Crescius and Companions

ON SS. CRESCIUS AND COMPANIONS: CRESCIUS, OMNIO AND THEIR COMPANIONS, EMPTIUS, CERBONIUS, AND PAMPHILA, MARTYRS IN THE MUGELLO IN TUSCANY,

IN THE YEAR CCL.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Crescius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Omnio, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Emptius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Cerbonius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Pamphila, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

The companions, martyrs in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (SS.)

BY V. D. B.

§ I. On the restoration of the cult of SS. Crescius and his companions; controversies over the ancient Passion.

Through the calamity of the times and the negligence of men, the memory of SS. Crescius and his companions lay long suppressed and all but prostrate, [The cult of SS. Crescius and his companions, almost obsolete in Tuscany, is renewed after the middle of the 17th century;] until at last, as the seventeenth century was drawing to its close, it seemed right that it should be revived and spread through the whole diocese of Florence. The greatest contribution to this was made by Victoria Ubaldi de Robore *, last heiress of the duchy of Urbino and widow of Ferdinand II, grand duke of Etruria. For when she had resolved to renew and augment the cult of a number of the heavenly patrons of Tuscany, she approached the Roman see, asking that their offices be approved by apostolic authority; and among these was the office of SS. Crescius and his companions. Pope Clement X assented to these most pious wishes, and on the 6th day of May of the year 1676 he publicly issued a decree by which he gave licence that the feast of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs, be kept every year on the 24th day of October within the walls of Florence and through the whole diocese. But the office then granted was to be taken from the Common of many martyrs; nor do any Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions seem to have been known at that time [Storia di S. Cresci e de' SS. Compagni martiri e della chiesa del medesimo santo, posta in Valcava del Mugello, scritta da Marco Antonio de' Mozzi, canonico Florentino, lettore della lingua Toscana nello studio di Firenze e accademico della Crusca all' altezza reale di Cosimo III, gran duca di Toscana, 1710, pref. pag. XX.] [History of St. Crescius and of the holy martyr companions and of the church of the same saint, situated in Valcava in the Mugello, written by Marco Antonio de' Mozzi, canon of Florence, lecturer in the Tuscan language at the university of Florence and academician of the Crusca, to his royal highness Cosimo III, grand duke of Tuscany, 1710, preface, page XX.].

[2] Ancient Acts are found, and by Laderchius But that licence no longer seemed sufficient when the bones of the holy martyrs had been uncovered anew and it pleased Cosmo III, grand duke of Etruria, to restore the church in which they were laid. Accordingly Abbot Charles Anthony Gondi, chief secretary to his royal highness, had all the shelves of the libraries examined, to see whether the Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions might anywhere be found, from which proper lessons might then be composed; for it was certain that they had once existed, since Peter Francis Giambullari, in his Italian book il Gello, printed at Florence in the year 1546, had expressly named a History of St. Crescius Orlendius, Orbis sacer et profanus, volume III, page 1146.. And so those Acts were found in the most celebrated Medicean-Laurentian library; likewise in the archive of the metropolitan church of Florence; and finally in the Alexandrine library of the Sapienza at Rome: all of which copies, though taken from different places, were found to agree with one another. These therefore, says James Laderchius [Acts of the Passion of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs, from the manuscript codices of the Medicean-Laurentian library, of the metropolitan church of Florence and of the Roman Sapienza, now first edited, and vindicated and illustrated by James Laderchius, presbyter of the Congregation of the Oratory of the City, Florence, 1707. Preface, page II.], presbyter of the Roman Oratory, when they had been sent to Rome sealed with authentic marks, I was consulted in the name of his royal highness for my opinion upon these Acts, and was further ordered that, should anything else besides these same Acts chance to be found concerning the deeds of the holy martyrs, whether in approved writers or in manuscript codices, I should diligently and carefully note it down; so that by this means the honour of the ancient cult of the holy martyrs might the more readily be judged by the apostolic see to deserve confirmation by a new grant. Laderchius found nothing new; but to those Acts he added so great a commentary that his book fills 245 pages of the largest format.

[3] They are unhappily illustrated. But what did Laderchius accomplish with this bulk? Since this man, a lover of labour and of sacred antiquity, was destitute of that judgment or sense by which true things are distinguished from false and doubtful from certain, whose laws are inborn in the human mind and are confirmed by the assiduous reading of contemporary and prudent writers, but are little grasped by precepts or learned by the use of books to which people love to prefix the titles of vindications and defences, he spent great labour in collecting from other Acts of holy martyrs similar passages, by which he believed he would make it plain that there is nothing in the Passion of SS. Crescius and his companions that ought not to be believed, unless one first casts away the Acts of the other saints. In which matter he erred in two ways: both in that he constantly has recourse to Passions which are not of the best quality; and in that he did not see that it is one thing for there to be some one difficult passage in a historical tract, and quite another for almost the whole history to need excuse or defence.

[4] [More happily there is added to them an excellent appendix on their posthumous glory.] But when the finished work was already under the press at Florence, I was commanded, says Anthony Francis Felici, a Roman by nation [Appendix of Anthony Francis Felici of Rome to the Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs, edited by James Laderchius, presbyter of the Congregation of the Roman Oratory, comprising the monuments of their perpetual cult. Florence, 1707. Page 4.], to gather together as quickly as possible all the monuments that would prove the perpetual cult of these same martyrs, and from them to prepare an appendix to the work. And I, although pressed by shortness of time, yielding nevertheless to the authority of him who ordered it, applied myself strenuously to unearthing these old monuments. I confess, however, that in my diligent search for them I was assisted by Abbot Charles Anthony Gondi, who, out of the singular piety with which he honours the most blessed martyrs Crescius and his companions, most religiously preserves, in a great many papers, very ancient records of their passion and cult, sought out from every quarter with the utmost zeal. Sustained therefore by his help, I completed the labour, whatever it amounts to, in such an order as first to review the writers and the old martyrologies, as many as came my way, that made mention of our saints; then their ancient images and the churches dedicated to them; and lastly to append the discoveries and translations of their relics, and the Office and Mass that were formerly recited on their feast days. But what especially concerns the basilica in which the bodies of SS. Crescius and his companions are preserved I have touched upon cursorily, since a longer dissertation on these matters is being undertaken by Mark Anthony Mozzi, canon of Florence, in the learned book in which he presents the deeds of the same martyrs rendered into Italian. Felici's writing is very good, and has never (so far as I know) been censured by anyone.

[5] [Capassi attacks those Acts more harshly than is just, and they are assailed more bitingly by another.] But quite different was the fortune of Laderchius's book, which came into public light from the Florentine presses in the year 1707 together with Felici's appendix. For as soon as Gerard Capassi, presbyter of the Order of Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, learned from a letter of Justus Fontanini, a most celebrated man, that the Sacred Congregation of Rites was being asked to grant the clergy of Florence the faculty of reciting every year a proper Office drawn from the Acts defended by Laderchius, he at once drew his pen and wrote a letter to Justus Fontanini, in which he sharply criticized the Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions and at the same time the annotations of Laderchius, sometimes not sparing the author himself. To this, as was to be expected, the other side did not remain quiet, and in the year 1708 there was published, again from the Florentine presses, a reply to Capassi's writing [Lettera ad un cavaliere Fiorentino devoto de' santi martiri Cresci e compagni in risposta di quella scritta del P. Fr. Gherardo Capassi dell' ordine de' servi di Maria a Giusto Fontanini contro gli atti de' medesimi santi, dati alla luce da Giacomo Laderchi, prete della congregazione dell'Oratorio di Roma.] [Letter to a Florentine gentleman devoted to the holy martyrs Crescius and companions, in answer to that written by Father Friar Gherardo Capassi of the Order of the Servants of Mary to Justus Fontanini against the Acts of the same saints, brought to light by James Laderchi, priest of the Congregation of the Oratory of Rome.]; whose method is first to recite the adversary's words and then to attack them. This lucubration is not by Laderchius himself Compare the Preface of the second edition., but was nevertheless written in his chamber (as is openly stated in the notice to the reader). How unhappy the outcome was at which both laboured (I mean Laderchius and Capassi) is explained in few words by John Lami of Florence Monuments of the holy church of Florence, volume I, page 594, note a, who affirms that, carried away by the heat of the dispute, they blurted out more than they could confirm by reasons. Indeed Laderchius's Achates himself, whoever he may finally be, made a new edition of his apology in the year 1711, in whose preface he confesses that he had previously used

words too bitter and too sharp, and that his writing had been rightly and deservedly disapproved, even though it otherwise contained good, useful and sound doctrine; for which reason he greatly abridged and corrected it and, having somewhat changed the title [Lettera ad un cavaliere Fiorentino devoto de' santi martiri Cresci e compagni, in risposta ad alcune difficolta e dubiezze motivate contro gl' Atti de' medesimi santi dati in luce etc.] [Letter to a Florentine gentleman devoted to the holy martyrs Crescius and companions, in answer to certain difficulties and doubts raised against the Acts of the same saints brought to light, etc.], had it printed anew at the Florentine presses.

[6] Pope Clement XI does not wish proper lessons to be recited. But this modest reply came too late. For Pope Clement XI had already determined that proper lessons would not be recited Compare Mozzi, page XX.; whence now, since on the 24th day of October the feast of St. Raphael the archangel is kept, there are found at the 25th day of October only these words in the appendix to the Roman Breviary for the grand duchy of Etruria [Proper offices of the saints granted down to this day by the holy apostolic see both to the several dioceses of the grand duchy of Etruria and to certain other kingdoms and provinces of Italy, page 391.]: Feast of SS. Crescius, Omnio and Emptius, martyrs. Double. All from the Common of many martyrs, second place, except the lessons of the first nocturn, which are from the occurring Scripture, and the prayer. Prayer. We beseech thee, almighty God, that the help of thy blessed martyrs Crescius, Omnio and Emptius may never fail us, whose venerable triumph thou grantest us to celebrate. Through our Lord. And so this controversy availed nothing towards confirming the deeds of SS. Crescius and his companions by ecclesiastical authority; but it seems to have contributed something towards shaking off the dust under which the fame of those martyrs lay almost buried: so that the labour of Laderchius and his defender did not altogether go to the winds.

[7] [Mozzi, Orlendi, Brocchi and Lami write better about SS. Crescius and his companions.] But while this controversy was boiling and dividing learned men into different parties, Mark Anthony de Mozzi, whom henceforth, following the example of Lami, I shall call Moctius, was diligently applying himself to his work without anger or favour. This man, of a moderate disposition as it seems, divided his labour into three sections, of which the first, or preface, contains a modest defence of the Acts of St. Crescius and his fellows; behind this follow, with an Italian version, the same Acts, drawn from a manuscript codex of the archive of the Opera of St. Mary of the Flower, collated with the Strozzi codex; but he neglected the Medicean-Laurentian and the transcript of the Florentine abbey; third and last comes the History of the church of St. Crescius in Valcava in the Mugello territory, which is all the more diffuse as Cosmo III had been the more liberal in restoring that sanctuary. After Moctius the deeds of SS. Crescius and his companions were further illustrated by Francis Orlendi in the Orbis sacer et profanus, published at Florence in the year 1732, and by Brocchi both in the Lives of the Florentine Saints and in the Description of the Mugello; which latter works I see praised in many places by John Lami, and they were formerly kept in the Bollandist Museum. And finally Lami himself, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, wished to contribute some labour both to declaring the deeds of these same saints, which he had published again Monuments of the church of Florence, volume III, page LIII and following., and to explaining their cult.

[8] [The author of the Passion is not contemporary, since the Constantinopolitan and Athanasian creeds and the hymn Te Deum lit his way,] But, as will have been abundantly plain to the reader from what has been said, all these were guided by the Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions, so many times named already; and this is indeed the chief, or rather the only, source from which we can draw the glorious exploits of those saints. But how controverted these are, and how much of doubt they contain! It is necessary, therefore, first of all to inquire, as far as can be done, what credit is to be given them, and hence at what time and on what authority they were written. Laderchius and his defender judged that they were indeed not written by an eyewitness, but nevertheless by a contemporary, and a very short time, say three or four years, after the passion of St. Crescius Lettera ad un cavaliere Fiorentino, page 170 and 228, edition of 1711.; which is constantly reported to have taken place in the reign of Decius, or in the middle of the third century. But in truth this can be approved by no man of sense, since the writer of those Acts was guided by the Constantinopolitan and Athanasian creeds, by the hymn of thanksgiving Te Deum laudamus, by the prayers of St. Leo the Pope and by the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great. For behold, at number 8, St. Crescius is said to have expounded to St. Omnio παραφραστικως the beginning of the Constantinopolitan creed, namely how he ought to believe in God the Father almighty, maker of things visible and invisible, and in our Lord Jesus Christ his only Son, who, since he is God from God, … light from light, etc.; in like manner he repeats several things from the Athanasian creed, namely, at number 9, how he ought to have venerated by worshipping and adored by venerating the holy and ineffable Trinity of the Godhead in unity and the unity in Trinity; in which no one can fail to recognize these well-worn words: So that in all things, as is aforesaid, both the unity in Trinity and the Trinity in unity is to be venerated. St. Crescius is likewise represented at number 8 as having read the canticle Te Deum, since he recites from it: To whom Cherubim and Seraphim cry out with unceasing voice.

[9] the writings of St. Leo and St. Gregory the Great; But that St. Crescius, or rather the writer of his Passion, retained in memory the sermons of St. Leo the Pope, is clear from many passages. The following passage, for example, which occurs at number 3, is entirely Leonine: Namely our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in order to snatch man, deceived by malignant fraud, from the snares of death and of hell, deigned to descend from the heavens and to take up our flesh, not relinquishing what he was, but assuming what he was not, that by the sharing of our infirmity he might raise us to the power of his divinity. For it is taken partly from sermon XXI, or the first on the Nativity of the Lord, chapter II, where one reads Works of St. Leo the Great, volume I, column 191 and 192, Migne edition.: The Word of God therefore, God, … in order to set man free from eternal death, became man: so stooping to take up our lowliness without diminishing his own majesty that, remaining what he was and assuming what he was not, he united the true form of a servant to that form in which he is equal to God the Father; partly from sermon XXVII, or the seventh on the Nativity of the Lord, chapter I Ibid. column 213.: a passage which the Roman Breviary will supply in the sixth lesson of the divine office on the feast of the Circumcision. Further, at number 8, St. Crescius is represented as saying these words: The Lord and redeemer Jesus Christ, … lest his handiwork should perish and in order that he might snatch from the snares of death man, whom the ancient enemy, having deceived him by malignant fraud, had despoiled of the glory of immortality, … deigned to descend from the heavens. He who wrote this doubtless had before his eyes these words of St. Leo from sermon XXII, or the second on the Nativity of the Lord Ibid. 194; compare letter XXVIII to Flavian, chapter 3, column 765.: For the devil, who boasted that man, deceived by his fraud, had lost the divine gifts and, stripped of the dowry of immortality, had undergone the harsh sentence of death, etc. Finally, that the author of the Passion was versed in the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great is clear from this head if from nothing else, that he chose to have St. Crescius, when entreated to raise St. Cerbonius, or Serapion, from the dead, speak in the same manner as St. Benedict the abbot. Here are the words ascribed to St. Crescius at number 18: This is not ours, dearest brethren, this is not ours, but belongs to the holy Apostles and their successors. Now hear St. Benedict [Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, book II, chapter 32, Works, volume II, column 265, Maurist edition.]: Withdraw, brethren, withdraw; these things are not ours, but the holy Apostles'.

[10] [nevertheless, on account of what he says about the Holy Spirit, he cannot be referred to the end of the 11th century,] It is manifest, therefore, that those Acts were not written in the third century, but long after. Capassi, however, contends Lettera etc. page 114 and following., and Moctius agrees Storia di S. Cresci, page XI., that they were committed to writing at the close of the eleventh and the opening of the twelfth century; since St. Crescius is reported in them to have said the following: The Holy Spirit, the confirmer and consolidator of all things, concerning whom it is openly added in the aforesaid verse of the Psalm: And all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth; by which words it is clearly given to be understood that the Holy Spirit is most rightly believed to be the Spirit of the Father and of the Son… But since the Son and the Father, as is shown in the Gospel by the very words of the Lord, are one, there can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; which Holy Spirit, paraclete and consoler, proceeding from the Father and the Son, etc. On these words they observed that they seem to have been written when the controversy between the Greeks and the Latins began to be agitated at the close of the eleventh century; especially since no one before SS. Peter Damian and Anselm attempted to show from the words by the spirit of his mouth that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son. But the defender of Laderchius easily demonstrated from innumerable writers how far these claims stray from the truth. To whom I shall add one, St. Venantius Fortunatus, born in Transpadane Gaul near the city of Treviso, instructed in letters at Ravenna, and finally vested with the mitre of Poitiers. In the exposition of the Catholic faith which Muratori was the first to bring to light, and which is a continuous commentary on the Athanasian creed, he says Anecdota, volume II, page 212 and 213.: Therefore, not confounding the persons, because there are altogether three persons. For there is he who begets, he who is begotten, and he who proceeds. He who begets is the Father, who begot the Son; the Son is the begotten, whom the Father begot; the Holy Spirit is he who proceeds, because he proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Father and the Son are coeternal with each other, and coequal, and fellow workers, as it is written: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, that is, created by the Son of God. And all the power of them by the Spirit of his mouth. Where his Spirit is spoken of in the singular number, it plainly demonstrates the Trinity of persons, because the three are one and the one three. Nor should I wonder if the biographer of St. Crescius really had this Exposition before his eyes; for although his style is much fuller and even better than that of St. Fortunatus, he nevertheless follows him closely in declaring the Christian faith. There is therefore no reason, in my judgment, for saying that the Passion of St. Crescius was written in the eleventh or twelfth century.

[11] [But since he was truly learned and skilled in the Latin tongue, he seems not to have been much later than St. Gregory the Great.] But if this is so, the reader will doubtless ask at what time they seem to have been committed to writing. For my part, when I consider the style, especially in the discourses, it seems to me to come very close to the richness and copiousness of St. Leo the Great. I see also that it is throughout truly Latin and stained with very few impurities. Nor do I admire less the doctrine, which is set forth not only in sound formulas of words, but also with such accuracy, depth and breadth that it comes very near to SS. Jerome, Augustine and Leo. It is indeed understood throughout that he presses in the footsteps of others and turns the opinions of others to his own use; but no one would do this prudently unless he were a good theologian. For this reason I should not dare to assert that he lived much after the times of St. Gregory the Great, or when, through the long domination of the Lombards and other calamities, sacred and profane letters had altogether collapsed in Italy.

[12] He wrote many things from popular tradition. But these praises can never bring it about that his lucubration should be worth as much as a contemporary historical monument; but at most that there should be attributed to it that authority which is commonly assigned to the Acts of St. Lawrence, of St. Sebastian and of nearly all the Italian martyrs; for only very few were written immediately after the slaughter of those most holy athletes. Moctius supposes that an older Passion guided the biographer of St. Crescius, who then thought it should be embellished: it is certain that this could have happened, but it is established on no ground that it actually did; indeed at number 13 the author seems to be writing from popular tradition, where he says: But the saint of God, having gently consoled them, IS REPORTED to have uttered such admonitions: among which there are certainly some, for example on the double road to heaven, the one of confession, the other of martyrdom, that can by no means have been read in an ancient document. However that may be, the martyr's writer wrote when the memory of the deeds of St. Crescius had not yet perished. For, to pass over what Moctius notes on the agreement of the places with what is related in the Acts, he rightly observed that it cannot be understood how in what is told about the wound in the head and about the situation and condition of the sepulchres and other things of this kind there should have been no error (as became abundantly plain from the inspection of the sepulchres and relics), unless a certain memory of all those things had survived Storia di S. Cresci, page XXIII and following.. I therefore gladly agree with Lami Monuments of the Florentine church, volume I, page 642 and following., who accepts the chief circumstances of the Passion of SS. Crescius and his companions, but cuts away the longer discourses and the miracles: and indeed these discourses are recited according to what was reported, and the miracles, which, being wrought outside the common order of things, ought to rest on the firmest authority, have here as their narrator only a man, grave and learned to be sure, but later by so many years.

[13] [Some maintain, relying on the authority of Villani, that the faith was preached at Florence by SS. Paulinus and Fronto, disciples of St. Peter;] But however these things may stand, it seems certain that no better monument than these Acts exists concerning the spread of the Christian faith at Florence in the third century; whence it comes about that most now, on the occasion of the passion of SS. Crescius and his companions, among whom it is right in some way to number St. Minias, inquire at what time the Gospel first became known to the Florentines and the other peoples of Etruria. A great many maintain that SS. Paulinus and Frontinus, who is also Frentinus and Fronto, were sent there by St. Peter the apostle: that some Florentines were baptized by them, and that a small church was raised outside the walls of the city, namely on the hill which afterwards, on account of the passion of St. Minias, was called the Mount of St. Minias. But no historian at all makes mention of this mission before the most celebrated John Villani, who from the beginning of the fourteenth century down to the year 1348 laboured with wonderful zeal at composing a history of Florence. He indeed professes to follow older chronicles [Historie Fiorentine, book I, chapter LVIII, in Muratori, Scriptores Italiæ, volume XIII, column 53.]; but these are nothing other than what was read inscribed on a tablet in the church of St. Minias, and they breathe such an age that they cannot have been composed long before Villani. That the reader may himself judge of these things, here are the words of that tablet or chronicle Orlendi, Orbis sacer et profanus, volume III, page 1130 and 1131.: L'anno 62 di nostra salute, il sesto dell' imperio di Nerone, da S. Piero, vicario di Cristo in terra, furono mandati a predicare il vangelo nello città di Firenze Frontino e Paolino, li quali con gli altri fedeli cristiani si riducevano qui per fuggire la persecuzione degl' infedeli, perchè in quel tempo qui erano grandissimi boschi e solitudini, dove edificarono un oratorio ad onore di Dio e nome di S. Piero apostolo, dove si congregavano a laudare Dio: ed in questo luogo è il loro cimiterio, dove ora è la porta santa, nel quel cimiterio v'è numero grande di corpi santi. [In the year 62 of our salvation, the sixth of the reign of Nero, Frontinus and Paulinus were sent by St. Peter, vicar of Christ on earth, to preach the Gospel in the city of Florence; and they, with the other faithful Christians, took refuge here to escape the persecution of the infidels, because at that time there were here very great woods and solitudes, where they built an oratory in honour of God and in the name of St. Peter the apostle, where they gathered to praise God: and in this place is their cemetery, where the holy door now is, in which cemetery there is a great number of holy bodies.] It will be helpful to add that St. Paulinus is the same as he who is held to be the first bishop of Lucca, and Fronto the same as the disciple of St. Paul whom the people of Périgueux maintain to have been their apostle and first bishop; and that both are said by the Florentines to have spread the faith of Christ in their city, when the former was making his way from Rome to Lucca, the latter into the Gauls Ibid. page 1129.; whence they also conclude that the primacy of their church is its proper honour, as having been founded before St. Paulinus preached the Gospel at Lucca, Pisa and elsewhere.

[14] but with little success; others take refuge in St. Romulus, bishop of Fiesole; But since all those things are recent, it is no wonder if, on the contrary, to use the words of Orlendi [Compare Foggini, De Romano divi Petri itinere et episcopatu, page 289 and following.], Ricordano Malespini, older than John Villani, Leonardo of Arezzo, contemporary with Villani, and St. Antoninus, who composed his Chronicle after the aforesaid authors and discoursed splendidly on the church and the affairs of the Florentines, make absolutely no mention of the baptism of the Florentines, first administered by Frontinus and Paulinus. They affirm that by the work and preaching of St. Romulus, first bishop of Fiesole, both the people of Fiesole and likewise the Florentines, who were their nearest neighbours, were first converted to the faith of Christ, relying on the following words of the Life of St. Romulus Ibid. page 285.: Therefore Blessed Romulus, taking the road together with Marchitianus and Charissimus, preached the word constantly everywhere: where the word everywhere has been so well weighed by the Florentines and other Italians that those who scarcely knew from whom they had received the faith have asserted St. Romulus to have been their apostle. This would have been somehow tolerable if the Acts of St. Romulus were of the least authority; but they were put together in the eleventh or twelfth century by a notable fabulist, who, since he had nothing else ascertained than that St. Romulus was bishop at Fiesole and had obtained burial there at the foot of the mountain, added from his own brain so many other fictions that in the whole of hagiography there is perhaps no Life of any saint laden with more lies than those Acts of St. Romulus. For this reason Foggini De Romano divi Petri itinere et episcopatu, page 303., who won great praise among the Florentines, did not hesitate to approve by his vote my predecessor Conrad Janning Acta SS. volume II of July, page 255., who dared not trust these Acts sufficiently to say that St. Romulus was ordained bishop by St. Peter; much less that he came to the Florentines in that age.

[15] but he seems to have lived at the end of the 4th century But it is now altogether safe to go further and openly deny that St. Romulus, bishop of Fiesole, was a disciple of St. Peter, since from his epitaph, compared with the panegyric oration which Abbot Theuzo delivered on him at the beginning of the eleventh century, it is most certainly established that he did not live long before the fifth century. Here is the part of the inscription that can still be read Foggini, De Romano divi Petri itinere et episcopatu, page 308 and following.: MESSI HIC ROMVLI CORPVS LONGA IN PACE QVIESCIT — QVI XPI CVM PRIMIS IVSSA SERVARET AB ANNIS — TVM LECTOR DOMINI ANNIS QVINDECIM IVSTUS — CONTINVIS PROBATVSQVE FVIT MERITOQVE IVVATVS — ÆCLESIÆ SANCTÆ DIACONII EST ORDINATVS HONORE. [Here the body of Messius Romulus rests in long peace — who kept the commands of Christ from his first years — then, a just reader of the Lord for fifteen years — continuous, he was proved and helped by merit — he was ordained to the honour of the diaconate of holy Church.] The remainder is so gapped that no one seems to have been able to restore it to this day. But from Theuzo, who read the inscription when it was still intact, we have learned that St. Romulus exercised the office of deacon for some years, indeed for thirty, and was then promoted to the charge of the presbyterate or episcopate. Moreover, no expert will say that an inscription so long, composed in such barbarous verses, and above all adorned with the monogram , is older than the fourth century. Nor shall I myself dissent from Foggini Ibid. page 352 and following., who judges that St. Romulus, bishop of Fiesole, is the same as that Romulus to whom St. Ambrose wrote two letters, and that he was said to be a disciple of St. Peter because those who served in the cathedral church of St. Peter at Fiesole were called the alumni of St. Peter Ibid. page 360..

[16] [The zeal of the first Christians, the dispersion of the faithful in every direction,] We shall therefore seem wiser if, leaving aside SS. Romulus, Fronto and Paulinus, we look to the universal condition of affairs, such as we have found it from the sacred books and genuine histories. Now from the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of St. Paul and the Apocalypse of St. John it is plainly certain that the apostles diligently discharged the office which Christ the Lord had laid upon them; namely that they went away among the nations and taught them; that they sent their disciples in every direction, furnished with the same charge; and that they instituted bishops, some regionary, others fixed to a definite see. From Eusebius, moreover, and the other writings of the ancient fathers, and also from the genuine Passions of the martyrs, we have learned that everywhere Christians, even laymen, were inflamed with holy ardour to communicate the good news to the Gentiles; and that the Gospel was very often spread by Christian soldiers, merchants and slaves. For this reason, as SS. Paul and Luke found Brethren at Puteoli in the year 61 Acts of the Apostles XVIII, 13, 14., so (unless I am mistaken) if they had stopped in other cities of Italy, especially those nearest to Rome, they would have found the faithful there also. And I see well enough that this rests on conjectures; yet I should think it firmer than anything that is drawn from the Acts of SS. Romulus, Fronto and Paulinus. It is far, therefore, very far from me to deny that the Christian faith became known at Florence in the apostolic age;

indeed I would gladly admit that bishops were already active there at that time, not stable ones, however, but rather regionary, and whose names have perished.

[17] [and the condition of Florence suggest better than the spurious monuments brought forward that there were Christians there already in the first century. Its former circuit] For although the splendour of Florence at that time does not seem to have been so great as some imagine, yet its condition was such that it could not be wholly neglected by bishops. For it was situated on the river Arno in a most fertile territory, and had an outlet by five public roads to the surrounding municipalities and cities. For from there one went by a paved road to Fiesole, Faenza and Ravenna; by another to Pistoia, Lucca and, by the Aemilian Way, to Genoa; by a third to Pisa, where one met the Aurelian Way, leading along the Tyrrhenian Sea to Rome; by a fourth to Siena, Chiusi, Volsinii, Falerii and Rome; and by a fifth, finally, the New Cassian, to Bituriza and from there to Arezzo, Ambro and Siena, and from these three places by the Old Cassian Way to Chiusi and thence to Rome Meyer, Universal Atlas, map XXXV.. Yet it was far from being of such extent as at the present time. For Abbot Follini Compare Fantozzi, Nouveau guide de Florence, page 17., after tracing the remains of its former circuit with incredible zeal and labour, found that it extended along the Arno from the Foro Arni about seventy metres beyond the bridge of the Most Holy Trinity; from there the walls turned to the north as far as the street of the Fair Ladies ; from there they were carried to the East through the square of the Antinori *, towards the small church of the Congregation of Mercy; and finally they bent, on the near side of the square of the cathedral church, through the streets named Magazzini and Condotta dell' Anguillara; and from the middle of this last street they stretched straight southward to the Foro Arni Compare ibid. Pianta della cità di Firenze.: a space which contains about two hundred and sixty thousand square metres; whereas its present circuit is nine thousand four hundred and seventy-one metres long Guibert, Dictionnaire géographique et statistique, page 712.; which takes in nearly two square Tuscan leagues [Repetti, Dizionario geografico fisico storico della Toscana, volume II, page 262.], or five million square metres; so that the present area of Florence is twenty times Repetti has only ten times, volume cited, page 263. as great as it once was; and since it now has only about one hundred and twelve thousand inhabitants Fantozzi, page 33., it is scarcely credible that there were more than ten thousand inhabitants there, even if one reflects that the houses of the ancients were very small and that there are now many gardens within the walls. But a town of ten thousand inhabitants was very conspicuous under the rule of the Romans; and so we are carried away into error by the force of our imagination, when we suppose that the things we see praised by the ancients were as great as those which are now called splendid and great.

[18] Nor does Florence seem very ancient, since Frontinus writes of it Cited by Cellarius, Notitia orbis antiqui, volume 1, page 572, Schwartz edition.: and the origin of Florence is described in few words. Florence, a colony led out by the triumvirs (Augustus, Antony and Lepidus) (in the year 44 before Christ); assigned by the Julian law (by which definite boundaries were ordered to be set for the fields) to the centuries, Caesarian jugera XX, by cardines and decumani; that is, twenty jugera were allotted to each century of colonists, extending two hundred and forty feet in length and one hundred and twenty in breadth; and these were divided by boundaries drawn from south to north and from east to west. Moreover, that the colony was populous in proportion to the extent of its space is plain even from this, that only 20 jugera were distributed to each century; whereas elsewhere the centuries were of 50 jugera, elsewhere 210, elsewhere 400 [Discorsi di Vincenzo Borghini con le annotazioni di Dom. Mar. Manni, volume I, page 1 and following.]. The things that are set against this, in order to attribute a greater antiquity to that city, are either uncertain or openly fabulous Hyginus, On the Establishing of Boundaries, page 154, Goes edition.. The new colony was a part of the commonwealth or people of Rome, and most of its inhabitants were enrolled in the Scaptian tribe, created in the year of the city 421 by the censors Publius Philo and Spurius Posthumius See Rosinus, Romanæ Antiquitates, book VI, chapter 15, page 469.. Lami has collected a number of marble inscriptions in which Florentines are said to be of the Scaptian tribe Memorabilia of the church of Florence, volume I, page 12 and 13.. But beware of taking all as belonging to one tribe; for the division of Roman citizens into tribes was not made on the ground of residence alone, but rather depended on the discretion of the censors, who, according to the convenience of affairs, at the request of citizens and even as a punishment (for some tribes were more honourable than others), enrolled Romans in various tribes or even thrust them down from one to another: whence Lami wonders without cause that Florentines are found enrolled in the Arniensian and Romilian tribes Ibid. page 13 and 14.: these being for the rest most honourable, as rustic tribes. Since the Florentines had been enrolled in tribes, they enjoyed the right of suffrage (the best of all the rights of citizenship): for the tribes were instituted for casting votes. The new colony grew greatly to the detriment of neighbouring Fiesole. That its territory was from the beginning as extensive as the diocese of Florence afterwards was is the judgment of Borghini, and Lami agrees with him Ibid. page XVIII.: a thing plainly incredible, if one reflects (as we have just pointed out) that only twenty jugera were assigned to each century. Some maintain that Florence was the metropolis of Tuscany, and maintain besides that it was the special seat of the corrector of Etruria Compare Lami, ibid. page 5 and 6.; but they rely on very weak arguments. Let us therefore hold this one thing as certain, that Florence was a notable town in the middle of the third century, when SS. Crescius and his companions suffered there, and also St. Mineas; of whom we shall speak presently.

[19] [SS. Crescius and his companions seem to have been slain in the year 250, and SS. Cerbonius and his companions in the following year.] In the Passion of St. Crescius it is openly related that the emperor Decius ordered the holy man and his companions to be put to death: which must have happened between the month of October of the year of Christ 249, when Decius put on the imperial purple, and the month of November of the year 251, about which time he perished in battle against the Goths [Tillemont, Empereurs at the years 249 and 251, volume III, page 129 and following. Brussels, 1732.]. But it is permissible to determine the time of the passion of St. Crescius and his companions more closely. For since St. Crescius with two companions is read to have been slain on the ninth day before the kalends of November, and St. Cerbonius with other companions in the seventh month after, namely on the fourth day before the nones of May, there can be no doubt that those martyrdoms took place in the year 250, these in the year 251. That Decius stayed at Florence is related nowhere else than in the Acts of St. Crescius and of St. Mineas: but no reason can be drawn from this why credence should not be given to those writings on this matter. For Decius seems to have stayed through the whole year 250 at Rome and in its vicinity, unless perhaps he made an excursion into the Gauls Ibid. page 130 and 131.: on which journey he could easily have come to Florence also. I should not wish, however, to maintain that Decius was still in those parts when St. Cerbonius and his companions were slain in the month of May; for it is much more likely that Decius had by then already gone off to fight against the Goths on the Danube. In the reign of Decius, Etruria had other martyrs also; but since their passion has nothing in common with that of ours, it will be enough to have pointed out that their names are reviewed by Tillemont Ibid. page 144., and that their deeds are illustrated by our predecessors partly at the 1st day of June Acta SS. volume I of June, page 33 and following. and partly at the 9th of August Ibid. volume II of August, page 401 and following.. For the rest, nothing is more certain than that the sword of persecution raged through the whole empire while Decius held its reins.

[20] [Lami seems wrongly to have contended that the name of St. Crescius should be changed to Acrischius.] Concerning the names of SS. Crescius and his companions, because they are found almost nowhere else, Lami imagined that there had long since been a dispute between Capassi and Laderchius, so that he might himself seem to intervene in this controversy and pronounce sentence on it. As to the name Criscus, he says Memorabilia of the church of Florence, volume I, page 594., as it is written in old documents of the middle age, I have no doubt that it is a truncated and corrupted name; and I hold firmly that the whole name is Acrischius, the marble of a Florentine soldier giving warrant for it,

L. ACRISCHIO. L. F. ARN

ACTHO. FLORENTIA

EVOKAT. TITI. AVG. MIL. LEG

XXI MINEA

MILIT. ANN. XXXVI. VIX

ANN. LXXIX

M. ACRISCHIVS. L. F. ARN

SABINVS

T. F. C.

[To L. Acrischius Actho, son of Lucius, of the Arniensian tribe, of Florence, evocatus of Titus Augustus, soldier of the 21st legion, Minea; he served 36 years, lived 79 years. M. Acrischius Sabinus, son of Lucius, of the Arniensian tribe, had this done.]

Among our countrymen, then, this name was in use; and it was afterwards depraved and mutilated in barbarous centuries; just as Berta for Alberta; Cicus for Franciscus; Bindus for Aldobrandinus; Lapus for Jacobus; Vannes for Joannes, and other things of the kind. Criscus therefore was said for Acrischius. But in my judgment these conjectures seem hardly to deserve approval; for that St. Criscus is sometimes found in ancient monuments is nothing to the purpose, since one reads Crisconius and Criscens in place of Cresconius and Crescens. Nor is the name Crescius or Crescus altogether unheard of, since in the Martyrology of Jerome, at the 18th day of December, a St. Crescius or Crescus is met among the African martyrs. Nor is this form more unusual than Cresconius; a name, perhaps derived from Crescus, which seems also to have had Africa as its native soil. There seems therefore to be no reason why all the ancient monuments should be abandoned, or why St. Crescus or Crescius should be held to have been called by the true name of Acrischius.

[21] On the names of SS. Omnio and Cerbonius. Lami next conjectures that the name of St. Omnio was Onio, found in Greek inscriptions. But neither here is it necessary to admit that this name was depraved, since Omnio could easily have been derived from Omnis, as Quartio from Quartus. I should not wish, however, to censure those who think that his name was Onnio or Onio; for scarcely any difference of sound was formerly heard, since Omnio, Onnio and Onio were pronounced alike; then too other saints Onnio or Onio are known; and, if the authority of others is to be weighed, Moctius everywhere calls him in Italian S. Onione. Another companion of St. Crescius, namely St. Serapion, is said to have laid aside his pagan name in baptism and to have wished thereafter to be called Cerbonius. Lami disapproves this also, maintaining that Cerbonius is a depraved form of Serapion. But neither

is this conjecture to be tolerated, since it is more than sufficiently established that in former times names were very often changed in baptism; and that Cerbonius or Cervonius, like many other names borrowed from animals, formerly found favour with Christians. But I prefer to note a few things on this at that place in the Passion. That the name of Emtius or Entius was not altogether unusual Lami himself adds; which he proves also by bringing forward an ancient inscription. The rest seems to present no difficulty.

[22] On the ancient and more recent cult of the holy martyrs. Since we are to give further below the whole of Felici's writing on the posthumous glory of SS. Crescius and his companions, it has seemed right to indicate at this place only a few things which could hardly be said there in the annotations. We find the feast of these heavenly patrons recorded on three days, namely the 23rd, 24th and 25th of October. Ferrarius, in the General Catalogue of saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology, records from the tables of the church of St. Lawrence at Florence the feast of St. Crescius at the 23rd day of October; and he was imitated by Castellanus in his additions to the Roman Martyrology, where together with Ferrarius he said that the body of St. Crescius is preserved in the same church. Nevertheless Ferrarius in the same Catalogue, at the following day or the 24th of October, reports the same festival from the monuments of Valcava in the territory of the Mugello. And having related a few things on St. Crescius in the Catalogue of the saints of Italy at the 23rd day of October, he added these words: In the tables of the church of Fiesole, recently seen by us, we have observed that the birthday of this martyr is celebrated on the following day. And indeed this is the genuine day, the one namely dignified (as is openly related in the Acts) by the martyrdom of St. Crescius and his companions. And in truth in the most ancient times the feast of St. Crescius was kept at Florence on this day, as is established from a calendar written at the front of a Sacramentary or Missal about the year 1100, as Moctius reports Storia di santo Cresco, page 129., or (if it is the same) in the ninth or tenth century according to Lami Memorabilia of the church of Florence, volume I, page 570 and 608., and at one time used in the church of St. Bartholomew at Florence. However that may be, in that of Moctius one reads: C. VIII kal. St. Criscus, martyr. And from other manuscript books which Moctius saw Storia etc. preface, page XII. it is gathered that the feast of St. Crescius was solemnly kept in the cathedral church of Florence; for in its very ancient ritual book one reads: Of St. Criscus and his companions we make nine lessons; doubtless the same that we shall publish from Felici in the Posthumous Glory. And in another book, written in the thirteenth century and preserved in the metropolitan archive, whose title is: Manners and Customs of the Florentine Canonry, where it deals with the ringing of the bells on the feasts of the saints, these words occur: For St. Criscus two squillæ Storia etc. page 129.; now squillæ, a word still used by the Italians and derived from the German schelle, are smaller bells. Two squillæ seem to have been rung only on double feasts: for the rest, if anyone should wish to see how the order of ringing the squillæ and bells formerly varied on Sundays, feasts and ferial days, let him consult chapter CDXXXVIII and the following of the first part and chapter V of the second part of the Order of Offices of the church of Siena, which Odericus, a canon of the same church, wrote in the year 1213 and Trombelli brought to light in the year 1766. Certainly this order differs from the Florentine one; but there is not usually such diversity in matters of this kind, especially if the churches are neighbours, that it should seem to need great attention. And since we have fallen upon the Sienese Order, we point out at this place that it records the feast of St. Crescius between those of St. Severinus, archbishop and confessor, and St. Minias, and indeed in these words: Of St. Crescius we make three lessons. Other things let the kind reader see in chapter I of Felici's appendix. In the Florentine Sacred Diary, published in the year 1853 by Louis Sanctoni, the feast of SS. Crescius and his companions is noted on the 24th day of October; on which day the churches that have them as patrons in fact keep it; but other churches defer it to the following day on account of the occurrence, as was said at number 6 of this Commentary, of the birthday of St. Raphael the archangel, to be celebrated with higher rite. It need not be added at this place that a double feast of SS. Crescius and his companions is kept in Valcava; which was also formerly done in the church of Maciolis: for of these things we shall speak in annotations o and cc to chapter III of Felici's appendix. Concerning the feast of SS. Cerbonius and his companions, which was formerly kept on the fourth day before the nones, or on the 4th day of May, see numbers 5, 6, 55 and 56 of Felici's appendix. Now their memory has been altogether removed from the divine Offices; their cult nevertheless continues in the veneration of the relics: it would indeed be seemly and opportune that a feast should once more be kept in their honour in Valcava at the beginning of May. But these things belong to men of a higher bench.

* Vittoria di Ubaldo della Rovera

* Piazza d'Arno.

* Via delle belle donne.

* Piazza degli Antinori.

ACTS OF THE PASSION OF SS. CRESCIUS AND HIS COMPANIONS,

According to the editions of Laderchius, Moctius and Lami, and also the Florentine transcripts.

Crescius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Omnio, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Emptius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Cerbonius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Pamphila, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

The companions, martyrs in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (SS.)

BHL Number: 1987

CHAPTER ONE.

The arrest of SS. Crescius and Minias.

SS. Crescius, Minias and their companions, having been arrested, And so in the times of the emperor Decius, when a most savage persecution, proclaimed against the servants of Christ, was raging in almost every part of the earth, and the soldiers of the heavenly King were hastening through various torments to the crown of martyrdom, Blessed Criscus ^a, already vehemently enkindled with the ardour of martyrdom, coming towards Florence, when he had reached the wood which is called Elisboth ^b, was captured by the soldiers of the emperor Decius himself, who was then present at Florence, together with Blessed Minias and certain others, and was led to the city itself.

[2] before the emperor Decius, the faith And when it had been announced to the emperor concerning their capture and arrival, greatly rejoicing, he ordered them to stand before his sight. Having inquired their names and religion, when he recognized that they were strong in the faith of Christ, he ordered them, wasted by various punishments, to be thrust down into the lowest custody of the prison: so that when the time came, wasted meanwhile by hunger, cold, and the affliction of chains and prison, he might have them more bitterly tortured with the heaviest and most exquisite torments ^c. He ordered them also to be thrust down separately, lest they should at least be somewhat relieved by mutual consolations offered to one another in alternate speech. For the perfidious emperor was tormented * because the asserters of the Christian faith, the most blessed martyrs, confessing Christ the Lord, the creator of all things, proclaimed with clear and open voice that he was the King of kings, the Lord of angels, whom the heavens venerate, the world adores, hell trembles at; and they proved by most certain reasoning that the gods he himself worshipped were not gods but demons; having that saying of David ready to hand: for all the gods of the nations are demons; but our Lord Jesus Christ made the heavens.

[3] they confess, and the mystery For there is one God, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father, who created all things by the word, according to what is read in the Psalm: Let all things fear the Lord, for he himself said, and they were made. But since he said and they were made, surely all things were made by his word; for what is said is a word; therefore he who effected all things by what was said, himself created all things by the word. The Son, through whom all things were created; whence in the same Psalm: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, embracing all things under the name of the heavens; of which Word the apostle and evangelist John says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; by the interposition of a word that embraces present and past together; that is, was, plainly intimating his eternity; and then he adds: All things were made through him *; and a little later, repeating, he subjoins: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; namely our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in order to snatch man, deceived by malignant fraud, from the snares of death and of hell, deigned to descend from the heavens and to take up our flesh, not relinquishing what he was, but assuming what he was not, that by the sharing of our infirmity he might raise us to the power of his divinity.

[4] of the Most Holy Trinity they declare. The Holy Spirit, the confirmer and consolidator of all things, concerning whom it is openly added in the aforesaid verse of the Psalm: And all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth; by which words it is clearly given to be understood that the Holy Spirit is most rightly believed and confessed to be the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. For since the mouth of God is the Son of God, lest it be understood in a contrary sense, he who is also the Word of the Father, the power and wisdom of the Father, is confirmed by the testimonies of many holy Scriptures. The Son is life and the Father also: since, as is shown in the Gospel by the very words of the Lord, they are one, there can be no doubt that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; which Holy Spirit, paraclete and consoler, proceeding from the Father and the Son (with whom he is one God, in perfect Trinity), was seen upon our Lord in the form of a dove, and upon the apostles in a flame of fire. Enkindled by the ardour of this flame, the holy and most blessed apostles, when they preached the words of life with clear and open voice and daily led the companies of innumerable peoples to the faith which is in our Lord Jesus Christ, having endured insults and reproaches from the crowds of the unbelievers, went away rejoicing from the presence of the council, because they had been counted worthy to suffer insult for the name of Jesus. Imitating them, the holy martyrs, reckoning as nothing the threats of the judges, the torments of the executioners and all the temptations of the devil, hastened to attain to the blessedness of eternal life through the crown of martyrdom.

ANNOTATIONS.

now his church overlooks the city of Florence, namely on the left of the river Arno and to the euronotus Note: Sud-Est South-East of the walls; which church is called S. Miniato al Monte. In this same passage of Villani, Laderchius reads Arisbot Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions, page 17., Capassi Alogoth Lettera ad un cavaliere etc. page 47, second edition. and Lami Arisgotto Memorabilia of the church of Florence, page 590.; who also adds: Two Laurentian Passionaries, Pluteus XX, numbers 1 and 2, and others call it Elisboth; the Italian Life of Blessed Mineas, written by hand, of the Riccardian library, codex XXXV, pluteus 0, order IV, has corruptly and mendaciously Gliboschi and Lisboch. Elisboth is expressly written also in the Laurentian Acts of St. Criscus, martyr, published by James Laderchius and Mark Anthony Moctius. This wood occupied the ridge of mountains and hills which now stretches from the neighbourhood of Florence as far as Empoli, and is still called by the not much deformed name of Vallisbotti (as may be seen above Ibid. page 538.); but commonly Valdibotte, with the church of St. Donatus, of which we likewise treated above Ibid. page 76.. I did not wish to conceal these things, since Lami alone seems to have inquired into the site of this wood; but I am very far from thinking that one should assent to them: for, to omit the diversity of the names, the district of Vallisbocti lies to the africus Note: Sud-Ouest South-West, or rather to the west, of Florence, whereas (as we have said) the mountain indicated by Villani faces the euronotus.

* agebatur was being driven M.

* supply from M.: for it is proper to words to be said

* quod that which M.

* supply from M.: and for greater certainty that the Word of God is the Son of God, through whom all things were made,

CHAPTER II.

St. Omnio, keeper of the prison, is converted to the faith by St. Crescius and is fully taught.

From among whom the athlete of Christ most blessed Criscus, despising the threats and torments of the most cruel emperor, Having seen prodigies, while he was held in prison, joyful and rejoicing gave praises to the Most High because he was suffering insult for his name. Now the superintendent of this prison was a certain man named Omnio ^a, noble and acceptable to the emperor Decius, who also had a lunatic daughter, whom an impious and violent possessor was atrociously mangling daily with wretched vexation, especially after the most blessed martyr of Christ Criscus had been brought there; whose name the demon sounded forth through the girl's mouth with horrible cries, and complained not a little of his arrival. While these things were happening, when midnight had come and the watchmen had already fallen asleep, an immense light, driving the darkness far off, shone forth in the foul prison. And the glorious soldier, loosed from the bonds of his chains and comforted by the ministrations of angels, walking with free foot, sang a psalm and hymn to God most almighty. The guards, awaking, when they beheld so great a brightness of light in the dark prison, struck with no small terror, turned to flight. The demon also began to cry out through the girl's mouth in a terrible voice that he was burning and suffering intolerable torments, saying thus: What have I to do with thee , Criscus? Why dost thou hasten to destroy me before the time? I adjure thee by him whom thou worshippest, not to drive me out from here, and not to do me so great an injury.

[6] St. Omnio, keeper of the prison, asks of St. Crescius Then Omnio, seeing such great wonders of the Lord performed around Blessed Criscus, ran to the prison, and casting himself at the feet of the most blessed martyr, began to pray that he might merit pardon for his crimes. He entreated also that he would restore health to his daughter and shut the demon out of her bowels. And Blessed Criscus, looking at him with serene countenance, as was his way, said: If thou believest that the Lord Jesus Christ is the maker and restorer of all things, thou shalt both find health for thy daughter, the enemy being put to flight, and obtain indulgence for all thy sins, for which thou art now concerned. Then Omnio, prostrate before his feet, began to say with open voice: I believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is true God, and I spurn the dumb and deaf idols, which can profit neither themselves nor others, accounting them as nothing; but adoring the God of the Christians, who, abiding in the heavens, has so glorified thee his servant, I beg pardon for my sins: for I have sinned much against thee and against thy God; because in error I have persecuted his saints, and have been consenting to their death. But I beseech thee, saint of God, that, having mercy on me and having mercy on my daughter, thou wilt bring us to the grace of thy God, the enemy of the human race being expelled from her heart.

[7] And Blessed * Criscus, rejoicing at his faith and giving thanks to God, raised him up. And straightway in prayer, and he obtains his daughter's deliverance from the demon, he besought that the Lord would deign to show the power of his holy name upon the girl and expel the demon from her. And when he had finished his prayer, turning to the girl, he said: O most filthy demon, who, having entered this girl, hast dared to seize upon the image of God; in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I worship, I command thee to go out from her and to enter into her no more, so that, cleansed from the filth of idols, she may merit to acknowledge her creator, who is in the heavens, and to become a worthy dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Then the demon, emitting a terrible cry, departed with enormous fury. And the saint of the Lord, holding the girl's hand, blessed her, and restored her healed to her father. Then Omnio, giving thanks to God and to his blessed martyr Criscus, began to execrate those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he himself believed with his wife and daughter and all his house, and having given in his name he was baptized together with them.

[8] and he is taught He was first instructed, however, by Blessed Criscus in all things that pertain to the Christian religion and the Catholic faith: namely how he ought to believe in God the Father almighty, maker of things visible and invisible, and in our Lord Jesus Christ his only Son, who, being God from God, ineffably begotten before the ages of the Father without a mother, light from light, almighty from almighty, eternal and immeasurable, without beginning and without end; the word, power and wisdom of the Father, through whom all things were made, through whom all things subsist; to whom Cherubim and Seraphim cry out with unceasing voice, at whom the powers of the heavens tremble, whom all the orders of angels obey, whom the heavens cannot contain; to whom the abyss too lies open, and from whom no secret is hidden, the creator and restorer of all things, who, being incomprehensible, embraces all things in an eternal circle, and being immutable, disposes all things by an eternal nod. For he is one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in perfect and ineffable unity; the Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ, who, lest his handiwork should perish, and that he might snatch from the snares of death and recall from the power of the devil man, whom the ancient enemy, having deceived him by malignant fraud, had despoiled of the glory of immortality, for us and for our salvation deigned to descend from the heavens, and by the Holy Spirit to be incarnate of the blessed and glorious Mother of God Mary, and to become man. He did not shrink also from being tempted, from suffering, from dying and from descending to the lower regions, that he might show the light of his divinity to those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death. And that he might grant us the hope of resurrection and eternal life, he rose again and ascended to the heavens. Who, as the angels clothed in white garments said, will come again with power and great majesty, and will prove the just and unjust by the trial of fire.

[9] the Christian dogmas. He taught him also to believe in the Holy Spirit, the paraclete and true consoler, proceeding from the Father and the Son, who in the form of a dove appeared upon our Lord in the waters of the Jordan, when the voice of the Father, thundering from the heavens, said to him: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; and manifested to the nations who were to come to the faith the inestimable sacrament of the Holy Trinity, and appeared upon the holy apostles in fiery tongues, and illuminating them with the flame of his divinity, supplied them with an abundance of diverse tongues; so that by a bird which lacks gall he might show that the Lord, without the gall of grief and the bitterness of sin, proceeds gentle and exceedingly mild; and might kindle the apostles with incomparable fervour for the preaching of the Gospel; namely how he ought to have venerated by worshipping and adored by venerating the holy and ineffable Trinity of the Godhead in unity and the unity in Trinity.

ANNOTATIONS.

* jam dictus already mentioned M.

* mihi et tibi est, o M.

* autem M.

CHAPTER III.

St. Crescius with the Florentine Christians resolves to flee to Faenza.

As the persecution grew heavier, These things having been done, while the persecution proclaimed against the worshippers of the Christian faith grew daily heavier and heavier by the most cruel orders of the most savage emperor, and the worshippers of the Christian religion were sought out through houses and hiding-places with subtler scrutiny; and while fire and water were forbidden to those who did not burn incense to the idols, at the crossroads and the spectacles appointed for it; the faithful who were with Blessed Criscus, seeing themselves placed in straits and that they could no longer lie hidden in that city, and since there were among them certain women and infants of both sexes, whom the harshness of martyrdom might deter by the frailty of sex and age, took counsel together, and it seemed fitting to them that, as the necessity of the time and of affairs required, they should pass over to other places.

[11] some wish to remain at Florence, others to go away; But since there was discord among them, some wishing to remain there with Blessed Criscus, others unwilling to withdraw without them, they came together again in common to the blessed martyr of God ^a and sought what counsel they ought to take in such great difficulties. And the saint of God, having gently consoled them, is reported to have uttered such admonitions: O brethren and fellow soldiers, be not terrified, nor let your hearts be troubled with fear of the ministers of the devil; for the greater temptations of the enemies by greater divine aids

are crushed. Remember that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. This road the Lord himself showed to his disciples, admonishing them not to be scandalized by any disturbance when they should endure reproaches and injuries from princes and the powers of this world; foretelling to them the tribulations to come, and saying: They will put you out of the synagogues and the common fellowship of men, casting you out of your houses and cities, and forbidding you whatever is necessary to you: and when they have killed you, they will think that they are offering service to God, being in every way ignorant of God. The precepts of this admonition were kept by the apostles and their successors, in whose footsteps we ought to walk, if we wish to arrive at the desired rest and the place of blessedness promised us by God.

[12] Do not therefore, dearest brethren, afflicted by worldly adversities, be scandalized; for these adversities, although they are grievous, are nevertheless momentary, and by their passing prepare for us rest and eternal joy. Consider how paltry are the things that burden us, in comparison with those which have been prepared in the heavens for the saints and the faithful. For these things, while they pass, and in passing perish, show how much they deserved to be despised while they were happening. But those others, abiding in quiet and joy, pour into the minds of the faithful the love of supernal felicity. Let us therefore gird ourselves for the things that are above, and reckoning all things below as nothing, let us direct the eyes of the mind to the attainment of the eternal things alone. Let no carnal friendships retard us, no love of the world hinder us, nor bodily afflictions scandalize us, thinking only of the sweetness of the heavenly things.

[13] St. Crescius goes on to Faenza with them all. While the most blessed servant of God pursued these and other similar things, all were comforted, and the anxiety about persecution being cast aside, the ardour of martyrdom settled in the minds of many. But the saint of God, considering that there is not equal firmness in all, and yielding to the necessity of the lesser, in imitation of the saints who preceded him, spoke in this way as to what should be done: There are, he said, most beloved brethren, two roads by which the supernal glory is sought by the steps of the saints. One is that of confession, namely of those who, doubting that they can bear the harshness of torments with an even mind, keep watch for the eternal fatherland by the quiet of contemplation and the fruit of good action. But the other is that of martyrdom, namely of those who, for the hope of eternal blessedness, exposing their bodies to the executioners, despise the condition of the present life. Wherefore, dearest ones, giving place to the persecution, let those for whom it is convenient depart with our most beloved brother Omnio. But they, clinging to his knees, entreated with tears that he would have mercy on them and not desert the people whom he had won for God. Then Blessed Criscus, though enkindled with excessive * ardour, yet moved by their prayers and tears, lest he should confound the spirits of the people entreating him, and that he might guard the souls he had won for God, yielding to the need of those who besought him, according to that saying of the Gospel: If they persecute you in one city, flee to another; having left the city of Florence ^b, directed his journey together with them to the city of Faenza.

ANNOTATIONS.

* martyrii of martyrdom M.

CHAPTER IV.

St. Crescius miraculously heals St. Serapion or Cerbonius and converts him with his mother Pamphila and many others.

St. Pamphila And when he had reached the place which is called Collis ^a, he received hospitality in the house of a certain widow, who was called Pamphila, whose son lay sick; and having offered peace, according to that saying of the Gospel: Into whatsoever house you enter, first say: Peace to this house; when he knew that his peace had rested there, according to custom thanks to God *, he began to rest. And while the things that were necessary were being prepared, he never ceased from divine conversations and the preaching of the Gospel. For he laboured assiduously in psalms and hymns and prayers. And the woman understood that Blessed Criscus and those who were with him were adorers of the true God and worshippers of the Christian religion, and therefore, though a pagan, she ministered to them diligently; and admonished by divine inspiration, whatever word she could catch from the mouth of the blessed man, she stored in a remembering breast.

[15] of Serapion her son, gravely ill, Now it happened, while Blessed Criscus was staying there for some time with his companions, that the boy's sickness grew worse, and, brought to the very point of death, he scarcely retained his last breath; whence the woman too was disturbed, and her whole house was filled with grief. The relatives wept for the kinship of blood now almost lost, and lamented the coming desolation of the house, which they believed would at once be emptied of its hoped-for heir. His friends too mourned, remembering their past friendship with the boy's father, and groaning that they were deceived in their future expectation. The neighbours too were saddened, condoling with the wretched woman, and often recalling, amid words that fell with sobbing, the good disposition of the boy now drawing near to the end.

[16] the restoration of health And when all who stood by were now wearied with grief and sadness, and were thinking only of the expense of the funeral, the woman, coming to Blessed Criscus with her dress changed, with a mournful face and a pitiable voice, began to address him: Why, O servant of God, didst thou wish to come in to me? At thy coming in my son is dying, the light of my eyes is extinguished, the half of my soul is separated from me, my only hope is taken from me with the greatest pain: who now will console me, wretched woman? Who will furnish support to my old age? Who will minister what is necessary to my widowhood? Behold, my bowels are torn through the midst; the whole hope of my welfare is confounded, and no solace is left me. But, O servant of God, since I have known thee to be his faithful minister, if the things I have heard from thy mouth are true, and if thou wishest me to believe in the powers of him whom thou preachest, if thou canst do anything, either thou or thy God, help me, help a woman: for I have heard from thy mouth that thy God has done innumerable miracles, has healed the sick, cleansed lepers, put demons to flight, and even raised the dead. Show therefore the power of thy God, and, that all who stand by may believe that he is God, who does wonders in heaven and on earth, restore to me my only son, whom I seem to have lost at thy coming in.

[17] with her friends When the wretched woman, groaning and weeping, repeated such things again and again, all who were present were turned to tears; and clinging * to the knees of the most blessed martyr, together with the woman herself they began to entreat the athlete of God that, having mercy on the wretched woman and suffering with her irremediable griefs, he would by his prayers obtain from the Lord Jesus Christ life and health for the boy.

[18] she asks St. Crescius, Then the saint of God, suffering with the groans of those who wept, his whole face suffused with tears, answered those who entreated him in this manner: This is not ours, dearest brethren, this is not ours, but belongs to the holy apostles and their successors. Our Lord Jesus Christ, whom we worship, did many mighty works and showed innumerable miracles to the world: he freed the sick from various sufferings, gave light to the blind, restored hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, made the lame walk, delivered by this alone from the flow of blood the woman who touched the fringe of his garment; many and different lepers too were cleansed by him, demons were put to flight, and the very dead were raised; and other innumerable mighty works were shown to the world through him. This power also, and the might of working signs, he left to his disciples and their successors, namely our holy fathers; who also themselves shone with innumerable signs, as he said: And greater things than these shall you do: whence we find in the Acts of the Apostles that the blessed apostle Peter, even by the mere touch of his shadow, healed a great many sick of various languors. And if we are willing to examine the holy fathers and their deeds one by one, we shall find many similar things. But we, brethren, are the least in comparison with them, nor can we be made equal in any way to their holiness. But since the time affords that the power of our Lord Jesus Christ may be manifested, let the faithful be separated from the unbelievers, that we may offer him the accustomed prayer and with one mind beseech him that he may deign to show the power of his name upon this boy.

[19] he obtains it from God by prayers. Then, prostrate in prayer, he prayed for a very long time with the rest of the faithful; and the prayer being finished, when the others had added, Amen, he rose; and coming to the little bed on which the boy, drawing his last breath, lay as if lifeless, he said: O boy, the Lord Jesus Christ, God, the Son of God, who for us deigned to descend from heaven and become man, and who, that he might find the sheep which had perished, namely man, who at the persuasion of the devil had brought death upon himself, to save him, and carry him back to the folds of the heavenly fatherland, foreordained to die, and rise again, and ascend the shining throne of heaven; may he himself, glorifying the power of his name, deign to grant thee both life and health, that all who stand by may know that he alone is God in heaven and on earth, through whom all things were created, through whom all things subsist, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and is glorified, God through infinite ages of ages. Amen. And when all had answered, Amen, the boy rose from the bed healed, so that no trace of illness appeared in him.

[20] All are converted And rising, he began to cry out: One is the God of the Christians in heaven and on earth, the creator of all things and the restorer of the universe, nor is there another God besides him: for all the gods we worship are vain, and can profit neither themselves nor others. And casting himself at the knees of the blessed man he said: I pray thee, saint of God, to bring me to the grace of baptism. Then Blessed Criscus, admonishing him and instructing him in the doctrine of the Lord, catechized him. And the mother of the boy and the others who had before been present mourning, seeing such great wonders of the Lord performed upon the boy by the man of God, their weeping being turned to wonder, prostrate on the ground confessed that they had sinned and erred in having worshipped idols; and finally they prayed him to show them what they ought to do for their sins. And the saint of the Lord, teaching them the faith and the Catholic religion, and showing them how they ought to live and how they ought to believe, enjoined a fast upon them ^b. When this was completed, all were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and the crowd of the faithful was added to in the Lord.

[21] and St. Serapion is called Cerbonius. The boy also who had been healed was baptized, and his name was changed to Cerbonius; for before he had been called Serapion ^c: and having been baptized he began to make great progress in the doctrine of the Lord, and to persevere with Blessed Criscus in prayers and vigils; and to be separated from him neither by day nor by night.

ANNOTATIONS.

* supply agens giving

* affusi cast down M.

CHAPTER V.

The constancy in the faith and martyrdom of SS. Crescius, Omnio and Emptius.

The emperor sends soldiers against the martyrs; But while these things were being done, and the man of the Lord, Blessed Criscus, was staying in the same place in order to strengthen the souls he had won for God, it was reported to the emperor that Omnio, whom he himself had adorned with the most ample dignity, had abandoned the gods to whom he himself showed veneration, and had through Blessed Criscus believed in Christ, and having smashed the images of the gods which he had in his house, had joined the Christians, and with Blessed Criscus and other worshippers of Christ had left his own city and fled. At this the most cruel prince, enkindled with excessive fury, with enormous anger ordered his soldiers to run hither and thither as swiftly as possible and pursue the blessed man and those who were with him, power being given them that in whatever place they found them they should at once arrest them; and, unless they were willing to bow their necks to the gods and offer them incense and victims, they should kill them with various punishments and torments. Then the soldiers, carrying out the orders of their emperor, after some little fatigue reached the place where the saints of God were persevering in prayers and vigils, never free of divine conversations and the preaching of the Gospel.

[23] St. Crescius, having committed the new flock to St. Cerbonius, is captured But Blessed Criscus, learning of the arrival of the soldiers, said: Let us arise, brethren, for behold, our Lord Jesus Christ invites us to the crown of martyrdom. And calling Blessed Cerbo ^a, he admonished him to withdraw and give place to the persecution, and himself after his death to double by strengthening it the church which the Lord had entrusted to him. Finally, the others having been sent apart, he himself, as a heavenly strong man, longing to come to the often desired contest, with two other disciples, Omnio and Blessed Emptius, who had been with him from the beginning of his conversion, did not hide himself from the soldiers who were seeking him. And the soldiers, coming up, arrested him and those who were with him, reproaching him in this way: Art thou that sacrilegious Criscus, who art making void the worship of our gods, and teaching the superstitious and vain sect of a certain Jesus of Nazareth? By the safety of the emperor ^b, unless thou sacrifice to the immortal gods and call back to the worship of the gods those who have been deceived by thee, we shall kill thee with various punishments.

[24] and professes the faith; Then, binding him and those who were with him with the heaviest chains, they led them to a certain fane near there, in which there were various images of idols. And bringing them into the temple, they began to compel them to the sacrifices of the idols; and calling Blessed Omnio, and as if condoling with him, they began affably to admonish him to withdraw from the error newly taken up, and by bringing libations to the immortal gods to depart from their wrath and reconcile to himself the love of the emperor Decius, that, having recovered his former dignity, he might return with his former honour to the emperor's palace. Besides this they promised him, in friendly fashion, more ample gifts and a more abundant friendship of the prince, as if by the emperor's own order. They admonished him also as if from their own goodwill and friendship , and from the service they would show him more than usual, if he returned to the worship of the gods and the favour of the prince.

[25] St. Omnio does the same, by promises But that blessed man is in no way seduced by their blandishments, and is bent neither by prayers nor by any promises; but persevering with constant mind in the faith he had received, he replied: That he had already served the earthly emperor long enough, and had abounded sufficiently in honours and riches in his palace; but that he now wished to serve the heavenly emperor, that he might merit to come to his favour and to stand eternally in his palace; he protested that he was a Christian, and could not henceforth, to the injury of the true God, bow his neck to deaf and dumb stones.

[26] and by tortures and blandishments in no way overcome, Then the soldiers, moved, began to admonish him to refrain from injuries to the gods, saying that they could in no way tolerate the injuries done to their gods, to their own reproach and that of their prince. But Blessed Omnio replied that he had done no injury to the gods, since they were not gods, but idols lacking sense and understanding. But they, much more angered, gnashing at him both with words and teeth, had him stripped and for a very long time flogged with cutting rods; then they had him clothed again in his garments, and brought before their sight. And repeating their admonitions, and as if condoling with the miseries of his torments, they exhorted him again not to despise himself, nor to lose the flower of his youth, saying that it was great madness of one's own accord to lose temporal goods together with life itself, and willingly to incur death, especially when he could pass his age in delights and honour. They added besides threats of harsher torments, if he did not comply with their most salutary admonitions, and unless, by offering libations to the gods, he reconciled the favour of his prince to himself.

[27] and he rebukes the soldiers. But Blessed Omnio, made keener by the torments and reproaches he had received, began to rebuke them most sharply: affirming that he embraced rather than feared torments for Christ, however much harsher they might be; that he accounted their promises and blandishments as nothing; declaring rather that he was ready for all tortures for the name of Christ; and that he grieved far the most over their madness and perfidy, for whom eternal destruction was waiting, and unfailing torments prepared for the devil and his angels, with whom all the foolish and insane who adore idols would be burned in eternal fire.

[28] St. Crescius, spurning the threats, While the most valiant athlete of God boldly uttered these and many other things against them, the soldiers, seeing that he was most firm in the Christian faith and could not be turned aside from the purpose of the faith he had received, had Blessed Criscus also brought before them, that what they could not do by themselves they might at least effect through him; and they said to him: Sacrifice to the gods, and call back from error those whom thou hast separated by thy trickeries from the worship of the gods; but if thou refuse, we shall waste thee away with various torments, and so thou shalt perish by a cruel death.

[29] he admonishes the soldiers But Blessed Criscus, desiring to convert them too to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, addressing them with a kindly mind, spoke to them in this way: I wonder, imperial soldiers, that the prudence of your valour persists in such simplicity that you do not understand that these images, fashioned by men's hands from stones or wood or any metals, are not gods, and that no likeness of divinity appears in them; which have eyes indeed but do not see; ears, but do not hear; a mouth, and do not speak; hands and feet, and yet discharge the office of no limb: moreover they are at all times lacking in understanding and reason, sense and life, and are proved to be in all things inferior to brute and even to dead animals. Do not therefore suppose that there is any trace of divinity in them: for how is it to be believed that God, who made all things, and who has given us life and understanding, and disposed the offices of the several members in our body, himself lacks life and reason? And that he who set in place the ears and eyes and the parts of the whole body is without share in sight and hearing and all speech? But these images are dumb and deaf, and it is manifest that they have nothing of vitality or reason,

[30] on the vanity of idols Know therefore that God, who created heaven and earth and all things that are in them, dwells not in stones or in metals, but in the heavens: and turning to your creator, do not compel his martyrs, having forsaken their creator and yours, to adore gold or silver, to offer libations to senseless stones, and to make their gods of wood carved by men's hands; in which, if there were any power of divinity, they would not stand in need of the constant guard of men, nor could they be fouled by various filth, nor be lost by theft or fire, nor be in any way impaired by any collapse. Wherefore, since they lack all power, and can of themselves do nothing good or bad, what else do they do but openly show that those who trust in them are deluded? Of whom it is written: Let them that make them become like unto them, and all such as trust in them. Wherefore, O soldiers, you must flee from their worship, that returning to your creator you may be able to escape eternal torments; for it is certain that all who adore idols will be burned in eternal fire together with their author the devil.

[31] and he shows the constancy of his faith. And when the most blessed confessor of God was saying such things, the soldiers in anger said to him: Thou art condemned to death, and dost thou threaten us with eternal torments? Sacrifice to the gods whom the emperors adore, and whom the Roman religion worships and venerates down to this day. And Blessed Criscus in reply returned such words: I have already shown you that images lacking sense and understanding are not gods, and that divinity, being incomprehensible, cannot be comprehended by stones or by any metals: on what ground, then, do you compel us to forsake the true God, who is in heaven, and to adore idols and bring sacrifices to the handiwork of men? That this is an impiety and a crime the Scripture declares, saying: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. It is better therefore, and more agreeable to reason, that you, abandoning the error of idols, should be converted to God, who made you: that you may be able to escape the torments which have been prepared for unbelievers in eternal confusion.

[32] To new threats Then the soldiers: We have already told thee to lay aside the magic arts in which thou trustest, and to sacrifice to the almighty gods: for the words which are foolishly and senselessly tossed about by thee against the power of the most invincible gods will cease when the torments have been applied. Take thought for thyself quickly, therefore, and lay aside the vanity and obstinacy with which thou rashly blasphemest the clemency of the most almighty gods, that even so thou mayest be able to lessen somewhat the torments which are being prepared for thee. For it is at hand that both thou and thy companions, handled by the heaviest punishments and torments which have been prepared by the laws for the sacrilegious and for sorcerers, shall wretchedly perish.

[33] he opposes new constancy. Then the most valiant athlete of the Lord, Blessed Criscus, understanding that they were hardened in their own malice and did not receive the exhortation of wholesome words with the ear of the mind, said to them with confident spirit: Be it known to you that we are Christians; and we shall not adore your gods whom you worship, nor offer them the libations of sacrifices: for, as I have now often told you, gods are images, fashioned by the hand and art of men, filled not with the grace of deity but with the foulest demons, with whom their worshippers too will be condemned to eternal fire; where their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched: but continuing perpetually in sadness and groaning and gnashing of teeth, they will bring forth the testimonies of their sins and idols. But these things with which you threaten us are transitory, and by a brief contest promise us glory and eternal life. Whence whatever shall seem to you more grievous, carry it out: for we are ready to endure all torments for the confession of Christ. In like manner the other saints also began to protest.

[34] SS. Crescius, Omnio and Emptius are cruelly slain. Then the soldiers, bruising their faces, ordered them to be stripped and beaten with heavier clubs. And when they had been beaten for a very long time, Blessed Omnio, persevering in the confession of the Lord, gave up his spirit. Likewise too the venerable Emptius, while he received the heaviest blows of the clubs over his whole body, giving thanks * to God that he had merited to be numbered among his martyrs, gave back his blessed soul to heaven. This done, one of the soldiers, coming up to Blessed Criscus, who remained unmoved in the praises of God, striking him with a sword cut off his head; and the pavement was sprinkled with his blood: and the marks of the blood of the holy martyrs remain there down to this present day. Very many signs also and innumerable mighty works are performed there through the prayers of the holy martyrs: which our Lord Jesus Christ deigns to do for the praise and exaltation of his name, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and is glorified, God in perfect Trinity, through all ages of ages. And the most blessed martyr of God, Criscus, suffered with his two companions in the place which is called Colle, on the ninth day before the kalends of November: our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, for love of whom, despising earthly things, they merited to receive heavenly things.

ANNOTATIONS.

* perduxerunt quidam ad phanum eos certain men led them to a fane M.

* dilectione love M.

* agentem M.

CHAPTER VI.

The burial of St. Crescius and the martyrdom of St. Cerbonius and his companions.

The soldiers carry the head of Blessed Crescius to Vallicula, These things being thus accomplished, the soldiers, taking the head of Blessed Criscus, that they might have with them a token of their cruelty, were hastening to return to their emperor. And when they had come to the place which is called Vallicula ^a, being unable to carry the relics of the blessed martyr with them any further, they left there the head of the most sacred confessor and martyr of Christ, which no one who is a Christian can doubt was done by the eternal counsel of the incomprehensible providence of God, choosing a place of burial and veneration for the holy martyrs. And after the soldiers, having lost the greatest token of their cruelty and of the slaying of the saints, had returned in confusion, as we have already said, to their own lord; Blessed Cerbonius (whom the most holy Criscus, as we have said above, wishing to leave him to the custody * of the holy Church of God, had ordered to lie hidden and for a time give place to the persecution; that the minds of the faithful newly brought to the Christian faith, whom the terror of the persecution and grief at his passion might disturb, having a consoler and strengthener, might not fail), coming, took up the church, and having assembled the other Christians, gathered the bodies of the holy martyrs, and having taken counsel with them, by divine revelation brought them to the place which is called Vallicula, where the most cruel soldiers, constrained by the divine will, had left the head of Blessed Criscus.

[36] where Blessed Cerbonius also lays up the bodies of the martyrs. And celebrating the funeral rites of the holy martyrs with hymns and praises, they dedicated the holy day of their burial; and wrapping their most sacred bodies in this order in precious linen cloths, with fear and prayer they buried them in the same place, where also by the merits of the holy martyrs our Lord Jesus Christ deigns to work signs and diverse mighty works, for his praise and glory and for the example of his faithful. For while, of the abundant kindness of the Creator, those placed in injury, tribulation and plague are succoured by their prayers, the praise of our God and their memory are diffused far and wide, and the minds of the faithful are strengthened by their examples.

[37] Blessed Cerbonius increases the number of the Christians; These things being thus accomplished, the rest returned, each to his own home, with reverence and compunction of heart. But Blessed Cerbonius, advancing in the word and doctrine of the Lord, did not depart from the burial place of the holy martyrs, persevering night and day in prayer and vigils. And it came to pass, while he persevered in doctrine and the Gospel, that the church of the faithful grew and the people entrusted to him were multiplied. And many associated themselves with Blessed Cerbonius around the sepulchres of the holy martyrs, daily frequenting the divine office.

[38] accused on that account, But not long afterwards it was reported to the emperor ^b concerning them; and that the whole multitude of the people of that place believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, and, overturning the temples of the gods and smashing their images and statues, was building churches. Whence the emperor, angered, sent there a prefect with obedient soldiers, ordering them to go and arrest the Christians living there: and to kill those who were unwilling to offer sacrifices to his gods, but to enrich with wealth and gifts those who sacrificed. And they, coming, shed much blood of the saints; and holding Blessed Cerbonius with his companions, after they saw that they could in no way be compelled to sacrifice (since they had found them praying on bended knees around the sepulchres of the holy martyrs, and had learned that they were especially the guardians and venerators of the sacred relics), they had a pit made in the same place, in which they buried them alive, not far from the sepulchres of the other saints, and closing the mouth of the pit over them, they offered a declaration of their cruelty to all who heard and saw it.

[39] with his companions he is buried alive in a pit. That this was done by divine disposition is most certain, namely that Blessed Cerbonius might not, even in dying, lose the custody of the holy relics which he had held while alive; and that he might enjoy in his death also the perpetual company of those whose fellowship he had unceasingly longed for in his life; and that from those to whom he was joined in the heavens through martyrdom he might in no way be torn apart on earth by separation of the body. And Blessed Cerbonius suffered with his companions on the fourth day before the nones of May, under the emperor Decius; our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, who lives and reigns through ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.

* custodire to guard M.

POSTHUMOUS GLORY OF SS. CRESCIUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, OR APPENDIX OF ANTHONY FRANCIS FELICI OF ROME

to the Acts of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs, comprising the monuments of their perpetual cult.

TO THE READER.

Crescius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Omnio, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Emptius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Cerbonius, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

Pamphila, martyr in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (S.)

The companions, martyrs in the territory of Magello in Tuscany (SS.)

BHL Number: 1988

BY FELICI.

The origin and method of this lucubration. When Cosmo III, grand duke of Etruria, was eager to enlarge far and wide the memory of SS. Crescius and his companions, who shone with the glory of martyrdom in the territory of the Mugello subject to his rule, a memory surviving almost in Tuscany alone, he committed the Acts of these martyrs, long hidden in the dust and mould of archives, excerpted from very ancient manuscript codices, to James Laderchius, presbyter of the Congregation of the Oratory of the City, to be examined and brought into public light. He carried out the commands of the most clement prince with his accustomed diligence, and illustrated the deeds of the holy martyrs with notes of every kind of erudition, and discussed in most learned observations whatever seemed to be opposed to the credit of the history. But when the finished work was already under the press at Florence, I was commanded to gather together as quickly as possible all the monuments that would prove the perpetual cult of these same martyrs, and from them to prepare an appendix to the work. And I, although pressed by shortness of time, yielding nevertheless to the authority of him who ordered it, applied myself strenuously to unearthing these old monuments. I confess, however, that in my diligent search for them I was assisted by Abbot Charles Anthony Gondi, chief secretary to the same grand duke, who, out of the singular piety with which he honours the most blessed martyrs Crescius and his companions, most religiously preserves, in a very great many papers, very ancient records of their passion and cult, sought out from every quarter with the utmost zeal. Sustained therefore by his help, I completed the labour, whatever it amounts to, in such an order as first to review the writers and the old martyrologies, as many as came my way, that made mention of our holy martyrs; then their ancient images and the churches dedicated to them; and lastly to append the discoveries and translations of their relics, and the Office and Mass that were formerly recited on their feast days. But what especially concerns the basilica in which the bodies of SS. Crescius and his companions are preserved I have touched upon cursorily, since a longer dissertation on these matters is being undertaken by Mark Anthony Mozzi, canon of Florence, in the learned book in which he presents the deeds of the same martyrs rendered into Italian. Do you meanwhile, friendly reader, receive with an even mind the first fruits of my studies, and farewell.

CHAPTER I.

Writers and Martyrologies which have made mention of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs.

Villani, Besides the ancient history of the deeds of the most invincible martyrs of Etruria, Crescius and his companions, which has come down even to these our times, preserved against the injuries of so many centuries by the aid of most choice manuscript codices, both in the most celebrated Medicean-Laurentian library and the archive of the metropolitan church of Florence, and in the most ample Alexandrine library of the Roman university, a number of historians of a later age also have committed to writing, though in a brief compass of words, a monument of the most glorious contest of these same holy martyrs: and the plan of the work I have undertaken suggests that I bring forward their testimonies. John Villani therefore has these words on St. Crescius and his companions, rendered into Latin, in his history: At that time the emperor Decius (that is, about the year ^a of the Christian era 252, as may not obscurely be gathered from the preceding chapter), making a stay at Florence, drove his persecutors against Blessed Crescius, a nobleman from Germany ^b, doing penance with his disciples in the woods of the Mugello ^c, where now his church rises, marked with the name of St. Crescius of Valcava; and there he and his companions, through the ministers of Decius, obtained the palm of martyrdom.

[3] Borghini, Boninsegni Vincent Borghini, in a little work written in Italian on the churches and bishops of Florence, where he makes mention of other saints, adds these words: There were others whose monuments are likewise scantily brought forth in writing, such as St. Crescius, whose body the parish of Valcava still preserves. Peter Boninsegni also, in his history of Florence, after having dealt at length with St. Minias, condemned to capital punishment by order of the emperor Decius in the year of Christ 252 *, then says: In like manner Decius put to death by martyrdom St. Crescius and his companions; and he drew his illustrious origin from Germany, living at that time in the desert with St. Minias, and afterwards he remained and died in the territory of the Mugello, where his church now stands, designated by the title of St. Crescius of Valcava.

[4] Ferrarius, Mini, Razzi Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the saints of Italy, at the 23rd day of October, committed these words to writing on St. Crescius: Crescius, coming from Germany into Etruria, lived for some time with his companions in the territory of the Mugello; but when the emperor Decius had raised a persecution against the Christians, he was seized by the emperor's attendants and, together with others, crowned with martyrdom for the confession of the Christian faith in the valley which is called Cava, where his body was laid up by the Christians; which is still piously preserved in the parish church of the valley dedicated to his name, of the diocese of Fiesole ^d, the neighbouring peoples coming for the feast day with annual celebration: from the history of John Villani and the tables of the church of Fiesole. And this note of the same author is read: In the tables of the church of Fiesole, recently seen by us, we have observed that the birthday of this martyr is celebrated on the following day. The testimonies of these writers are supported by Paul Mini in the defence of the Florentines against the calumnies of slanderers, Michael Poccianti in the Lives of the Seven Blessed Founders of the Order of Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Silvano Razzi, monk of the Camaldolese Congregation, in the Lives of the Saints of Etruria, and others, whose words I omit to review here one by one, so as not to delay the reader in a thing that lies open to anyone ^e.

[5] and the Florentine additions to Usuard Certainly a weightier and more ancient mention of St. Crescius is found made, both in some old martyrologies and in other unpublished codices, which it was recently granted me to handle at will in the most celebrated record-repositories of Etruria. For in the very ancient manuscript codex 8 of pluteus 16 of the aforesaid Medicean-Laurentian library, which is entitled: Martyrology of Bede the Presbyter, one finds: On the ninth day before the kalends of November. Of SS. Vitalis, Felix and St. Crescius, martyr. Usuard ^f also, the monk, in his Martyrology, written in the age of Charlemagne *, wrote these words: On the ninth day before the kalends of November. In the territory of Florence in Tuscany, the passion of St. Crescius, martyr, and his companions, who in the year of the Lord two hundred and forty-eight suffered under the persecution of the tyrant Decius in the place which is called Valcava, where he rests in the church under the title of St. Crescius. And in the same Martyrology the same author: On the fourth day before the nones of May. In the territory of Florence, the passion of the holy martyrs Cerbonius and his companions at Val di Cava beside the sepulchre of St. Crescius, martyr, and his companions, under the tyrant Decius. In another ancient manuscript codex, 30 of pluteus 21 of the same Medicean-Laurentian library, which is entitled Martyrology, I read through these words: On the ninth day before the kalends of November. In the city of Venosa in Apulia, the birthday of St. Felix, bishop, etc. Likewise in Tuscany in the territory of Florence, the passion of St. Criscius and his companions, who suffered in the place which is called Valcava, under the persecution of the emperor Decius, in the year of the Lord 248.

[6] and those of Vallombrosa praise St. Crescius and his companions. Moreover, in the library of the arch-monastery of Vallombrosa a Martyrology, printed in the year of the Lord 1486 at Florence by the presbyter Francis de Bonaccursiis, corrected by the diligence of Dom Anthony Vespucci, provost of the cathedral church of Florence, displays these words: On the fourth day before the nones of May. In the territory of Florence, the passion of the holy martyrs Cerbonius and his companions at Val di Cava beside the sepulchre of St. Crescius, martyr, and his companions, under the tyrant Decius. The same: On the ninth day before the kalends of November. In the Florentine territory in Tuscany, the passion of St. Crescius, martyr, and his companions, who in the year of the Lord 248 suffered under the persecution of the tyrant Decius in the place which is called Vallis cava, where they rest in the church under the title of St. Crescius. In a manuscript codex of the same library, entitled: Roman Psalter, under the ninth day before the kalends of November, mention is likewise made of St. Crescius, martyr. Finally in the archive of the monastery of St. Salvi of the Order of Vallombrosa, which is a mile distant from Florence, I saw a manuscript codex of the Rule of St. Benedict the abbot, written by Sylvester, a monk of the Vallombrosan Congregation, in the year 1522, to which is prefixed a calendar, where at the 24th day of October one reads: SS. Vitalis and Felix and St. Criscius, martyr ^g.

ANNOTATIONS.

Compare Tillemont, Empereurs, volume III, page 128 and 135. martyrs; it is much better to record the martyrdom of St. Crescius and his companions at the year 250.

* Rather 250.

* rather of the Bald.

CHAPTER II.

Ancient images of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs.

Images of St. Crescius and his companions in Valcava, In the chapel of St. Cerbonius above the slope which overhangs the church of St. Crescius of Valcava, whose monuments I shall take up in the following chapter, there exists an old panel, brought there from the high altar of the aforesaid church, where it was formerly. The form of the panel itself marks the antiquity of the work; for its wooden frame at the upper part terminates in the Gothic manner in three pyramidal points. Three images fill the panel. The middle is held by the figure of the Virgin Mother of God, with the infant Jesus sitting on her neck. On the right side is seen the most blessed Crescius, clothed in military dress, whose hand is adorned with a palm, his head with a diadem. On the left, finally, St. Lawrence is represented with the gridiron. The lower part of the panel, which provides a footing and base for the aforesaid images, is divided into four small oblong panels; of which the first shows St. Crescius, whom impious attendants are leading to the emperor sitting on his throne, and there too one may see, also expressed in the distance, the same martyr coming out of prison with his companions Omnio and Emptius. The second represents the same martyrs Omnio and Emptius dead and stretched on the ground, a huge quantity of blood flowing from whose wounds has stained the pavement; and from there, not far off, St. Crescius is seen with his head cut off; finally in the last part of this panel is seen the head of the same St. Crescius, marked with a diadem, which, fixed on a spear, two soldiers are carrying in the manner of a triumph, as his Acts openly declare. In the remaining two panels the deeds of St. Lawrence are shown. The whole work of this painting seemed, to all of us who inspected it, to display an antiquity of two hundred years and more, and to their judgment Thomas Redi also, the distinguished painter of the princes of Etruria, added his vote ^a.

[8] in the priory of Campi, at Maciola Another image is displayed in the church or priory of St. Crescius called of Campi, where the panel of the high altar portrays the Virgin Mother of God, at whose right stands St. Lawrence the martyr; and at her left St. Crescius, carrying in his hand the palm of martyrdom. But this panel has nothing much of antiquity. In the church dedicated to our same martyr in the place called Maciola, there now remains a small figure on the step of the high altar, where the same St. Crescius is shown clothed in a purple garment, holding a palm: a work certainly smelling of an antiquity of two centuries. But an older image of the same in this church is missing, which it is manifest has perished through great age, since mention of it is made in the visitation of this church made by the bishop of Fiesole as far back as the 14th day of May of the year 1442; the work of which painting already in that century appeared very old, as is established from the registers of the church of Fiesole.

[9] and on the Mount of St. Minias. Moreover George Vasari, in the Lives of the Painters, part II, testifies that in the monastery of St. Minias on the Mount which overlooks Florence, on the left part of the wall which meets those descending from the church into the monastery, there existed, expressed in painting, the martyrs SS. Minias and Crescius separating themselves from their parents; and he adds that the author of this painting was Andrea del Castagno, born in the territory of the Mugello. The witness of this work too is to be held of great account on account of its age, since the writer who reports it as older than his own age flourished in the sixteenth century. But now not even a trace of such a painting appears, since some more recent persons, little zealous of venerable antiquity, have laid plaster over the wall.

ANNOTATION.

CHAPTER III.

Churches erected in honour of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs.

Memorable features Among the venerable monuments of antiquity, as many as the suburbs of Florence possess, the first place is rightly and deservedly claimed for itself by the church of St. Crescius, martyr, erected in that part of the territory ^a of the Mugello which is called Vallis Cava ^b; inasmuch as the piety of Christians raised it very many centuries ago in almost the same place ^c which the martyr himself seemed to have chosen for his tomb: for it is related in the annals ^d that the raging soldiers of the emperor Decius, constrained by the divine will, left there the severed head of the same martyr, which, fixed on a spear in the guise of a triumph, they were carrying as they returned to Florence. The record of this most noble church, however, from its first erection, is not easy to find, nor did it ever come to light for me, though for the space of six months I turned over the ruins of Florentine antiquity. Mention of it occurs frequently from the twelfth century down to ours, both in the parchment book in great folio of the archiepiscopal mensa of Florence, in which its fiefs are noted, commonly called the Bulletone ^e; and in an old codex of the monastery of St. Salvi, and elsewhere ^f; whose testimonies I judge it superfluous to bring forward here, especially since a more ancient monument of the same church, from the year of Christ 941, still remains to us in the archive of the canons of the metropolitan church of Florence, where there exists a deed of donation, by which Adonaldus, Tassimannus and Atropaldus give to the bishop of Florence all their goods, situated in the County of Florence and of Fiesole, in the Parish of St. Criscus situated in the Alps ^g, and in the Parish of St. Lawrence situated * in the Mugello; which goods were afterwards granted by the same bishop to the same donors in perpetual fief ^h, in the year, as one reads there, 941. And the charter of the concession was drawn up in the church and court of St. Lawrence situated in the Mugello, Hugo, judge and notary, intervening. This monument is pointed out by Eugene Gamurrini, abbot of Monte Cassino, in his genealogical history of the Noble Families of Etruria and Umbria, volume IV, in the Ubaldini family.

[10] of the church of St. Crescius And certainly that church still preserves traces of its antiquity, both in the very tall tower ⁱ of the bells ^k, built of squared stones, and in the arches of the side aisles, of whose ancient breadth signs still appear ^l, although the recent restorer of the church has reduced them to a narrower measure. No slight argument of the piety and care with which the people of Florence have attended it at every time is that it is found, as far back as the thirteenth century of Christ, adorned with a college of canons, that the divine mysteries and offices might be celebrated there with more splendid display. Documentary proof of this survives in the aforesaid book of the archiepiscopal mensa of Florence, where at part 25, number 5, a certain presbyter is listed as canon of St. Crescius, in these words: The presbyter Amadore, canon of the Parish of St. Crescius of Valcava, excommunicated by mandate of the Lord Andrew, bishop of Florence, Stoldus son of Cenni and many others of the commune, because they did not swear fealty to the said lord bishop. Charter in the hand of Bonajunta Meliorelli in the year 1289 ^m. Later, however, the college of canons having been done away with, for what cause is uncertain, its charge was committed to a presbyter marked with the title of plebanus ⁿ, to whom the other priests of the parish give their support, as is also observed at present. Yet the greatest ornament of the church has always been, and now is, the precious bones of the holy martyrs Crescius and his companions Omnio, Emptius and Cerbonius and many others, which, after so many centuries handed down in part through peoples infected with the foul stain of ignorance and benumbed as it were by a kind of stupor and lethargy, and reserved to this our age, rouse and stir the piety of the Etruscan peoples from day to day.

[11] in Valcava Not only Etruria, but the peoples of the neighbouring regions too undertake a pilgrimage twice in the year to venerate the sacred pledges, namely on the first Sunday of the month of August, on which the consecration of the basilica is commemorated ^o, and on the 24th of October, on which the festal solemnity of the same martyrs is celebrated. This solemnity, kept with most honourable display, it was permitted me in the year just past [p] to witness in person, and I noted in my mind both the zeal of the prince in promoting the honour of the martyrs and the religion and piety of his subjects and of strangers; and I took a great argument of the veneration and cult shown to the holy martyrs at all times, when it became known to me that no one has ever dared to give burial to his dead within this basilica; as for the remoter age there are witnesses both in the instrument of the aforesaid visitation of Archbishop Marzimedici of the year 1613, and in the letter of Vincent Rabatta, canon of Florence, mentioned above; and this praiseworthy usage, observed also in the last century, those now living have received from their forefathers, and give proof of it by their example.

[12] in which are the sepulchres of his companions. That SS. Cerbonius and his companions obtained the palm of martyrdom within the precinct of this church manifestly appears; for while they were keeping continuous vigils at the bodies of SS. Crescius and the other martyrs, laid in the tomb there by them, and giving themselves to the divine praises, they were seized by the soldiers of Decius and thrown alive in the same place into a pit dug not far from the sepulchres of the other martyrs; and the opening of the pit having been closed, they finished the course of their glorious contest, as their Acts relate. But in the year 1613, by order of the aforesaid Archbishop Alexander Marzimedici, the pavement of the same church having been dug deep near the baptismal font, the bodies of the same SS. Cerbonius and his companions were found there, as will be plain from the record of the Visitation to be brought forward below.

[13] It is renewed But since so venerable a basilica, partly consumed by the voracity of time, partly undermined by the negligence of the parish priests, had nothing whatever left to be seen but the ruinous remains of its walls, and no one in so long an interval of years, fearing perhaps the enormous expense, had ever laid hands on it to repair the approaching destruction, Cosmo III, grand duke of Etruria, eager daily to increase the glory of God and the veneration of the saints, expended royal munificence in restoring and adorning this church, so much so that it seems at present equal to the more illustrious churches of Florence itself. For by the work of John Baptist Foggini, of that prince's architects, and under the management of Abbot Dominic Zipoli, canon of St. Lawrence, a most acceptable member of the household of the princes of Etruria, the left aisle of the church, which gaped everywhere with cracks, was thrown down, and the other was carried forward on stone piers.

[14] splendidly Afterwards a splendid and rich altar, raised from the ground up to the holy martyrs Crescius and his companions under the apse [q], consists throughout of marbles partly white, partly coloured. Above the steps of the altar table a ciborium of white marble is raised, marked off however with various stones. At the sides of the high altar, and facing both aisles, two stone chapels rise. The wall of each of them, of oval shape, projecting with a gilded frame and taking the place of panels, has been adorned with painting by Charles Ventura Sacconi, chamberlain of Ferdinand, prince of Etruria: for in the one he portrayed the blessed Crescius, Omnio and Emptius; in the other St. Pamphila, her son Cerbonius, and the others of her kindred. Before the three altars, on twin steps, runs a marble railing, carried out from the side walls of the church. The right and left aisles of the church are filled by four other chapels, of which one was entirely built and adorned with the utmost piety and munificence by the most noble Gondi family. A sacristy besides was added, which the piety of the most pious princes daily enriches with most precious furnishings. Finally, before the great door rises a most magnificent portico, supported on columns of stone of Fiesole.

[15] by Cosmo III The exterior pediment of the door, wrought with elegant workmanship, displays a marble tablet with this inscription:

TO ST. CRISCUS, MARTYR, WHO IS ALSO CRESCIUS,

WHO BROUGHT THE FAITH OF CHRIST INTO THE TERRITORY OF THE MUGELLO,

AND WHO RESTS HERE WITH HIS COMPANIONS AND HELPERS OMNIO AND EMPTIUS

FROM THE YEAR CCXLIX,

PIETY HAS SET UP THIS CHURCH.

HIS SEVERED HEAD

COULD NOT BE CARRIED AWAY FROM HERE BY THE SOLDIERS WHO WERE BEARING IT TO THE EMPEROR DECIUS, CONSTRAINED AS THEY WERE BY THE DIVINE WILL.

CERBONIUS, DISCIPLE OF CRESCIUS, CONSECRATED THE PAVEMENT

WITH A GREAT MANY COMPANIONS THRUST ALIVE INTO A PIT THERE.

THE BONES OF ALL THESE, FOUND AND RECOGNIZED BY ALEXANDER MARZI-MEDICI, ARCHBISHOP OF FLORENCE,

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXIII, ON THE THIRD DAY BEFORE THE NONES OF JULY,

NOW, HOWEVER, BY COSMO III, GRAND DUKE OF ETRURIA,

THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH HAVING BEEN REPAIRED AND ALTARS OF MARBLE ERECTED,

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCCII

SET OUT IN A BETTER LIGHT, AS THOU SEEST,

ENTER, STRANGER, TO VENERATE THEM,

MINDFUL THAT

THE PLACE ON WHICH THOU STANDEST IS HOLY GROUND.

[16] at the beginning of the 18th century. But after the most religious prince had restored the church with singular munificence and increased its beauty with such splendid ornaments, he had the remains of the holy martyrs placed in a more honourable resting-place, part of which was received by a huge marble chest built under the table of the high altar, whose mouth is closed with three crystals; the other part of the relics is enclosed in small cypress chests, marked out all round with gold, which are raised above the table on the steps of the ciborium. The side chapels too have part of the sacred bones in twin urns, built of variegated stone, placed above the marble step of the altar table. But in the apse behind the high altar the head of the most holy martyr Crescius, enclosed in a silver case, is preserved in a stone compartment, and on his festal solemnities it is exposed above the altar table to the public veneration of the faithful. The urns in which all the sacred relics are received are sealed with twin keys, of which the archbishop of Florence retains one, the grand duke of Etruria the other. This one, however, his royal highness has for his part handed over for safekeeping to the most excellent men Senator Ferdinand Alexander and Abbot Charles Anthony de Gondi, the said chief secretary; with the further condition that when they die the key be returned by their heirs to the same grand duke. But it is needful also to pursue the other monuments that still survive outside this church.

[17] The wood of St. Cerbonius, It is established by a most ancient and immemorial tradition that Christians of every age have embraced with the highest veneration and cult the place which even in this our age is called the Wood of St. Cerbonius, not far distant from the aforesaid basilica of St. Crescius; for the common opinion is that the house of St. Cerbonius formerly stood there, in which, as his Acts relate, St. Crescius, lying hidden on account of the fury of the persecution, was seized by the soldiers of Decius; and that in it the same martyr and his companions Omnio and Emptius were slain by the persecutors [r] is contended with very strong reasons by the aforesaid James Laderchius in his dissertation, not yet published, on the place of the martyrdom of St. Crescius. It came about by the witness of this tradition that devout crowds of the peoples, advancing in long column, came praying at fixed times of the year to the tabernacle which formerly stood there. And indeed, when the earth had recently been cleared away all round in the same place, very broad foundations were laid bare [s]; a certain proof of a huge mass formerly built upon them.

[18] the house And since by the indication of the Acts the house of the same St. Cerbonius is gathered to have been alongside the public road which led those setting out from Florence to Faenza; from this the opinion of the natives concerning this place comes to be confirmed: for when a few years ago the earth was deeply dug under the pavement of the aforesaid church of St. Crescius, an ancient Roman road was found, paved with stones, which proceeding from the city of Fiesole and cutting through this church near the chapel of the aforesaid Gondi family, seemed to go straight through the same place where the house of St. Cerbonius is believed to have been situated, and finally through the neighbouring ridges of the Alps to join the Aemilian Way. Cosmo the Great therefore, seconding the piety of the peoples, supported on these and other stronger foundations, commanded a chapel to be built in the same place, dedicated to St. Cerbonius, in which the old panel of St. Crescius, of which I made mention above, is preserved.

[19] and other things pertaining Another very celebrated monument survives near the house of St. Cerbonius, brought to light by the witness of the same Acts of St. Crescius; for it is established that near the same house of St. Cerbonius there stood anciently a fane of idols, to which our martyrs were led, that they might be polluted by the vain superstitions of the heathen and make sacrifices; hence opposite the aforesaid house, but on a higher part of the hill, the ground having been widely excavated, the foundations of an ancient building appeared, running over a very ample space, and there the intersections of walls, the positions of doors, an atrium and other marks were found disposed in such order that there is ground for believing that they are the remains of an old temple of idols. This opinion is further confirmed by certain instruments suited to the use of sacrifices, dug out of the ruins: namely stone stands showing the figure of an altar, on which the victims to be offered were placed; likewise a small and very old sickle and a very large knife, which, it is no slight conjecture, the heathen used in sacrifices there; and finally very many fragments of stones, of which two displayed carved mutilated snakes [t]. From this a number of men of quite the best reputation, and most practised in unearthing antiquities, are easily led to the opinion of believing that that temple was formerly sacred to Aesculapius. For that serpents were the symbol of Aesculapius, nay that the god himself sailed to Rome from Epidaurus under the image of a snake, and was worshipped there, is a thing too well known from the ancient writers to need explaining now in other words.

[20] to the history of St. Crescius. Moreover, it seemed to me not inconsistent to adhere to this opinion about our temple, when I weighed its monuments and the reasons brought forward; and now, while I write this, I see this opinion strengthened by two other arguments drawn from the very situation of the temple. First, namely, by its situation, in that this temple appears to have been built on a high hill; second, in that it stood outside the city of Florence. For that the temples of Aesculapius were for the most part erected by the Greeks on hills is testified by Plutarch in the Roman Questions, number 94, in these words: The Greeks too generally have the shrines of Aesculapius set in pure and lofty places; and Pausanias, the most accurate describer of old Greece, in his Arcadian book lists several temples sacred to Aesculapius situated on a slope. That the Epidaurians also had the temple of the same god outside the city is stated by the same Plutarch at the place cited, and by Pausanias in the Corinthian book, and is confirmed by Louis Vives in his Commentaries on book III, chapter 12, of St. Augustine's City of God; and that at Rome likewise there was a temple of Aesculapius outside the city, on the Lycaonian island in the Tiber, is proved by the witness of our histories. But since Mark Anthony Mozzi, canon of Florence, discusses more fully, as I have already pointed out, the basilica of St. Crescius and its adjacent monuments, let the reader therefore consult his book, which is soon to enjoy the public light [u].

[21] Memorable features of the church There exists another church of St. Crescius, subject to the diocese of Florence, in the place called of Campi, which is six miles distant from Florence. It is established that this was formerly built by an emperor and was distinguished by a monastery of monks [x]. There survives a splendid monument of this in a charter of agreement made by its patrons, a copy of which, from the autograph that exists in the possession of the heirs of Francis Mazzinghi, patrician of Florence, transcribed by Francis Mary Ducci, former prefect of the Medicean-Laurentian library and most diligent investigator of archives, and handed over to me, I have judged worthy

to be handed down to the memory of posterity.

[22] and of the chapter “In the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen. By this charter of agreement let it appear that we, Guicto and Robert, sons of the late William, and Lothair, son of the late Raynald, patrons of the monasteries of St. Domninus of the parish of St. Julian of Settimo, and of St. Peter situated at Lecore of the parish of St. Lawrence of Signa, and of St. Criscus of Campi of the parish of St. Stephen, by the concession made to our forefathers by the most serene emperor Augustus, the sole builder of the said monasteries, as the privileges of our concession show, wishing to fulfil the intention of the concession and of our forefathers, make and ordain these constitutions and ordinances, so that they may be observed by us and our sons and descendants in perpetuity: namely, that none of us or of our sons and descendants shall sell, give or pledge to any person, or alienate under any title, the rights which we have in the said monasteries and the said concession; and that none of our descendants who has not been begotten of lawful matrimony, nor any woman of our descendants after she has been married to an outsider, may succeed in the said rights or have any right in the said monasteries. And for the strength of this our agreement we swear in thy hands, presbyter Donodeus, keeper of the said monastery of St. Domninus, and we promise thee on behalf of the said monasteries, for ourselves and our sons and heirs and descendants in perpetuity, perpetually to observe the said ordinance and agreement, and to hold it stable, and not to do or come against it. But if any of us or of our descendants shall not observe it, or shall in any way violate or contravene it, we promise thee as a penalty a thousand pounds of Lucchese pence, which penalty anyone contravening shall be bound to pay in full, half to the Roman church, under whose protection the said monasteries stand, and the other half to the said monasteries. And therefore to thee, presbyter, in the manner above, we bind ourselves and our heirs and all the goods and rights that we have, and for the caution and security of this agreement and ordinance we will three charters of like tenor to be published. Done in the said monastery of St. Domninus in the year of the Lord's Incarnation one thousand one hundred and eleven, on the fifth day before the kalends of May, indiction… I, Donodeus, presbyter, have subscribed myself in this charter of agreement. † The signs of the hands of Guicto and Robert and Lothair, the aforesaid patrons. Witnesses: Lombardello, clerk of Quarade, and Manardus son of Bonaiutus, and Ubaldo son of Bononus, Justinus, lay brother of St. Domninus, and Joannellus Massari of Campi, and Amicinus son of Talentus. † The signs of the hands of the said witnesses. I, Inghilbertus, judge and likewise notary.”

[23] of St. Crescius of Campi; But who the emperor was who built this church and monastery is so far unknown to me; unless it be pleasing to refer this work to Henry I or Otto III, most religious emperors, who raised a number of monasteries from the ground up inside and outside Italy, and increased them with enormous revenues. In the year 1462, on the 20th day of December, John Neroni, archbishop of Florence, united this parish church, called a priory, to the capitular mensa of the distinguished collegiate church of St. Lawrence, by the free resignation of Charles son of the late Raymund Mannelli, prior of the same church, by instrument of Ser Loctus Masii, notary of Florence, as appears in book 14 of the archive of the same collegiate church, number 24. The same church preserves part of the relics of St. Crescius and his companions; for there I saw two crystal phials filled with bones of the same martyrs and another larger bone; besides this a very ancient cup, broken by age, steeped in the sacred blood of St. Crescius; which precious pledges of the martyrs were given by Francis Barontini, parish priest of St. Crescius of Valcava, to Rocco Bomboni, prior of this church, and are honoured there with merited veneration.

[24] likewise of the church of Maciola There are also in the diocese of Fiesole two churches erected to the same holy martyr: of which one, five miles distant from Florence, is called de Maciola from the name of the district [z]. Its structure is quite ample and elegant; the walls consist of squared stone, and are supported by fourteen columns; a presbytery is seen of the Corinthian order, and a very tall square bell-tower rises; from which the antiquity of the building is gathered [aa]. I have not found a more ancient record of it, however, than from the fifteenth century of Christ [bb] in the registers of the church of Fiesole, where is recorded an episcopal visitation of this church made on the 14th day of May of the year 1442, at which time the charge of it was held by the very celebrated parish priest Arlotto [cc], by a collation made to him by Martin V, supreme pontiff, in the year of Christ 1426. This church, however, by the free resignation of the same presbyter Arlotto, made voluntarily into the hands of his Holiness and admitted by his Holiness, Sixtus IV, supreme pontiff, perpetually united and annexed to the capitular mensa of the distinguished secular collegiate church of St. Lawrence at Florence by a bull given at Rome at St. Peter's in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1482, on the fourth day before the ides of February, in the 12th year of his pontificate, as is established from the Bullary of the same collegiate church, page 190; and because the right over the aforesaid church was at that time in the possession of the noble and ancient Neroni family, its express consent accordingly accompanied this union; indeed Francis Neroni, citizen of Florence, zealously took care of the same, that from the revenues of that church there might be endowed a canonical prebend which he had instituted in the said collegiate church.

[25] and of Monteficalli in the diocese of Fiesole. Likewise in the diocese of Fiesole is counted another church dedicated to St. Crescius, which is now called de Monteficalli, formerly de Mezzuola, a journey of twelve miles from Florence [dd]; indeed an ancient monument; for its record exists in the archive of the monastery of Passignano in two parchments, dated the one in the year of Christ 1292, the other 1320, which I had in my hands when three months ago I was turning over the innumerable very old charters of the same archive. The government of this church likewise is held by a presbyter marked with the title of plebanus. Relics of St. Crescius were in it down to the year 1446, as is related in the episcopal visitation made on the 2nd day of May of the same year, from the registers of the church of Fiesole. Now a part of an arm of the same martyr is preserved there, given as a gift by Senator Julius Caccia [ee], on the 21st day of October of the year 1650, by instrument of Zenobius Caramelli.

ANNOTATIONS.

p. Namely the year 1706.

Moctius has published an image of this altar Storia della chiesa di S. Cresci, page 98.. The panel shows the death of St. Crescius. The urn under the altar contains, as the inscribed words teach,

THE BONES OF THE HOLY MARTYRS OF CHRIST

ST. CRESCIUS AND HIS COMPANIONS.

Below are inscribed these other words:

COSMO III, GRAND DUKE

OF ETRURIA, THAT THEY MIGHT BE HONOURED

IN AMPLER SPACE,

BUILT AND ADORNED THIS ALTAR

IN THE YEAR OF CHRIST ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCCII.

The same inscription is repeated on the two side altars, in which relics are likewise enclosed.

For this reason Cosmo III raised a chapel there and had the following inscriptions set up In Moctius, page 131 and following.:

BLESSED PAMPHILA, WIDOW,

IN THIS

HER FORMER HOUSE

Col. 606A RECEIVED SS. CRISCUS AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS,

IN HOSPITALITY

WHEN THEY HAD BETAKEN THEMSELVES INTO THE TERRITORY OF THE MUGELLO

AND THERE BY THE PRAYERS OF THAT MOST BLESSED CRISCUS

RECOVERED HER SON CERBONIUS

FROM THE JAWS OF DEATH

AND WITH HIM AND HER WHOLE HOUSEHOLD

RECEIVED THE RITES OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH

FOR WHICH, A LITTLE AFTERWARDS, ALL TOGETHER

PRAYING AT THE SEPULCHRE OF THE AFORESAID MARTYRS

THEY TOO, THE DECIAN PERSECUTION RAGING,

MERITED THE CROWN OF MARTYRDOM

IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD

CCXLIX

THIS BUILDING,

THEN THE HOUSE OF SS. PAMPHILA AND CERBO,

BLESSED CRISCUS,

HAVING PURGED IT OF THE OLD SUPERSTITION,

CONSECRATED WITH HIS GLORIOUS BLOOD AND THAT OF HIS COMPANIONS OMNIO AND EMPTIUS

THE SAME, FALLEN BY THE INJURY OF TIME,

WITH SINGULAR ZEAL OF PIETY AND RELIGION TOWARDS SO GREAT MARTYRS

COSMO III,

GRAND DUKE OF ETRURIA,

WITH ROYAL MUNIFICENCE

RAISED ANEW FROM THE FOUNDATIONS

AND RESTORED TO ITS FIRST VENERATION

IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD

M. D. CCVIII

Cosmo III desired this enclosure to be set round about and this inscription to be placed on it In Moctius, page 133 and 134.:

THE PLACE

WHICH IS CONTAINED IN THE CIRCUIT OF THIS WALL

WAS FORMERLY

THE HOUSE OF SS. PAMPHILA AND CERBONIUS

IN WHICH BOTH THEY THEMSELVES

WERE INITIATED INTO THE CHRISTIAN RITES

AND SS. CRESCIUS, OMNIO AND EMPTIUS

WERE CROWNED WITH MARTYRDOM

UPON THE ANCIENT

FOUNDATIONS OF THE HOUSE OF SS. CERBO AND PAMPHILA

COSMO III

COMMANDED THE WALL TO BE RAISED

FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE VENERABLE PLACE

IN THE YEAR OF SALVATION

M. D. CCVIII

t. Images of all these things you will find in Moctius Ibid. page 135, 140 and 145..

From Moctius Ibid. page 109. we shall give the following besides. Before the middle altar, outside the railing, this inscription is read on the pavement:

THE ATTENDANTS OF DECIUS,

HELD BACK BY A HIDDEN FORCE,

WHILE THEY WERE CARRYING THE SACRED HEAD OF ST. CRESCIUS

FIXED ON A LANCE

TO THE EMPEROR HIMSELF

IN PROOF OF THE TYRANNY PRACTISED,

HERE,

DIVINELY CONSTRAINED, LAID IT DOWN

THE MEMORY OF THIS EVENT

WAS RENEWED FOR POSTERITY

BY BARTHOLOMEW GALILEI, PARISH PRIEST,

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCCII

Near the former sepulchre of St. Crescius Cosmo III had these words cut:

THE MOST ANCIENT

SEPULCHRE OF ST. CRESCIUS, MARTYR,

SPRINKLED WITH BLOOD,

FROM THE ACTS OF THE DIOCESAN VISITATION OF ALEXANDER MARZI

MEDICI ON THE 4TH

AND 5TH DAYS OF THE MONTH OF

JULY

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXIII

Upon the pit in which the bones of SS. Omnio and Emptius were long enclosed there was placed a marble stone with this inscription:

TO THE MEMORY OF THE HOLY MARTYRS

OMNIO AND EMPTIUS, DISCIPLES OF BLESSED CRESCIUS. THEIR BODIES,

WHICH ALEXANDER MARZI MEDICI, ARCHBISHOP OF FLORENCE,

FOUND HERE IN THE DIOCESAN VISITATION IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXIII, ON THE THIRD DAY BEFORE THE NONES OF JULY,

PETER NICOLLINI, HIS SUCCESSOR,

LEST THEY SHOULD BE CORRUPTED BY THE FAULT OF THE DAMP SOIL,

GRANTED TO BE TRANSFERRED TO ANOTHER MORE BECOMING PLACE

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXLVIII

Near the place in which the relics of St. Cerbonius and his companions were found, these words were cut:

TO THE MEMORY OF SS. CERBO

AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, WHOSE

SACRED BODIES HERE, NEAR THE OLD FONT OF REGENERATION,

WERE FOUND

BY ALEXANDER MARZI MEDICI,

ARCHBISHOP OF FLORENCE, ON THE THIRD DAY BEFORE THE NONES OF JULY ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXLVIII

Further, at the step of the altar of the Most Holy Rosary:

THE SACRED BODIES OF THE HOLY MARTYRS

CERBO AND HIS COMPANIONS HAVING BEEN BROUGHT OUT OF THE NEARBY PIT,

THE FRAGMENTS OF BONES THAT REMAINED,

CLEANSED OF THE SOIL LYING UPON THEM AND

SET APART BY DECREE OF

MARZI MEDICI

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXIII,

WERE TRANSLATED FROM HERE WHERE THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY KEPT

INTO THE FOOTPIECE

OF THIS ALTAR

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCCVI

The diploma of this translation has been published by Moctius Ibid. page 116 and following..

Finally, at the chief doors of the basilica under the portico:

TO ST. CRISCUS, MARTYR,

WHO IS ALSO CRESCIUS,

WHO BROUGHT THE FAITH OF CHRIST INTO THE TERRITORY

OF THE MUGELLO,

AND WHO RESTS HERE WITH HIS COMPANIONS AND

HELPERS OMNIO AND EMPTIUS

FROM THE YEAR CCXLIX,

PIETY HAS SET UP

THIS CHURCH.

HIS SEVERED HEAD

COULD NOT BE CARRIED AWAY FROM HERE

BY THE SOLDIERS WHO WERE BEARING IT TO THE EMPEROR DECIUS,

CONSTRAINED AS THEY WERE BY THE DIVINE WILL.

CERBONIUS, DISCIPLE OF CRESCIUS, CONSECRATED THE PAVEMENT

WITH A GREAT MANY COMPANIONS THRUST ALIVE

INTO A PIT THERE.

THE BONES OF ALL THESE, BY ALEX.

MARZI-MEDICI, ARCHBISHOP OF FLORENCE,

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCXIII, ON THE THIRD DAY BEFORE THE NONES

OF JULY, FOUND AND

RECOGNIZED,

NOW, HOWEVER, BY COSMO III,

GRAND DUKE OF ETRURIA,

THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH HAVING BEEN REPAIRED AND ALTARS OF MARBLE

ERECTED,

IN THE YEAR ⅭⅠƆⅠƆCCII

SET OUT IN A BETTER LIGHT, AS THOU SEEST,

ENTER, STRANGER, TO VENERATE THEM,

MINDFUL THAT THE PLACE ON WHICH THOU STANDEST

IS HOLY GROUND

x. These things are perhaps not accurate enough, although they rest on the following diploma. Moctius, that is Storia della chiesa di S. Cresci, page 159 and following., published an older charter, of which this is the beginning: In the name of the Lord God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Louis, by the grace of God emperor augustus, son of the Lord Lothair of blessed memory, in the eleventh of the years of his reign, q. indiction nine: the eleventh year of the reign of Louis II, eldest son of Lothair II, the start being taken from the day of his coronation or the 2nd of December of the year 850, and the ninth indiction agree with

the year of Christ 861. Moreover in that testament a certain Donatian, presbyter, son of Utto, makes disposition of his three monasteries, situated in the Florentine territory: namely of the monastery of St. Domninus, which his father had built at Settimo in the parish of St. Julian; of the monastery of St. Peter, which he himself had raised from the foundations at Lecore in the parish of St. Lawrence in Signa; and finally of the monastery of St. Criscus, situated at Campi in the parish of St. Stephen. Who built this last is not indicated; but since Donatian was its possessor, just as of the two others, he is to be reckoned as himself its founder, or his father. Certainly the contrary cannot be shown from the charter published by Felici; since in it there lies a monstrous error, in that an emperor is said to be the sole builder of the three said monasteries. Donatian, however, wishes that these monasteries of his should remain so as long as he lives; and after his death, unless he has otherwise determined before, that they should pass with all their possessions to the church of St. Peter at Rome, on condition that the presbyters of St. Peter should each year receive from them two silver solidi, each consisting of twelve pence: but if they should want more, or be troublesome to the monastery, or alienate the possessions, the monks should be permitted to transfer their monasteries with the annual census to the monastery of Nonantola. And this whole arrangement was made in order that the monasteries might be exempt and subject only to the Roman church of St. Peter or the Nonantolan church of St. Sylvester. But how those three monasteries afterwards came into the possession of Guicto or Guido, Robert and Lotarius or Lothair (as is established from the diploma of the year 1111 published by Felici) is hidden from me, except that they themselves affirm that they were granted to their forefathers by I know not what emperor. Yet in the year 1198 Pope Innocent III still reckoned the church of St. Domninus to be under the protection of St. Peter and his own From Ammirato, On the Noble Families of Florence, in Lami, volume I, page 605.. It is now a parish church, suffragan of St. Stephen in Campi, retaining the name of priory, and having since the year 1795 an irremovable parish priest. There is venerated there, from before the memory of man, an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Good Counsel Santoni, Notizie storiche dell' arcidiocese Fiorentina, page 383..

z. We have already observed above, at annotation g, that the church of St. Crescius in Maciolis or Maciola, at the fifth milestone from Florence on the road to Bologna, is also called in Albino, in Albio, in Alpibus and in Carza Compare Lami, Memorabilia, volume I, page 597 and 598., and that to it pertains the diploma which Felici at number 9 referred to the church of St. Crescius in Valcava and by which it is established that this parish already existed before the middle of the tenth century. Whoever wants more may consult the index of churches subjoined to the third volume of the Memorabilia of the church of Florence and Repetti's Geographical, Physical and Historical Dictionary of Tuscany, under Macioli or Macciuoli.

aa. The age of the tower can be gathered from the following inscription, set into the wall: IN THE YEAR OF THE LORD MCCLXXIX, INDICTION II, IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, IN THE TIME OF AMBROSE THE PARISH PRIEST, HE HAD THIS BELFRY MADE WITH ALL ITS BELLS. The present church itself was partly built about the middle of the fifteenth century [Moctius, Storia della chiesa di S. Cresci, page 149, and Repetti, Dizionario della Toscana, under Macioli.].

bb. Because Felici did not know the various names of this parish, it came about that he did not find documents on it older than the fifteenth century. Whoever wants these may consult Moctius Storia della chiesa di S. Cresci, page 147 and following. and Lami Memorabilia of the church of Florence, volume I, page 225 and following..

cc. That parish priest Arlotto is most celebrated among the Tuscans for his witticisms; for the rest a very praiseworthy man. A short encomium or life of him has been written by Lami Ibid. page 227.. In the little book containing his witticisms it is indicated that the feast of St. Crescius was formerly celebrated twice each year in the church of Maciola Ibid. page cited..

dd. Mons Ficalles was also called de Novulæ, as Lami shows in many places after Moctius Ibid. page 598, note a.. Hence Blessed Pope Paschal II, confirming in the year 1103 to the bishop of Fiesole all his churches and castles, lists among them the parish of St. Crescius situated in Novole Moctius, Storia della chiesa di S. Cresci, page 151.. Many other things are reported by Moctius Ibid. page 151 and following. and Lami Memorabilia, volume I, page 598 and elsewhere here and there..

ee. Julius Caccia had received this pious pledge from Francis Barontini, parish priest of St. Crescius in Valcava; nor was a part of an arm given to the church of St. Crescius in Monte Ficalle, but, as one reads in the instrument, a relic of St. Crescius, martyr, namely part of the shin-bone of the same saint Moctius, page 157..

* now Mugello.

CHAPTER IV.

Visitations of the church of SS. Crescius and his companions at Valcava, and the discoveries and translations of their relics.

Visitations of the relics of the year 1568, Passing over the older visitations which the archbishops of Florence instituted in the church of St. Crescius of Valcava, the first that occurs is the visitation of Archbishop Anthony Altoviti of the year 1568, of which these words are reported in the book of Visitations, page 125. “There is in the said parish the head of St. Crescius, martyr, which is decently kept in a well-closed tabernacle on the right of the altar; and not only the neighbouring peoples, but also from distant regions, they flock with the greatest devotion to the said parish, and daily many miracles are seen, and especially in those oppressed by most wicked spirits; and under the high altar are laid up the bodies of SS. Crescius and his companions.”

[27] 1590, In the same book, at page 360, there is reported another visitation of the same church of St. Crescius of Valcava, made in the year 1590 by Archbishop Alexander de' Medici, who was afterwards marked with the sacred purple, and finally raised to the summit of the pontificate under the name of Leo XI; in which these words are found: “In a stone tabernacle on the right of the high altar is laid up the relic of the head of St. Crescius, martyr, which on the first Sunday of the month of August, which is the day of the consecration of the said parish, and on the 24th of October is exposed on the high altar, and a frequent concourse of peoples comes to it, and it is venerated with great devotion, and is most decently kept in the said tabernacle under two secure keys.”

[28] and 1613. From another book of Visitations, page 80, there is had the visitation written below of Archbishop Alexander Marzi-Medici, who found the sacred bodies of our martyrs in the year 1613. “The most illustrious and most reverend Lord Alexander Marzi-Medici, archbishop of Florence, on the 3rd day of the month of July 1613, wishing to pursue the visitation begun some time before, etc., on the same day aforesaid came to the parish church, called a plebania, of St. Crescius of Valcava in the territory of the Mugello of the diocese of Florence, etc. He saw, laid up in a stone tabernacle on the right of the high altar, the relic, the head of St. Crescius, martyr, as they assert, which relic is shown every year to the people on the first Sunday of August, on which the feast of the consecration of the said parish is celebrated, and is shown also on the 24th day of October, and is held in great veneration, and is enclosed under two keys, etc.

[29] As is declared from the instruments, But on the 4th day of the same month the Reverend Dom Matthew, parish priest, having presented himself, set forth how it is believed and held for certain by the men of the people of the said parish of St. Crescius of Valcava, and of the other churches not only of the said parish but of the whole Mugello, and that in all these places and among most men it has been and is the public voice and report, that in this church of St. Crescius of Valcava were buried, and are at present found, the sacred bodies of the holy martyrs Crescius, Cerbonius and their companions; which a great many ancient writers have likewise asserted, etc., and that hence, out of reverence for the holy bodies, no one has ever dared, nor at present dares, to bury the dead in the said church, as is the custom of burying in other churches of the region of the Mugello; but the bodies of the deceased are laid up in the common cemetery. He likewise set forth that on account of this inveterate opinion and belief, namely that the said sacred bodies lie buried in the said church, from time immemorial each year on the day of the first Sunday of August not only the men of the said parish, but of all the places of the Mugello, and strangers too, have been wont to flock to the said parish, and especially those of the county and city of Faenza, who come led by a spirit of devotion to venerate the said holy martyrs and their relics, and to commend themselves in their needs to their patronage with God, etc.

[30] and the relics of his companions are dug up, And the most illustrious lord, having heard, etc., having called and taken with him the magnificent Francis, son of Philip de Zetis, a skilled mason of the said people of the said parish, and in the presence of, etc., visited, inspected and diligently considered all and singular the places, and ordered Dom Matthew, there present, to have the ground dug and to take care that a diligent search and inspection be made in the places, etc., in which he believes the aforesaid bodies and relics have been placed, etc. Which things having been done, etc., the said reverend Matthew, parish priest, forthwith had the pavement dug up by the said Francis Zeti, mason, and other labourers, rustics and of the people of the said parish, and the earth removed before the high altar; and when they had penetrated under the said altar, they found a tomb built of stones, carved on all sides, whose mouth is covered by another stone of the same length and breadth as the stone that serves for the table of the said altar; on which stone the aforesaid altar has been set; and they found the said tomb everywhere filled with wet and muddy earth, namely from the water which had seeped there from the side of the apse of the said church; and the said earth having been cleared out, and a diligent search made in it, there were found the human bones written below, as they are given below, described by Master Benedict Ulivi, physician of Borgo San Lorenzo, there present, namely: the greater part of one thigh bone, part of another thigh bone, part of the bone of one of the shins, the greater part of one thigh bone, part of the lesser bones of both arms, one whole vertebra, part of a bone of the spine, part of the sacrum, another part of the sacrum, part of one greater trochanter, another piece of the same sacrum, part of a shoulder-blade, another part of a shoulder-blade, part of the greater bone of the shin, another part of the same bone, part of the lesser ulna, another piece of the same bone, part of one finger, very many small pieces or fragments of ribs and of the shin-bones of the thigh. There were also found mixed with the said earth a number of gold threads ^a, and besides the bezel of a ring ^b of gilded bronze, to which was bound a blue stone, without, however, the ring. There were also six small coins ^c, five silver and the other bronze.

[31] which in various After this the said Matthew, parish priest, at once ordered the said mason Zeti and other labourers to draw out the stone placed under the steps by which one ascends to the high altar, called of St. Crescius, under which stone there appeared a tomb closed with bricks and filled with slimy earth; and the said Philip the mason, entering it and bringing out the wet earth from every side, uncovered the bones of two whole bodies, which lay with their heads, contiguous to each other, with only one upright brick placed between them.

[32] parts of the church But on the following day, the 5th of the said month of July, the said Matthew, parish priest, sought to pursue the search for the relics of St. Cerbonius and his companions, etc., and the most illustrious lord ordered, etc. And at once the said parish priest ordered the pavement of the church to be dug up around the sacred baptismal font, next to the great door of the church on the right side, and when a pit had been drawn out of a length of about ten ells, there were found there eight human heads, some whole, others reduced to pieces; and besides a great quantity of bones belonging to many bodies, which seemed to have been buried promiscuously. These things having been done, the said parish priest, giving thanks to God that he had not been cheated of the desire he had long held, of finding, as it seems to him without further doubt, and as he believes it seems to others present, that the sacred relics of all the aforesaid holy martyrs had been found, namely the relics of the body of St. Crescius in the sepulchre existing under the high altar of the said church; those of Omnio and Emptius, the companions of the said Blessed Crescius, in the sepulchre existing beside and beneath the steps by which one ascends going to the said high altar; and those of Blessed Cerbonius and his companions in the pit around and beneath the baptismal font, and therefore he said that he desired no other search.

[33] lay buried. And the most illustrious lord ordered him to cleanse all those relics from the mud of the earth, and to enclose those which were found in the sepulchre under the altar of St. Crescius in a small chest made of lead plates, and to place and put back the said leaden chest with the relics enclosed in it in the very stone by which the stone table of the same altar of St. Crescius is supported. And those relics which were found in the sepulchre placed beside the steps by which one ascends to the high altar he should enclose in a wooden chest, reinforced with lead plates, and put back in the same place where they were found, etc. But the relics that were found in the pit under and around the baptismal font he should enclose in a similar wooden chest, reinforced with lead plates, and place and put back beside the said font, etc.”

[34] Visitations, in the year 1636 There follows another visitation of Archbishop Peter Niccolini of the year 1636, as from the book of Visitations, page 293, where these words are found: “Under the table of the high altar the body of St. Crescius, martyr, is preserved in a leaden chest, clothed in silk, and before the steps of the said altar are laid up the bodies of SS. Omnio and Emptius, martyrs, in a wooden chest strengthened with lead plates; and beside the baptismal font are laid up the bodies of SS. Cerbonius and his companions, martyrs, in a leaded wooden chest; which relics were found and placed in the presence of the most illustrious and most reverend Lord Alexander Marzi-Medici, archbishop of Florence, his predecessor, on the 4th and 5th days of July 1613, as in the visitation made by him, in the acts of the said visitation existing in the archiepiscopal archive of Florence. And because the chest near the baptismal font, in which are the relics of SS. Cerbo and his companions, martyrs, is broken and consumed through damp, the most illustrious lord ordered it to be refitted as soon as possible, and the bricks to be strengthened with lime, and that proof be given of the aforesaid within fifteen days, under penalty of four scudi. On the right of the said high altar, in a stone tabernacle, is laid up the relic of the head of St. Crescius, martyr, enclosed in a head made, as they say, di cartone e gesso of cardboard and plaster; which relic on the first Sunday of the month of August, which is the day of the consecration of the said parish, and on the 24th day of October, on which the feast of St. Crescius is kept, is exposed on the high altar, and a frequent concourse of peoples flows to it with great devotion, and it is preserved in the said tabernacle with two keys, retained by the said parish priest.”

[35] and 1659 In the year 1659 there is found another visitation, made by Philip Soldani, archpriest, and Gherardo Gherardi, canon of the metropolitan church of Florence, visitors chosen by Francis Nerli, then archbishop of Florence, where one reads: “On the right of the high altar, in a stone tabernacle which is closed with two keys, is preserved the relic of the head of St. Crescius, martyr, etc.” as is asserted in the past visitation of Archbishop Niccolini. “The bodies of SS. Omnio and Emptius, which in the past visitation it was asserted were laid up before the steps of the high altar, on account of the dampness of the soil were removed from the said place by the present Lord Parish Priest, with the licence of Archbishop Niccolini of happy memory, as appears from his rescript, etc., and today they are kept under key, retained by the Lord Parish Priest, in a cupboard near the door of the church at the entrance, in two wooden chests, clothed inside with silk, of which one has glass, that the people may be able to venerate and kiss them.

[36] made. But the bodies of SS. Cerbo and his companions, martyrs, by licence granted by the same most illustrious prelate, contained in the same rescript, were removed from the place in which they were first kept, distributed through several chests, of which one, which is the larger, is kept under the high altar for want of another decent place; which chest, however, since it is not clothed with silk on its lower part, the lord admonished the Lord Parish Priest, there present, to clothe within a month, under penalty of one gold piece. The other chests are four in number, and eight others reduced to the various forms of reliquaries, in which, since the silk clothing is lacking on the inner part, he must likewise supply it within the said time under the same penalty.”

ANNOTATIONS.

the churches of St. Crescius at Campi and of Monte Ficalle are preserved. To which add that in the church of St. Mark at Florence, as Louis Anthony Gianboni testifies in his Sacred Diary at the 24th of October, parts of the heads of SS. Crescius, Omnio and Emtius are kept, and that other pledges of the same saints are piously honoured in the church of the fortress of Lutiano in the Mugello, as Brocchi indicates at page XXXIII of the Description of the Mugello Compare Lami, Memorabilia of the church of Florence, volume I, page 608..

CHAPTER V.

The ancient Office and Mass of SS. Crescius and his companions, martyrs.

For the feast of St. Criscus, martyr.

Lesson I of the Office of St. Crescius and his companions, LESSON I. In the times of the emperor Decius, when a most savage persecution, proclaimed against the servants of Christ, was raging in almost every part of the earth, and the soldiers of the heavenly King were hastening through various torments to the crown of martyrdom: Blessed Criscus, already vehemently enkindled with the ardour of martyrdom, coming towards Florence, when he had reached the wood which is called Elysboch, was captured by the soldiers of the emperor Decius himself, who was then present at Florence, together with Blessed Minias and certain others, and was led to the city itself. And when it had been announced to the emperor concerning their captivity and arrival, greatly rejoicing, he ordered them to stand before his sight. Having inquired their names and religion, when he recognized that they were strong in the Christian faith, he ordered them with various punishments to be thrust separately into the lowest custody of the prison, lest they should at least be somewhat relieved by mutual consolations offered to one another in alternate speech. For the perfidious emperor was tormented because the asserters of the Christian faith, the most blessed martyrs, confessing Christ the Lord, the creator of all things, proclaimed with clear and open voice that he was the King of kings and Lord of angels, whom the heavens venerate, the world adores, hell trembles at, and said: There is one God, Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, whom the holy martyrs imitated, and reckoning as nothing the threats of the judges and the torments of the executioners and all the temptations of the devil, hastened to attain to the blessedness of eternal life through the crown of martyrdom.

[38] lesson II, LESSON II. From among whom the athlete of Christ, the aforesaid most blessed Criscus, despising the threats and torments of Decius the most cruel emperor, while he was held in prison, joyful and rejoicing gave praises to the Most High because he was suffering insult for his name. Now the superintendent of the prison was a certain man named Omion *, noble and acceptable to the emperor Decius, who also had a lunatic daughter, whom a wicked and violent possessor was atrociously mangling daily with wretched vexation, especially after the most blessed martyr of Christ Criscus had been brought there. While these things were happening, when midnight had come and the watchmen had fallen asleep, an immense light, driving the darkness far off, shone forth in the foul prison: and the glorious soldier, loosed from the bonds of his chains and comforted by the ministrations of angels, walking with free foot, sang a psalm and hymn to God. The guards, awaking, when they beheld so great a brightness of light in the dark prison, struck with no small terror, turned to flight. The demon also began to cry out through the girl's mouth in a terrible voice that he was burning and suffering intolerable torments, saying: What have I to do with thee, O Criscus? Why dost thou hasten to destroy me before the time? I adjure thee by him whom thou worshippest, not to drive me out from here, and not to do me so great an injury.

[39] lesson III, LESSON III. Then Omion, seeing such great wonders of the Lord performed around Blessed Criscus, ran to the prison, and casting himself at the feet of the most blessed martyr, began to pray that he might merit pardon for his crimes. He entreated also that he would restore health to his daughter and shut the demon out of her bowels. And Blessed Criscus, looking at him with serene countenance, as was his way, said: If thou believest that the Lord Jesus Christ is the maker and restorer of all things, thou shalt both find health for thy daughter, the enemy being put to flight, and obtain indulgence for all thy sins, for which thou art now concerned. Then Omion, prostrate before his feet, began to say with open voice: I believe that the Lord Jesus is true God, and I spurn the dumb and deaf idols, which can profit neither themselves nor others, accounting them as nothing; but adoring the God of the Christians, who, abiding in the heavens, has so glorified thee his servant, I beg pardon for my sins. For I have sinned much against thee and against thy God, because in error I have persecuted his saints, and have been consenting to their death; but I beseech thee, saint of God, that, having mercy on my daughter, thou wilt bring us to the grace of thy God, the enemy of the human race being expelled from her heart. And Blessed Criscus, rejoicing at his faith and giving thanks to God, raised him up, and prostrate in prayer besought that the Lord would deign to show the power of his holy name upon the girl and expel the demon from her.

[40] lesson IV, LESSON IV. And when he had finished his prayer, turning to the girl, he said: O most filthy demon, who, having entered this girl, hast dared, by usurping it, to seize upon the image of God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom I worship, I command thee to go out from her and to enter into her no more, so that, cleansed from the filth of idols, she may merit to acknowledge her creator, who is in the heavens, and to become a worthy dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Then the demon, emitting a terrible cry, departed with enormous fury. And the saint of the Lord, holding the girl's hand, blessed her, and restored her healed to her father. Then Omion, giving thanks to God and to his blessed martyr Criscus, began to execrate those who did not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he believed with his wife and daughter and all his house, and having given in his name he was baptized together with them. He was first instructed, however, by Blessed Criscus in all things that pertain to the Christian religion and the Catholic faith, namely how he ought to have venerated by worshipping and adored by venerating the holy and ineffable Trinity of the Godhead in unity and the unity in Trinity. These things having been done, while the persecution proclaimed against the worshippers of the Christian faith grew daily heavier and heavier by the most cruel orders of the most savage emperor, and the worshippers of the Christian religion were sought out through houses and hiding-places with subtler scrutiny, fire and water were forbidden to those who did not burn incense to the idols, at the crossroads and the spectacles appointed for it.

[41] lesson V, LESSON V. The faithful who were with Blessed Criscus, seeing themselves placed in straits and that they could no longer lie hidden in that city, since there were among them certain women and infants of both sexes, whom the harshness of martyrdom might deter by the frailty of sex and age, took counsel together, and it seemed fitting to them that, as the necessity of the time and of affairs required, they should pass over to other places. Hearing this, Blessed Criscus took the road towards the city of Faenza, and reaching the place which is called Collis, he received hospitality in the house of a certain widow, who was called Pamphyla, whose son was sick unto death, and having given the peace and fulfilled the divine conversations, he delivered the aforesaid son from death and sickness and baptized him, and he was called Cerbonius, for before he was called Serapion; from which many believed and were baptized. And while these things were being done, and the man of the Lord, Blessed Criscus, was staying in the same place in order to strengthen the souls he had won for God, it was reported to the emperor that Omion, whom he himself had adorned with the most ample dignity, had abandoned the gods and had through Blessed Criscus believed in Christ and joined the Christians. Wherefore the prince, enkindled with excessive fury, power being given, sent soldiers and ordered that wherever Blessed Criscus should be found with his worshippers of Christ, they should either offer incense and victims or be killed with various punishments.

[42] lesson VI, LESSON VI. Then the soldiers, carrying out the orders of their emperor, reached the place where the saints of God were persevering in prayers and vigils. But Blessed Criscus, learning of the soldiers' arrival, said: Let us arise, brethren, for behold, our Lord Jesus Christ invites us to the crown of martyrdom; and calling Blessed Cerbo, he admonished him to withdraw and give place to the persecution, and himself after his death to double by strengthening it the church which the Lord had entrusted to him. Finally, the others having been sent apart, he himself, as a strong soldier of the heavenly emperor, longing to come to the often desired contest, with two other disciples, Omion and Blessed Emptius, who had been with him from the beginning of his conversion, did not hide himself from the soldiers who were seeking him. And the soldiers, coming up, arrested him and those who were with him, reproaching him in this way: Art thou that sacrilegious Criscus, who art making void the worship of our gods, and teaching the superstitious and vain sect of a certain Jesus of Nazareth? By the safety of the emperor, unless thou sacrifice to the immortal gods and call back to the worship of the gods those who have been deceived by thee, we shall kill thee with various punishments. Then, binding him and those who were with him with the heaviest chains, they led them to a certain fane, because it was near there, in which there were various images of idols. And bringing them into the temple, they began to compel them to the sacrifices of the idols, and calling Blessed Omion, they began affably to admonish him to withdraw from the error newly taken up, and by bringing libations to the immortal gods to depart from their wrath and reconcile to himself the love of the emperor Decius, that, having recovered his former dignity, he might return with his former honour to the emperor's palace.

[43] lesson VII, LESSON VII. But the blessed man is in no way seduced by their blandishments, and is bent neither by prayers nor by any promises, but persevering with constant mind in the faith he had received, he replied: That he had already served the earthly emperor long enough, and had abounded sufficiently in honours and riches in his palace; but that he now wished to serve the heavenly emperor, that he might merit to come to his favour and to stand eternally in his palace; he protested that he was a Christian, and could not henceforth, to the injury of the true God, bow his neck to deaf and dumb stones. But they, much more angered, gnashing at him both with words and teeth, stripped him and flogged him with rods for a very long time, saying that it was great madness of one's own accord to lose temporal goods together with life itself, and willingly to run upon death, especially when he could pass his age in delights and honour. But Blessed Omion, made more eager by the reproaches and torments he had received, began to rebuke them most sharply, affirming that he embraced rather than feared torments for Christ, however much harsher; that he accounted their promises and blandishments as nothing; declaring rather that he was ready for all tortures for the name of Christ, and that he grieved much more over the madness and perfidy of those for whom eternal destruction was waiting, and unfailing torments prepared for the devil and his angels, with whom all the foolish and insane who adore idols are burned in eternal fire.

[44] lesson VIII, LESSON VIII. When the most valiant athlete of God boldly uttered both these and many other things against them, the soldiers, seeing that he was most firm in the Christian faith and could not be moved from the purpose of the faith he had received, had Blessed Criscus also brought before them, that what they could not do by themselves they might at least repair through him. To whom they said: Sacrifice to the gods, and call back from error those whom thou hast separated by thy trickeries from the worship of the gods; but if thou refuse, we shall waste thee away with various torments. But Blessed Criscus, desiring them to be converted to the faith of Christ, addresses them kindly, saying: It is better therefore, and more agreeable to reason, that you, abandoning the error of idols, should be converted to God, who made you, that you may be able to escape the torments which have been prepared for unbelievers in eternal confusion. Then the soldiers say: For it is at hand that both thou and thy companions, handled by the heaviest punishments and torments which have been prepared by the laws for the sacrilegious and for sorcerers, shall wretchedly perish. Then the most valiant athlete of God, Blessed Criscus, understanding that they were hardened in their own malice and did not receive the exhortation of wholesome words with the ear of the mind, said to them with confident spirit: Be it known that we Christians do not adore your gods whom you worship, nor shall we offer them the libations of sacrifices; for I have now often told you that the images of the gods are fashioned by the hand and art of men.

[45] lesson IX. LESSON IX. But these torments with which you threaten us are transitory, and by a brief contest promise us glory and eternal life. Whence whatever shall seem more grievous, carry it out, for we are ready to endure all torments for the confession of Christ. In like manner the other saints also began to protest. Then the soldiers, bruising their faces, ordered them to be stripped and beaten with heavier clubs. And when they had been beaten for a very long time, Blessed Omion, persevering in the confession of the Lord, gave up his spirit. Likewise too the venerable Emptius, while he received the heaviest blows of the clubs over his whole body, giving thanks to God that he had merited to be numbered among his confessors, gave back his blessed soul in heaven. This done, one of the soldiers, coming up to Blessed Criscus, who remained unmoved in the praises of God, struck him with a sword and cut off his head, and the pavement was sprinkled with his blood, and the marks of the blood of the holy martyrs remain there, to the glory and power of the name of the Lord and of the holy martyrs, down to this present day. Very many signs also and innumerable mighty works are performed there through the prayers of the holy martyrs: which our Lord Jesus Christ deigns to do for the praise and exaltation * of his name, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and is glorified, God in perfect Trinity, through all ages of ages. And the most blessed confessor of the Lord, Criscus, suffered with his two companions in the place which is called Colle, on the ninth day before the kalends of November, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, for love of whom, despising earthly things, they merited to receive heavenly things. But thou, O Lord, etc.

[46] Antiphons at First Vespers ON THE FEAST OF ST. CRISCUS, MARTYR ^b, AT FIRST VESPERS. ANTIPHON. Blessed Criscus, set alight with the ardour of martyrdom, coming to Florence , was captured with his companions by the soldiers of the tyrant Decius. PSALM. The Lord said. ANTIPHON. And when it had been announced to the emperor concerning their capture, greatly rejoicing, he ordered them to stand before his sight. PSALM. I will give praise. ANTIPHON. Having inquired their names and religion , when he recognized that they were strong of Christ, he ordered them, wasted by various punishments, to be thrust into the depth of the prison. PSALM. Blessed is the man. ANTIPHON. He ordered them separately , lest they should at least be somewhat relieved by mutual consolations offered to one another in alternate speech. PSALM. Praise, O children. ANTIPHON. The perfidious tyrant was tormented * because the asserters of the Christian faith, the most blessed martyrs, confessing Jesus Christ the Lord, creator of all things. PSALM. Praise the Lord. CHAPTER. Blessed is the man that is found without blemish, and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in treasures of money: who is he, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life.

HYMN.

[47] and Hymn. Having entered on the yearly praises of Criscus,

to celebrate them on the day on which as victor

he came to his lofty triumphs, with what songs

shall we begin our hymn?

While he is held by the cruel order

of impious Decius, a radiance in the darkness,

at which the guards stood amazed, he goes out

by the opened gates.

Already then he puts to flight the demon besieging

a woman, whose house and both parents,

and an immense people, he washes *

in the saving waves.

Be to God the Father, and to Christ the begotten,

and to the Holy Spirit, who proceeded from both together

before anything was made,

highest glory. Amen.

℣ Pray for us, Blessed Criscus,

℞ That worthy, etc. AT THE MAGNIFICAT, ANTIPHON. The athlete of Christ, Blessed Crischus, despising the threats and torments of the most cruel Decius, while he was held in prison, joyful and rejoicing gave praises to the Most High, our Lord Jesus Christ.

AT MATINS, INVITATORY.

[48] Hymn of Matins; In the Confession of praise let us adore the Lord, * Who has adorned his martyr Criscus with the crown of glory. PSALM. Come. HYMN. In the tone of Iste Confessor.

Criscus, doing and teaching, rouses

the peoples to the worship of Christ; his hostess's son,

lying already all but dead,

he compels to rise.

He compels him to return free to his widowed mother,

as though sickness had nowhere

harmed him. The astounding deed

resounds along the Tuscan shores.

Criscus forthwith, in no way dreading

the wrath of the fierce enemy,

the wounds and slaughter, stands firm, and thirsts

for a crown worthy of a distinguished soldier.

Be to God the Father, and to Christ the begotten,

and to the Holy Spirit, who proceeded from both together

before anything was made,

highest glory.

[49] antiphons and responsories of the First Nocturn, IN THE FIRST NOCTURN, ANTIPHON. There was a certain superintendent, a man named Omnio, noble, acceptable to the emperor, who had a lunatic daughter, whom an impious possessor was atrociously mangling daily with vexation. Psalm. Blessed is the man. ANTIPHON. And especially after the martyr Criscus had been brought there, whose name the demon sounded forth through the girl's mouth with horrible cries. PSALM. Why have the Gentiles raged. ANTIPHON. While these things were happening , when midnight had come and the watchmen had already fallen asleep , an immense light, driving the darkness far off, shone forth in the foul prison. PSALM. O Lord, what. ℣. With glory and honour thou hast crowned him, O Lord. ℞. And thou hast set, etc. AFTER THE FIRST LESSON.

℞ Then Omnio, seeing such great wonders performed around Blessed Criscus, ran to the prison, and casting himself at the feet of the blessed martyr, That he might merit pardon for his crimes, began to pray. ℣. He entreated also that he would restore health to his daughter and shut the demon out of her bowels. That. AFTER THE SECOND LESSON. ℞. Most blessed Criscus rejoiced exceedingly at the faith of Omnio, and giving thanks to God, And straightway in prayer that the Lord would deign to show of his name. ℣. And when he had finished his prayer, and the saint of the Lord, holding the girl , blessed her, and restored her healed to her father. And. AFTER THE THIRD LESSON. ℞ And Omnio believed with his wife and daughter with all his house, * And having given in his name he was baptized together with them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. ℣. He was first instructed, however, by Blessed Criscus in all things that pertain to the Christian religion and the Catholic faith. And.

[50] of the Second Nocturn IN THE SECOND NOCTURN, ANTIPHON. While a persecution was being proclaimed against the worshippers of the Christian faith, St. Criscus is reported to have delivered such admonitions. PSALM. When I called. ANTIPHON. O brethren and fellow soldiers, fear not, let your hearts be troubled by dread of the ministers of the devil. PSALM. Words. ANTIPHON. Remember, my brethren, that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God, as our Lord Jesus Christ said. PSALM. O Lord our Lord. ℣. Thou hast set, O Lord, upon his head. ℞. A crown of precious stone. AFTER THE FOURTH LESSON. ℞. Blessed Criscus said: Let us be joined to those which are above, reckoning all things below as nothing: To the sole attainment let us direct the eyes of the mind. ℣. Let no carnal friendships retard us , no love be hindered , thinking only of the sweetness of the heavenly things. To the sole. AFTER THE FIFTH LESSON. ℞. Blessed Criscus, together with his companions, having left Florence, directed his journey together with them the city of Faenza. When he had reached the place which is called Collis, in Valcava, he received hospitality in the house of a certain woman, who was called Panphyla, whose son lay sick. ℣. The woman understood that Blessed Criscus and those who were with him were adorers of the true God and worshippers of the Christian religion. When. AFTER THE SIXTH LESSON. ℞. Blessed Criscus came to the little bed on which the boy, drawing his last breath , lay as if lifeless . * He said: May my Lord Jesus Christ make thee rise again. ℣. The boy rose from the bed healed, and rising began to cry out: One is the God of the Christians in heaven and on earth. He said.

[51] and of the Third Nocturn. IN THE THIRD NOCTURN, ANTIPHON. The boy who had been healed was baptized, and his name was changed to Cerbonius, for before he was called Serappion. PSALM. In the Lord. ANTIPHON. Let us arise, he said, my brethren, for our Lord Jesus Christ invites us to the crown of martyrdom. PSALM. Lord, who. ANTIPHON. And Blessed Criscus with two disciples, Omnio and Emptius, did not hide himself from the soldiers of Decius who were seeking him. PSALM. O Lord, in thy strength. ℣. Great, etc. ℞. Glory, etc. AFTER THE SEVENTH LESSON. ℞. The emperor's soldiers said to Blessed Criscus: Thou art condemned to death, and dost thou threaten us with eternal torments? And the martyr of God in reply: I have already shown you that images are not gods. ℣. It is better therefore, and more agreeable to reason, that you, abandoning the horror of idols, should be converted to our true God. And in reply. AFTER THE EIGHTH LESSON. ℞ And when Blessed Criscus together with his companions had been beaten for a very long time, Blessed Omnio, persevering in the confession of the Lord, gave up his spirit. Likewise the venerable Emptius Gave up his blessed soul to heaven to the Lord Jesus Christ. ℣. This done, one of the soldiers, coming up to Blessed Criscus, who remained unmoved in the praise of God, striking him with a sword cut off his head. Blessed. AFTER THE NINTH LESSON. ℣. Blessed Cerbonius, whom the most holy Criscus wished to leave to guard the holy Church of God: That the minds of the faithful, brought to the Christian faith, having a consoler, might not fail, took up the church. ℣. And having assembled the Christians, Blessed Cerbonius gathered the bodies of the holy martyrs Criscus and his companions, and brought them to the place which is called Valcava. That. ℣. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

AT LAUDS. ANTIPHONS AS AT FIRST VESPERS.

HYMN.

[52] Hymn at Lauds Criscus, like a tried athlete,

undergoes every torment, and in bearing it

rejoices *, that as victor he may carry back the spoil

of the wicked enemy.

He arms his companions with faithful example,

and when they send on their souls to Olympus,

valiant men, he, his joyful head cut off,

loosens the earthly

bonds. In ascent to the realms above

he enjoys life among the blessed,

and shines, his pious temples bound

with vermilion fillets *.

O Criscus, we beseech thee, look on those

who have trusted in thee, and at last, though undeserving,

upholding them * in thy mild bosom, reach them

to the king of salvation.

Be to God the Father, and to Christ the begotten,

and to the Holy Spirit, who proceeded from both together

before anything was made,

highest glory. Amen.

[53] and the rest. AT THE BENEDICTUS. ANTIPHON. O blessed province of Valcava, O glorious church, in which the solemnities of Blessed Criscus shine , blessed place honouring the martyr. Renowned clergy exalting its protector; happy patron, succour the wretched, that we may be happily joined to those above. AT SECOND VESPERS, AT THE MAGNIFICAT. ANTIPHON. Let the province rejoice, the valley of Cava, in the glory of so great a martyr, Criscus, who with Christ holds in the heavenly court: he prays * the heavenly Lord to make the people devoted to him enjoy eternal grace. Alleluia.

[54] Commemoration of SS. Omnio and Emptius. FOR THE COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLY MARTYRS OMNIO AND ENTIUS. ANTIPHON. And when Blessed Criscus together with his companions had been beaten for a very long time, Blessed Omnio, persevering in the confession of the Lord, gave up his spirit; likewise the venerable Emptius * gave up his blessed soul to heaven. ℣. Rejoice in the Lord. ℞. And glory, all. — On the feast of the holy martyrs Omnio and Emptius the whole office is said as on the feast of St. Crescius, and there are said the Psalms of many martyrs, and the hymns and the versicle.

FOR THE FEAST OF ST. CERBO AND HIS COMPANIONS THE WHOLE OFFICE IS SAID IN THE MANNER WRITTEN BELOW.

AT FIRST VESPERS. ANTIPHON. When Blessed Criscus in the time of Decius had reached the place which is called Valcava, he received hospitality in the house of a certain widow, Panfila by name, whose son was sick. Alleluia. PSALM. The Lord said. ANTIPHON. Panfila understood that Blessed Criscus and those who were with him were adorers of the true and worshippers of the Christian religion. Alleluia. PSALM. I will give praise. ANTIPHON. Blessed Criscus staying with his companions in the house of Panfila, that the boy's sickness grew worse, and brought to the very point of death he scarcely retained his last breath . Alleluia. PSALM. Blessed is the man. ANTIPHON. The woman, coming to Blessed Criscus , her dress changed, mournful, with a pitiable voice began to address him. Alleluia. PSALM. Praise, O children. ANTIPHON. O servant of God, at thy coming in my son is dying, and the light of my eyes is extinguished, who will console me, wretched woman ? Alleluia. PSALM. Praise the Lord. AT THE MAGNIFICAT. ANTIPHON. Blessed Criscus, prostrate, prayed for a very long time with the brethren, and the prayer being finished, and * his companions having added Amen, the boy, Panfila's son, rose healed. Alleluia.

[56] of St. Cerbonius. AT LAUDS. ANTIPHONS ARE SAID AS ABOVE. AT THE BENEDICTUS. ANTIPHON. The boy, after he had been healed , was baptized, and his name was called Cerbo, and he began to make great progress in the doctrine of the Lord, and to persevere with Blessed Criscus in prayers and vigils. Alleluia. AT THE MAGNIFICAT. ANTIPHON. Blessed Cerbonius with his companions, after the martyrdom of Blessed Criscus and his companions had taken place, buried their bodies, and the soldiers of Decius found them standing on bended knees beside the sepulchres, and in the said place they put them alive into a pit, and so they merited to ascend to the heavens through martyrdom. Alleluia.

[57] Mass of St. Crescius. MASS ON THE FEAST OF ST. CRISCUS. INTROIT. Let us all exult in the Lord, and rejoicing in spiritual gladness let us celebrate the feast day for the glory of the kindly martyr Criscus, at whose passion the angels rejoice and together praise the Son of God. Alleluia. PSALM. Exult, O ye just, in the Lord: praise becometh the upright. ℣. Glory be to the Father. GRADUAL. Begging the renowned patronage of the most holy martyr, let us return him thanks with the whole affection of heart and mind. ℣. Whose glorious life merited to shine upon the world with such great miracles. Alleluia. ℣. Today the most blessed martyr Criscus, amid the words of prayer, gave back his last breath to the Lord in martyrdom, today the admirable father was received in glory by the angels. OFFERTORY. The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful, the most high Criscus has sanctified his tabernacle, and with the glory of the heavenly kingdom thou hast exalted. Alleluia. COMMUNION. Farewell, happy martyr, most holy Criscus, placed in a place of pasture, and beseech the Lord for the clergy devoted to thee and for the faithful people. Alleluia.

ANNOTATIONS.

* Omnion

* exaltationem

* succensus

* Florentiam

* adstare

* religionem

* (in fide)

* (detrudi)

* Angebatur

* Obtinet

* quam

* os

* fierent

* obdormissent

* (elevavit eum)

* (virtutem) ostendere

* (manum)

* protulisse

* (neu)

* accingamur ad ea

* quæ

* solam (æternorum)

* oculos

* retardent

* (sæculi) impediat

* (ad)

* spiritum

* exanimis

* sanatus

* damnatus

* æterna

* errore

* Emptius

* custodiæ

* qui

* gaudet

* vittis

* sustinens

* fulgent

* quam

* (ille)

* Emptius

* domo

* cujusdam viduæ

* (Dei)

* (factum est)

* halitum

* accedens

* Criscum

* (facie)

* compellare

* miseram

* quum

* fuit

* vocatum