Theodoret or Theodore

ON ST. THEODORET OR THEODORE, PRESBYTER AND MARTYR, AT ANTIOCH IN SYRIA,

IN THE YEAR 362.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Theodoret, presbyter and martyr at Antioch in Syria. (S.)

BY J. V. H.

§ I. The distinction between various namesakes; elogia among Greeks and Latins; the cult at Uzès.

There are various presbyter Martyrs of Antioch of this name, Of St. Theodoret, presbyter and Martyr cited in the Martyrologies, whom we must carefully distinguish. Our predecessors at the 23rd of March (the 10th before the kalends of April) report an elogium of St. Theodore or Theodulus, presbyter and Martyr of Antioch, of whom the Martyrology of Canisius says that he excelled in integrity of character, wisdom and eloquence Acta Sanctorum, volume III of March, page 449.. Our predecessors pronounce rather openly that this champion is different from our present one: yet I doubt whether rightly: for the elogia which are cited indicate by no sign about what time or under what persecutor that St. Theodore suffered, and so there is no certain or even likely mark by which he may be distinguished from our Theodoret. Indeed, if one attends to the fact that this Theodore is inscribed in the sacred calendars at the 10th before the kalends of April, on which our Theodoret also

is related in many manuscript codices to have suffered, it will not be rashly judged that this Theodore is our man, whose Acts were perhaps still lying hidden. Weight is also added to this opinion by the words of Canisius cited above, inasmuch as they exceedingly suit our present Saint, and seem to have been drawn from no other source than some knowledge of our Acts. The same source is openly pointed to by the Hagenau Addition to Usuard under the 10th before the kalends of April (the 23rd of March) in these words: At Antioch, of Saint Theodoric, presbyter and Martyr, who was beaten with many blows, was bound on a bench, was stretched so far that he seemed eight feet long; after this two burning torches were applied to his side, and at last he was killed by the sword. To one reading the Acts of St. Theodoret to be given below it will be manifest that the Hagenau encomium was accurately drawn from them [Compare Tillemont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique, volume VII, page 736.]. But over these reasons, in my opinion, the authority both of the genuine Usuard and of the Roman Martyrology ought to prevail, which report St. Theodore or Theodulus at both days, the 10th before the kalends both of April and of November: from which it becomes certain to me that in both martyrologies two Saints Theodore were distinguished. I shall not conceal, however, that our predecessors determined there was one Theodoret, since they refer the Saint recorded at the 10th before the kalends of April to the 10th before the kalends of November Acta Sanctorum, volume III of April, page 4..

[2] Whom we distinguish from his namesakes, On the 29th of March another Theodore meets us, likewise presbyter of Antioch and Martyr: but even if other things were lacking, his companions, namely Poëntalis, Julian and Achatia, distinguish him altogether from ours Acta Sanctorum, volume III of March, page 770.: for it is established, as the Acts teach, that ours contended alone. A third namesake, he too a Martyr of Antioch under Julian, is reported by Rufinus of Aquileia in the Ecclesiastical History, book X, chapter 36 Volume II, page 62, Rome edition of 1741.. But he is called a young man, and nowhere a presbyter; he was seized by chance, because he was the first to come in the way, whereas ours was seized because he was holding assemblies in the city; finally ours ended his life in the torments, while the other survived some years and spoke with Rufinus at Antioch, as he himself testifies. The day of the cult of Theodore the young man seems to be placed on the 10th of November, at which he can be treated. Certainly Greven in Du Sollier under that day pronounces this without circumlocution, saying: At Antioch, of St. Theodore the young man, confessor, of whom it is related in book X of the Ecclesiastical History (namely of Rufinus) that for the faith of Christ, in the time of Julian, from first light until the tenth hour he was tortured with such cruelty and by so many changes of executioners, that no age remembers the like to have been done. Nor are any other namesakes known to me who can be confused with the present St. Theodore or Theodoret; although there are many Martyrs and Confessors of the same name, all the rest are so distinguished by place and by time that there can be no danger of error.

[3] Ado wove his elogium, St. Ado wove a rather prolix elogium of the Saint of whom we treat today, under this day, in these words: At Antioch of Syria, the birthday of St. Theodoret the presbyter, who in the persecution of the impious Julian, under the prefect and his uncle Julian, when the church of Antioch had been despoiled by him and all religious persons had been dispersed, remained undismayed in the despoiled church: and being ordered by him to be seized, after the punishment of the rack and many and most harsh tortures, he was also burned, with torches applied around his sides. But these being extinguished by divine power, when the soldiers who were holding them, terrified by the sight of Angels, had fallen on their faces, and believing in Christ refused the impious ministry, Julian ordered them to be plunged into the sea. To whom Blessed Theodoret said: Go before, brothers, I, overcoming the enemy, shall follow you to the Lord. And so, persisting in confession and filled with the prophetic spirit, predicting to Julian the Apostate the destruction which he incurred in Persia by divine vengeance, he consummated his martyrdom by being slain with the sword. The Martyrologies of Usuard and the present-day Roman have the same, but as usual in more contracted form, similarly under this day: for all of whom the Little Martyrology led the way, saying: At Antioch, of Theodoret the presbyter.

[4] And the supplement of the Menaea, Although the question concerns a Saint of their own Church, the Greeks are nonetheless more sparing than the Latins in adorning the praises of St. Theodoret: for the Menaea and Menologies of the Greeks that I have had in hand and seen are silent about him. In the printed Menaea, however, which our predecessors used, St. Theodoret is announced under the 3rd of March, as is established from the Index of the Menaea of the Royal Library commonly called of Burgundy, manuscript under no. 7962 Compare Acta Sanctorum, volume I of March, page 223.. Meanwhile one elogium occurs in the manuscript supplement of our Chifflet to the printed Greek Menaea, which may be seen among the manuscript codices of our Royal Library marked no. 11,324, of the following tenor: Ἰουλιανὸς ὸ θεῖος τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς καὶ ἀθέου Ἰουλιανοῦ τοῦ παραβάτου, πρώην μὲν χριστιανὸς ὠν, καὶ πιστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ θεράπων, καὶ ἀναγνώστης τὴς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας, πεισθεὶς τῷ δυσσεβει βασιλεῖ Ἰουλιανῷ καὶ ἀνεψιῷ ἀυτοῦ τὴς ἐις Χριστὸν μὲν πίστιν ἠρνήσατο προσκυνῶν τοῖς ἐιδώλοίς· ἄλλα καὶ πάντα τὸν πλοῦτον τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας ἐκφορήσας, ὂσον ὸ μέγας βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντίνος δι᾽ ἀναθημάτων ἱερὡν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ προσαφωρίσε, προδέδωκεν ὁ δυσσεβὴς τῷ τυράννῳ, ὑπ᾽ ἀυτοῦ αὐτὸς διώκτης καὶ τυράννος ἐκεῖσε προχειρισθεὶς. Τότε ὁ ἁλιτήριος ἐκεῖνος τὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας κλῆρον διασκορπίσας, ἔμεινεν ὁ ἅγιος Θεοδώρητος αὐτὸς μόνος ἐν τῇ ἐις τὸν Χριστὸν πίστει καὶ ὁμολογίᾳ. Καὶ κρατήσας καθεῖρξεν ἀσφαλῶς καὶ παραστησάμενος πρῶτον μὲν τοῦς πόδας προσέταξε τύπτεσθαι, εἶτα καὶ τὴν κεφαλήν ἀυτοῦ, καὶ άποδύσας αὐτὸν έκρεμμα … ἐπὶ ξύλου, καὶ προσέταξεν εὐτόνως ξέεσθαι, ξενομένου δὲ ἀυτοῦ μακαρίου… ὡραις τρίσι· τὸ μὲν ἆιμα κρουνηδὸν ἐχεῖτο, τὸ δε πρόσωπον ἀυτοῦ διαυγέστερον ῆν· ὡς δε καὶ, θύσον, ἄθτλιε, τοῖς θεοῖς, ἤκουε, τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς λέγοντος, καὶ ἐι χρεώστης τῷ βασιλικῷ ταμιείῳ ἤ ἑτέρῳ τινὶ, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀπαλλάξει σε πάντως τοῦ χρέους, καὶ μὴ ὁυτω κακῶς τὴν φυχὴν σου ἀπορρήξεις. Ὁ δε ἁγίος· συ εἶ, ταλαίπωρε, ἄθλιος καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς σου ὁτι ἐάσαντες τοῦ Χριστου τὴν ἀληθίνην πίστιν μέχρις ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς. Τουτῶν ἀκούσας ὁ ἐναγὴς καὶ θεομίσης τύραννος, λαμπάδες δύο προσέταξε τεθῆναι ταῖς τοῦ ἁγίου πλευραῖς· καὶ ἄι μεν λαμπάδες ἔιχονται τας πλευρας· ὁ δε ὄμμα ἐις τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνατείνας προσηύχετο ὑποψιθυρίζων καὶ ἐυθέως ὁι τὰς λαμπάδας κατέχοντες ἔπεσον χαμαὶ, ὡσει νεκροὶ.

[5] In some respects mutilated, Ταρασσομένου δε τοῦ Ἰουλιανοῦ καὶ τῶν συν αὐτῷ καὶ μετὰ σπουδὴς ἀναστησάντων αὐτους καὶ τρισκατάρατοι, λεγόντων, ἀφεντες κατακαίειν τον δυσσεβεῖ καὶ πανάθλιον τοῦτον νυσταγμῷ καὶ ἀμελειᾳ κατεσχέθητε. Ὁι δε στρατιῶται· συ δε εἰ δυσεβὴς καὶ τρισκατάρατος καὶ ὑπεπηρόμενος τὰς ὄψεις, ὂτι ὁυχ ὁρᾶς τοῦς φυλάττοντας τόν δοῦλον τοῦ Θεοῦ τέσσαρας ἀγγέλους καὶ κωλύοντας ἡμᾶς προσεγγεῖσαι· μὴ ουν μωρολογεῖς μεγας γὰρ ἔστιν ὁ Θεὸς τῶν χριστιανῶν. Ὁ γοῦν τύραννος ἀισχυνθεὶς, ποντωθῆναι αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πελάγει τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκέλευσεν. Ἀπαγομένων δε αὐτῶν ὁ μακάριος προς ἀυτοὺς· πορευεθε, τεκνία μοῦ, τὴν μακαρίαν ὁδὸν· ἐφίων ἐν ἐιρήνῃ ἐλεύσομαι γαρ κᾶγω ἀκολούθως ὑμῖν καὶ συγχαρίσομαι μεθ᾽ ὑμῶν χάριν τὴν ἀνεκλάλητον καὶ αἰώνιον ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐράνων· καὶ τοῦτοι μὲν τοίον τὸ τῆς μαρτυρίας τέλος ἐδέξαντο. Ὁ δε ἁγίος Θεοδώρητος ὥσει διόλου ἐπικείμενος αὐτῷ Ἰουλιανὸς καὶ ἀναγκάζων θῦσαι τοῦς ἐιδώλους· συ μὲν, δυσσεβέστατε καὶ άθλιότατε, φησι, παντῶν τῶν κατὰ σε μασησαμεν μετ᾽ ὀλιγας ἡμέρας τήν μιαρὰν σου φυχὴν βιαιως ἀπορρήξεις, τῷ ἀιωνίῳ πυρί ταύτην παραπέμπτων. Ὁ δε δυσσεβέστερος σου τύραννος ἐν τῇ περσικῇ γῇ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐρανοῦ λόγχη πληγεὶς ἐις τὴν γεένναν τοῦ πυρὸς ἀκορτισθήσεται, καὶ οὐχ ὑποστρεψει· καὶ ταῦτα μὲν, ἀθλιότατε, τὰ ἐπίχειρα τῶν ἔργων ὑμῶν· ἐγω δε θυσω τῷ Θεῷ μου θυσίαν ἀινέσεως. Ὅυτως εἰπε καὶ παραυτίκα τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀυτοῦ ἀποτμηθῆναι προσέταξεν. Ἐν ὄσῷ δε πρὸς τὸν προκείμενον ἐπορέυετο τόπον προήυχετο ἐν φαιδρότητι ψυχῆς, καὶ ἀποτμηθεὶς τὴν κάραν ἀπῆλθεν ἐις τὸν Θεὸν. Τοῦτου τὸ ἅγιον σῶμα πιστοὶ τινες ἀξίως κηδεύσαντες ἐσημειώσαντο τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ μακαρίου ἐκφωνηθέντα, καὶ δι᾽ ὁλίγων ἡμερῶν, καθως ὁ ἅγιος προεῖπεν, ὁι δύο Ἰουλιανοὶ κακὼς τοῦ ζῆν ἀπηλλάγησαν τῷ άιωνίῳ ταμιευθέντες πυρὶ.

[6] Of which a Latin version The Greek phrasing gapes here and there, which our Papebroch left translated into Latin in his papers under no. 8919 of the Royal Library. We exhibit it here, with some changes, enclosing in parentheses what we supply for the integrity of the sense. Julian, uncle of the impious and renegade Julian, at first indeed a Christian, he too faithfully served God, ordained lector in the great church which is at Antioch: but afterward, at the persuasion of his sacrilegious nephew, adoring idols, he denied the faith of Christ. Moreover all the riches that had come to the church from the gifts of the great emperor Constantine he impiously handed over to the tyrant, being himself appointed persecutor and tyrant. Then that wicked man dispersed the clergy of the church, St. Theodoret alone remaining in the faith and confession of Christ. A careless expression: for St. Theodoret did not alone remain in the faith of Christ; but alone, the others having been dispersed through the region and, as the Acts have it at no. 1, serving God as they could, he persevered in the city. What follows must be connected by some intermediate phrases. Namely: (Julian, hearing these things), seized the saint and thrust him into prison: and having had him brought before him he ordered him to be beaten first on the feet, then on the head, and stripped of his clothes to be hung on a wood. While he was being most dreadfully racked for three hours, the blood of the Martyr flowed abundantly, while his face shone the more. But when he heard himself addressed in these words: Sacrifice to the gods, wretch, and if you owe anything either to the royal treasury or to anyone else, the emperor will send you away released from every debt, and you will not so miserably break off your life. The holy Martyr answered: Rather you are wretched and unhappy, you and your emperor, who have abandoned the true faith, which until the last breath (you should have professed). Hearing this the furious and impious tyrant ordered two torches to be applied to the sides of the Saint. While the Saint was being burned in the sides, he, with eyes raised to heaven, poured out prayers in a silent murmur, and suddenly those who were applying the torches fell to the ground, as if dead.

[7] We exhibit here, such as it is. Julian, terrified with his assessors, and those who had fallen being hastily raised, exclaims: Why, most wicked men, do you not burn up this impious and most wretched man, numb with sloth and sleep? The soldiers answered: You yourself are impious and accursed,

since, blinded in your eyes, you do not see four Angels, guarding the servant of God and preventing access to him. Cease to speak madly; for great is the God of the Christians. Suffused with a blush, the tyrant ordered them to be sunk in the depth of the sea. And as they were being led away, the Blessed one said: Enter, little sons, on the happy way; aroused by your example, I too will soon follow and will rejoice with you with ineffable and eternal gladness in the heavenly kingdom. And these indeed received this end of blessed confession. But St. Theodoret said to Julian, who was strongly urging and compelling him to sacrifice to the idols: You indeed, most impious and most wretched, devouring yourself, a few days from now will hand over your contaminated soul, violently cast out, to the eternal fire for torment: while that tyrant, more wicked than you, will by no means return here, but wounded by a heavenly dart in the land of Persia, will be cast headlong into the fires of Gehenna. These are the rewards of your works: but I shall sacrifice to my God a sacrifice of praise. So he spoke; and without delay (Julian) ordered him to be beheaded. While he was going to the appointed place (of punishment), the Martyr prayed in gladness of mind, and being beheaded, went up to God. Whose body certain of the faithful reverently tended, and they noted down what the Saint had spoken. And a few days later both Julians, having met the worst of ends, were consigned to the eternal fires.

Further, so that not even a little piece of Greek literature, so far as we are aware, may escape us, we add both that Sozomen wrote of our Saint in book V of the History, chapter 8 Ecclesiastical Historians, Eusebius etc., volume II, page 604., and that our Chifflet collected a distich, which, although it contains nothing by which the history may be illustrated, or with which the namesakes of St. Theodoret could not be adorned, we nevertheless subjoin here:

Χωρεῖν ἔχει πῶς τῆς ἐδὲμ τὸ χωρίον Καὶ τὸν Θεοδώρητον ἔνδον τὸν μέγαν.

In what way can the place of Eden embrace you in its bosom, great Theodoret Siber, Martyrologium Metricum Ecclesiae Graecae, page 86.. And from this it is clear that St. Theodoret had his cult also in the Greek Church, and that his Passion, which we are publishing, was derived from a Greek source.

[8] The cult of the Saint at Uzès is shown But the praises of St. Theodoret are more frequent among the Latins, inasmuch as the chief Martyrologies, as we have seen, celebrate them. Which I judge is to be derived from this, that, his cult having been carried over into the West, the Saint's memory gradually fell out of use among the Orientals. Certainly already at the beginning of the tenth century the cathedral church of Uzès, formerly under the metropolis of the city of Narbonne, was distinguished by the title of St. Theodoric, or more correctly Theodoret. In the charter by which Raynald and his wife Agilburgis give various estates to the church of Uzès, it is said: To the sacred place of St. Theodoret, Martyr of Christ, the principal see, which is built and constructed in the city of Uzès, where Amelius, by the grace of God bishop, is seen to rule… This charter was made in the month of June, in the tenth year of the reign of the emperor Louis Histoire générale du Languedoc, volume I, Proofs, column 61.. The Benedictines who published this diploma, the authors of the History of Languedoc, referred it to the year of Christ 823, in which namely Louis the Pious was reigning in his tenth year. But this year can by no means stand with the chronology of the bishops of Uzès; for Elephantus I was bishop of Uzès during the whole time of the reign of Louis the Pious Gallia Christiana, volume VI, column 616.; and Amelius, who is said in the charter to have occupied the see, took part about the year 887 in the council of Nîmes or of Port Labbe, Concilia, volume IX, column 395.. And no other emperor Louis meets us together with Amelius bishop of Uzès, occupying the see, as we said, in the year 887, than the Third of this name, also called Louis the Blind, who received from his father Boso the kingdom of Arles, which then contained Uzès, in the year 887 L'art de vérifier les dates, volume II, page 428, Paris edition of 1784. and assumed the title of emperor in the year 900 Ibid., page 9.. And from this it is clear that the tenth year of the emperor Louis to the common year 896 or 910, according as we begin his rule from the kingdom of Arles or from the empire entered upon Ibid.: Louis III used both beginnings in his diplomas. Further, that Amelius of Uzès (for we shall show below that there were two of this name) was in the see in the year 971, there is the testimony of a charter given Histoire du Languedoc, volume II, Proofs, column 123. on the nones (or according to the Gallia Christiana Volume VI, column 617. the 6th before the nones) of July, on a Friday, in the public city of Nîmes, in the 18th year of the reign of the lord Lothair. The already praised authors of the History of Languedoc join the 18th year of Lothair with the common year 971, while those who wrote the Gallia Christiana join it with the year 969. And these latter indeed wrongly: for although the beginnings of Lothair's rule are various, yet nowhere do we read that Lothair began his reign from the year of Christ 952; which is necessary if the eighteenth year is to concur with the year 969 L'art de vérifier les dates, volume I, page 564.. The chronology of the History of Languedoc also seems to need emending: for whether the beginning of the reign is drawn from the common year 954, in which Lothair was crowned, or from the following year 955, which beginning was used especially in Septimania Ibid., within whose borders both Uzès and Nîmes were contained, the eighteenth year of King Lothair reaches to the year of Christ 972 or 973: but in neither year do the nones of July fall on a Friday. Wherefore, since in the year 971 the nones of July concur with a Friday, I judge that some slip has crept in, and that one should read the 17th year, drawn from the 12th of November 954, on which he received the crown, or even, if indeed in Septimania Lothair was accustomed to note the beginning of his reign from the year 955, perhaps the 16th year of his rule could harmlessly be put. Whatever the case, from what has so far been said it follows that Amelius of Uzès, who about the year 971 is adduced as a witness in the charter of King Lothair, could not have lived under Louis the Pious: and thus that the charter of Raynald cited above belongs rather to the emperor Louis III, son of Boso, king of Arles, who reigned in the year 900; so that it is to be judged as given in the year 909 or 910, which chronology the authors of the Gallia Christiana approve Volume VI, column 617..

[9] Which are examined, ancient charters: These chronological tangles being dispatched after a fashion, two knots still remain to be untied; namely who the Amelius of Uzès is (for more recent writers commonly celebrate two succeeding each other) who is mentioned in both charters: and next, whether the Lothair of whom mention is made in the later charter should not rather be called king of Italy than of France, in which case the chronology attempted a little above would collapse. In the first place there were, contemporary with Amelius of Uzès, whether one or two, Lothair, king of Italy, son of Hugh, who held the kingdom from the year 931 to 950 Muratori, Annali d'Italia, volume V, pages 317 and 368., and Lothair king of France, who received the sceptre from his father Louis d'Outremer in the year 954. Which of them is named in the later charter depends on the question to whom the city of Nîmes then belonged. But no prudent person will say that the city of Nîmes, or any other part of Languedoc, belonged to Lothair, king of Italy. For if he possessed anything within the Gauls, which is not to be inquired into at this point Histoire du Languedoc, volume II, page 551., it was surely no other than the kingdom of Arles or Provence, which, bounded by the Rhône and the Alps, excluded the city of Nîmes and all Languedoc Ibid., page 79.. It remains therefore that we say that Lothair, king of France, is in question in the later charter. And lest we seem to proceed here, as is commonly said, by the mere elimination of the Italian Lothair, we add an instrument of donation made to the Church of Nîmes, which is signed on Saturday the 7th before the ides of September, in the 7th year since King Lothair, son of Louis, began to reign Ibid., Proofs, column 114., which Saturday, the 7th before the ides of September, agrees with the common year 961, by counting, that is, in the manner of Septimania the beginning of the reign from the year 955; and Lothair here cited, since he is called son of Louis, can be none other than the king of France. And from this an easy means is offered to us for untying the other knot: namely whether there was one bishop Amelius of Uzès, or rather two of the same name and dignity. Since Amelius, as we showed in the preceding number, took part in the Council of Nîmes held in the year 887, and a bishop of the same name and see is named in a charter of Nîmes in the year 971, it is natural to judge, lest we be compelled to ascribe to one bishop a rule of at least eighty-four years, that two of this name were placed on the see of Uzès, whom therefore the Gallia Christiana rightly calls Amelius I and II Volume VI, column 617.. From what has so far been said one may deduce that the former instrument brought forward in the preceding number, given in the city of Uzès, belongs to Amelius I, who closed the ninth century and began the tenth in the see of Uzès: while the diploma of Nîmes, written in the year 971, is, certainly enough, of Amelius II.

§ II. The Acts of the Martyrdom seem contemporary; the time of the passion; the poem of Flodoard; the origin of the patronage of Uzès; on which occasion Deotharius, bishop of Arisitum, is treated.

The Acts, of which we have various exemplars, From this digression we return to St. Theodoret. The Acts that we are about to publish seem to have been first made public by Jean Mabillon in the Vetera Analecta Vetera Analecta, page 187, Paris edition of 1723., whom his colleague Thierry Ruinart followed, using better exemplars, in his Acta Sincera Martyrum Acta Sincera Martyrum, page 588, Amsterdam edition of 1713.. We, however, having obtained from our Royal Library under no. 9289 the most accurate exemplar of all, formerly of the monastery of St. Lawrence at Liège, shall exhibit the same Acts in more correct form, noting according to custom the principal variant readings not only from Mabillon and Ruinart, but from another manuscript codex of the same library, marked no. 207. Finally, in the Bollandist Collection at this day there is found another codex, transcribed from the Bödeken manuscript, which, although it relates the same things as the other codices and often in the same words, yet adds various matters not altogether to be despised, inasmuch as they are more explanatory: wherefore, lest we should obscure rather than elucidate the St. Lawrence text with manifold additions, we have preferred to set the Bödeken text in the second column opposite the St. Lawrence one, so that in this way the two readings can more easily be compared. That we proclaim the St. Lawrence exemplar marked no. 9289 the most accurate of all is due first to its antiquity, since it seems to have been written about the year 1075 Catalogue des manuscrits de la bibliothèque royale, volume I, page 5.: then to the consistency of its style, since in the others something gaping and not sufficiently joined together occurs not rarely, whereas in the St. Lawrence codex everything flows and is compacted with its proper links. I should not say the same of our other codex under no. 207, which must be called the Anonymous, since it betrays by no indication either

its writer or its origin. It is indeed adorned with a great display of figured letters, its very large parchments are surrounded by wide margins, the script is elegant; nonetheless it was both written by a more recent hand Ibid., page 186. and is everywhere tainted with the same blemishes as Mabillon and Ruinart. And these things pertain to the, if one may so speak, exterior form of the Codices. They seem contemporary; and the objections about the ordination of Julian

[11] There comes now the other question to be examined, namely what is the authority of the Acts to be published. If we look at the last words, there can be no doubt that they are contemporary and written by eyewitnesses; for these words are read: We who were at Antioch in the palace, and who were with him (the emperor Julian) in Persia, though sinners, Servants of God, have written down these things which were done concerning the servant of God Theodoret … From these words Tillemont deduces Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique, volume VII, page 736. that nothing prevents full trust being given to these Acts; although he detects in them some things that to some extent weaken their authority. But these are not such that they cannot be cleared away. In the first place Tillemont censures the statement in no. 1 that Julian Caesar performed the office of lector in the Church of Antioch, when he should rather be assigned to the Church of Nicomedia Ibid., place cited.: and this Socrates has in book III of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 1 [Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius and others, volume II, page 166, Valois's edition, Mainz 1677.]. But Sozomen, a historian of the same century, namely the fifth, says in book V, chapter 2 Ibid., page 593., that both brothers, Gallus and Julian, were ordered to live in Cappadocia at Macellum, in a public villa, not far from the city of Caesarea: there, the historian goes on, they were so instructed by masters of the humane arts and teachers of sacred letters, that they were enrolled in the clergy and read the ecclesiastical books to the people. From which words it is manifest enough that Sozomen held that Julian and his brother received the office of lector at Caesarea of Cappadocia. For that both were lectors the unanimous voice of contemporaries testifies, although one or two more recent writers have labored to make it doubtful, whom my colleague has already refuted in the Acts of St. Eliphius, Annotation a, at the 16th of October Acta Sanctorum, volume VII of October, page 815.. Tillemont's correction is therefore uncertain. I should readily admit, however, that an error was committed by the writer of the Acts, when he assigns Julian as lector to the Church of Antioch: which error is perhaps to be derived from the fact that the events narrated in the Passion are reported as having taken place in the city of Antioch, and a copyist, as it were guessing, added this. Although another reason, equally plausible, can also be given for this slip: for above in no. 4 we saw from the manuscript Menaea that Julian, the uncle of Caesar, is called lector in the great church of Antioch; whether perhaps the writer attributed to the nephew what suits the uncle, let the reader consider. This is clear, that such an error does not weaken the authority of the Acts.

[12] And those about the custody of the ecclesiastical property are cleared away: Another difficulty by which the genuineness of the Acts could be attacked is raised against himself by Tillemont Mémoires, volume VII, page 736.; namely that St. Theodoret, on the testimony of Sozomen, book V, chapter 8 Eusebius etc., History, volume II, page 604., was seized and most severely tortured as the keeper of the sacred vessels, who would be able to give an account of them, which however does not seem to be touched on in his Acts. Tillemont is stuck at the place cited; but since the argument is taken from Sozomen, let us elicit from the same author the element of an answer. Sozomen himself at the place cited says that Julian the count took away the gifts of the Church, which were very many and most precious, and had them transferred to the emperor's treasury; and thus the property of the Church of Antioch had been assigned to the fisc. Whence too the count Julian boasts when, St. Theodoret having been slain, he says to the emperor in the Passion at no. 9: How great a measure of gold and silver was found in the church, and was brought into your treasuries and displayed, let your clemency see to it. And in the same Passion at no. 5 Julian says to the Martyr: I have heard that you are a debtor to the fisc, and that you therefore desire to die, so as not to repay what you owe. Sacrifice then, and do not be afraid; I will suggest it to the emperor and everything will be forgiven you. The Martyr simply denies that he is anyone's debtor. By which answer he sufficiently beat back the accusation. For it was perceived well enough by Julian, who had once professed Christianity, that the money of the Church could by no means be extorted, unless the Saint had first defected from the faith, and so he easily persuaded himself that Theodoret, as Pope St. Leo says of St. Lawrence in Sermon LXXXV, otherwise LXXXIII, on his feast, chapter 2 Works of St. Leo, volume I, column 338, Venice edition of 1753., would not be the betrayer of the Church's property before he should make him a deserter of the true faith: consequently, whether by blandishments and promises, or by threats and torments, he was wholly set on this, that the holy Martyr should deny Christ: the rest would then flow of its own accord. Wherefore it becomes evident why the tyrant omitted further inquiries about the ecclesiastical property, without the Acts taking any damage from that omission.

[13] It is shown that the passion of the Saint happened in the month of October A graver question can be raised about the time at which St. Theodoret underwent his martyrdom. And indeed once the day is defined, it will be easy to determine the year of the passion. As regards the day, the codices vary: Jean Mabillon in the Vetera Analecta Page 189., Thierry Ruinart in the Acta Sincera Martyrum Page 592., the anonymous codex under no. 207, cited above at no. 10, and the Bödeken copy write the 10th before the kalends of April, or the 23rd of March. Tillemont conjectures Mémoires, volume VII, page 736. that by this date, the 10th before the kalends of April, the time at which the Acts were written may be indicated: but that seems to me in no way likely; for then it would have been necessary to add the year or the consulate, for the noted day to be able to signify anything. It is therefore more probable (which moreover Tillemont himself admits at the place cited) that the writers wished by these words to indicate the day of the passion. But as aptly as the 10th before the kalends of November, which the St. Lawrence codex defines, agrees with the rest of the history, so ineptly is the 10th before the kalends of April joined with it. For it is established from the Acts that the emperor Julian, when our Saint suffered, was present at Antioch; to which, as Tillemont shows in the History of the Emperors Histoire des Empereurs, volume IV, pages 213 and 297, Brussels edition of 1732. and James Godefroy in the Chronology of the Theodosian Code Codex Theodosianus, volume I, page LXV., he came at the end of the month of July of the year 362. St. Theodoret therefore could not suffer at Antioch on the 10th before the kalends of March 362, with Julian Caesar present. But neither on the same day of the following year; for then Julian the count had met his end, namely a little after the kalends of January 363, as Ammianus testifies in book XXIII, chapter 1, who, after relating the death of the count Julian, at once adds: Another savage thing had preceded, for on the kalends of January a sacrificer died a sudden death in the temple of the Genius. For these things, which Ammianus exhibits as portents of a future calamity, to have anything ominous, it was necessary that the two deaths should follow closely on each other, and thus that the death of Julian the count should be not much distant from the kalends of January. To the same point it also tends that Julian Caesar, whom the Acts exhibit as staying at Antioch, on the 10th before the kalends of April 363 had already left Antioch, as Ammianus has it in book XXIII, chapter 2: And now, he says, the sky growing sunny, setting out on the third before the nones of March (that is, on the 5th of March), he came by the usual marches to Hierapolis. There follows further the continued expedition into Persia, where he was slain.

[14] To have happened The reading, therefore, is rather to be approved which ties the martyrdom of St. Theodoret to the 10th before the kalends of November, which is favoured also both by his memory celebrated on this day in various Martyrologies, and by the words of Philostorgius, book VII, chapter 10 Eusebius etc., History, volume III, page 507., defining more accurately the length of the disease of which Julian the count died. Julian, he says, seized by a difficult and unknown disease, lay on his back for forty whole days, neither saying anything nor possessed of any sense. But later, when he had begun to be a little better, he repeatedly condemned the impious crime he had committed, and confessed that this punishment had been inflicted on him for that cause: and he was relieved of the disease only so far as to come forward as witness of his own impiety: with every kind of ulcer tearing his belly, he breathed out his soul amid torments. If therefore the count Julian fell into the disease, as the Acts at no. 10 suggest, on the day after the passion of St. Theodoret, namely the 24th of October, we shall reach the fortieth day at the second of December; then he began to be a little better; and he was relieved of the disease so far as to be able to be a witness of his own impiety and to condemn the impious crime he had committed: and this interval of time between his better health and his wretched death is easily extended to the beginning of January, about which he died. Yet, to conceal nothing, what has so far been said, however probable it may seem, is not without its difficulties. For Ammianus, in book XXII, chapter 13, says: On the 11th before the kalends of November (the 22nd of October) the most magnificent temple of Daphnean Apollo … was burned up by a sudden force of flames. This so atrocious event being accomplished, it carried the emperor's anger so far that he ordered inquiries to be conducted more sharply than usual, and the greater church of Antioch to be closed: for he suspected that the Christians had done this, spurred on by envy. From which words it seems to follow, first, that the flight of all the clergy, except only our St. Theodoret, who meanwhile held an assembly without ceasing with certain brothers, and the report of the deed carried to the ears of Julian the count, and finally the martyrdom of the Saint, must be concluded within one or at most two days, if that is we say that St. Theodoret suffered on the 23rd of October. Next, since Theodoret in his History, book III, chapter 12 Ibid., page 134., testifies that the greater church of Antioch, closed on the occasion of the fire, was held at that time by the Arians, it would follow that our Theodoret was infected with the Arian stain, and thus wrongly brought into the Catholic Martyrologies.

[15] In the year of Christ 362. We gladly admit that the great church of Antioch was closed on the 11th before the kalends of November. Tillemont admits Mémoires, volume VII, page 737. that the dispersion and flight of the clergy and all the rest could have been accomplished within two days, although to us this seems to be as far as possible from likelihood. For before offences such as were imputed to St. Theodoret could be reported to the supreme magistracy, such as the count Julian was, and he could deploy his power, it agrees well with reason that we require an interval of some days, in which he repeated the assemblies and the report of the deed reached the judge. Wherefore I prefer the other answer of Tillemont, namely that the dispersion of the clergy and the assemblies of St. Theodoret did not first begin when the greater church was closed, that is, on the 11th before the kalends of November; but

when the other churches of Antioch had already been closed, that is, as soon as the count Julian began to persecute the Christians. For Sozomen, in book V, chapter 8 Eusebius etc., History, volume II, page 604., beginning to narrate his deeds, says that he transferred the gifts of the Church of Antioch to the emperor's treasury, and ordered the sacred buildings to be shut; there follow then various martyrdoms, the translation of St. Babylas, and on the next day the fire of the temple of Apollo, on account of which, as we have learned above from Ammianus, the greater church of Antioch was closed. Nor may Sozomen's words be interpreted of a single church; for the Greek text has εὐκτηρίους τόπους, places of prayer in the plural number. Our interpretation is confirmed by what we read in the Life of St. Artemius, Martyr under Julian, at the 20th of October, no. 57 Acta Sanctorum, volume VIII of October, page 878., that Julian, while, after the burning of the temple of Apollo, he barred the greater church from all access, its doors being most strictly closed, at the same time made free to the gentiles entrance to the Christian churches, in which they acted at their pleasure: and from this we have a most manifest distinction between the greater and the other churches; for while the former is most strictly shut, the latter are opened to the mockeries of the impious, namely because previously they had not lain open. From all these things it becomes likely to us that the churches of Antioch were closed at two times, and thus that St. Theodoret began to hold an assembly, as is said at no. 2, when the count Julian first closed the lesser churches. Nevertheless I shall admit that the fire of the temple of Apollo, and the consequent anger of the emperor, made the count, prefect of the East, bolder in decreeing capital punishment against the holy Martyr. From what has so far been said it follows that St. Theodoret did not suffer on the 10th before the kalends of April, neither of the year 362, since then Julian Caesar had not yet arrived at Antioch, nor of the following year 363, because he had left Antioch and the count Julian had already met his end. Rightly therefore, in my judgment, the passion of our Saint is assigned to the 10th before the kalends of November of the year 362, which we have prefixed to this Commentary.

[16] St. Theodoret seems to have adhered to the party of Eustathius: Moreover, one may elicit from the Acts that St. Theodoret, in the dissension at Antioch, adhered to the party of Eustathius, to whom Paulinus succeeded. For the Eustathians alone among the Catholics had a church within the walls of Antioch, while the Meletians performed their rites outside the city, as Socrates teaches us in book III, chapter 9 Eusebius etc., Ecclesiastical History, volume II, page 181.: Euzoius, bishop of the Arian perfidy, was in possession of the churches. Paulinus however obtained only one of the lesser churches within the city, from which Euzoius, moved by reverence for the man, had not ejected him. But Meletius gathered the people outside the gates of the city. Since therefore it is related that St. Theodoret, in his Acts at no. 2, when the other clerics had been dispersed, did not depart from the city, but held an assembly in it, he must be said to have belonged rather to the party of Paulinus or the Eustathians than of Meletius. Certainly no one will call him an Arian, so as to be able to be expelled from another church. Further, the dissension among the Catholics of Antioch flared up when, St. Eustathius having been driven into exile (for whose Acts see the 16th of July Acta Sanctorum, volume IV of July, page 130.) and through the action of the Arians, St. Meletius (his Acts are found under the 12th of February Ibid., volume II of February, page 585.) was elected bishop of Antioch; who soon, before a crowded assembly, made an exceedingly Catholic profession of faith. Angered at this, the Arians ordered him too into exile. Wherefore, says Socrates in book II, chapter 44 Eusebius etc., History, volume II, page 158., as many as were favourably disposed toward Meletius left the assembly of the Arians and held their meetings separately; while those who had from the beginning received the doctrine of the consubstantial (namely the Eustathians) shrank from their communion, because Meletius had been ordained by the suffrage of the Arians, and his followers themselves had received baptism from them. In this way the Church of Antioch too was divided into two parts, though agreeing in the doctrine of the faith. These things surely show that St. Theodoret, though an Eustathian, was truly Catholic. If anyone wishes to know more of this schism of Antioch, in which besides the Arian bishop there were two Catholic bishops, let him go to any ecclesiastical history, or to our Bolland, who at the 12th of February in the Preliminary Commentary on St. Meletius Acta Sanctorum, volume II of February, page 587. explains the matter at length.

[17] Flodoard celebrates his elogium in verse. So that nothing the ancients wrote of St. Theodoret may escape us, we subjoin the verses of Flodoard of Reims, an author of the tenth century, in the universal Patrology of ecclesiastical writers, so far unpublished Migne, Patrologia, volume CXXXV, column 571., extracted from book II, chapter 1 of the Triumphs of Christ at Antioch.

After this storm a clear light shone for the Churches, Which the fugitive from piety, trying with black envy To darken it, orders the Saints to pour offerings to profane gods, Or to be subdued by dire punishments; whence there is sent To this place the fierce prefect Julian, his uncle: Who coming truculently despoils the sheepfold of Christ, And scatters the sheep: but the kindly presbyter Theoderitus, taking aid from strong heavenly protection, Stood undismayed, keeping the pious walls, surmus *. The prefect, learning this, orders him to be held for the scourges, Then he assails him with various terrors, and Being savage presses him, hung up, with many tortures. For his sides are burned with torches thrust upon them; These being overcome by starry power, suddenly The ministers fell, stupefied at the angelic vision, And believing they shrink from the ministry of savagery, And devoutly confess Christ as God with true mouth. While the prefect commands these to be plunged into the deep; "To the Lord, brothers, go now before me," the holy Martyr says, "overcoming the enemy I shall soon follow you, so increased." So too persisting, strong in the love of Christ, Prophesying also, filled with the holy Breath, The destruction to be carried out on the Backslider among the Persian race; At last he fulfilled the contest of martyrdom by the sword: And, worthy of heaven, he received his merited honour. The butcher is punished, struck by divine judgment, And he too who had violated the sacred treasures, smitten by a swelling On the seat, flows in the groin, melted with putrid gore: Breathing, he is eaten by the worm, ointments do not stop the pus; In vain the physicians labour over their remedies, to no purpose. Nor is the violator alone worn away by open punishment; Rather the despoilers, the watchmen and the bearers of the sacred things By a wretched death are thrust into the fires of Gehenna.

Since these verses on St. Theodoret are read at the head of the second book of the Triumphs of Christ at Antioch, and have scarcely any connection with the preceding book, the beginning seems to me mutilated: for the prefect Julian is called his uncle: But whose? that cannot be elicited from the preceding poem. Wherefore I believe that something is lacking either at the end of the first book or at the beginning of the second, for instance that after the Diocletianic storm Julian the Apostate disturbed the peace of the Church: only in this way can it be understood whose uncle the prefect Julian was.

[18] The origin of the patronage of Uzès is older And let so much be said of St. Theodoret, Martyr of Antioch. Two things, however, must still be explained. First, that the cult of St. Theodoret was not confined within the narrow limits of the Church of Uzès, since it spread to that of Apt and that of Mirepoix, as the Breviaries show. Indeed Italy too attempted to show its veneration of our Saint. For when in the year 1849 the Church of Bergamo presented to the Sacred Congregation of Rites a list of those Saints whom it loved to venerate, there was also among them St. Theodoret at the 23rd of October under the rite of a lesser double: but the Sacred Congregation struck out that office, as may be seen in the Proper of Bergamo, approved at Rome and printed at Milan in the year 1854. The other thing remains to be inquired into, namely by what means the patronage of the cathedral church of Uzès was conferred on St. Theodoret. That it was conferred, however, we have shown above at nos. 8 and following; and that it persists today, we have as witness the parish priest of the church, now a parish in the diocese of Nîmes, formerly the cathedral of Uzès, the Reverend Lord Bonnet, who supplied us with very many and most useful documents, and to whom we therefore return the greatest thanks. Some, namely, think that the patronage of St. Theodoric the Martyr began when, the original cathedral building having been destroyed in the twelfth century, the church, as it now is, was restored by the Knights of the Temple. For the money necessary for building the principal church anew being lacking, the Knights of the Temple gave much money to Bertrand, bishop of Uzès from the year 1188 to 1190 Gallia Christiana, volume VI, column 621., yet under this stipulation, that the new church should be dedicated under the invocation of St. Theodoret, Martyr of Antioch, as if the name of this Saint, translated from the East to the West, had then first become known. Indeed, on the testimony of the said Reverend Lord Bonnet, there are old men still living today, who testify that they knew forebears who had seen the written contract itself. But that instrument must have perished by some accident unknown to us, since these elders appeal to their own elders, and so to at least the beginning of the eighteenth century; therefore to a time that precedes the latest vicissitudes of France.

[19] The Crusades I am certainly not one to oppose this popular tradition, provided this be granted me, that the cult of St. Theodoret did not begin then. For we have monuments far more ancient, cited by us above at no. 8, which show that the principal church of Uzès had obtained St. Theodoret as patron. What the popular tradition has, then, about a certain pact between Bishop Bertrand and the Templars, we admit to the extent that these wished the patronage of St. Theodoret continued in the cathedral building of Uzès, when perhaps some would have desired the title of the church to be changed, and transferred to a better-known Saint: in which sense we concede that the patronage of St. Theodoret was brought into the pact. Moreover, though I cannot bring forward anything special about the church of Uzès, we have an eyewitness, Stephen of Tournai, who in the year 1181 writes to John, legate of the Apostolic See Migne, Patrologia, volume CCXI, column 373.: I recently saw in passing, when the Lord King sent me to Toulouse, frequent and fervent in that land (of Narbonne), in which Uzès is located, a terrible image of death, half-ruined walls of churches, burned places of sacred buildings, foundations dug up, and where the dwellings of men had been, uncultivated abodes of beasts. Stephen wrote these things when he learned that John the legate had been destined for the see of Narbonne. In his Notes Claude Du Molinet, canon regular of St. Geneviève, cites other contemporary writers, who describe the province of Narbonne as a bilge of all malice, receiving into itself the whole sewage of heresy flowing down there. And from this is confirmed what the living tradition has; namely that in the year 1177 the old cathedral church was overturned from the foundations and that in the year 1188 a beginning was given to the building of the new one, whose first stone Bishop Bertrand laid.

[20] And reaches at least to the tenth century: These things being so, the question posed about the patronage of St. Theodoret remains: this alone we hold, that it is older than the Templars and the Crusades. But what was its cause or occasion, I am not in a position to say. One thing I shall indicate, that there was frequent commerce between France and the East, chiefly in the reign of Charlemagne, as is established from his Life, by Einhard, his notary,

written. And in this way it can be explained to some extent how the passion of St. Theodoret became known in France: in connection with which this too is worthy of notice, that, as we have shown above, no trace of the cult of the holy Martyr is known older than the ninth century, in which Ado wove in his Martyrology the prolix elogium of St. Theodoret brought forward by us at no. 3. Further, that the eastern princes did everything to bind Charles to themselves, Einhard, cited just now, is our witness. He also increased, he says Dom Bouquet, Recueil, volume V, page 93., the glory of his kingdom, by reconciling certain kings and peoples to himself through friendship… With Aaron, king of the Persians, who except for India held nearly the whole East, he had such concord in friendship, that he preferred his favour to the friendship of all the kings and princes in the whole world, and judged him alone to be cultivated by himself with honour and munificence. And accordingly when his envoys, whom he had sent with gifts to the most sacred sepulchre of the Lord and Saviour of the world and to the place of the Resurrection, had come to him, and had indicated to him the will of their master, he not only permitted what was asked to be done, but also granted that sacred and saving place to be assigned to his power. And adding his own envoys to those returning, he sent him huge gifts among garments and spices and the other riches of the eastern lands; since a few years before he had sent him at his request the elephant which he then alone had. The emperors of Constantinople too, Nicephorus, Michael and Leo, seeking of their own accord his friendship and alliance, sent many envoys to him: with whom, however, very suspicious because of the name of emperor that he had taken up, and on this account as one who wished to snatch the empire from them, he established a most firm treaty, so that no occasion of any offence might remain between the parties. For the power of the Franks was always suspect to the Romans and Greeks: whence that Greek proverb exists: Τὸν φράγκον φίλον ἐχῃς, γείτονα οὐκ ἐχῃς. May you have the Frank as friend, not as neighbour. From these things it is natural to judge that both Relics and Lives of Saints too, for which, as a most pious prince, the emperor Charles was most eager, were sent to him: and in this way the passion and cult of St. Theodoret could have been propagated to France: and indeed, as we indicated at the beginning of this commentary, the Latins are more abundant than the Greeks in the praise of our Saint.

[21] Of Deotharius, bishop of Arisitum, Since there is no slight difficulty in the transferring of the cult of St. Theodoret from East to West, the thought could perhaps occur to someone that the tutelary patron of the Church of Uzès is Deotharius, bishop of Arisitum, brother of St. Firminus, bishop of Uzès. Now Arisitum was a village, in which a bishop ruled fifteen parishes, which the bishop of Rodez (Rhodez) claimed for himself, as we read in book V of the History of the Franks of Gregory of Tours. Mundericus, he says Migne, Patrologia, volume LXXI, column 321., is established as bishop in the village of Arisitum, having under him more or less fifteen dioceses (parishes), which at first certain Goths had held, but which now Dalmatius, bishop of Rodez, claimed. In what place the village of Arisitum is to be found, the learned do not agree. Henri de Valois said, guessing, that it is perhaps the village of Ariat, situated in the territory of the Ruteni on the river Biaurus (le Viaur), which flows into the Avario (Aveyron); or else Aire, a mountain village, which did not occur to me on consulting the most detailed topographical lexicons. They say, he goes on, that among the Ruteni between Aemilianum (Millau) and Uzès there is a territory or district about 6 leagues long; even today called l'Arsat, a name that comes near to Arisitum [Notitia Galliarum, page 43. Compare however Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, volume V, page 336.]. It is a territory barren in appearance, but suitable for feeding flocks Monteil, Description du département de l'Aveyron, volume I, page 175.. But this bishopric of Arisitum did not long persevere, and coalesced with the diocese of Rodez. Meanwhile there are cited as bishops Deotharius, of whom we are treating; then his nephew Modericus or Mundericus, of whom Gregory of Tours above; Emmo, who, on the testimony of Frodoard Migne, Patrologia, volume CXXXV, column 102., took part in the year 625 in the Council of Reims of forty or more bishops: and finally Mummolus, of whom in the Life of St. Amandus of Maastricht Acta Sanctorum, volume I of February, page 853.. After these the bishopric of Arisitum seems to have been abolished, since no traces of it are found thereafter Valois, Notitia Galliarum, page 43..

[22] The place of this bishopric Further, Deotharius is said to have been born of the father Ansbert of senatorial family, in a genealogy written during the lifetime of King Pepin, as Le Cointe has it at the year 569, § XXVII, and he had as brothers Firminus, Gamardus, Aigulf and Ragnifrid: from Ansbert, sprung from the family of the Ferreoli, often distinguished by praetorian prefectures, some derive the origin of the Carolingian stock, which others lead back to the Merovingians. We do not inquire into either opinion, which a Benedictine monk has expounded neatly enough in the History of the city of Metz Histoire de Metz, volume I, page 354.: the genealogy itself is exhibited by Calmet in the History of Lorraine Histoire de Lorraine, volume I, Proofs, column XCVII.. Although one may suspect such genealogies, fabricated to glorify the royal family, of being false, yet I do not judge that everything narrated should be struck out; for it was to the interest of the interpolators to compose the report so that it should have some foundation in true history, so that a great many true things were mixed in with the fables. And among the true things I hold what is said of Deotharius, namely that he built the village of Arisitum: for nothing urged the fabulist to mix into the narrative a false matter of no use to his plan. Now I read these things in the Carolingian genealogy Pertz, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, volume II, page 310.: Ansbert, of whom we made mention earlier, who was of senatorial family, had as brothers Deotharius, Firminus, Gamardus and Agiulf the bishop and Raginfrid. Deotharius built the village of Arisidum, where, having become a Confessor of Christ, he rested * Migne, Patrologia, volume LVIII, column 746.. From his contemporaries one may judge that Deotharius flourished about the middle of the sixth century.

[23] And the time are examined This too is confirmed after a fashion by the fact that Arisitum seems to have belonged to the Ansbertine family by hereditary right. For from the Genealogy cited by Le Cointe under the year 569, § XXVII, one reads: In the time of Bishop Aigulf of good memory the lord Theudebert, king of the Franks, by his order assigned the village of Arisidium to the Church of Blessed Stephen the Protomartyr of Metz, and the lord Arnoald (Arnulf), nephew of the said Aigulf, thereupon received a confirmation concerning this village of Arisidum in the time of the lord Clotaire, king of the Franks, on the part of Blessed Stephen. Similarly the lord Dagobert, king of the Franks, and Sigebert confirmed this village to the aforesaid church of Blessed Stephen by their order; and the lord Aigulf first established his own brother Deotarius as bishop in this Arisidum; and after the lord Deotarius, his nephew, the lord Modericus, was ordained bishop in this Arisidum by ordination of the bishop of the city of Metz. To the same point it tends that the principal residences of the Ferreoli, on the testimony of Sidonius Apollinaris Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, volume III, page 280., lay along the rivers Tarn and Gardon, and thus next to Arisitum. Firminus held the pontificate in the city of Uzès, where the Confessor of Christ rests: while Agiulf was ordained bishop in the city of Metz. Deotharius had as a niece through a brother St. Tarsitia, whose name occurs at the 15th of January in the Supplement of the Gallican Martyrology of Saussay and in Ferrarius Acta Sanctorum, volume I of January, page 1068.. His brother, Firminus, bishop of Uzès, is celebrated under the 11th of October by the Roman and other Martyrologies Ibid., volume V of October, page 635 and Auctarium, page 51.. In a holy family, then, Deotharius was holily instructed, and, as another Genealogy cited by the Reverend Lord Bonnet has it, making Christ the heir of his wealth, he built the place of Arisidium, where, raised to the pontifical dignity, he rests in eternal peace. And from this, I believe, it has come about that the name of Deotharius is often adorned with the title of Saint. What I have so far written I have judged should be appended to the Acts of St. Theodoret, both so that some memory of the most deserving man Deotharius might survive in the Acts of the Saints, and especially because, as I suggested above, someone could hesitate whether the patronage should not have been attributed to Deotharius, from whom the names Theudeurius, Theudoricus, Theodoricus easily grow. But to one who considers that the memory of St. Theodoret, Martyr of Antioch, is more celebrated among the Latins than among the Greeks, and that it is very ancient, it seems to me that the patronage of St. Theodoret, though a Greek, ought by all means to be retained for the people of Uzès.

Annotations

* firmus?

* Ussermann, Collectio monumentorum, p. LXI: requiescit.

THE PASSION OF ST. THEODORET, PRESBYTER OF ANTIOCH,

By an anonymous author, from the St. Lawrence and Bödeken manuscripts, collated with the editions of Jean Mabillon and Thierry Ruinart, and with the anonymous manuscript.

Theodoret, presbyter and martyr at Antioch in Syria. (S.)

BHL Number: 8074, 8075 ^a

FROM THE BÖDEKEN MANUSCRIPT & BY J. V. H.

BÖDEKEN CODEX.

[1] St. Theodoret the presbyter, In the time of the emperor Constantine of divine memory Julian, when he was a young man, taking refuge in the church of Antioch, performed the office of lector: but when Constantine had been received out of the body, Julian transgressed the faith and became an apostate, also worshipping idols, he took up the diadem of the empire, and thus he led all Christians to the sacrilegious law not by force or threats, but by promising rewards and dignities. And when his uncle Julian, also going astray, had offered sacrifice, having received the right of the sword he was made count in the East, restoring everywhere the worship of idols. Hearing then that the church of Antioch had a multitude of gold and silver, putting forward certain pretexts, the clerics having been put to flight, he closed the church. And at the nod of his will he took away, and allowed to be taken away, whatever money he found there: and all those who were dispersed from the church served God wherever they could, whether secretly or in the open.

[2] Summoned to judgment by the count Julian, But St. Theodoric, presbyter of the above-mentioned church, not departing from the city, but gathering to himself certain brothers, held assembly without ceasing, and poured out prayers acceptable to God with showers of tears. The count Julian, hearing that the presbyter Theodoric was holding assemblies, thought to force him to the sacrifices of the gods, in order that he might the more please the emperor Julian. Sitting therefore in his private chamber, the count Julian ordered Blessed Theodoric, with his hands bound downward, to be brought before him; and when he had been presented, Julian said to him: Are you Theodoric, who in the time of the emperor Constantine prohibited the gods from being worshipped, and, destroying altars and temples, built churches and established the veneration and worship of the tombs of the dead? Blessed Theodoric answered: I, as far as I could, have built churches and basilicas of the Martyrs for the love and name of Christ; and I destroyed the idols and altars of the demons in order that I might free the souls of those who were wandering and adoring the devil, and invite them to divine worship. Julian said: Give honour now, then, to the gods,

since you have confessed that you did these things. St. Theodoric answered: I acknowledge that I did these things in the time of the emperor Constantine, and that I was never forbidden by him, but rather was most devoutly aided: but I wonder that you, suddenly become a transgressor of the divine law, inflamed with diabolical rage, should without cause stand forth as avenger of the demons.

[3] Then Julian said to his ministers: Let him be beaten on the soles of the feet, since he spurns the idols, confounds the gods, and to the injury of the emperor pours insulting speech over me. St. Theodoric, while he was being beaten with sharp nails through the soles of his feet, cried out, saying: You sin, Julian, having transgressed the Catholic faith and acquiring for yourself the death of perpetual damnation. Julian said: Let the fool be struck on the face and palms, so that he may cease to blaspheme us. Blessed Theodoric says to the tyrant Julian: Wretched Julian, come to your senses from your error and from this madness, and do not assail with injuries and punishments one who speaks the truth. Julian said: If now, while you are gently beaten, you take offence, heavier torments will follow, if you do not sacrifice. St. Theodoric answered: As I said before, so I say again now, do not sin by proclaiming and calling those gods who are the works of men's hands. I counsel you, therefore, lay aside this temporal pride and recall what you have lost. Julian said: I do not wish you to speak to me composed and begged words, by which you persuade wretched men, not me, of error. Blessed Theodoric answered: When you worshipped the true God, then you loved and cultivated the truth and abominated and hated falsehood, but now, lifted up into pride of mind, you say that idols are gods, and you think truth to be falsehood; see into what madness and error you have been carried. Julian said: You philosophize, sacrilegious man, as if you had recently arrived from Athens. St. Theodoric answered: I, neither at Athens nor by human philosophy, but urged on by the Holy Spirit, and armed by the testimony of Sacred Scripture, am prepared to answer your objections, wishing that you may be converted again to the truth of the faith and return to better things.

[4] Then Julian, angered, ordered him to be stretched with ropes and sinews: and when he had been stretched, and most strongly distended with ropes and sinews and pulleys, his sinews were so stretched that the Martyr of God seemed stretched out to more than eight feet. And the tyrant Julian, insulting him, said to him: Do you feel these torments, Theodoric? But St. Theodoric answered in a mighty voice and with cheerful countenance: You have forgotten that I said, do not say that the works of men's hands are gods, but rather recognize God, who made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, and Jesus Christ our Lord, by whose precious blood you had been freed. Julian said: Do you call one crucified, dead and buried the creator and redeemer of the world? St. Theodoric answered: Crucified, dead and buried for our salvation, I proclaim him to have risen from the dead, through whom all things were made, who is the Word and Wisdom of the Father, whom you too, when you were wise, adored, and perhaps will adore again, if you become wise and are converted. The tyrant Julian, angered, ordered him, stretched out, to be beaten with blows, and said to him: At least now fear the gods, and do what has been commanded by the emperor; because it is written: "The heart of the king is in the hand of God." St. Theodoric answered: The heart of a king who acknowledges God is in the hand of God, not the heart of a tyrant who adores idols. Julian said: Stupid and foolish man, do you call the emperor a tyrant? St. Theodoric answered: If the emperor commands such things, as you say, he is to be called not only a tyrant, but also the most wretched of all men.

[5] Filled then with the greatest fury, Julian ordered the holy man to be most cruelly tortured, and when he had been tortured for a very long time, so that excessive blood flowed from his sides, his countenance nonetheless remained cheerful and glad. Julian said: At least even now, wretch, returning to yourself recognize the gods and sacrifice to them. St. Theodoric answered: I do not acknowledge gods made by hand; but I adore one God, who made heaven and earth. Julian said: Not yet, as I see, do you feel the torments. Blessed Theodoret answered: I do not feel them, because the Lord is with me. The tyrant Julian again ordered him to be tormented and said: I have heard that you are a debtor to the fisc, and that you therefore desire to die, so as not to repay what you owe: sacrifice then and do not be afraid: I will suggest it for you to the lord emperor, and all good things will be given you. St. Theodoret answered: Your silver and gold be with you to perdition: I am debtor to no one but God alone, to whom I show a pure conscience; and I pray that he too may graciously be willing to fulfil his promises.

[6] Julian said: Turn from the folly by which you are held, and gain your soul. Blessed Theodoric answered: Rather do you turn to the living God, from whom you have departed, so that you may save your soul, which you have lost. Again Julian ordered him to be tormented, and said to him: Your heart has been made foolish, so that you think to obey one dead and crucified rather than a powerful and glorious king. St. Theodoric answered: Most unhappy of all, that crucified one of whom you speak will send both you and your tyrant into Gehenna on the day of judgment. Julian said: Meanwhile I shall hand you over to fire. And saying this, he commanded two burning torches to be applied to his sides: and when they had been applied, lifting up his eyes to heaven Blessed Theodoric said: Lord God almighty, who made heaven and earth and all things that are in them, Saviour of the world, deign to give the promised hope to your servant, who suffers these things for your name, and show your power to wicked men, so that all may know that you grant your grace to those who fear you, and torments to those who deny you, that your name may be glorified, which is blessed through ages of ages. At this voice of the Martyr of Christ the executioners fell on their faces together with the torches.

[7] On seeing this the count Julian was disturbed, with the soldiers standing by, and he ordered the executioners to be raised, and said to them: Apply the torches again to his sides. But they answered: Let your nobility order others to do this, we cannot obey your commands in this regard; because we saw four Angels standing by and speaking with him, and for this reason we fell on our faces. Julian, angered, ordered them to be thrown into the sea. And when they were being led away to be drowned, Theodoric the Martyr said to them: Go before, brothers, fearing nothing, but go on with glad heart to the punishment of being cast down; for already the paradise of God awaits you, so that you may rejoice among the Martyrs for ever: and I, overcoming the enemy, shall follow you to the Lord, who will deign to give the palm of victory to me together with you. Julian said: Who is the enemy over whom you say you triumph, or who is the Lord from whom you hope that victory will come to you? Blessed Theodoric answered: The enemy is the devil, who works his will through you, so that for the defence of stones you afflict us with torments without cause: and the palm of victory is given by my Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world. The tyrant Julian said: Most wretched of men, that crucified one, whom all know to have been born of a woman three hundred years ago, do you say is creator and rewarder? Blessed Theodoric answered: Although you are unworthy to hear the word of God, yet for the sake of his servants standing by I will contradict with words of truth the blasphemy of your infidelity, by which you have rashly done injury to the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Hear then, though unwillingly, of the grace that you have lost, so that you may not think me overcome by you. God almighty, who created all things through his word, had mercy on the human race, because he saw that the whole world had perished through the prevarication of transgression, and he sent his Son to take up human flesh through a Virgin, since divinity could not be seen, and thus, suffering of his own will, he deigned to bestow on us who act steadfastly in the faith of his name the salvation that you have lost.

[8] Julian said: I see you persevering in the argumentations of your words; but hear me at least even now, and sacrifice, so that I may not order you to be struck with the sword, since you despise the torments. St. Theodoric answered: I have renounced the devil your father; and I pray that, as you have said, I may quickly complete my course in the sight of the Lord, so that through the palm of martyrdom it may at last be granted me to pass over to the joys of the eternal kingdom. For I fear lest, if I remain longer in the flesh, I may find favour in the sight of the tyrant Julian, and the crown of my reward may be delayed. Julian said: Say as many insults as you will against the emperor Julian and me; I indeed, because you desire to be killed, delay in the punishments, so that your torment may not be finished so quickly, in order that you may learn that you ought not to despise the emperor. Blessed Theodoric answered: You indeed, tyrant Julian, do with me what pleases you, knowing for certain that you will soon die by evil tortures: while the emperor Julian, who hopes to gain victory over the pagans in the region of the Persians, will not return to the land of the Romans; but he will be so cruelly and secretly slain, that none of his men will know by whom he was killed. Hearing this prophecy Julian was shaken with fear, for the greatest horror had seized him: and fearing lest prophesying he should say again other and heavier things about him, sentence being given, he commanded him to be struck with the sword.

[9] Then Blessed Theodoric, pouring out a prayer with tears, said with cheerful countenance: I give thanks to my God, who has deigned to give me the end of endurance. And when the most blessed man Theodoric had been struck by the sword, Christians, snatching up his body, committed it to burial, saying with groaning: What are we to do in so cruel a persecution? For the pagan persecutors have given way, and behold a new kind of persecution has arisen, since Christians most heavily persecute Christians. On the following day the count Julian, going before * to the palace, adored the emperor Julian and said: Let your most invincible clemency know, lord emperor, that I, the most faithful executor of your empire, have ordered the most impious presbyter Theodoric, who most fiercely blasphemed you and your gods, after the application of torments, to be struck with the sword, because of the ecclesiastical mysteries most openly celebrated by him against your decree. The emperor Julian, hearing these things, said that this had been perpetrated openly against his purpose: and he said before all who presided over the palace: Why have you done what was contrary to me? I shall try by many arguments to destroy the law of the Galileans, and yet I have ordered none of them to be killed either by violence or by command: but you have done ill, giving occasion to the Galileans to write much against me, as they did to my predecessors: see that you do not kill any of them, and command others not to do so, because those whom we kill, the Galileans make Martyrs for themselves.

[10] Then by divine judgment the count Julian was struck before the emperor Julian, and suddenly began to appear as one dead and out of his mind. The emperor, seeing that his uncle the count Julian had suddenly been made senseless and bloodless, wished to strengthen and encourage him,

and said to him: Now, now let us sacrifice to the gods, so that, sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice, you may be made well. As they went, the heart of the count Julian began to be weighed down with the greatest sadness: for he was conscious of his evil crime. As the priests of the idols were offering birds and animals, they sprinkled the blood of the victims' gore on the emperor and on all his people; and drawing the flesh of the sacrifices out of the fire, they offered it to the emperor Julian, who, when he had eaten, gave a part to Julian his uncle, namely the half-burned flesh of the sacrifice. But he, shame causing him fear, tasted a little, and immediately fell to the ground between the hands of those holding him; and by the hands of the ministers he was brought back to the portorium *, and there, suffused with tears, he lay in bed, nearly repenting of the evils he had done, and receiving no food; but also vomiting up with blood the portion of the sacrifice which he had received. When evening came, a pain of the belly seized him, so that he was sharply tortured; but he, chewing his tongue and gnashing his teeth, swallowed his own blood with the greatest torment, and when he could not bear his pain, sending to the emperor he asked by message that he order the churches of the Christians to be opened. But the emperor sent back word to him, saying: I neither closed them, nor do I order them to be opened. Again he sent word to him, saying: For your sake, he says, emperor, I suffer these things and am evilly consumed, and yet I cannot obtain what I ask. To this the emperor sending back said: You have been unbelieving toward the gods, and for this you suffer these torments. The unhappy count Julian therefore, tortured for many days, having taken various medicines, could not be cured, but according to the prophecy of the most blessed Martyr Theodoric, wholly consumed by worms, he expired by a miserable end, as he deserved. The emperor Julian, hearing these things, moved by no compassion of soul, said over him: Because he was not faithful to the gods, he has suffered these things.

[11] A little later the emperor himself, setting out to war against the Persians, was unable to overcome them: being stationed there, then, when he was in great elation, because he was called lord of the whole earth, one day a multitude of an army of Angels suddenly rushed upon him; and terrified with fear, he commanded his whole army to arm, not knowing, unhappy man, that the heavenly host had come against him. Suddenly there came as it were a terrible arrow from the air and struck him in the breast; and as blood flowed from every side, looking upward, he thought he saw the Lord Jesus, and filling his hand with blood he threw it into the air, saying: Until the end, Galilean, you pursue me, and behold you have overcome me: but even at this hour I shall deny you, though placed at the point of death. And so coming into a certain city he died by a most cruel end; and thus the whole prophecy of Blessed Theodoric the Martyr was fulfilled. The most blessed Martyr Theodoric suffered at Antioch on the tenth day before the Kalends of April, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory through infinite ages of ages. Amen.

Annotations

* procedens?

* praetorium?

ST. LAWRENCE CODEX.

FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE MANUSCRIPT & BY J. V. H.

[1] In the time of the emperor Constantine of good memory ^b, Julian, when he was a young man and lived in hatred of him, taking refuge in the Church of Antioch, performed the office of lector ^c. But when Constantine had been received out of the body, Julian transgressed the faith, and, having become an apostate, worshipping idols, he took up the rule of the empire: and thus he persuaded all Christians to the sacrilegious law not by force or threats, but by the promise of dignities and rewards. And when his uncle Julian ^d, also going astray, had offered sacrifice, having received the right of the sword, he was made count of the East: who at once restored the idols. Hearing that the Church of Antioch had a multitude of gold and silver, putting forward certain pretexts, putting the clerics to flight, he closed the church of God. And those who had been dispersed each served God where he could.

[2] But St. Theodoret, presbyter of the above-mentioned church, not departing from the city, but having gathered to himself certain brothers, holding assembly without ceasing ^e, poured out prayers acceptable to God. Julian, hearing that he was holding an assembly, and wishing to please the emperor, sat in his private chamber ^f, and ordered him to be presented to him. Theodoret having been brought in, with his hands bound behind his back, Julian said: Are you Theodoret, who in the time of the emperor Constantine prohibited the Gods from being worshipped, and destroyed altars and temples and built churches and tombs of the dead ^g? Theodoret said: I, as far as I could, have built churches and basilicas of the Martyrs; and I have destroyed the idols and altars of the demons, in order that I might free the souls of those who were wandering. Julian said: Give honour, then, to the gods, you who have confessed that you did these things. Theodoret answered: I acknowledge that I did these things in the time of the emperor Constantine, and that I was never forbidden by him. At you now I wonder, that you have suddenly appeared as apostate and avenger of the demons.

[3] He refutes the same: Julian said: Let him be beaten on the soles of the feet, since he denies that idols are gods. Theodoret answered: You sin, Julian, having transgressed the faith, and you are acquiring for yourself perpetual death. Julian said: Let the fool also be struck on the face with palms, and let him not blaspheme. Theodoret answered: Do not err, and do not treat me with injuries for speaking the truth. Julian said: Now, being beaten, do you take offence? But torments will follow you which you do not expect, if you do not sacrifice. Theodoret answered: Both a little before I said to you, and now I say, do not sin by calling gods those who are the works of men's hands, but lay aside this temporal pride, and recall what you have lost. Julian said: I do not wish you to speak to me composed and begged-up words, by which you persuade wretched men. Theodoret answered: When you worshipped God, you confessed the truth, and abominated falsehood; but now, lifted up by pride, you call idols gods, and you think truth to be falsehood. Julian said: You discourse, sacrilegious man, as if you had recently come from Athens ^h. Theodoret answered: I, neither from Athens nor from an orator, but taught by the (instruction) of divine Scripture (and formed by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, who speaks in the Scriptures,) * answer your questions, wishing that you may return again to better things.

[4] On which account he is tortured Julian, angered, ordered him to be stretched more strongly on the poles ⁱ: and when he had been extended by certain ropes and pulleys, his sinews were so stretched that the height of the holy Martyr seemed to have grown by the space of eight feet. Julian said: Do you feel the torments, Theodoret? Withdraw then from this doctrine, and sacrifice and you will live. But Theodoret, in a mighty voice, which both spoke the gladness of his heart and showed the cheerfulness of his countenance, answered: Have you forgotten that I said to you, do not call the works of men's hands gods? But recognize God, who made heaven and earth, and Jesus Christ his Son, by whose precious blood you had been freed. Julian said: One crucified, dead and buried; do you call him creator of the world? Theodoret answered: Crucified, dead and buried for our salvation, I proclaim him to have risen from the dead, through whom all things were made, who is the Word and Wisdom of the Father, whom you, when you were wise, knowing what is right, adored, if indeed you were ever able to be wise. Julian said: At least now fear the gods, and do what has been commanded by the emperor, because it is written for you: "The heart of the king is in the hand of God." Theodoret answered: It is written that the heart of a king who knows God is in the hand of God, not the heart of a tyrant who adores idols. Julian said: Stupid man, do you call the emperor a tyrant? Theodoret answered: If he commands such things, as you say, and is such, he is to be called not only a tyrant, but the most wretched of all men.

[5] On the pulley Filled with anger, Julian ordered him to be tortured; and when he had been long tortured so much that excessive blood flowed from his sides, his countenance smiled. Julian said: At least now, recognizing the gods, sacrifice. Theodoret answered: I do not recognize gods made by hand, but only one God, made by no one, but the maker of all things. But you, who hope in them, will be found a sharer in their lot. Julian said: Not yet, as I see, do you feel the torments. Theodoret answered: I do not feel them, because the Lord is with me. Julian again ordered him to be tormented, and said to him: I have heard that you are a debtor to the fisc, and that you therefore desire to die, so as not to repay what you owe ^k. Sacrifice then, and do not be afraid, I will suggest it to the emperor and everything will be forgiven you. Theodoret answered: Your silver and gold be with you to perdition: I am debtor to no one but God alone, to whom I show a pure conscience: I pray that he may deign to join me to his promises.

[6] And with burning torches: Julian says: Turn from folly and gain your soul. Theodoret answered: Rather do you turn to your God, from whom you have departed, so that you may save your soul, which you have lost. Again he ordered him to be tormented, and said to him: Your heart has been made foolish, so that you wish to obey one dead and crucified rather than the king. Theodoret answered: Most unhappy man, the Crucified of whom you speak will, as you yourself know, send both you and your tyrant into Gehenna on the day of judgment. Julian said: Meanwhile I shall hand you over to fire, but afterward (we shall easily take counsel about the things that are to come, when, you being driven from life, the worship of the gods will flourish undisturbed; and to them, being secure about themselves, we shall commit the care of our safety. So saying) he ordered two burning torches to be applied to his sides ^l. The torches being applied, St. Theodoret, lifting up his eyes to heaven, said: Lord God almighty, who made heaven and earth and all things that are in them, Saviour of the world, deign to bestow the promised hope on your servant, who for your holy name suffers these things: and show your power to the wicked, so that all may know that you grant your grace to those who fear you, and torments to those who deny you: that your name may be glorified, which is blessed through the ages. As he was saying this, the executioners fell on their faces with the torches.

[7] The torturers, converted, are led to punishment: Julian was disturbed, with the soldiers standing by, and he ordered the executioners to be raised, and said to them: Apply the torches again to his sides. But they answered: Let your nobility command others, for we cannot do this, because we saw four Angels standing by

in white garments and speaking with him; and for this reason we fell on our faces. Julian, angered, ordered them to be thrown into the sea ^m. And as they were being led away, Theodoret said: Go before, brothers, and I, overcoming the enemy, shall follow you to the Lord, who has deigned to give me the palm of victory. Julian said: Who is the enemy, or who will give the victory? Theodoret said: The enemy is the devil, who works through you: and the palm of victory is given by the Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world. Julian said: Most wretched of men, one whom all know to have been born of a woman more or less three hundred years ago, you say is creator and rewarder! Theodoret answered: Although you are unworthy to hear the word of God; yet for the sake of the servants of God standing by, so that you may not think me to be overcome, hear what you have lost; God, who made all things through his Word, having mercy on the human race, whom he saw, having transgressed from the faith, serving idols, sent his Word upon a Virgin to take up human flesh, because divinity could not be seen: and thus, suffering of his own will, he deigned to give us the salvation that you have lost.

[8] The death of both Julians being foretold, the Saint is struck Julian said: I see you persevering in the arguments of your words: hear me and sacrifice, so that I may not order you to be struck with the sword, since you despise the torments. Theodoret answered: I have renounced the devil your father. And I pray that I may complete my course in the sight of the Lord, and not find favour before the tyrant. Julian said: Say as much as you will, I shall not kill you. Theodoret answered: You indeed, Julian, by evil tortures in your bed, where you will think you shall find rest for your body, there you will incur the most atrocious horror of death, by which your soul too, shaken out, will be driven to the infernal darkness, and your body, gnawed by yourself, will be shown as an example, so that no one like you may provoke the divine anger against himself. For your tyrant, who hopes to gain victory over the pagan nation, will not be able to conquer: but he will be so slain that no one will know by whom he was killed ⁿ, and he will not return to the land of the Romans. Julian, fearing that he might say other and heavier things, sentence being given, commanded him to be struck with the sword.

[9] By the sword. Theodoret said: I give thanks to my God, who has deigned to give me the end of endurance. And when he had been struck, and Julian had withdrawn into private, he had a restless night. On the following day, proceeding to the palace and adoring the emperor, he said: What great measure of gold and silver was found in the church, and was brought into your treasuries and displayed, let your clemency see to the account of it. For know this also, that I have ordered the most iniquitous presbyter Theodoret, whom you were seeking on account of the ministries of the church, after he had been seized and tortures applied, to be struck with the sword. The emperor Julian, hearing that this had been done against his purpose, exclaimed, saying: You have done what was contrary to me: for I was trying by many arguments to destroy the law of the Galileans, and I have ordered none of them to be killed by force. But you have done ill: for you have given occasion to the Galileans to write much against me, as they did against my predecessors, they who call evildoers put to death Martyrs. See that you kill none of them, and command others not to do so

[10] Shortly afterward there perish the count Julian (Confounded by this, Julian repented of having blazed out in vain against the Christians with such a rage of savagery: for which he neither came into the king's favour, nor was he allowed to pursue this very thing with his accustomed licence, reckoning it to his greatest detriment, because he was forced thereafter to abstain from this tyranny to which he was accustomed ). The emperor, seeing they omit what is enclosed in parentheses. that Julian had been confounded and made as if dead, wishing to encourage him, said to him: Now let us go and sacrifice to the gods, so that, sprinkled with the sacrifices, you may be made well. As they went, the heart of Julian was filled with sorrow. And the priests of the idols, offering birds and many other things, drawing them from the fire; offered them to the emperor Julian ^o. And when he had eaten, he gave to his uncle Julian: and he, shame causing it or fear, tasted a little and withdrew into his praetorium, repenting of the evils he had done, for which he knew that he had not found favour with the emperor; and he refused to receive any food or drink. When evening came, then, stretching himself on his bed, he wished to lull the sorrow of his heart by the quiet of night, when behold a pain of the belly seized him and he was sharply tortured: for the sacrifice, which he had received in pieces, was bursting his liver , and he cast it out through his mouth, and he, chewing, spat out part and swallowed part . And when he could now no longer bear it, he sent and asked the emperor to order the churches to be opened. The emperor sending back word said: I neither closed them nor do I order them to be opened [p]. Again sending word to him, he said: For your sake, emperor, I suffer these things and am evilly consumed. Again the emperor sending back to him said: You have been unbelieving toward the gods, for this you suffer these torments for many days. Unhappy Julian indeed, tortured for many days, taking various foods, yet fed on his own liver, according to the prophecy of the most blessed Martyr, wholly eaten by worms, he died. The emperor Julian, hearing this, said: Because he was not faithful to the gods, therefore he has suffered these things.

[11] And Julian Caesar. A little time later Julian, setting out against the Persians, was unable to overcome them. And when he thought he had obtained everything, suddenly a multitude of an army of Angels rushed upon him. And terrified with fear, he commanded his army to arm, not knowing, unhappy man, that the heavenly host had appeared to him. And suddenly an arrow, coming from the air, struck him in the breast. And as the blood flowed, looking up he thought he saw the Lord Jesus, and filling his hand with blood, he threw it into the air, saying: Even to the death-struggle, Galilean, do you pursue me? Even here, wounded, I shall deny you henceforth, O Christ, because you have overcome me. And so coming into a certain city [q], he died cruelly. And the whole prophecy of Blessed Theodoret the Martyr was fulfilled. We, who were at Antioch in the palace and were with him in Persia, though sinners, Servants of God, have written down these things which were done concerning the servant of God Theodoret, on the 10th before the kalends of November * [r]; so that those who read may deign to be mindful of us, and, taught by his examples, may advance in the virtues of the soul by imitation, and rereading his passion and frequently hearing it, may learn endurance in adversities, may learn to reconcile Christ to themselves by reproaches, may learn to purchase Christ, who redeemed us by his death, by a like price of death, so that with him reigning they themselves too, reigning, may have power to enjoy his fellowship, who lives and reigns as God through all ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. From these words we are given to understand that the churches of Antioch were closed by order not of Julian Caesar, but of the count; from which what was said at no. 15 of the Preliminary Commentary is confirmed.

q. Ammianus, book XXV, chapter 3, calls the place of Julian Caesar's death Phrygia, in these words: Therefore all hope of living thereafter being given up, because on inquiring he learned that the place where he had fallen was called Phrygia. For he had heard by a prescribed lot that he would die there Compare Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, volume IV, page 224..

r. On the day and year of the passion of St. Theodoret, see what is said at no. 13 of the Preliminary Commentary.

* M and R omit what is enclosed in parentheses

* M and R omit what is enclosed in parentheses.

* M ficolum, R fecatum, A figatum, the liver.

* R parum

* R parum.

* M, R, A, of April

Notes

a. We have already indicated above at no. 10 of the Preliminary Commentary that, besides Mabillon and Ruinart, we have had two especially precious codices, one of which, both for its age and for its correctness, is by far the most excellent and exhibits the chief text of the Passion of St. Theodoret. Variant readings that are of some moment we shall record from Mabillon with the letter M, from Ruinart with the letter R, and from the manuscript codex marked no. 207, in every way anonymous, whether you look to its place of origin or its writer, with the letter A; for as we have forewarned, we bring forward the Bödeken codex in full, for the reasons alleged at no. 10 of the Commentary.

b. Julian the Apostate, son of Julius Constantius, brother of Constantine the Great, and of Basilina, born at Constantinople in the year of Christ 331, died on the 26th of July 363 [Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, volume IV, pages 198, 224 and 296.]. It is helpful also to have observed that the names of Constantine and Constantius are not rarely taken and used promiscuously, so that sometimes it is difficult to discern to which of the two some deed is to be attributed, namely whether to Constantine the Great or to Constantius his son. In our Passion, however, it is evident from the series of the narrative that the name of Constantine is ascribed to Constantius, which it is enough to have noted once.

c. Above at no. 11 of the Preliminary Commentary we have treated of the error by which Julian Caesar is enrolled as lector of the Church of Antioch, when more probably he was ordained in the Church either of Caesarea or of Nicomedia: we have also there assigned a probable cause of the error.

d. That the count Julian was a blood relation of Julian Caesar is agreed among all: this alone is disputed, by what tie the two were joined. Tillemont [Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique, volume VII, page 735.] alleges St. Chrysostom as saying that the kinship is to be derived from the father of Julian Caesar, inasmuch as the count Julian was a brother of the father of Julian Caesar, and thus the count is to be called the paternal uncle of Caesar, θεῖος ὁ πρὸς πατρός [Works of St. Chrysostom, volume II, page 564, Montfaucon's Paris edition.]. And we should assent without hesitation to the statements of St. Chrysostom, unless another and, in our judgment, stronger assertion stood in the way, that namely of Ammianus, who in book XXIII, chapter 1, makes him the maternal uncle of the emperor, and so ties the kinship through the mother. Which opinion indeed is powerfully confirmed by the fact that only three brothers of Constantine the Great are known, namely Dalmatius, Julius Constantius, father of Julian Caesar, and Hannibalianus, whom others call Constantine: so that no place is left for the count Julian among the brothers of Constantine the Great [Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, volume IV, page 34.]: next, from Zosimus, a writer of the fifth century, book II, chapter 40 [Page 106, Bonn edition of 1837.], we have that Constantine wished to prove his manly spirit to all by shedding the blood of his kin; and thus that the count Julian lived on as a survivor, because he did not belong to the imperial family. Indeed, on the testimony of Socrates, book III, chapter 1 [Eusebius etc., History, volume II, page 165.], not even Julian, the future Caesar, would have escaped death, had not his tender age preserved him. From all these things it becomes likely that the count Julian was a blood relation of Caesar through his sister Basilina, the mother of the Apostate.

e. The word Collecta (see Du Cange's Glossary at this word) has a varied meaning among writers: here, however, the word must be interpreted as Σύναξιν, or the sacrifice of the Mass. For if it signified anything else, it would not seem to have any consequence from the dispersion of the clergy and the solitary station of St. Theodoret in the city.

f. Secretarium, in Ammianus, book XV, chapter 7, judiciale secretum, is a chamber in which judges sat, and that the word is employed in this sense by Lactantius is shown by Facciolati at this word.

g. The count Julian in this place alludes to the tombs of the Martyrs, which were quite frequently built and rather splendidly adorned. But especially in these times Saints who suffered death for the faith were simply called dead by the impious; as is established from Sozomen, book V, chapter 19 [Eusebius etc., History, volume II, page 627.]: for Apollo, being asked why he did not give oracles, answered that the place was full of corpses. Further, says the same writer, although there were many corpses buried at Daphne, the emperor nevertheless, conjecturing that the Martyr alone stood in the way of the oracles, ordered his coffin to be transferred. Compare the oration of St. John Chrysostom on St. Babylas against the Gentiles, no. 15 [Works of St. Chrysostom, volume II, page 560, Montfaucon's edition.]. Moreover, the Martyr himself in his answer shows that he well understood what kind of crime was objected to him: I, he says, as far as I could, have built churches and basilicas of the Martyrs; by which answer St. Theodoret openly showed who came under the name of the dead with the count Julian.

h. The Bödeken codex omits in the Martyr's answer the words "nor from an orator"; perhaps better; because the count Julian mocks him as if he had recently come from Athens; although St. Theodoret could also have suggested the teaching of some orator in order to signify that he had never lived at Athens, nor indeed had been formed to human eloquence by any orator or rhetorician whatsoever. The peremptory answers of the faithful displeased the impious then, as they do today. Further, at that time Athens was held to be the chief seat of philosophy and eloquence, as the contemporary St. Gregory Nazianzen testifies in the funeral eulogy of St. Basil the Great, oration XLIII, otherwise XX, no. 14 [Works of Gregory Nazianzen, volume I, page 780, Paris edition of 1778.]: From there, he says, (from Constantinople Basil) is sent by God and at the same time by an insatiable and splendid desire for learning to Athens, that is, to the seat and home of letters; to Athens, I say, for me truly golden, and, if for anyone else, the provider of good things.

i. There is question here, as the following words sufficiently show, of the torture of the pulley, frequently inflicted on Martyrs. If we retain the force of the words, a contus according to the lexicons is nothing other than a stake or rather long and hard spear, sharpened to a point. Further, since the torment of the pulley consists in this, that bodies are distended by the aid of a screw, as may be seen in figure IV, chapter 2 of Gallonio's De Cruciatibus Martyrum [Gallonio, De Cruciatibus Sanctorum Martyrum, page 45, Paris edition of 1659. Compare Caspar Sagittarius, De Martyrum cruciatibus, page 299.], it is evident that poles must have been employed to manage the rotation of the screw: whence it is understood in what sense the count Julian ordered St. Theodoret to be stretched on the poles, and how the Martyr's body is said to have grown to eight feet; although we judge this to be exaggerated, since the Martyr's body would have been altogether torn apart.

k. See what is said of the debt to the fisc at no. 12 of the Preliminary Commentary. The reason there given why the count Julian urged the question neither more explicitly nor more strongly is wonderfully confirmed by St. Leo, as we indicated, in the sermon on St. Lawrence, no. 2 [Works of St. Leo, volume I, column 338.]: Against the levite Lawrence, he says, who was pre-eminent not only in the ministry of the sacraments, but also in the dispensing of the Church's property, the impious persecutor boiled up, promising himself a double prey from the seizure of one man, whom, if he should make him a betrayer of the sacred money, he would also make a castaway from the true religion. The man greedy of money and enemy of truth, therefore, is armed with a twin torch; with avarice, to seize the gold, with impiety, to take away Christ. With St. Lawrence the Church's property was to be seized first, so that he might then lose the faith; St. Theodoret was urged to renounce Christ; which being obtained, the handing over of the thing consecrated to God was easy. Both tyrants are accurately imitated by those who even in our times begrudge the Church of Christ both her unblemished faith and her riches, acquired under legitimate titles.

l. The codices here vary in many ways, so that the different readings cannot be placed in the margin as is customary. Let the Bödeken copy be compared first with what is enclosed in parentheses in the St. Lawrence codex. In place of those words M and R read the passage: Meanwhile I shall hand you over to fire: but afterward what will happen? So he ordered two torches etc. Here too the St. Lawrence text seems to me more correct and to have a closer connection with the rest. Further, while these things were being said back and forth, the holy Martyr seems to me to have remained on the instrument of torture, but with the ropes slackened; so that, when a little above, at no. 5, we read: Julian ordered him to be tortured, this is to be understood of a command of the tyrant ordering that the ropes be tightened by the aid of screws: and similarly here to the torture of the pulley are added burning torches.

m. Pelagus is sometimes taken for any water, even of a river: Compare Du Cange's Glossary at this word. Further, Antioch lies on the Orontes, the greatest river of Syria, on the testimony of Baudrand in his Geographical Lexicon, and is not so very far from the sea, that the waters of Antioch could not be called pelagus even in a more accurate manner.

n. All the ancients agree on this, that Julian Caesar received a lethal wound in battle from an unknown hand [Compare Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, volume IV, pages 224 and 298.]. Ammianus, book XXV, chapter 3: The candidati, he says, whom terror had scattered, cried out from this side and that for him to avoid the mass of those fleeing, as if the ruin of a badly built roof: and from an uncertain quarter a cavalry spear, suddenly grazing the skin of his arm, piercing his ribs, stuck in the lowest fibre of his liver.

o. The Bödeken codex adds to what is narrated in the St. Lawrence codex certain circumstances to be examined; namely that the sacrificers of the idols sprinkled the blood of the victims' gore on the emperor and all his people. I should believe that the writer alludes to the Jewish rite, of which the Pentateuch treats in Exodus XXIV, 8 and St. Paul, Hebrews IX, 19, namely that Moses, when the law had been promulgated, took blood and sprinkled it on the people, or, as St. Paul says: For when every commandment of the law had been read by Moses to all the people, taking the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, he sprinkled both the book itself and all the people. Outside the case of the covenant struck with the people of Israel, I find nowhere a sprinkling of blood in the old law; except in the consecration of priests, who were sprinkled with a mixture, as it seems, of blood and oil, together with their garments, Exodus XXIV, 20 and 21, Leviticus VIII, 30, in nearly the same way lepers were cleansed, Leviticus VIII, 6 and 7. In striking a covenant, moreover, certain barbarous nations also employed the blood of those covenanting, as Tacitus accurately describes, Annals XII, 47. It is the custom for kings, whenever they enter into alliance, to join right hands, and to tie their thumbs together, and to bind them tightly in a knot. Then when the blood has poured out into the extremities, by a light stroke they draw the gore, and lick it from each other. This is held a mystical covenant, as if consecrated by mutual blood. From what has so far been said it is clear that the writer of the Bödeken codex invented a rite nowhere in use in ordinary sacrifice, and of which the codices of better stamp are silent.

ON ST. THEODORET OR THEODORE, PRESBYTER AND MARTYR, AT ANTIOCH IN SYRIA,

IN THE YEAR 362.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

BY J. V. H.

THE PASSION OF ST. THEODORET, PRESBYTER OF ANTIOCH,

BHL Number: 8074, 8075 ^a

FROM THE BÖDEKEN MANUSCRIPT & BY J. V. H.

BÖDEKEN CODEX.

ST. LAWRENCE CODEX.

FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE MANUSCRIPT & BY J. V. H.

ANNOTATIONS.

Notes

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Theodoret or Theodore

ON ST. THEODORET OR THEODORE, PRESBYTER AND MARTYR, AT ANTIOCH IN SYRIA,

IN THE YEAR 362.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

BY J. V. H.

THE PASSION OF ST. THEODORET, PRESBYTER OF ANTIOCH,

BHL Number: 8074, 8075 a

FROM THE BÖDEKEN MANUSCRIPT & BY J. V. H.

BÖDEKEN CODEX.

ST. LAWRENCE CODEX.

FROM THE ST. LAWRENCE MANUSCRIPT & BY J. V. H.

ANNOTATIONS.

Notes

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BHL Number: 8074, 8075 ^a