, both had most celebrated temples, as is established from St. Eulogius, and kept feast days."
[11] [they had at Córdoba; and although this from St. Eulogius, whom he praises in his support,] Now since Martín de Roa composed the said little work at the beginning of the 17th century, from his words just transcribed here it follows, if they agree with the truth, that the church of Córdoba once consecrated to God under the names of St. Faustus and his Companions was built either in the 7th century itself or even before it, or certainly before the eighth. But this, namely that at the time when the 17th century had not long begun the church of Córdoba which had been erected to our Saints had already stood for more than a thousand years, does not appear altogether certain from St. Eulogius, whom the praised de Roa cites in his support. For, considering the words of St. Eulogius that pertain here, it can be doubted whether even in his age, that is, in the 9th century, which had advanced to its fifty-ninth year when he underwent martyrdom, there existed at Córdoba a church which was named after our Saints. Those words are extant in the Acts of St. Gumesindus the presbyter, already brought into our Work at the 13th day of January, on which he is commemorated in the present Roman Martyrology, from the Memorial of the Saints, or, if you prefer, of the Martyrs of Córdoba, which St. Eulogius composed, and which, illustrated with scholia by Ambrosio de Morales when the 16th century was already growing old, is exhibited in tome 4 of Hispania Illustrata from page 217, book 2, chapter 9; and they are the following: "St. Gumesindus the presbyter, from a town of Toledo, coming once with both parents to Córdoba while still a little boy, enrolled in the heavenly warfare through the sacred order of the clergy by the devout affection of his parents, at the basilica of the Three Saints, where Faustus, Januarius and Martial the martyrs rest in the present ashes of their bodies, grew illustrious in the fear of God under the worthy education of his tutors."
[12] by no means, as the things which here St. Gumesindus ended his life by martyrdom in the year 852, as may be seen in our work in the place just cited; wherefore in the age of St. Eulogius, or, from what has already been said, before the 9th century had advanced to its fifty-ninth year, there undoubtedly existed at Córdoba a church which was named after SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial, if by the Three Saints, at whose basilica St. Gumesindus, when as a still little boy coming to Córdoba he had been enrolled in the clergy there, is related by St. Eulogius in the words already given to have grown illustrious in the fear of God, SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial, martyrs, are to be understood. But that this is so cannot be asserted for certain if only the words of St. Eulogius which I have just recited are considered, as will become apparent to one considering them. But, you will say, did not then St. Eulogius in fact understand by the Three Saints, in whose basilica he says in the words just transcribed here that SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial rest "in the present ashes," as he speaks, "of their bodies," these three holy Martyrs of ours? He certainly understood them, as it indeed appears to me; for although, as I have already shown, this cannot be concluded or affirmed from the words alone which he uses, it can nevertheless be concluded from the fact that our holy Martyrs are neither more nor fewer than three, and that, unless he be said to have understood these by the Three Saints under whose names he reveals, in chapter 9 of the Memorial just mentioned and again in the following chapter, that a church had been consecrated to God at Córdoba in his age, that is, in the 9th century, no three other Saints can be assigned whom he could be said with any appearance of truth to have understood.
[13] Moreover, that there existed at Córdoba in the age of St. Eulogius, that is, in the 9th century, into the midst a church which was that of our three holy Martyrs, and that this was commonly called the basilica of the Three Saints, or even simply, as it is also called by St. Eulogius in the place last cited, the Three Saints, becomes most likely also from the things which Ambrosio de Morales supplies in the tome of Hispania Illustrata already cited, page 220. For by him, setting forth in the same place what was the state of the Christian religion at Córdoba under the empire of the Arabs in the time of St. Eulogius, among the temples of the Christians which were then there is listed the basilica of the Three holy martyrs Faustus, Januarius and Martial, where their ashes were preserved, and then it is subjoined: "Mention of this temple is made also in the ancient Annals which that Compostela book had at its beginning, of which we shall speak in Dominic the Saracen martyr" (namely in the tome of Hispania Illustrata just cited again, page 352). "There it is read thus: 'Era M. XXXIII,'" that is, the year of Christ 995, "'on the eighth day before the Kalends of January count García Fernández was captured and speared by the Saracens between Alcocer and Langa on the bank of the Duero. And on the fifth day he died and was taken to Córdoba and buried in the Three Saints, and thence he was taken to Cardeña.'"
[14] But although the things already alleged, and especially
the words of St. Eulogius transcribed here above, scarcely, or not even scarcely, allow it to be doubted are adduced, persuade, be certain, yet it appears most likely. that in this Saint's age, that is, in the 9th century, there existed at Córdoba a church which was called after our three holy Martyrs, it by no means follows from this as certain that it also had its place there already from the 7th century, or before it, or certainly before the eighth, as would follow from the words of Martín de Roa transcribed here above, if they were consonant with the truth. For both what St. Eulogius writes in the place cited above and what Ambrosio de Morales teaches in the words just given would be precisely conformable to the truth even if it was only in the ninth century that there existed at Córdoba a church named after our three holy Martyrs. Nevertheless, since few temples were built there by the Moors, or Arabs, but very many when the Catholic Roman emperors and the kings of the Goths were reigning in Spain, it appears at least most likely that the Córdoba church of our three Saints, built certainly no later than the ninth century, as is easy to gather from what has been said, stood even before the eighth century, in which the Moors or Arabs, followers of Mahomet, subjugated almost all Spain, and scarcely at last in the 14th century, driven out by arms, subsided from it altogether, having been built perhaps even from the 4th century or one of the following.
[15] Nor does it appear to me by any means altogether foreign to every appearance of truth that our Saints had temples already from a very long time not only at Córdoba but also elsewhere in Spain. Moreover at Córdoba, although also in other cities of Spain Certainly the cult which, from what has just been said, they enjoyed at Córdoba already for several centuries did not keep itself within this one city of Spain, but spread itself to many others. Hear what Ambrosio de Morales says in his scholia on the words of St. Eulogius transcribed here above. "Of these three sacred Córdoba Martyrs" (namely Faustus, Januarius and Martial), he says, "the memory is most celebrated in all the churches of Spain, with a notable festival and a copious history repeated in the Lessons of Matins. All the Martyrologies and whoever have written of the Saints have notable mention of them. But the feast day varies in some places; in some the twenty-eighth of September, in others the thirteenth of October is marked." Thus indeed the praised writer teaches us most clearly that the cult of our Saints is plainly notable and has spread itself most widely in Spain; and as regards the 28th of September and the 13th of October, on the former of which he says they are venerated in some places and on the latter in others, Martín de Roa, in his History of the Córdoba Martyrs, fol. 156 verso toward the end, affirms that their feast is celebrated in the Missal of St. Isidore and in the Breviary of Seville on the 28th of September, but in the others on the same day on which it is kept in the church of Córdoba, the thirteenth day of October.
[16] [and by name in that of Toledo, in whose Mozarabic Office there is also a Hymn, which from Tamayo] But with what rite or with what solemnity is this done in the individual churches of Spain, and by name in the most celebrated one of Toledo? I did not think that the reader would greatly desire to be taught this, and so did not think it should be laboriously investigated here; but since I think it will not be unwelcome to him if the Hymn which forms part of the ecclesiastical Office with which our Saints are venerated today in the Mozarabic Breviary of Toledo, and which at the same time embraces in a kind of compendium the Acts of our Saints, which, as I have already advised, are to be subjoined to this Commentary, is communicated to him here in advance, it pleases me to transcribe it here entire, as it stands printed today in Tamayo in the Spanish Martyrology. It runs thus:
The noble company rejoices, Filled with the grace of God; Of the three holy Martyrs Is the illustrious solemnity.
The blessed Trinity has built A perpetual temple for itself, From which is drawn forth A new and most sweet canticle.
These three Men with one accord Come to the passion: In the name of the Trinity They have conquered the most wicked foe.
[17] here entire Kindly Faustus is the first; He speaks: The passion of this time Is not worthy, brethren, Of the glory that is to come.
Blessed Januarius Says: The door is opened For us; now with joy Let us * enjoy the best heaven.
Lo, Martial goes forward, Rejoicing gladly in the ascent To glory with all the kindly Saints of God, in their fellowship.
Then Martial began: For the sake of eternal glory We must despise the idols And the cruelty of the judge.
At once the governor began to rage: Teeth, noses, little ears, Lips, and eyebrows too He ordered to be cut off from the Saints.
The kindly Martyrs say: Unjust and most wicked judge, Why do you afflict the servants of God? Why do you look up to false gods?
[18] Then the tyrant, kindled With fury, says: Cast is exhibited to the reader, These men into the fire, Who dare to despise our admonitions.
The blessed Martyrs enter Gladly the furnace; they sing together A hymn to God and a new canticle In holy harmonies.
The burden of the flesh cast off, They send their spirit to the stars: They see Christ, whom they love, The Saints of God, with the angels.
Pray, Saints, to God, That he may swiftly drive away evils And bestow good things upon us, And give peace to all.
We pray, kindly Martyrs, Through the one and triune God, That he may the more swiftly take away The dire yoke which we bear.
[19] Such is the sacred hymn which the Mozarabic Breviary of Toledo proposes to be recited today in the ecclesiastical Office of our Saints, are adorned, enjoy cult, their sacred remains always rested, But there will perhaps be someone who here asks whether that hymn is very ancient. And indeed there is reason why this should be doubted. For although it is established from the thirteenth decree of the fourth council of Toledo, celebrated in the year of Christ 633 with St. Isidore presiding, that already from the 7th century it had been made the custom that hymns should be sung in the divine Offices, yet it is certain that not a few hymns which are customarily recited in the ecclesiastical Offices even of the most ancient Martyrs were composed only long after the 7th century, or the age of St. Isidore, and only then received into use. However that may be, the things which I have alleged above clearly show that the cult of our Saints did not keep itself within Córdoba alone, but passed to other cities of Spain, and by name to that of Toledo. But although this is so, yet their sacred relics always remained at Córdoba in the church of the Three Saints, by whom, as we have already seen above, no others than SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial are to be understood, nor, as appears, were they shared with other churches, much less all transferred elsewhere. Certainly it is ascertained from the words of St. Eulogius transcribed here at num. XI that those sacred pledges were still resting at Córdoba in the said church in the 9th century, although the Moors had long been reigning in Spain.
[20] Nor were they removed thence afterwards, in the 11th century, when the Moors were raging as much as possible against the Christians and striving with all their effort to destroy even the sacred relics of the Martyrs; [and since the stone chest in which they had been committed to the earth in the year 1041] but, in order that they might be withdrawn from their fury, they were enclosed by the Christians, together with the sacred remains of Zoilus and Acisclus and some other holy Martyrs besides, in a stone chest, and, this being covered with a marble bearing both the time of the deed and the names of the holy MM. of Christ Faustus, Januarius, Martial, Zoilus and Acisclus, they were committed to the earth in that very church or basilica in the year 1041, knowledge of the place where they had been hidden being left to some. So, roughly, Martín de Roa in his History of the Córdoba Martyrs at the 21st day of November, who also teaches in the same place that five hundred and thirty-four years later, that is, in the year 1575, those sacred remains were found in the same church, which meanwhile, after Córdoba had been wrested from the Moors in the year 1236 by Ferdinand III, the holy king of Castile, had been called St. Peter's, the name of SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial which it had previously borne having been abrogated by him. The very same is done, moreover, by Ambrosio de Morales in book 17 of the General Chronicles of Spain; but a more extended narrative of each, contracted into a compendium by himself, Tamayo exhibits in his Spanish Martyrology at the 21st day of November, on which the finding of these sacred remains took place, although it is customarily celebrated annually by the church of Córdoba with festive solemnity not then but on the 26th day of the same month.
[21] [had been dug up in the year 1575, and a sentence about them by the bishop of Córdoba] It may help to have set before the reader's eyes here the words in which he does this, omitting the more prolix ones which Ambrosio de Morales and Martín de Roa use. They run thus: "On the 21st day of the month of November, in the year of the Lord MDLXXV, within the Octave of SS. Acisclus and Victoria, martyrs of Córdoba, in the Pontificate of our most holy Lord Gregory XIII, Supreme Pontiff, under the rule of the most religious prince Philip II, Catholic king of the Spains, Fr. Don Bernardo de Fresneda, a member of the Seraphic Order, wearing the episcopal mitre of Córdoba; when, for the repair of the main arch of the ancient church of Córdoba, honored with the title of St. Peter, which in the time of the captivity had been the cathedral, the builders took care to open a deep pit, they came upon a certain stone chest in that corner of the church in which the immemorial report of the citizens, come down from more ancient ages and imbuing all, held that the bodies of some holy martyrs of Córdoba lay buried in that place; whose remains, although Don Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, marquis of Priego, and afterwards Don Alfonso Manrique and Don Juan de Toledo, bishops of Córdoba, attempted many times to search for them, yet, hindered by difficulties, and lest the fabric of the temple should collapse, they desisted from their purpose. Therefore, when the stone chest had been found by the diggers, suddenly the voice of the whole people began to resound that it was the chest in which the sacred pledges of their Saints were laid up. The matter came to the hearing of the aforesaid prelate Don Bernardo de Fresneda, who was then visiting the diocese; who, returning at once to Córdoba, ordered * the chest to be opened, where very many bones and heads of human bodies were found, which, examined by physicians and surgeons, they attested on oath to be the bones and heads of XVIII corpses there.
[22] "Then the bishop ordered them to be enclosed honorably in a wooden chest, and to be kept within the cupboard of the chapel of St. Lucy, until he should proceed to an inquiry into the tradition and immemorial report. given on those found in it So it was done, and, the process having been held, all things having been seen, he pronounced the following sentence: 'In the city of Córdoba, on the 13th day of the month of September, in the year from the Nativity of the Lord M. D. LXXVII, the most reverend lord Don Fr. Bernardo de Fresneda, bishop of Córdoba, having both seen the witnesses, the tomb and marble found, and having understood the tradition of the inhabitants of this city, by which it is established that in the church of St. Peter were buried the innumerable bones of very many holy Martyrs who suffered in the same city, and by the opinion and devotion of the fellow-citizens,
emanating from time immemorial; and having seen the ancient histories and the consultations of most learned men, he declared what was his judgment, that the aforesaid bones found in the tomb were and are the bones and relics of those Martyrs contained in the letters of the marble" (namely those mentioned here above at num. 20) "and of others lying in the same place. Therefore he ordered that they be duly guarded without veneration until the Roman See should decree otherwise.'
[23] "This episcopal sentence having been pronounced, the process and all the Acts were directed to Rome by the apostolic See and offered before Gregory XIII, Supreme Pontiff, with the supplications of the bishop, chapter and citizens of Córdoba, who, inflamed with devotion to the Martyrs, were celebrating the day of the Finding. He not only approved the sanctity and veneration of the bones, but also decreed the feast of the Finding, and that in other matters recourse should be had to the provincial synod. This was held at Toledo in the year M. D. LXXXII. Where, this declaration having been treated again, the synod at last pronounced the following sentence.
[24] "'In the city of Toledo, on the 22nd day of the month of January, in the year from the Nativity of the Lord M. D. LXXXIII, and then by the provincial council of Toledo, there being assembled together in the holy provincial council of Toledo the most illustrious lord Don Gaspar de Quiroga, Cardinal of the H. R. C., archbishop of Toledo, primate of the Spains, inquisitor general and archchancellor of Castile, and the most reverend fathers Don Álvaro de Mendoza, bishop of Palencia, Don Antonio de Pazos, bishop of Córdoba, Don Francisco Sarmiento, bishop of Jaén, Don Gómez Zapata, bishop of Cuenca, Don Alfonso Velázquez, bishop of Osma, Don Fr. Lorenzo de Figueroa, bishop of Sigüenza, Don Andrés de Bobadilla, bishop of Segovia, Don Alfonso de Mendoza, abbot of Valladolid, having seen the business remitted to this holy synod by our Lord Don Gregory XIII, and the Acts of the process offered by the Rector, beneficiaries and clerics of the church of St. Peter of Córdoba, concerning the veneration of the relics of the holy Martyrs Faustus, Januarius and Martial and of the others contained in the process.
[25] "'Having seen also the merits and circumstances, and indeed, as the things which here the aforesaid lord fathers assembled in council, following the sentence of the most reverend lord Don Bernardo de Fresneda, formerly bishop of Córdoba, declared that he judged well in so far as he declared that the aforesaid bones were and are relics of the aforesaid holy Martyrs contained in the letters of the marble, and omitted veneration; and, supplying the omission, they declared that the same bones are to be exposed to the veneration of the faithful, and therefore ordered that they must be placed in a lofty place, and sanctioned that due cult and veneration be imparted to them by the faithful of Christ, without prejudice to a third party.'" Thus indeed the sentence by which Bernardo de Fresneda, bishop of Córdoba, pronounced that each and all of the bones which were found in the stone chest dug out of the earth at Córdoba in the church of St. Peter in the year 1575 were and are those of Martyrs who suffered at Córdoba, was most clearly approved both by the supreme Pontiff Gregory XIII and by the provincial council of Toledo; and not undeservedly, as it indeed appears to me.
[26] are adduced, For it is in no way likely that by the Christians, who, from the singular veneration with which they were borne toward the Saints, strove to elude the impious fury of the Moors against their sacred pledges, and hence hid under the earth in the year 1041 the bones of SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial, as well as of other Martyrs of Córdoba, enclosed in a stone chest, there were mixed with these the bones of others who were not Martyrs or Saints; and that each and all were also those of Martyrs is to be concluded even from this, that they seem to have been those of no others than those whose bodies had been buried in the church, and that the bodies of those who had not ended their life by martyrdom were not customarily buried in churches in the first thirteen centuries of the Church, this custom prevailing then especially in the Spains too. But, you will say, if not only Faustus, Januarius, Martial, Zoilus and Acisclus, but also all the others whose bones were found in the stone chest dug out of the earth in the church of St. Peter in the year 1575 were either Martyrs or certainly Saints, why were not the names of these as well as of the former five inscribed by the Christians on the marble tablet by which, as has been said, that chest was covered?
[27] having also resolved the things which to the contrary There is indeed reason why this should appear strange at first sight; but the Saints whose bones were found in the said chest were eighteen in number, as one may gather from the words of Tamayo transcribed here at num. 21, and that marble tablet was too small to suffice for containing so many names. The Christians would most probably have been able to find a larger one, on which all these could easily have been inscribed, none omitted; but it may easily have come about that, the persecution of the Moors pressing as much as possible, not thinking that they should waste time seeking such a tablet, since they saw that they would thereby be in danger of losing all the sacred relics which they wished to be preserved, they inscribed on the smaller tablet which was at hand only the names of the five Martyrs whom they were especially accustomed to venerate, and were content at least to withdraw from the fury of the Moors the sacred relics of the others, whose memory it was not permitted by the straits of time to preserve in a similar way. And thus indeed the principal difficulty vanishes which seemed to stand in the way of believing that each and all of those whose bones were found in the chest dug out of the earth at Córdoba in the church of St. Peter in the year 1575 were either Martyrs or at least Saints; but there will perhaps also be someone who now calls into doubt whether even the bones of our holy martyrs Faustus, Januarius and Martial themselves were in that chest, on account of the words of St. Eulogius transcribed here at num. XI; for by these that holy writer expressly hands down that in his age, or, from what was said above, in the 9th century, they rested in the basilica of the Three Saints, afterwards, as I have already shown, called St. Peter's, "in the present ashes," or cinders, "of their bodies"; but if in the 9th century they rested at Córdoba only in the ashes or cinders of their bodies in the basilica of the Three Saints, so called, as I have already shown above, after them, who, I ask, would easily persuade himself that bones of them still survived there in the 16th century, and that these, enclosed in a stone chest, were found in the year 1575 in the same church, then called St. Peter's, the name having been changed, together with the bones of many other Martyrs?
[28] No one indeed who has considered the words of Eulogius only make, difficulties, persuade, taken according to themselves, but not according to the sense which they admit from the interpretation even of the best writers. But I judge that the words of Eulogius are to be considered in this latter way; whether deservedly or undeservedly, you will decide from what is now to be said. The Romans, who were accustomed to burn the bodies of their dead, called the whole of what the fire had left of them ashes; and from this custom of calling such remains ashes it gradually came about that the remains of bodies, both those which had not undergone fire and those which had passed through it, were designated by the name of ashes by even the most learned writers. Thus the body of St. Cyprian the martyr is called ashes by Gregory Nazianzen, and that of St. Paul by the poet Claudian, although in the meantime neither Paul nor Cyprian, as is known, completed martyrdom by fire; and since the two praised writers not unfittingly so called the sacred relics of these two Saints, who did not undergo fire, why could not Eulogius likewise not unfittingly call the bones of SS. Faustus, Januarius and Martial, who were killed by fire, ashes?
[29] I indeed do not see why; and if he could not unfittingly so call those sacred remains, would deservedly have been approved, he must be thought to have done so in fact also, since the contrary can in no way be proved, lest otherwise the most received tradition of Córdoba, which held that the bones of our Martyrs were preserved in the church of St. Peter, should have to be said to have been foreign to the truth. Now, since this is so, no one who has weighed what I have said will fail to confess that the sentence of the bishop of Córdoba, by which he declared that the bones found at Córdoba in the chest mentioned above in the year 1575 were and are those both of the Martyrs whose names were inscribed on the marble tablet covering the chest and of some others resting in the same place, was deservedly approved by the supreme Pontiff and at the same time by the synod of Toledo, celebrated, from what was said above, in the year 1583. Furthermore, the matter having been thus done, Don Antonio de Pazos, who was then bishop of Córdoba, and had been present at the synod in that capacity, held nothing more important than that the bones of the holy martyrs Faustus, Januarius and Martial, as well as of the others which had been found in the stone chest already very often mentioned above, should be placed most honorably. Hear how Tamayo, after the words which we have already recited from him above, continues his narrative.
[30] "Finally," he says, "the synod having been dissolved, Don Antonio de Pazos, they were translated with solemn rite to an oratory built for that purpose. prelate of Córdoba, having returned to his own see, at once ordered a chapel to be prepared honorably in which the remains of the holy Martyrs should be placed, and ordered a magnificent tabernacle of jasper to be constructed , upon whose flat top the chest of the sacred bones should be laid away, so that from the very stones found in the pit an altar should be raised, and this adorned with marble tablets." So he, presently also indicating that to the right of the altar mentioned by him there was placed a stone which bore a cross carved on it, and to the left a marble which had inscribed on it the same characters, exhibiting the names of SS. Faustus, Januarius, Martial, Zoilus and Acisclus expressed with the chisel, with which the marble covering the stone chest found in the church of St. Peter, together with the bones enclosed in it both of our three and of some other Martyrs, had been marked. Furthermore, all these things having been perfectly completed, as Tamayo, here closing his narrative, again continues, "the chest of these relics was translated and placed upon the tabernacle on the 20th day of November, at the first Vespers of the Finding, in the year of the Lord M. D. LXXXIV, the ecclesiastical and secular chapters being present, and a great crowd of citizens and of inhabitants of the surrounding cities and towns, there taking part in this solemn translation a multitude of distinguished musicians and dances, the number of the clergy, people, religious orders and confraternities, and their insignia, lending authority to the honorable act; which also is performed devoutly every year, that God may be glorified in his Saints."
Annotations* Perhaps cæli "of heaven"?
* Read aperiri "to be opened".
* Read includi "to be enclosed".
* Read custodiri "to be guarded".
* Read disponi "to be prepared".
* Read construi "to be constructed".
ACTS,
By an anonymous author,
From Ruinart's edition in the Genuine Acts of the Martyrs, collated with the editions of Surius and Tamayo.
Faustus, martyr, at Córdoba in Spain. (S.)
Januarius, martyr, at Córdoba in Spain. (S.)
Martial, martyr, at Córdoba in Spain. (S.)
BHL Number: 2841
aBY AN ANONYMOUS AUTHOR
SOLE CHAPTER.
The Saints, cruelly tortured for their intrepid confession of the faith, are burned with fire.
The confession of faith having been made by the Saints, When Eugenius with sacrilegious mind and impious spirit had come to Córdoba b, and preferred to count over and test the Servants of God rather than to disturb
them, and was ordering them to adore his gods, Faustus, Januarius and Martial met him c, saying: "What do you want, Eugenius, who prefer to envy the Servants of God rather than to believe d?" Then Eugenius, roused to anger, said: "O unhappy Men, what do you claim to be e?" Faustus answered: "We are Christians, confessing Christ, who is the one Lord, through whom are all things, and we have been made through him." Eugenius said: "Whence have you this so desperate fellowship?" Faustus f answered: "There is no desperation in us, but only in you, who vainly compel us to deny God."
[2] When Faustus had said this, the governor, more angered, said: Faustus is first hung on the rack, "Put Faustus on the rack, who has answered me so irreverently." Then Januarius said to Faustus: "O dearest one, you suffer these things for us, you who willed to be a partner in the deserts of our sins g." Faustus answered him: "Our fellowship, Januarius, has always remained on earth, and will remain for ever in heaven." When Eugenius heard this, he said in wonder: "What is this address of yours now h, that you have chosen to answer me so impiously?" Januarius said: "For us the confession of Christ is no impiety i." Then Eugenius, turning to Martial, said: "You see the madness of mind of these men, who have drawn you into their fellowship. Do not trust yourself to these evildoers and impious men." Martial said to him: "God alone is immortal, who made heaven and earth. He will punish you for your evil works."
[3] Hearing this, Eugenius said: "Let this one too and Martial being likewise hung on it, be put on the rack." When Martial had seen this being done, he said: "O blessed immortality of the glory of Christ, by which he has deigned to join us to you, brother Faustus k!" Then Eugenius said to his attendants: "Torture them until they adore our gods"; but Faustus, while he was being tortured, said: "It is difficult for you and for your father, who is the devil l, to turn us from our fathers' laws to your mortality." Eugenius said: "The most sacred emperors m have commanded that you adore the gods." Faustus said: "God is one, from whom are all things and we through him. For you have no other gods except him whom you also have as father, who is called Satan."
[4] Eugenius said: "Now I will afflict you with torments. the nose and ears of Faustus, Let his nose and ears be cut off, his eyebrows shaved, and the teeth of his upper jaw pulled out n." When this had been done, Faustus, giving thanks to God, became more cheerful. Eugenius said to Januarius: "Do you see, Januarius, how great torments Faustus has suffered, while, deceived by his own opinion, he obstinately refuses to obey my command?" But Januarius said: "May that impiety and obstinacy of Faustus remain in me, and may the bond of his charity not be broken."
[5] At his words Eugenius said: "Let the things I commanded be taken away from this one too"; and likewise those of Januarius are cut off, and while Januarius was being tortured, Eugenius the governor said to Martial: "Do you see, Martial, what evils befall your companions on account of their madness? Do you, therefore, look to yourself, and separate yourself from their evil practice and depraved will." Martial said: "My consolation is Christ, whom they, rejoicing and exulting, testify with a herald's o voice, and therefore God is to be confessed and praised, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit [p]."
[6] Then Eugenius, kindled with greater fury, and all three were ordered to be burned; after having spoken ordered them to be burned with the lawful [q] fire. And when they had been led to the place of their passion, they began with one spirit to address the people of Christ thus, saying: "You, my dearest ones and faithful of Christ, do not believe this enemy and devil, whose time it now is; but acknowledge that you have been made to the likeness and image of God. Him therefore adore, and him bless, who is the author of all things. Do not, as these men say, adore the works of their hands; since wood and stones, gold and silver are the works of men's hands.
[7] words to the people, they complete their martyrdom by fire. "You therefore, despising this man's insult, confess Christ Jesus [r], and to God alone without ceasing render praises daily." And when the lictors, by whose hands they had been tortured, were leading them, they began to drive them into the fire [s], and at the same moment, delivered to the flames, they exultantly gave up their spirit to God. These things are for an example to us, that you who read may manfully prepare your mind for the passion, that you may bring the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ and of these men to your remembrance for a testimony, that the name of the Lord may be blessed for ever and ever [t]. Amen.
ANNOTATIONS.
which he used, says that there is presently added, "let the lower lip be taken away"; and the Manuscript Hymn of the Mozarabic Breviary, transcribed here in the Preliminary Commentary, supports the Manuscripts cited by Ruinart through these four following little verses: "At once the governor began to rage: teeth, noses, little ears, lips, and eyebrows too he ordered to be cut off from the Saints"; but no mention at all of either a lip or lips which were taken from Faustus at the order of Eugenius occurs either in the editions of Surius and Tamayo or in the ancient Martyrologies of Ado and Usuard; and with these the present Martyrology so agrees that, however, when it says that the teeth of Faustus were also pulled out, it does not restrict its expression to the upper teeth alone, or those of the upper jaw, contrary to what the said ancient Martyrologies and likewise the editions of Surius and Tamayo as well as of Ruinart do.
p. Ruinart says that in the Manuscripts that lit his way certain things are subjoined here by which Martial endeavored to persuade Eugenius to embrace the faith of Christ; and although the Acts, as published by Ruinart, thus differ not a little from them, yet it does not appear on that account that it is to be feared that these, as agreeing precisely in that place with the editions of Surius and Tamayo, are corrupted, contrary to what Tillemont seems to wish.
q. This word, which is lacking in Surius, added to the words "to be burned with fire," signifies to be burned not all at once, but gradually, or with a slow fire, and this was called being "lawfully cooked," as Baluze observes on Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, edited by Valesius, book 8, chapter 6.
r. Surius reads: "And trusting in Christ Jesus, to God alone," etc.
s. Tillemont, having first stated that he does not understand what is signified by these words, "they began to drive them into the fire," presently subjoins: if they signify that the Martyrs were cast into the fire, it appears from the Acts of St. Polycarp and others that the Romans were rather accustomed to bind the Martyrs to a stake and then to kindle the fire around them: but whatever may be the case with this custom of the Romans, our Saints could, whether bound or not bound to a stake, be driven into, or tortured by, fire, and also killed; and since the words of the Acts just recited by no means determine the manner in which this was done, as Tillemont himself sufficiently insinuates, there was no reason why that writer should fear on account of these words that the Acts were perhaps corrupted. Nor likewise was there reason why he should fear this from the fact that, although all three of our holy Martyrs were hung on the rack, they do not relate this of Januarius by name. For sometimes in Acts even of the best character some things, although certainly done, are not related, and yet no one would on that account at once say that they are corrupted.
t. What follows here after the word "spirit" Ruinart affirms was supplied by himself from his Manuscripts; but I do not see that this was necessary to restore the Acts to their original state.