ON SS. EMILA AND JEREMIAH, DEACON AND MARTYRS,
AT CORDOVA IN SPAIN.
In the year 852.
HISTORICAL COLLECTION.
On their cult, and on the martyrdom written by St. Eulogius.
Emila and Jeremiah, martyrs at Cordova in Spain (SS.)
BY C. S.
Of the holy martyrs who in the middle of the ninth century at Cordova, Rightly on this day in the Roman Martyrology and in others, in the Arabian or Saracen persecution, defended the faith of Christ against Mohammedan impiety by their glorious blood, we have already given various ones on various days in our Work. Of that same number two illustrious Athletes, noble in stock, young in age, but robust in faith, are announced in the Martyrologies both on this day, on which they suffered, and on other days. Concerning these the Roman Martyrology of Baronius has the following on this very day: At Cordova, the holy martyrs Emila the deacon and Jeremiah, who in the Arabian persecution, after long wasting in prison, having had their necks severed for Christ, completed their martyrdom. Galesinius had gone before Baronius, who likewise on this day makes mention of them thus: At Cordova in Spain, the blessed martyrs Emila and Jeremiah. These, citizens of Cordova, born of a noble family, from their earliest years trained in letters in the basilica of St. Cyprian, skilled in the Arabic tongue, not deterred by the butchery of the Arabs, out of zeal for the Christian religion inveighed against their superstition, and were seized; and after being nearly worn out by the squalor of the prison, at last with willing spirit offered their necks for the faith. Whence these things were drawn we shall see below; the more recent martyrologists I knowingly pass over, adding only this, that on the same day they are announced in the Spanish Martyrology of Tamayo.
[2] But Usuard referred these same men to the XVII day of this month, on the 17th in Usuard's, Emila being changed into Emilianus. Likewise at Cordova, he says, St. Emilianus the deacon and Jeremiah, who were beheaded. On this our Sollerius made the following observations: These last two Martyrs of Cordova were first, indeed by him alone, recorded, out of the harvest of the Arabian persecution gathered in Spain, which he carried back into Gaul, as has already been often said above. That the name of the former was altered by Usuard I scarcely doubt, and that Emilianus was formed out of Emilla, who together with Jeremiah is reported by Eulogius, book 2 of the Memoriale, chapter 12. Why they have no place in the modern Roman Martyrology, but Columba, from the Memoriale, book 3, chapter 10, is substituted in their stead, I see no other cause than that its reformers followed Galesinius, neglecting Belinus, Maurolycus, Felicius and others, whom it is sufficiently established that they used. But that our two are truly Usuardine, just as much as the rest, our codices evidently demonstrate. Thus he; concerning which some things are to be observed.
[3] In the first place he rightly says that these two Champions were first inserted into the Martyrology by Usuard; concerning which some things are observed, for when Peter de Natalibus, book 8, chapter 88, and Surius, or his editor, cite Ado, they are to be understood of the Auctaria of Ado, since the memory of those same Martyrs by no means occurs in the editions of his Martyrology prepared by Mosander and Rosweyde. The occasion also by which Usuard came to the knowledge of those Martyrs Sollerius well intimates, namely his Spanish journey, which he undertook together with Odilard, in order to obtain the body of St. Vincent the levite and martyr, to be translated from Valencia into Gaul; being frustrated in that wish, he translated from Cordova the bodies of SS. George and Aurelius, who suffered in the same Arabian persecution in which our two Champions suffered, and in the same year and place, in the year 858, as may be seen in the history of that same translation published among us in volume VI of July, page 459 and following. Concerning the change of the name Emila into Emilianus I likewise agree with Sollerius, for he is called Emila by St. Eulogius, of whom presently, and so also it was corrected in the more recent Breviary of Cordova, whereas in the older one Emilianus was read, as Martin de Roa testifies in his Martyrs of Cordova on this XV day of September.
[4] As for the day of the martyrdom, Usuard, they are wrongly announced; and those who followed him, noted it wrongly, but Galesinius and Baronius rightly. For by the testimony of the same St. Eulogius, our Martyrs were crowned not on the XV, but on the XVII of the Kalends of October. For the same reason also St. Columba, virgin and martyr, was referred by the same writers to the XVII day: for that she too then suffered the same Saint testifies, whom in both places Galesinius and Baronius deservedly praised and followed; to which Sollerius seems not to have adverted when he wrote the above. But that St. Eulogius is to be preferred to Usuard no one will doubt who considers that the former was a presbyter of Cordova, and an inhabitant of Cordova while that persecution was raging; whereas the latter was a Gaul, who came to Cordova about the sixth year after their martyrdom, and did not tarry long. Add that Eulogius, no less than Usuard, proposed to himself in that Work to note the birthdays or days of death of the Martyrs, since in the Preface of book 2, in which he treats of them, he writes thus: The compressed brevity of this second Work, setting forth only the deeds of the blessed martyrs, will present in faithful narration their names, ages, births, and the days of their beatings (that is, of their martyrdom). Hence Sollerius himself, in his Observations on the same Martyrology of Usuard, at the XXVII day of August, acknowledges that Usuard erred when he referred to that day the martyrdom of St. George and his companions in the same persecution, whom the same St. Eulogius testifies to have suffered on the XXVII day of July.
[5] as also on the same and on the 18th day in the Breviaries of Cordova. Nevertheless, that the memory of those same Martyrs was formerly celebrated in the Breviary of Cordova not on this day of September, we learn from the Scholia of Ambrosio de Morales on the aforesaid Work of St. Eulogius: for at chapter 12 of the second book he takes up thus those words of Eulogius concerning the day of their martyrdom, the XVII of the Kalends of October: The day is the fifteenth of September, which is plainly noted in the old exemplar. Usuard, the Breviary of Cordova, Ado (the enlarged) and Equilinus vary by a few days. Tamayo, who refers them, as I said, to the XV day, notes that they are commemorated in the aforesaid Breviary on the XVII; but Martin de Roa, in the Calendar of Saints which he prefixes to his Work on the Martyrs of Cordova, affirms that their feast is celebrated on the XVIII day of September, although at the same time he advises that they suffered on the XV day of September. Perhaps this error crept first into the older Breviaries while the Work of St. Eulogius still lay hidden, which we gather to have been discovered after the middle of the 16th century from the aforesaid Preface of Ambrosio de Morales to that same Work, dated in the year 1572. But whether the men of Cordova, in the various changes of their Breviary, also corrected the day of the festivity from St. Eulogius, as they rightly emended the name Emilianus into Emila, I have not yet ascertained.
[6] It is uncertain whether they were inserted in the older Breviaries of Cordova; It can scarcely be doubted that our holy Martyrs obtained an ancient cult among their fellow-citizens: for both St. Eulogius greatly celebrated in books 1 and 2 of his Work their true martyrdom, equally with that of the other champions in that persecution, and the crown worthy of the honours of martyrs; and we have said above, from volume VI of July, that the bodies of SS. George and Aurelius, whom the same persecution had crowned, were carried into Gaul by Usuard, where also the miracles by which they shone may be seen. As for the ecclesiastical Office, Martin de Roa, in his book on the Antiquity and authority of the holy Martyrs of Cordova and on the Breviary of Cordova, chapter 5, reckons three out of the ancient Breviaries of that church which he saw, of which the first was printed 113 years before (and he himself wrote in the year 1601), the second 77 years before, and the third finally 44 years before; but in these there were read proper Offices of only a few saints, whom he there enumerates; but concerning the rest of either order (namely of the martyrs crowned under the Romans and under the barbarians) there was nothing special, nor did all the Breviaries contain all things about all, but different things about different ones. It is therefore uncertain whether in these any memory of SS. Emila and Jeremiah was celebrated: but what he there subjoins leaves no room for doubt that at least thereafter it was performed there, first with an Office from the Common, and afterwards also with a proper one. I subjoin the words of Roa.
[7] afterwards however first with an Office from the Common, In the year of the Lord MDLXXIV, the Commentaries of Blessed Eulogius having been discovered, the lord friar Bernard de Tresneda, bishop of Cordova, of the Franciscan family, decreed that the Offices and feast-days only of those martyrs should be retained whose names were read in the Roman Martyrology. Not long after, Don Friar Martin de Mendoza, bishop and citizen of Cordova, of the Order of Blessed Dominic, published by Apostolic authority the proper Offices which were then had, with the addition of others which he took care to supply from the divine Eulogius, which hitherto are celebrated at Cordova. To him succeeded Don Antonio de Pazos,
formerly president of the supreme royal council, a man excelling greatly both in beneficence toward the poor and in devotion toward the Saints, who, moved by the just complaints of many, ordered a second Calendar to be printed, into which he entered all those martyrs of Christ whom it was established, either from the books of the divine Eulogius or from other approved histories, had been crowned at Cordova. For why, I ask, out of the many partners of the same contest and the same palm, commended by the testimony of the same writer, should some be recalled into the light of the Church, while others were left in obscurity? But in these there was nothing proper in their prayers; everything was taken from the Common.
[8] But, as all human things are, not even this lasted long: thereafter they were celebrated in the same with a proper Office also. for that second Calendar too (it is uncertain for what cause) was withdrawn a few years afterwards. Hence a grievous wound was impressed upon the minds of the pious; especially of those whom the honour of the Saints and the fellowship of the same sky and soil touched more nearly. When the lord Francisco de Reynoso, who succeeded the aforesaid, had understood this — a man truly beloved of God and men for his many and illustrious virtues, whose memory shall be in benediction — as soon as he entered upon his see, he held nothing more important than to apply his mind to divine matters, and above all to that one which is comprised in the amplification of the praise of the holy martyrs. He therefore took pains that their Offices, enriched with the number and deeds of the martyrs, should be approved by the holy Apostolic See; when approved, he ordered them to be published; when published, he commanded them to be received and celebrated. Thus far the aforesaid de Roa; whence no doubt, as I said, is left concerning the lawful cult of SS. Emila and Jeremiah; since these are certainly among the number of those whose proper Offices were then prescribed, seeing that they are both inscribed in the Roman Martyrology and celebrated by St. Eulogius as illustrious martyrs. To these add the Calendar of the same de Roa mentioned above, in which, as we have seen, each of our Saints is commemorated on the XVIII day of September, and which he himself says contains those Saints, and refers them to those days on which the church of Cordova celebrates them.
[9] The Life of St. Eulogius, presbyter and martyr of Cordova, written by Alvarus, an eyewitness, Their eulogy written by St. Eulogius. you have published and illustrated in our Work on the XI day of March. In it the biographer, in chapter 2, makes express mention thus of the Memoriale Sanctorum composed by him: Concerning whom (one of the nobles divinely punished) the said most blessed man disputed more fully in the third book of the Memoriale Sanctorum. In which books he both set forth one by one the passions of the martyrs with a clear fount of speech, and, with sufficient pursuit, made known to succeeding generations whatever was done and said among the martyrs of the Lord. But how great, or how excellent, he was in knowledge, his little Works declare more clearly than the light, which he composed with Attic salt and prosaic charm, nay rather by divine inspiration. Concerning these the aforesaid Life may be consulted, and Nicolás Antonio, volume 1 of the Bibliotheca Hispana vetus, book 6, chapter 6; it may suffice here to have observed this one thing, that St. Eulogius was contemporary with the victories of the martyrs which he relates, and often an eyewitness, and that in the same persecution and city he was first seized, then freed from prison, and finally beheaded under king Mohammed; so that in this writer, learned and pious in other respects also, no one could with reason desire anything further to win credence for his statements.
[10] Further, concerning our holy Emila and Jeremiah he treated in the aforesaid Memoriale, book 2, chapter 12, where he has embraced their martyrdom, as generally that of others, in a brief eulogy, They suffered under Habdarrahgman the Saracen, marking the Spanish Era, which he had prefixed, DCCCXC, which corresponds to the year of Christ 852. There then ruled and held his court at Cordova Habdarrahgman, whom others write Abderramen, king of the Saracens in Spain, whom Ambrosio de Morales in his Scholia reckons the third of that name. Concerning the persecution against the Christians stirred up by him, or vehemently increased, the same Eulogius writes these things in the book cited, chapter 1: Our Lord Jesus Christ reigning forever, in the year of his Incarnation DCCCL, the Era DCCCLXXXVIII; but of the consulate (that is, the reign) of Habdarrahgman the XXIX; in whose times the nation of the Arabs, increased in Spain in wealth and dignity, occupied almost all Iberia by a dire privilege (that is, by tyranny). But Cordova, which was once called Patricia, and now, by his residence there, is named the royal city, he raised to the highest pinnacle, exalted with honours, enriched with glory, heaped with riches, and with an affluence of all the delights of the world beyond what it is lawful to believe or to say, he vehemently enlarged; so that in all secular pomp he exceeded, surpassed and overcame the kings his predecessors of his own race. And while the Church of the Orthodox, groaning under his most grievous yoke, was beaten even unto destruction, Perfectus the presbyter, of venerable memory, etc.; he then goes on to narrate the martyrdom of St. Perfectus.
[11] concerning whose persecution But although that tyrant did not wish all the Christians to be exterminated, but even permitted them in some fashion the exercise of the Christian religion, lest he should leave the region destitute of inhabitants and husbandmen; yet in what condition they were then held, learn from book 1 of the same Memoriale. No, he says, refuting the detractors of the martyrs, they think there is no trouble in the demolitions of the basilicas, the reproaches of the priests, and that we pay a tribute monthly with heavy grief; so that the shortcut of death is more expedient for us than the toilsome peril of a most needy life… And who among all the persecutors of the faithful has pursued the Church more bloodily than this unspeakable man? Who has heaped up so much for the overthrow of Catholics as this same ill-omened man? For, so to speak, none of us walks in safety among them, none passes quietly, none goes through their enclosure without being dishonoured. For indeed, when the necessity of any household matter has compelled us to go out in public, and, at the urging of domestic need, it has happened that we sally from the corner of our hut into the market-place; as soon as they notice upon us the marks of the sacred Order, they assail us with a shout of derision as though we were madmen and fools, besides those daily mockeries of the boys, for whom it is not enough to hurl the abuse of the tongue and to heap up foul scurrilities, but they do not cease also to pursue us with stones at our back.
[12] some things are noted from St. Eulogius. Why should I recount that which they utter in contempt of the venerable sign; that when perchance the appointed time has compelled us to give the signal for chanting to the faithful, and the imminent hour of prayer has required the customary indication to be made to the people; as soon as the crowd, enticed by a lying superstition, has caught with the ear the clang of the ringing metal, it does not delay to set its tongue to every curse and filthiness… Often and unceasingly are we slandered by them, and for the cause of religion we everywhere endure their savagery: so much so that many of them judge us unworthy of the touch of their garments, and abhor our coming nearer to them; reckoning it a great defilement if we be mingled with them in any of their affairs. Thus far St. Eulogius. Yet afterwards the savagery of the barbarians increased still further, when some of the Christians began with free voice to castigate their impiety, and to accuse and assail their pseudo-prophet Mohammed and his shameful doctrines. For then those who had hitherto tolerated the Christians in some fashion blazed up more vehemently, and at one time deliberated about destroying the faithful. It may be useful to have set these things forth for an easier understanding of the eulogy which we shall subjoin.
[13] There are some among the Benedictines who do not hesitate to reckon each of our Athletes among the Saints of their Order; They were not Benedictine monks: namely Yepes, volume 4 of the general Benedictine Chronicles, Century 4, at the year 852, Bucelinus in his Menologium, Wion in book 3 of the Lignum Vitæ, Menard in his Martyrology, and Dorgain in his Calendar, all on this day. With these agrees Juan de Marieta, of the Order of St. Dominic, in his Ecclesiastical History of all the Saints of Spain, book 3, chapter 12. But far more rightly Mabillon, in the 4th Benedictine century, part 2, page 584, judged the opposite, and did not think that a place should be conceded to them even among the Prætermissi. And certainly St. Eulogius, who, when he treats of monk-martyrs, is not accustomed to omit that profession, records nothing of the sort concerning our Saints, nay rather indicates the contrary, when he says: Emila… and Jeremiah, who from their infancy were learning letters at the basilica of St. Cyprian, the one being consecrated to the ministry of the diaconate, the other living simply in the lay habit.
[14] For the rest, concerning SS. Emila and Jeremiah there treat Baronius in the Ecclesiastical Annals at the year of Christ 852, The spurious Epigram of Cyprian concerning them. in which we said they suffered; Yepes, Marieta, and Roa already praised above; but we learn nothing from them beyond what St. Eulogius has, from whose Memoriale they drew their material. Juan Tamayo, in the Observations on his Spanish Martyrology, reviews a certain manuscript Epigram of Cyprian, archpresbyter of Cordova, concerning SS. Emila — who is there called Emilias — and Jeremiah, in which their passion is celebrated. Concerning this Cyprian and his epigrams Nicolás Antonio may be consulted, volume 1 of the Bibliotheca vetus Hispana, book 6, chapter 7, number 145 and following; but you will also find that epigram, reported by Tamayo, rejected in the same place among the spurious offspring of Cyprian. I have found nothing further concerning our Saints; and so I subjoin their eulogy from book 2, chapter 12, of the Memoriale Sanctorum of the aforesaid St. Eulogius.
[15] The eulogy of the Saints After no long interval again (that is, after the martyrdom of SS. Christopher and Leovigild, which in chapter XI he had narrated to have taken place on the XX day of August of the year 852) two illustrious youths, born of a noble family among the citizens of Cordova, ran together to the wrestling-ground of martyrdom; namely Emila and Jeremiah, who from their infancy were learning letters at the basilica of St. Cyprian, the one being consecrated to the ministry of the diaconate, the other living simply in the lay habit. And since each of them was remarkably strong in Arabic eloquence, they say that the excellent Emila heaped up such reproaches against their seer (Mohammed) in that same tongue, and with such fluency, that the revilings of the preceding martyrs were forgotten, when men saw the prosecutions of these prevailing more sharply against their dogmatist. And therefore they now began not only to devise the deaths of those who resisted them, but even pondered uprooting the whole Church: since the heathen, shaken by the exceeding terror of so many men running to martyrdom, thought that the destruction of their kingdom was imminent, when it foresaw even little children girded with such valour.
[16] and their passion from the Memoriale of St. Eulogius. These, after they had been wasted in prison, they at last destroyed with the avenging sword. And although that whole day had been bright with clear serenity, suddenly at the very hour in which they were beheaded, a vehement crash of thunders arose and struck the world; the sky scattered the radiant flashes of its lamps: you would have thought the heavenly hinges were being torn away. The vault is armed with a cloud of hailstones; the day is darkened, and the air is stained with whirlwinds: the elements confess that pious Athletes have fallen. Their bodies, hanging them upon gibbets, they set up beyond the river (namely the Bætis) on the XVII of the Kalends of October, in the Era as above. Now he had marked above the Era DCCCXC, that is, the year of Christ 852. Concerning their sacred bodies, afterwards burned by order of the tyrant, and their ashes gathered by the care of the faithful and deposited in sacred places, as also concerning the death of that same tyrant divinely inflicted, consult the Collection on
SS. Rogellius and Servus-Dei, who suffered on the following day, and whose martyrdom we shall give on the next day; consult, I say, that Collection, numbers 14 and 15.