ON ST. NICETAS, MARTYR
OF NICOMEDIA, AS IS BELIEVED, WHO IS VENERATED AT VENICE.
Under Maximian, as is reported.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Of the cultus of the saint, of his plainly fabulous Acts, and of the miracles to be recited below.
Nicetas, martyr of Nicomedia, as is reported, venerated at Venice (St.)
BY J. S.
Peter de Natalibus, bishop of Equilio, in his Catalogue of the Saints, book 8, chapter 70, gives a summary of the Acts, presently to be examined, of St. Nicetas the martyr, St. Nicetas commemorated in the more recent calendars, born and having suffered at Nicomedia, if there is any credit in the Acts. The said summary is concluded with these words: At last he happily passed over to Christ on the Sabbath day, the day before the Ides of September, at the sixth hour, and was buried by the Christians in the city of Nicomedia beside the bodies of other martyrs who had suffered there for Christ. This eulogy of St. Nicetas Greven had doubtless seen, who inserted Nicetas — or Nicetus, as he is called by others — into his Usuard at this day, writing of him thus: At Nicomedia, of St. Nicetus the martyr, who was also called Victor. He, for the faith of Christ, having overcome sharp swords, fire, smoke, and the cutting off of his hands and feet, when his limbs had been divinely restored to him, was again beaten with cudgels, and afterwards happily passed away. What he says, that Nicetas was also called Victor, I do not find; but only some have it that the name Nicetas is interpreted Victor. Of St. Nicetas more briefly, and more correctly, as I think, Maurolycus: At Nicomedia, of St. Nicetas the martyr. To these are added Canisius in the German Martyrology, and Ferrari in the General Catalogue, where he has thus: At Nicomedia, of St. Nicetas the martyr under Maximian. Further, Ferrari in his notes doubts whether this Nicetas of Nicomedia be not perhaps the same as St. Nicetas the Goth, whom the Greeks and the Roman Martyrology celebrate on the fifteenth of September. But I do not see that any probable suspicion of confusing those martyrs can arise for anyone who reads the Acts of each.
[2] The cultus of St. Nicetas at Venice is already in some fashion known to us from the Order of reciting the divine Office according to the rite of the patriarchal church and diocese of Venice, at Venice, where his body is in the church of St. Raphael, which we have printed in the year 1657; for there at the twelfth of September the Office of St. Nicetus the martyr is prescribed, to be recited with a semi-double rite from the first common, and it is noted that the body is in the parish church of St. Raphael. Concerning the body of St. Nicetas preserved in the church of St. Raphael, Nicolò Doglioni agrees, in his Italian little work on the notable and marvelous things of the city of Venice, p. 345. His Italian words I render here into Latin and transfer thus: In the church of St. Raphael rests the body of St. Nicetas at its own altar. It was translated from Nicomedia to Venice. The temple of St. Raphael the archangel, situated in the district of Dorsoduro, is a parish church, and is described in the Thesaurus of the Antiquities of Italy, tom. 5, part 2, pp. 195 and 196, where it is also said: Here is had the body of St. Anicetus (read Nicetus) and other relics. The most excellent lord Flaminio Corner, who out of his exceptional kindness was willing to lend us a helping hand for the illustration of the Acts of the saints who are venerated at Venice, and who has already been praised repeatedly in this work, has also for some years diligently informed us concerning the cultus of St. Nicetas on this day, and concerning the body preserved at Venice. And then, together with other things found concerning the saint, he sent the Office
proper, as it was formerly recited at Venice.
[3] He is venerated with an ecclesiastical Office. In the same place he added the following observations concerning the cultus: On the twelfth of September in the church of St. Raphael the archangel the Office of St. Nicetus the martyr is performed, as of a co-titular patron. Of which saint also a semi-double Office is performed by the whole secular clergy of Venice, from the common of martyrs; although formerly proper lessons were granted to Lorenzo Cardinal Priuli, patriarch of Venice, by the spoken approval of Clement VIII. But now they have fallen into disuse. I see that that whole Office was composed out of the Acts presently to be mentioned, and for that reason it cannot have more credit than the Acts themselves. Yet from the Office it is gathered that the cultus of St. Nicetas has been celebrated at Venice for at least some centuries. But nowhere is it said at what time the body of the saint was translated thither. Near the end of the Acts, which we have from the manuscript codex of St. Raphael, I find these words added: Then in process of time the most devout body was carried away by Venetian religious, and was honorably laid up in the church of St. Raphael, famous for innumerable miracles. Presently too the writer, who added these things to Acts otherwise more ancient, declares his own age, saying that in the year 1426 he had seen a possessed girl freed by the merits of St. Nicetas. And of the time at which he wrote he speaks thus: These things were written in the year of the Lord 1466, on the twenty-eighth day of August. Therefore the translation had already been made while he was writing in the fifteenth century; and from the first miracle it is clear that the body was at Venice from at least the year 1344. Wherefore the translation was probably made much earlier, but at a time unknown to us. So much concerning the cultus of the saint, still flourishing at Venice.
[4] Of the Acts of St. Nicetas of Nicomedia, which are read somewhat more abridged in Peter de Natalibus, we have two transcripts from manuscript codices. The Acts, of which the bishop of Equilio has a summary, are fabulous: The one our Papebroch copied out with his own hand from the manuscript codex of St. Eremus of the Camaldolese, fol. 139, where this title is prefixed to the Acts: The Passion of St. Nicetas the martyr, the twelfth of September. Papebroch adds this little note: Wholly fabulous. It is in Greek in the Ambrosian library. But he did not think the Greek Acts should be copied out; certainly I do not find them in our archives. Our other transcript is noted as received from the manuscript codex of the church of St. Angelo Raphael at Venice, where his body is. The transcripts agree well enough, at least as to the deeds, or rather the fables, which are related. Our Rosweyde mentions these Acts, as they are abridged in Peter de Natalibus, in the Lives of the Fathers, col. 23, in the notes on the Life of St. Paul, no. 23, and says that in them there occur certain marvelous things, nor easily to be approved by all. That judgment of the most learned Rosweyde is true, and by no means severe; nay, those Acts of St. Nicetas appear to me so improbable and fabulous that I judge they should rather be omitted than published, both because I cannot separate the true (if perchance anything true has been mixed with the fables) from the false, and because they can be seen in Peter de Natalibus at the place assigned. This therefore alone I point out to the studious reader, that the manuscript Acts are in no way better than the summary mentioned, but that the several particulars are there more widely set out in more words, in a manner plainly improbable.
[5] Nevertheless in a brief summary I set forth nearly the whole series of the Acts. from them some things are briefly touched on. St. Nicetas is said to have been born at Nicomedia, and to have had as his father the emperor Maximian. As a young man he is said to have been converted by an apparition of Christ showing the cross, a certain Juliana explaining that vision. Then he is asserted to have exhorted Maximian in vain, and presently to have been strengthened by a vision of Michael the archangel. Hence the writer proceeds to the confession of the faith before Maximian, and says that he was accused, seized, and rebuked by Maximian, to whom he brings in the saint replying most bitterly. But presently he is said to have asked for the golden and silver idols, and to have obtained them, broken them in pieces, and distributed everything to the poor; and when these things were done, to have gone again to Maximian. Then, bound, hung up, beaten with blows, comforted by St. Michael, he is said to have defended his chastity against a shameless girl, to whom he had been handed over to be tempted, and to have spat into her face her tongue cut off by his bite — just as St. Jerome relates of a certain young man in the Life of St. Paul the Hermit. There follows in the Acts the torment of wheels fitted with swords, and the saint is said to have been unharmed in it, and thus to have converted and baptized nearly five thousand soldiers, who had been sent to gather up the limbs of his body, cut, as was believed, into a thousand pieces, and had found him living. Thence, when he had returned to himself, Maximian wished to kill him by many other torments, and could not, not even by magicians summoned for that purpose; but Maximian himself was at last slain, and the martyr died in peace — if we believe a fabulist worthy of no credit. For he has related these things and others equally marvelous and improbable in a manner plainly inept and least of all likely. This is clearer than that it should be necessary to shake those fables about at greater length.
[6] After the fabulous Acts, which we omit, in the Venetian codex there follow other things concerning the miracles of the saint, Miracles, some of them to be published, by a writer almost contemporary, written in the fifteenth century, and, as the anonymous author himself there says, in the year of the Lord 1466. These, however, although drawn up in a style less polished and often broken, I did not think should be omitted; for the author relates miracles done in his own time, or at least in the same century or the preceding, so that he could find some committed to writing, and learn others from eyewitnesses. Of these Miracles too we have a twin transcript, the one received in the year 1686 together with the Acts themselves from the Venetian codex, the other lately transmitted by the most excellent lord Corner praised above, along with the ancient Office. But since certain errors of lesser moment have crept into the transcripts, I shall form the edition from both, and shall note the various readings where it shall seem worth the labor.
[7] who set one before the rest One of those miracles, which the writer separated from the rest, I likewise set before them here somewhat more briefly. And to the glory, he says, and magnificence of the said saint, this faithful reciter, writing these things, testifies that in the year of the Lord 1466 and the following he saw a certain girl of the diocese of Treviso vexed by an unclean spirit, so that she could scarcely be held by four men; and that with cries and the greatest howling she was at length brought by force before the altar of the same most devout saint, and drenched in her mouth with a certain liquid of water continually flowing forth beneath the shrine. Thence, when the demon had poured out through her mouth many things which surpassed the girl's capacity, he says that she was led by Valerius Valerio into the sacristy of the same church, and there was freed by the invocation of the said saint and of others. That benefits were conferred also upon his own friends and kinsmen by St. Nicetas the writer intimates generally in these words: And continually, when those dear and joined to the relater of these present things were sick, upon invocation and the continual remembrance of the most devout saint, entire health was restored to them. And after a few things there follow the miracles which I now subjoin.
MIRACLES
By an anonymous author
From two transcripts of a manuscript codex
Nicetas, martyr of Nicomedia, as is reported, venerated at Venice (St.)
BHL Number: 6087
A boy unharmed under the waters by the saint's benefit, Moreover I shall recite some miracles which truly followed, writing faithfully, and I shall note them down for the consolation of readers and hearers. There was, then, about the year of the Lord 1344, a certain man by name Victor Cathanio, who had a wife by name Christina, prudent and discreet, and devout toward this most glorious St. Nicetas, whose relics she devoutly visited again and again; to whom the said saint appeared and said: "Know, Christina, that for your son you shall suffer many tribulations." To this she, wholly full of sorrows, answered: "And when shall these things be?" But he: "On market day. a" Now the boy was twelve years old or thereabouts, and dwelt in the district b of St. Sophia in the city of Venice. And this youth, when he intended to go to his studies, crossing the water as far as Rialto c, was drowned with his books in a satchel tied to his neck under his cloak, and stayed under the water for the space of four hours; and it was a Wednesday. And having been sought by many during the said space, he was not found; at length, as it pleased God, a little corner of the cloak appeared, by which he was lifted out safe and unharmed, with his books; and he alone, without any support, returned to his own mother, who, when she perceived the miracle, hastened as quickly as possible to the church of St. Raphael, and with a flood of tears, prostrate before the altar of the most devout St. Nicetas, rendered infinite thanks for the restoration of her only son. And the boy, growing up in good morals, became a most devout servant of God, and died in episcopal dignity, with the best example to all who knew him.
[2] About the year of the Lord 1415 a certain woman by name Flos, the vigor of her limbs restored to a woman, wife of the provident man Marcus Laurentius, dwelling in the parish of St. Raphael, being wholly drawn together and enfeebled, having her legs d turned toward her head, seemed a kind of monster. She indeed could not of herself perform the things necessary for the body, but needed the continual help of bystanders, with excessive pains. But the sick woman, having confidence in the Lord and in this most glorious saint, continually commended herself \ to him. And on one of the days St. Nicetas appeared in clerical habit, and standing near the bed laid on his hand, touching each of the enfeebled limbs, drawing them to their own places without any injury, and thus she was restored to her former health; and she, coming down from the bed of herself, ran with a joyful cry; and all who saw and heard glorified God, rendering infinite thanks to this most devout saint, because already in the middle of the chamber \ they found her clothing herself of herself, and she swiftly, as though out of her mind, hastened to the church to visit the relics of this most devout saint. And when this miracle had been seen and heard, the whole neighborhood throughout the city did not cease to proclaim the marvelous thing.
[3] In the house of the same sick neighbor there dwelt a certain woman the eye of another woman healed, by name Maria, having her right eye as it were torn out of its place: she saw nothing with it. Having seen the neighboring miracle, with singular devotion she suppliantly commended herself, as far as she was able, to the same most glorious saint. When therefore the prayer was made, she was as soon as possible restored to her former health. And not to this sick woman only, but also to many of her kindred, as she herself publicly related, the bounty of the saint granted many benefits, when they drank of the water gushing forth beneath the altar.
[4] To recount the works of God is honorable, as the archangel Raphael said. a priest healed of the plague, Wherefore, continuing, I shall relate a great thing and worthy, proved also by the eyes of men now living. There was a certain conscientious \ priest, by name Guaspar, a religious and God-fearing man, who almost every day disciplined himself, and that with a shedding of blood, as was known to the priest Daniel his confessor, to whom he related \ these things, born of a father Rodolfo de Maurovechis
a spicer at Rialto. The same priest, being most grievously sick of the plague, so and in such wise that, destitute of every remedy, he cast himself with every possible demonstration into the hands of the most devout St. Nicetas, whom also before he had honored with the highest veneration. On the night of his passing, as was believed, the most glorious saint appeared to him, like a physician with the iron and the accustomed medicament, while the sick man was sleeping with all those standing by \*. And this good physician with no small force drove the iron into the swelling e, wishing to tear it out of its place. The sick man with a cry and the greatest pain called out, saying, "Alas, alas!" so and in such wise that his mother, Fantina by name, awakened from sleep, cast herself upon her son, saying, "O my son, light of my eyes, what do you suffer?" To whom the son, being awakened, said: "O my mother, may God spare you, why have you drawn me away from the highest physician? For St. Nicetas was granting me a cure; and if you had kept silence a little while, I should have been wholly freed. But by the grace of God I am well." And straightway he made a vow of fasting on the vigil of the same saint, keeping his feast solemnly. And he fulfilled his vow as long as he lived; and with great devotion he came to celebrate in the same church for many years at the altar of the most devout St. Nicetas. Of this even at this time there survive witnesses among the people, in whose number is the parish priest, the said priest Andrew Venturela, and the brother of religious men, to whom the greatest credit is to be given, as their good name gives forth. And this was about the year of the Lord 1426, to the praise of God.
[5] a woman's leg healed, About the year of the Lord 1434 there was a certain woman, by name Helena, wife of Dominic Zigoto f, having her left leg swollen with ulcers with the greatest corruption; wherefore, being despaired of by the physicians, it was concluded that the foot \* of the same leg should be cut off. The sick young woman, understanding these things, wholly afflicted, was continually sorrowful. At length, destitute of all hope, she turned back to the true and most devout physician, that is, to St. Nicetas. And she had in the house some of his water, gathered out of devotion from beneath the shrine. With this she devoutly touched her ulcers, and as soon as possible was made whole from that incurable infirmity. But the physicians, coming as was their custom and hearing this, being incredulous wished to visit her; and seeing it, they were made as though out of their senses, and wished to know the manner of her deliverance. And hearing the course of the matter, giving thanks to God, they departed glad. And among the people there yet survive witnesses who knew the said young woman; and the report was spread abroad through the parish and the city.
[6] likewise the head of a girl. When this miracle had been seen, a certain neighbor of hers took some of the said water and put it upon the swollen head of her daughter; and as soon as possible she was free and cleansed from her infirmity, as happened in Naaman the Syrian, cleansed by the water of the Jordan.
[7] A son obtained by the saint's patronage. Continuing those things which the Lord has wrought through the merits of so great and glorious a saint, I shall add what happened about the year of the Lord 1445 in the city of Venice. There was a certain Greek, who, when he saw the feast of this saint being solemnly kept, wished to inquire. And it was told him that the feast of the glorious Nicetas (since in this church of St. Raphael his most devout body rests) was being kept. And he, filled with joy, said to the priests: "Know, sirs, that in the territory outside Coron g there is a church built there in his honor in a certain hamlet h. Out of devotion to him a certain rich and very powerful man used on the day that came round to invite the clerics keeping the solemnity to his house at table, and he was without children. He devoutly visited the same church, asking that a son might be granted him, and in this he asked the priests that they too should pray. As it pleased the Lord, his wife bore a most beautiful son, at which all congratulated him. And the boy grew in morals and prudence; and when he was twelve years old or thereabouts, the Teucrians i came and invaded the territory, taking many captive, among whom was this boy, carrying him far away from that territory. But his father, bearing it most sorrowfully, lamented continually, saying, 'O St. Nicetas, I asked for a son, and you granted him, and now you have taken him away: for certain I will no longer be devout to you, nor will I any more invite clerics to table.' But the chief priest comforted him and had compassion on him, and it profited nothing, but more and more he lamented against the saint. And prayers were continually made to the saint for the recovery of the son. And he burst out that before God he would ask to be avenged of this injury k committed by the saint — as is wont to be done by the afflicted, in whom there is no hope left."
[8] "At length such prayers were heard. Wherefore, when the army of the enemy was at rest with their tents, and he freed from captivity, as is reported. and the boy was serving one of the chief barons \* at the drinking-cup at table, since he was comely and skilled, St. Nicetas, riding through the army, took the said boy by the hair and set him on horseback behind him, and carried him as it were in the twinkling of an eye to the house of the priest, and there he let the boy l go, and vanished from him. And the priest, perceiving this, opened the door and embraced him, saying: 'O my son, you are welcome.' And as soon as possible he led him to his father; and when the father had seen him, he was suddenly made senseless upon the neck of his son; and he related the course of the matter; and if before he had been devout to the said saint, afterward he was made most devout, and caused a statue to be made, and offered it to the saint himself." Now all these things the said Greek related to a certain priest worthy of credit, and wished to be assured whether in the said church of St. Raphael there was the body of the said saint; and with great veneration he very often visited it, and publicly proclaimed the things noted just above, to the praise of God. Amen.
NOTES.
\* i.e., he committed
\* i.e., of the bedchamber
\* that is, of the religious life
\* relating
\* i.e., those present
\ elsewhere, pars*
\* i.e., to the prince