ON ST. MARCELLUS, BISHOP AND MARTYR IN THE TERRITORY OF LE PUY IN GAUL,
A COLLECTION.
From the Martyrologies and the Office.
Marcellus, bishop and martyr, in the territory of Le Puy in Gaul (S.)
J. S.
The memory of the Saint in the more recent Fasti: Saint Marcellus Filippo Ferrari inserted in the General Catalogue of the Saints at this day from the Martyrology, he says, of the church of Le Puy, of which nevertheless he was not bishop, as in the History of Le Puy, bk. 1, chap. 29, where it is said that he was slain by the heathen, and took up his severed head in his hands, and, having washed it in water, carried it to the chapel of the Virgin Mother of God to be buried. From these things he thus commemorates the Saint: In the territory of Le Puy, of S. Marcellus, bishop and martyr. Saussay in the Supplement to the Gallican Martyrology gives a more prolix eulogy, conceived in these words: In Auvergne, by the river Borne near Le Puy, the passion of holy Marcellus, bishop and martyr, who, seized by heathen and barbarous rustics, and led to a certain elm near Le Puy (afterward famous by his holy name), was there struck on the head over a rock, which to this very day remains stained with the blood of the glorious Martyr. The Martyr himself is recorded to have carried his severed head in his hands to a fountain distant nearly a stade from the fatal elm; and he left poured into its waters the power of his help. And going on thence to a little chapel of blessed Mary not far distant, which now borrows its title from his triumph, there falling upon his knees, his head being laid down together with his body, he was granted a religious burial. Thus far Saussay.
[2] But how certain these things are I cannot declare, since I have not seen the ancient monuments from which they were gathered. the martyrdom and other things drawn from a manuscript codex, With these indeed agree the lessons of the Office of Le Puy, which are noted as composed from a manuscript codex and the old Breviary of Le Puy. But what antiquity that codex has I entirely do not know, though I cannot doubt that it is some centuries later than the Saint, since nowhere is mention made of the time in which he lived and was slain. Wherefore I think that the things which are narrated of the Saint in the lessons of the Office are had from popular traditions. Nevertheless I transfer hither the lessons of the second nocturn from the little book on the proper Feasts of the church of Le Puy, printed about the year 1624, that the reader may be able to have some knowledge of S. Marcellus.
[3] Since the various churches of Gaul venerate various Marcelluses famed for holiness, and inserted in the lessons of the Office, whom they had as bishops, as Paris, Chalon, Die; the church of Le Puy also venerates its own Marcellus, whom nevertheless it did not have as bishop, though he was a bishop, but of what city is uncertain. For when he was making a journey, certain barbarous rustics, enemies of the Christian religion, seized him in the territory of Le Puy, and, having ill-treated him, led him to a certain elm near Le Puy, which afterward found for itself a name from holy Marcellus; where with rustic barbarity they cut off his head at a certain rock, which long remained stained with his gore. On the eleventh of Septemb. the tables of the Martyrology of Le Puy set down his birthday. The Martyr's body lay, like a trunk, at the roots of that elm spread out with wide branches, when lo, as though the soul had returned into the body, and as blessed Dionysius once did, Marcellus seized his head with his hands, and carries the bloody head to a fountain which is many paces, and nearly a stade, distant from that elm, as though still surviving in life: he washes it in the fountain, and cleanses it. Wonderful thing! Whereas fountains are wont to gather up the filth from things washed, that fountain drank in from the head of Marcellus, when it was wiped, a power and force which it is said to retain to this very time: for it avails to drive out various sicknesses from the bodies of men, and therefore it is even now frequented by the people.
[4] with certain circumstances less certain. The gore of his head being thus wiped away, the holy Martyr lifts his head from the fountain, and carries it to a little chapel of B. Mary not far distant, raised in a hamlet which today bears the name of S. Marcellus; entering, he falls upon his knees, lays down his head in that place where he desired to be given to burial; then, as though he breathed out his soul anew, he ceased to move, his body lay outstretched, and in that house of the blessed Virgin, as he had wished, he is committed to burial. The place in which holy Marcellus underwent martyrdom is by the stream Borne, which flows almost past Le Puy: in it posterity built a church to holy Marcellus, which, overthrown by the commotions of wars, was repaired, yet not spread out over so much ground as it was before the commotions of wars. These things at least suffice to show the ancient cult of the Saint. The Office is prescribed to be celebrated with a double rite. Whether he was certainly a bishop I do not define; but I have been unwilling to omit the title of bishop, because he is venerated as a bishop and is believed to have been a bishop. More uncertain will that wonderful carrying and washing of the head appear, on which I leave the judgment to the prudent reader.