ON SS. ROGELLIUS AND SERVUSDEI, MARTYRS,
AT CORDOVA IN SPAIN,
IN THE YEAR 852.
HISTORICAL SYLLOGE.
Of their cultus, and of their martyrdom written by St. Eulogius.
Rogellius, M., at Cordova in Spain (S.)
Servusdei, M., at Cordova in Spain (S.)
BY C. S.
The holy Emila and Jeremiah, martyrs of Cordova, who suffered in the Arab persecution, we gave on the preceding day. On the day after these, another pair of Champions followed them to heaven, of whom the Roman Martyrology of Baronius makes mention thus at this day: The Saints inscribed in the Roman Martyrology, etc., At Cordova, the holy martyrs Rogellius and Servusdeus, who, their hands and feet being cut off, were at the last beheaded. Peter Galesini had already inserted them in his Martyrology, but with the second one's name changed to Servius, reporting these things on the same day: At Cordova in Spain, the blessed martyrs Rogellius and Servius, who, by preaching the faith of Christ both in the forum and in the prison, and by detesting with all gravity of words the impious superstition of Mahomet, bore away the crown of martyrdom, having given their necks for the Christian religion. At this same day they are announced in the Spanish Martyrology of Tamayo, as also in other more recent ones, which I forbear to recount. Besides, Wion, Menard, Dorgain, and Bucelinus inscribed St. Rogellius, as a monk of their Order, in the Benedictine Fasti on this day also; by what right, we shall see below.
[2] In the more ancient Martyrologies, those of Ado, for instance, and of Usuard, no mention of them occurs, not even in the Auctaria of the latter as printed by Sollerius: Unknown to Ado and Usuard, but honored among the people of Cordova; which in Usuard's case one might indeed wonder at, since he was at Cordova in the year 858, and there learned the contests of SS. Emila and Jeremiah and of the other martyrs of that same persecution, and inserted them into his Martyrology, as we observed on the preceding day in the historical Sylloge on the martyrs just named, num. 3. Ambrosius Morales likewise, in his Scholia on book 2, chapter 13 of the Memoriale Sanctorum composed by St. Eulogius, notes that these same men are commemorated in no Breviary; but Morales wrote after the middle of the sixteenth century, when the aforesaid work of Eulogius had recently been recovered. Yet whatever may have been the cause of the silence of Usuard and of the Breviaries of Cordova, from what we have brought forward in the same Sylloge, num. 7 and 8, it cannot reasonably be doubted that they were afterward inscribed in the Breviary of Cordova.
[3] For Martin de Roa expressly testifies in that place, they have an annual cult on 20 September. that all those martyrs who were known, whether from the books of St. Eulogius or from other approved histories, to have suffered at Cordova, were honored with that sacred distinction by order of the most illustrious Antonio de Paçecos, bishop of that city, with an Office from the Common; and that when this Calendar had, a few years afterward, been suppressed for some reason unknown, the most illustrious Francisco de Regnoso, Antonio's successor, in order to satisfy the just complaints of the devout, who bore that abrogation ill, took pains at the very beginning of his episcopate to have their Offices, enriched with the number and the deeds of the martyrs, approved by the Holy Apostolic See; and that, once approved, he ordered them to be published, and once published, to be received and celebrated. Further, that our Martyrs also had their own place among these, both the words there reported demonstrate, and it may also be gathered from the Calendar which the aforesaid Martin de Roa prefixed to his book on the Feasts and Saints of Cordova, published in Spanish, and to which he gave this title: Calendar of the feasts and Saints of whom this book treats, according to the days on which the church of Cordova celebrates them. For in this their feast is placed on the twentieth day of September, the reader being nevertheless advised that the martyrdom fell on the sixteenth of the same month; but why this postponement of the feast was made I have not discovered, nor does it bear upon our purpose, since the public cult is equally established either way.
[4] The names of the Saints, as they stand in St. Eulogius, Their names, and their different native places: I have judged should be retained, and that one should write Rogellius and Servio-Deo, not Rogellus and Servusdei, as Baronius has in the Martyrology, nor Servius, as Galesinius has. And Baronius indeed seems to have written thus in order to adapt the second man's name to a Latin ending: for in the Annals, at the year of Christ 852, num. 12, he also calls him Servio-Deo. But on what ground Galesinius called him Servius I have not ascertained. As to the native country of the Martyrs, St. Eulogius relates that the first of them, Rogellius, was born at Eliberis. Now Eliberis or Illeberis was an ancient episcopal city of Spain, famous for the council once held there; now so utterly destroyed that it is not even certain where it stood, some holding that Granada, the capital of the kingdom of the same name, was built upon its ruins, others that it lay not far from that city upon a hill which even now retains the name Elvire. Francisco Bermuder in his Antiquities of Granada, book 1, chapter 2, and Martin de Roa in the Feasts and Saints of Cordova, on this day, think that St. Rogellius was born near Eliberis in a village called Parapanda, relying on the same testimony of St. Eulogius as we do — from which we judge that this cannot be extracted. I subjoin the Saint's words. One, he says, born at Eliberis, from the village which is called Parapanda, a monk and a eunuch, already old and of advanced age, by name Rogellius, came thither. By these words he seems to me to say that the man indeed came to Cordova from the village of Parapanda, but was born at Eliberis. Of the other man's native country Eulogius has nothing, except that he sufficiently indicates that he was an Oriental, when he says that a few years before he had come to Cordova as a pilgrim from the parts of the East, from beyond the seas; whence some have suspected that he was a Syrian.
[5] the one was a monk That Rogellius was a monk by profession is beyond doubt from the words just given; and he seems to have dwelt in the aforesaid village of Parapanda, from which he came to Cordova, kindled with divine zeal against the impious Mohammedans and with ardor for martyrdom. Ambrosius Morales, in the Scholia cited above, observed that this village was unknown in his own day: but Francisco Bermuder, in the place likewise cited, speaks of it as very well known, and holds that it was situated in one of those chains of mountains which surround Granada and are commonly called la Sierra; adding that that part of the mountains took its name from the village, and is called la Sierra de Parapanda. Moreover, what Rule the Saint professed is wholly undiscovered; for the fact that the Benedictine martyrologists mentioned in num. 1, with the agreement of Juan de Marieta in book 3, chapter 13 of the Ecclesiastical History of the Saints of Spain, enroll him among their own, has no other foundation than that he is said by St. Eulogius to have been a monk: and that proves nothing, since the Rule of St. Fructuosus might at that time have been observed in Spain as well; as has already been observed in a like case on the twentieth day of August in the matter of SS. Leovigild and Christopher. Mabillon, however, seems also to have held that opinion, since he entered him in the fourth Benedictine Century, part 2, page 584.
[6] and perhaps the other also; but of what Rule, uncertain. Whether the other of the Martyrs, Servusdei, was likewise a monk St. Eulogius does not declare, who speaks of him thus: The other, called Servusdei, a eunuch and still a young man, came a few years before as a pilgrim from the parts of the East, from beyond the seas, to dwell in the aforesaid city. Nevertheless the very words make it most probable that he too was a monk: for the word spado (as above eunuchus of Rogellius) seems to be taken in a moral sense, namely that in which Christ the Lord says in the Gospel, Matt. 19, ℣ 12: There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take it, let him take it. Nor did the most eminent Baronius understand those words otherwise, in volume 10 of the Annals, at the year of Christ 852, num. 12, where, citing that very passage of Eulogius, he says: But on the following day Rogellus, a monk of Eliberis, and likewise Servusdei, a monk from Syria, were cruelly tortured, etc. This opinion is also favored by that close accord of his with St. Rogellius the monk, to which a like profession might easily have given occasion. But that he too was of the Benedictine institute, as the cited Marieta says, lacks all probability, nor do the Benedictines themselves contend for it.
[7] Their deed, by which they gave occasion for their own death, Concerning the occasion of the martyrdom some things also must be noted. Our two Athletes, as St. Eulogius testifies, had entered into a compact and pledged themselves that they would not part from one another, nor slacken the contest, until by their blood they had won the martyrs' crown. So resolved, they entered fearlessly the shrine of the Mohammedans, where these were then assembled, and mingling with the crowd, preached Christ in what was as it were the very citadel of the heathen, execrated and overthrew the impious dogmas of the pseudo-prophet. These things gave occasion for the martyrdom, especially since those barbarians had forbidden by a law enacted that any of the Christians — whose very touch they shrank from as a pollution — should enter their shrines. Eulogius relates the matter at greater length; but, so far as concerns our purpose, it might here be asked whether it is lawful thus to provoke tyrants in order to obtain the laurel of martyrdom, and whether one so slain is to be honored as a martyr. On this question the distinguished work of the most eminent Prospero de Lambertini, now Benedict XIV, supreme Pontiff happily reigning, On the Beatification of the Servants of God and the Canonization of the Blessed, book 3, chapter 17, deserves to be consulted, where such provocations of tyrants are discussed fully and learnedly, and many examples of Saints of this kind are brought forward whom the Church nevertheless venerates as true martyrs.
[8] And first indeed, with St. Thomas, 2. 2. quæst. 124, it seems to have arisen from an impulse of the Holy Spirit art. 1, ad tertium, it is there laid down as a general rule that such provocations are not of themselves lawful for a martyr; and hence by various authors, likewise cited there, similar deeds of Saints who have been enrolled in the catalogue of the Martyrs are referred to a special impulse of the Holy Spirit. Now among the indications and marks of this impulse some reckon subsequent miracles, others perseverance in confession and the death which followed. But although I have read nothing of miracles of SS. Rogellius and Servusdei, St. Eulogius has nevertheless expressly celebrated their prophecy concerning the tyrant's death, while they were held in prison, and their remarkable constancy in confession even to death. There too (in prison, he says) they still preach, they prophesy, they announce that death is at hand for the tyrant, they praise religion, they refute vanity. And when strength was utterly wanting to their limbs to bear the torment, yet their tongue did not cease until death from proclaiming (that is, preaching) the oracle of truth.
[9] He then observes that this singular and heroic constancy was as a prodigy even to the heathen themselves, it seems to have arisen. and in chapter 16 he records that the tragic death of the tyrant Abdarrahman, which the Saints had foretold, was inflicted from heaven: all which things seem sufficiently to intimate the impulse of the Holy Spirit. I forbear from saying more, especially since from provocations of this kind, as the same most holy Pontiff warns in num. 1, room is opened for a question, not as regards those who have already been reckoned among the martyrs, but as regards those about whom it is asked whether they are to be enrolled in the catalogue of the blessed martyrs; namely, whether the provocation proceeded from the Holy Spirit, or from lightness of mind, or from precipitancy of deliberation. Whoever wishes for more on this subject may go to the highly praised work in the place cited above. Worth reading also is the first book of the Memoriale Sanctorum of the often-praised St. Eulogius, and his Apologeticus for the Martyrs who suffered in that persecution, which he wrote against their detractors in order to vindicate for them the laurel of martyrdom. But Cardinal Baronius too, in volume 10 of the Annals, at the year of Christ 852, num. XI, did not hesitate to praise our Saints as instruments filled by the Holy Spirit. Now I subjoin their passion from book 2, chapter 13 of the Memoriale of St. Eulogius.
[10] While the aforesaid martyrs (SS. Emila and Jeremiah, The eulogy of the Saints, of whom we treated on yesterday's day) were still held by the prisons, behold two others came in besides, holding the same profession as the rest and assailing the enemy of the faith with the same vow: of whom one, born at Eliberis, from the village which is called Parapanda, a monk and a eunuch, already old and of advanced age, by name Rogellius, came thither. On Eliberis, the Saint's native place, and on the village of Parapanda, see what was said in num. 4 and the following. The other, (St. Eulogius continues) called Servusdei, a eunuch and still a young man, came as a pilgrim a few years before from the parts of the East, from beyond the seas, to dwell in the aforesaid city (Cordova). And these, binding themselves by an equal compact, one
they bore the vow of contending unto death for the justice of God; resolved on no account to depart from one another until they should purchase heavenly things with their blood. And therefore, making for that sacrilegious shrine, in which the crowd received there commonly assembles to render its abominable rites, they cross the threshold, thrust themselves among the throngs, preach the Gospel, mock the sect of impiety, arraign the assembly. They set before the faithful that the kingdom of heaven has drawn near, but before the unbelievers the destruction of Gehenna, which beyond doubt they would incur unless they turned back to life.
[11] their arrest Before we go on, it will be well to have reported here what Morales noted concerning the aforesaid shrine. He means, he says, this temple of Cordova, of Arabic construction, which endures to this day and holds the dignity of the greater church, and by its magnitude, the multitude of its columns, the excellence of its marbles, the subtlety of its workmanship, and many other of its parts affords admiration and even amazement to those who behold it. For it had already been built by king Abdarrahman the second, and by Issen his son. The authorities are Rasis, and Rodrigo, prelate of Toledo, in the History of the Arabs. Thus far Morales; now let us resume the text of St. Eulogius. While with these and suchlike words they were exhorting the people, the speech had not yet departed from their mouth, when behold, like a crackling fire among thorns, a cohort of evildoers blazing up against the Servants of God cuts, mangles, strikes, overwhelms, and strives to make away with the Saints who had presumed to enter their shrine (which among them too they reckon a great crime); and had the judge not been at hand, who by a certain privilege of his power restrained the murmuring of the maddened populace, they would then and there have been deprived of the breath of life.
[12] and their glorious martyrdom, These, snatched from the hands of those who were striking them, he assigns to prison, orders them to be bound the more heavily with iron, and mingles them with thieves. There too they still preach, they prophesy, they announce that death is at hand for the tyrant, they praise religion, they refute vanity. And when strength was utterly wanting to their limbs to bear the torment, yet their tongue did not cease until death from proclaiming the oracle of truth. But for this, that they had entered their temple preaching the Gospel, the tyrant and the consuls [\] decree that they be beheaded at the last, their hands and feet being first cut off. The Servants of Christ rejoice at such a decree; they are exceedingly gladdened at being about to receive the sentence of this death. The most ferocious executioner presses on, shouts, gnashes his teeth, threatens, bids the Elect hasten to their punishment — the Elect whom he assuredly perceived to have a greater longing to depart than he himself bore to inflict their destruction. Who, dearest brethren, could set forth the cruelty of that hour? Who could report the slaughter? Who could announce the torments? Who, in fine, could recount the admirable constancy of the Saints? Since the very heathen also, stupefied at such a spectacle, felt I know not what more kindly thought concerning Christianity.*
[13] from St. Eulogius. Therefore the holy Martyrs, set in the place of beheading, before the lictor could admonish them, stretch out their palms, make ready their arms, and receiving upon their forearms the [\] thrust at their throats, their hands fly apart in different directions. Then, their legs having been cut off, pierced by no sadness, their necks being severed at last, they fell: and their bodies, mutilated as they were, being fastened to gibbets, they join them beyond the river to the crosses of the rest, on the XVI Kalends of October, in the Era given above.* Thus far St. Eulogius on the contest of SS. Rogellius and Servusdei. The others, about whose bodies and crosses he says the mutilated corpses of our Saints were fastened to gibbets, had been SS. Emila and Jeremiah, whom we showed to have been hung up, after their heads were likewise cut off, beyond the river Bætis, which flows past Cordova, on the very day on which they suffered, the fifteenth of September, where we gave a Sylloge on them. The Spanish Era also is the same which St. Eulogius marked in their Passion, namely DCCCXC, which coincides with the common year of Christ 852.
[14] What further was done afterward with these sacred bodies, The ashes of the burned bodies collected; the death of the tyrant the same St. Eulogius teaches in chapter 16 of the same place, and sets forth in these words the death divinely inflicted upon the tyrant Abdarrahman, which the Saints had foretold: The king began to seek the high parts of his house, and climbs a lofty terrace to survey his towns; and straightway he beholds, over against him, the bodies of the Saints hanging from the stakes. Immediately he ordered fires to be set beneath and them to be burned; whose ashes, by God's favor, were laid up throughout holy places. And O the admirable power of the Savior, and the astounding might of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, ever sought in tribulation, stands by; knocked at, opens; invoked, hearkens! For that mouth which ordered the Saints of God to be burned is suddenly, at that same hour, divinely stopped; and his tongue, checked by the stroke of an angel, cleaving to his palate, could speak no further: and so, carried back to his bed by the hands of those who bore him, at a certain hour of that same night he gave up his spirit, and before the pyre of the holy corpses was extinguished, he himself, taken out of life, was consigned to the eternal furnace, leaving as successor of the empire Mohammed his first-born, an enemy of the Church of God and a malevolent persecutor of Christians.
[15] this should seem to be fixed in this year 852. The most eminent Baronius in the Annals rightly assigned this tragic death to the year of Christ 852, against the Scholiast of St. Eulogius, who, as he says, had attached it to the beginning of the following year. The reason is that the bodies of whose burning Eulogius makes mention in that place could have been none other than those of SS. Emila, Jeremiah, Rogellius and Servusdei, as Morales acknowledges; nor is it likely that they would have remained upon the gibbets until the following year, since the Christians so diligently gathered up even the tiniest ashes of the Martyrs. Pagi in the Critica agrees with Baronius, observing that by the Annalist of Saint-Bertin also the death of Abdarrahman is attached to that same year. Moreover Mohammed, whom others call Mahomet, is he under whom St. Eulogius, already elected to the bishopric of Toledo, consummated his martyrdom in the year of Christ 859.
Annotata\* that is, the magistrates
\* that is, the sword or the axe