October XI

SS. Tarachus, Probus, And Andronicus, MM.

From their original presidial acts in Ruinart, p. 419. See Tillemont, t. 5, p. 285.

The holy name of God was glorified by the triumph of these martyrs in the persecution of Dioclesian, at Anazarbus in Cilicia, probably in the year 304, when the edicts against the Christians were made general, and extended to all the laity without exception. Their acts are a precious monument of ecclesiastical antiquity. The three first parts contain the triple examination which the saints underwent at Tarsus, Mopsuestia, and Anazarbus, three cities in Cilicia, and are an authentic copy of the proconsular register, which certain Christians purchased of the public notaries for the sum of two hundred denarii, upwards of six pounds sterling. The last part was added by Marcian, Felix, and Verus, three Christians who were present at their martyrdom, and afterwards stole the bodies from the guards, and interred them, resolving to spend the remainder of their lives near the place, and after their deaths, to be buried in the same vault with them.

The three martyrs were joined in the confession of the same faith, but differed in their age and countries. Tarachus was a Roman by extraction, though born in Isauria; he had served in the army, but had procured his discharge, for fear of being compelled to do something that was contrary to the duty of a Christian; he was at that time sixty-five years old. Probus, a native of Pamphylia, had resigned a considerable fortune, that he might be more at liberty to serve Christ Andronicus was a young nobleman of one of the principal families of the city of Ephesus. Being apprehended at Pompeiopolis in Cilicia, they were presented to Numerian Maximus, governor of the province, upon his arrival in that city, and by his order were conducted to Tarsus, the metropolis, to wait his return. Maximus being arrived there and seated on his tribunal, Demetrius, the centurion, brought them before him, saying they were the persons who had been presented to him at Pompeiopolis for professing the impious religion of the Christians and disobeying the command of the emperors. Maximus addressed himself first to Tarachus, observing that he began with him because he was advanced in years, and then asked his name. Tarachus replied—“I am a Christian.” Maximus—“Speak not of thy impiety, but tell me thy name.” Tarachus—“I am a Christian.” Maximus—“Strike him upon the mouth, and bid him not answer one thing for another.” Tarachus, after receiving a butlet on his jaws, said—“I tell you my true name. If you would know that which my parents gave me, it is Tarachus; when I bore arms I went by the name of Victor.” Maximus—“What is thy profession, and of what country art thou?” Tarachus—“I am of a Roman family, and was born at Claudiopolis, in Isauria. I am by profession a soldier, but quitted the service upon the account of my religion.” Maximus—“Thy impiety rendered thee unworthy to bear arms; but how didst thou procure thy discharge?” Tarachus—“I asked it of my captain, Publio, and he gave me.” Maximus—“In consideration of thy gray hairs, I will procure thee the favor and friendship of the emperors, if thou wilt obey their orders. Draw near, and sacrifice to the gods, as the emperors themselves do all the world over.” Tarachus—“They are deceived by the devil in so doing.” Maximus—“Break his jaws for saying the emperors are deceived.” Tarachus—“I repeat it, as men they are deluded.” Maximus—” Sacrifice to our gods, and renounce thy folly.” Tarachus—“I cannot renounce the law of God.” Maximus—“Is there any law, wretch, but that which we obey?” Tarachus—“There is, and you transgress it by adoring stocks and stones, the works of men’s hands.” Maximus—“Strike him on the face, saying, Abandon thy folly.” Tarachus—“What you call folly is the salvation of my soul, and I will never leave it.” Maximus—“But I will make thee leave it, and force thee to be wise.” Tarachus—“Do with my body what you please, it is entirely in your power.” Then Maximus said—“Strip him, and beat him with rods.” Tarachus, when beaten, said: “You have now made me truly wise. I am strengthened by your blows, and my confidence in God and in Jesus Christ is increased.” Maximus—“Wretch, how canst thou deny a plurality of gods, when, according to thy own confession, thou servest two gods. Didst thou not give the name of God to a certain person, named Christ?” Tarachus—“Right; for this is the Son of the living God; he is the hope of the Christians, and the author of salvation to such as suffer for his sake.” Maximus—“Forbear this idle talk; draw near, and sacrifice.” Tarachus—“I am no idle talker; I am sixty five years old; thus have I been brought up, and I cannot forsake the truth.” Demetrius, the centurion, said: “Poor man, I pity thee; be advised by me, sacrifice, and save thyself.” Tarachus—“Away, thou minister of Satan, and keep thy advice for thy own use.” Maximus—“Let him be loaded with large chains, and carried back to prison. Bring forth be next in years.”

Demetrius, the centurion, said: “He is here, my lord.” Maximus—“What is thy name?” Probus—“My chief and most honorable name is Christian; but the name I go by in the world is Probus.” Maximus—“Of what country art thou, and of what family?” Probus—“My father was of Thrace: I am a plebeian, born a Sida, in Pamphylia, and profess Christianity.” Maximus—“That will do thee no service. Be advised by me, sacrifice to the gods, that thou mayest be honored by the emperors, and enjoy my friendship.” Probus—“I want nothing of that kind. Formerly, I was possessed of a considerable estate; but I relinquished it to serve the living God through Jesus Christ.” Maximus—“Take off his garments, gird him,* lay him at his full length, and lash him with ox’s sinews.” Demetrius, the centurion, said to him, while they were beating him: “Spare thyself, my friend; see how thy blood runs in streams on the ground.” Probus—“Do what you will with my body, your torments are sweet perfumes to me.” Maximus—“Is this thy obstinate folly incurable? What canst thou hope for?” Probus—“I am wiser than you are, because I do not worship devils.” Maximus—“Turn him, and strike him on the belly.” Probus—“Lord, assist thy servant.” Maximus—“Ask him, at every stripe, Where is thy helper?” Probus—“He helps me, and will help me; for I take so little notice of your torments, that I do not obey you.” Maximus—“Look, wretch, upon thy mangled body; the ground is covered with thy blood.” Probus—“The more my body suffers for Jesus Christ, the more is my soul refreshed.” Maximus—“Put fetters on his hands and feet, with his legs distended in the stocks to the fourth hole, and let nobody come to dress his wounds. Bring the third to the bar.”

Demetrius, the centurion, said: “Here he stands, my lord.” Maximus—“What is thy name?” Andronicus—“My true name is Christian, and the name by which I am commonly known among men, is Andronicus.” Maximus—“What is your family?” Andronicus—“My father is one of the first rank in Ephesus.” Maximus—“Adore the gods, and obey the emperors, who are our fathers and masters.” Andronicus—“The devil is your father while you do his works.” Maximus—“Youth makes you insolent; I have torments ready.” Andronicus—“I am prepared for whatever may happen.” Maximus—“Strip him naked, gird him, and stretch him on the rack.” Demetrius, the centurion, said to the martyr: “Obey, my friend, before thy body is torn and mangled.” Andronicus—“It is better for me to have my body tormented, than to lose my soul.” Maximus—“Sacrifice before I put thee to the most cruel death.” Andronicus—“I have never sacrificed to demons from my infancy, and I will not now begin.” Athanasius, the cornicularius, or clerk to the army, said to him: “I am old enough to be thy father, and therefore take the liberty to advise thee: obey the governor.” Andronicus—“You give me admirable advice, indeed, to sacrifice to devils.” Maximus—“Wretch, art thou insensible to torments? Thou dost not yet know what it is to suffer fire and razors. When thou has felt them, thou wilt perhaps, give over thy folly.” Andronicus—“This folly is expedient for us who hope in Jesus Christ. Earthly wisdom leads to eternal death.” Maximus—“Tear his limbs with the utmost violence.” Andronicus—“I have done no evil, yet you torment me like a murderer. I contend for that piety which is due to the true God.” Maximus—“If thou hadst but the least sense of piety, thou wouldst adore the gods whom the emperors so religiously worship.” Andronicus—“It is not piety, but impiety to abandon the true God, and to adore brass and marble.” Maximus—“Execrable villain, are then the emperors guilty of impieties? Hoist him again, and gore his sides.” Andronicus—“I am in your hands; do with my body what you please.” Maximus—“Lay salt upon his wounds, and rub his sides with broken tiles.” Andronicus—“Your torments have refreshed my body.” Maximus—“I will cause thee to die gradually.” Andronicus—“Your menaces do not terrify me; my courage is above all that your malice can invent.” Maximus—“Put a heavy chain about his neck, and another upon his legs, and keep him in close prison.” Thus ended the first examination; the second was held at Mopsuestia.

Flavius Clemens Numerianus Maximus, governor of Cilicia, sitting on his tribunal, said to Demetrius the centurion: “Bring forth the impious wretches who follow the religion of the Christians.” Demetrius said: “Here they are, my lord.” Maximus said to Terachus: “Old age is respected in many, on account of the good sense and prudence that generally attend it; wherefore, if you have made a proper use of the time allowed you for reflection, I presume your own discretion has wrought in you a change of sentiments; as a proof of which, it is required that you sacrifice to the gods, which cannot fail of recommending you to the esteem of your superiors.” Tarachus—“I am a Christian, and I wish you and the emperors would leave your blindness, and embrace the truth which leads to life.” Maximus—“Break his jaws with a stone, and bid him leave off his folly.” Tarachus—“This folly is true wisdom.” Maximus—“Now they have loosened all thy teeth, wretch, take pity on thyself, come to the altar, and sacrifice to the gods, to prevent severer treatment.” Tarachus—“Though you cut my body into a thousand pieces, you will not be able to shake my resolution; because it is Christ who gives me strength to stand my ground.” Maximus—“Wretch, accursed by the gods, I will find means to drive out thy folly. Bring in a pan of burning coals, and hold his hands in the fire till they are burnt.” Tarachus—“I fear not your temporal fire, which soon passes; but I dread eternal flames.” Maximus—“See, thy hands are well baked, they are consumed by the fire; is it not time for thee to grow wise? Sacrifice.” Tarachus—“If you have any other torments in store for me, employ them; I hope I shall be able to withstand all your attacks.” Maximus—“Hang him by the feet, with his head over a great smoke.” Tarachus—“After having proved an overmatch for your fire, I am not afraid of your smoke.” Maximus—“Bring vinegar and salt, and force them up his nostrils.” Tarachus—“Your vinegar is sweet to me, and your salt insipid.” Maximus—“Put mustard into the vinegar, and thrust it up his nose.” Tarachus—“Your ministers impose upon you; they have given me honey instead of mustard.” Maximus—“Enough for the present; I will make it my business to invent fresh tortures to bring thee to thy senses; I will not be baffled.” Tarachus—“You will find me prepared for the attack.” Maximus—“Away with him to the dungeon. Bring in another.”

Demetrius, the centurion, said: “My lord, here is Probus.” Maximus—“Well, Probus, hast thou considered the matter; and art thou disposed to sacrifice to the gods, after the example of the emperors?” Probus—“I appear here again with fresh vigor. The torments I have endured have hardened my body; and my soul is strengthened in her courage, and proof against all you can inflict. I have a living God in heaven: him I serve and adore, and no other.” Maximus—“What! villain, are not ours living gods?” Probus—“Can stones and wood, the workmanship of a statuary be living gods? You know not what you do when you sacrifice to them.” Maximus—“What insolence! At least sacrifice to the great god Jupiter. I will excuse you as to the rest.” Probus—“Do not you blush to call him god who was guilty of adulteries, incests, and other most enormous crimes?” Maximus—“Beat his mouth with a stone, and bid him not blaspheme.” Probus—“Why this evil treatment? I have spoken no worse of Jupiter than they do who serve him. I utter no lie; I speak the truth, as you yourself well know.” Maximus—“Heat bars of iron, and apply them to his feet.” Probus—“This fire is without heat; at least, I feel none.” Maximus—“Hoist him on the rack, and let him be scourged with thongs of raw leather till his shoulders are flayed.” Probus—“All this does me no harm: invent something new, and you will see the power of God who is in me and strengthens me.” Maximus—“Shave his head, and lay burning coals upon it.” Probus—“You have burnt my head and my feet. You see, notwithstanding, that I still continue God’s servant, and disregard your torments. He will save me; your gods can only destroy.” Maximus—“Dost thou not see all those that worship them standing about my tribunal, honored by the gods and the emperors? They look upon thee and thy companions with contempt.” Probus—“Believe me, unless they repent and serve the living God, they will all perish, because against the voice of their own conscience they adore idols.” Maximus—“Beat his face, that he may learn to say the gods, and not God.” Probus—“You unjustly destroy my mouth, and disfigure my face because I speak the truth.” Maximus—“I will also cause thy blasphemous tongue to be plucked out to make thee comply.” Probus—“Besides the tongue which serves me for utterance, I have an internal, an immortal tongue, which is out of your reach.” Maximus—“Take him to prison. Let the third come in.”

Demetrius, the centurion, said: “He is here.” Maximus—“Your companions, Andronicus, were at first obstinate; but gained nothing thereby but torments and disgrace, and have been at last compelled to obey. They shall receive considerable recompenses. Therefore, to escape the like torments, sacrifice to the gods, and thou shalt be honored accordingly. But if thou refusest, I swear by the immortal gods, and by the invincible emperors that thou shalt not escape out of my hands with thy life.” Andronicus—“Why do you endeavor to deceive me with lies? They have not renounced the true God. And had that been so, you should never find me guilty of such an impiety. God, whom I adore, has clothed me with the arms of faith; and Jesus Christ, my Saviour, is my strength; so that I neither fear your power, nor that of your masters, nor of your gods. For a trial, cause all your engines and instruments to be displayed before my eyes, and employed on my body.” Maximus—“Bind him to the stakes, and scourge him with raw thongs.” Andronicus—“There is nothing new or extraordinary in this torment.” The clerk, Athanasius, said: “Thy whole body is but one wound from head to foot, and dost thou count this nothing?” Andronicus—“They who love the living God, make very small account of all this.” Maximus—“Rub his back with salt.” Andronicus—“Give orders, I pray you, that they do not spare me, that being well seasoned I may be in no danger of putrefaction, and may be the better able to withstand your torments.” Maximus—“Turn him, and beat him upon the belly, to open afresh his first wounds.” Andronicus—“You saw when I was brought last before your tribunal, how I was perfectly cured of the wounds I received by the first day’s tortures: he that cured me then, can cure me a second time.” Maximus, addressing himself to the guards of the prison: “Villains and traitors,” said he, “did I not strictly forbid you to suffer any one to see them, or dress their wounds? Yet, see here!” Pegasus, the jailer, said, “I swear by your greatness that no one has applied any thing whatever to his wounds, or had admittance to him; and he has been kept in chains in the most retired part of the prison on purpose. If you catch me in a lie I’ll forfeit my head.” Maximus—“How comes it, then, that there is nothing to be seen of his wounds?” The jailer: “I swear by your high birth that I know not how they have been healed.” Andronicus—“Senseless man, the Physician that has healed me is no less powerful than he is tender and charitable. You know him not. He cures not by the application of medicines, but by his word alone. Though he dwells in heaven, he is present everywhere, but you know him not.” Maximus—“Thy idle prating will do thee no service; sacrifice, or thou art a lost man.” Andronicus—“I do not change my answers. I am not a child, to be wheedled or frightened.” Maximus—“Do not flatter thyself that thou shalt get the better of me.” Andronicus—“Nor shall you ever make us yield to your threats.” Maximus—“My authority shall not be baffled by thee.” Andronicus—“Nor shall it ever be said that the cause of Jesus Christ is vanquished by your authority.” Maximus—“Let me have several kinds of tortures in readiness against my next sitting. Put this man in prison loaded with chains, and let no one be admitted to visit them in the dungeon.” The third examination was held at Anazarbus. In it Tarachus answered first with his usual constancy, saying to all threats that a speedy death would finish his victory and complete his happiness; and that long torments would procure him the greater recompense. When Maximus had caused him to be bound and stretched on the rack, he said: “I could allege the rescript of Dioclesian, which forbids judges to put military men to the rack. But waive my privilege, lest you should suspect me of cowardice.” Maximus said: “Thou flatterest thyself with the hopes of having thy body embalmed by Christian women, and wrapped up in perfumes after thou art dead, but I will take care to dispose of thy remains.” Tarachus replied, “Do what you please with my body, not only while it is living, but also after my death.” Maximus ordered his lips, cheeks, and whole face, to be slashed and cut. Tarachus said: “You have disfigured my face, but have added new beauty to my soul. I fear not any of your inventions, for I am clothed with the divine armor.” The tyrant ordered spits* to be heated and applied red hot to his armpits, then his ears to be cut off. At which the martyr said: “My heart will not be less attentive to the word of God.” Maximus said: “Tear the skin off his head, then cover it with burning coals.” Tarachus replied: “Though you should order my whole body to be flayed, you will not be able to separate me from my God.” Maximus—“Apply the red-hot spits once more to his armpits and sides.” Tarachus—“O God of heaven, look down upon me, and be my judge.” The governor then sent him back to prison to be reserved for the public shows the day following, and called for the next.

Probus being brought forth, Maximus again exhorted him to sacrifice; but after many words ordered him to be bound and hung up by the feet: then red-hot spits to be applied to his sides and back. Probus said—“My body is in your power. May the Lord of heaven and earth vouchsafe to consider my patience, and the humility of my heart.” Maximus—“The God whom thou implorest, has delivered thee into my hands.” Probus—“He loves men.” Maximus—“Open his mouth, and pour in some of the wine which has been offered upon the altars, and thrust some of the sanctified meat into his mouth.” Probus—“See, O Lord, the violence they offer me, and judge my cause.” Maximus—“Now thou seest that after suffering a thousand torments rather than to sacrifice, thou hast nevertheless partook of a sacrifice.” Probus—“You have done no great feat in making me taste these abominable offerings against my will.” Maximus—“No matter; it is now done: promise now to do it voluntarily and thou shalt be released.” Probus—“God forbid that I should yield; but know that if thou should force into me all the abominable offerings of your whole altars, I should be no ways defiled: for God sees the violence which I suffer.” Maximus—“Heat the spits again, and burn the calves of his legs with them.” Then he said to Probus: “There is not a sound part in thy whole body, and still thou persistest in thy folly. Wretch, what canst thou hope for?” Probus—“I have abandoned my body over to you that my soul may remain whole and sound.” Maximus—“Make some sharp nails red hot, and pierce his hands with them.” Probus—“O my Saviour, I return you most hearty thanks that you have been pleased to make me share in your own sufferings.” Maximus—“The great number of thy torments make thee more foolish.” Probus—“Would to God your soul was not blind, and in darkness.” Maximus—“Now thou hast lost the use of all thy members, thou complainest of me for not having deprived thee of thy sight. Prick him in the eyes, but by little and little, till you have bored out the organs of his sight.” Probus—“Behold I am now blind. Thou hast destroyed the eyes of my body, but canst not take away those of my soul.” Maximus—“Thou continuest still to argue, but thou art condemned to eternal darkness.” Probus—“Did you know the darkness in which your soul is plunged, you would see yourself much more miserable than I am.” Maximus—“Thou hast no more use of thy body than a dead man, yet thou talkest still.” Probus—“So long as any vital heal continues to animate the remains which you have left me of this body, I will never cease to speak of my God, to praise and to thank him.” Maximus—“What! dost thou hope to survive these torments? Canst thou flatter thyself that I shall allow thee one moment’s respite?” Probus—“I expect nothing from you but a cruel death, and I ask of God only the grace to persevere in the confession of his holy name to the end.” Maximus—“I will leave thee to languish, as such an impious wretch deserves. Take him hence. Let the prisoners be closely guarded that none of their friends who would congratulate with them, may find access. I design them for the shows. Let Andronicus be brought in. He is the most resolute of the three.”

The answers and behavior of the martyrs were usually very respectful towards their impious judges and the most unjust tyrants; and this is a duty, and the spirit of the gospel. Nevertheless, by an extraordinary impulse of the Holy Ghost, some on certain occasions have deviated from this rule. St. Paul called his judge a whited wall, and threatened him with the anger of God.³ In the same manner some martyrs have reproached their judges, of whom St. Austin says:⁴ “They were patient in torments, faithful in their confession, constant lovers of truth in all their words. But they cast certain arrows of God against the impious, and provoked them to anger; but they wounded many to salvation.” In the answers of St. Andronicus we find many harsh __EXPRESSION__s, injurious to the ministers of justice, which we must regard as just reproaches of their impiety, and darts employed by God to sting and awake them. The governor pressed Andronicus again to comply, adding, that his two companions had at length sacrificed to the gods, and to the emperors themselves. The martyr replied: “This is truly the part of an adorer of the god of lies; and by this imposture I know that the men are like the gods whom they serve. May God judge you, O worker of miquity.” Maximus ordered rolls of paper to be made, and set on fire upon the belly of the martyr; then bodkins to be heated, and laid red hot between his fingers. Finding him still unshaken, he said to him: “Do not expect to die at once. I will keep thee alive till the time of the shows, that thou mayest behold thy limbs devoured one after another by cruel beasts.” Andronicus answered: “You are more inhuman than the tigers, and more insuitable with blood than the most barbarous murderers.” Maximus—“Open his mouth, and put some of the sanctified meat into it, and pour some of the wine into it which hath been offered to the gods.” Andronicus—“Be hold, O Lord, the violence which is offered me.” Maximus—“What will thou do now? Thou hast tasted of the offerings taken from the altar. Thou art now initiated in the mysteries of the gods.” Andronicus—“Know, tyrant, that the soul is not defiled when she suffers involuntarily what she condemns. God, who sees the secrets of hearts, knows that mine has not consented to this abomination.” Maximus—“How long will this phrensy delude thy imagination? It will not deliver thee out of my hands.” Andronicus—“God will deliver me when he pleases.” Maximus—“This is a fresh extravagance: I will cause that tongue of thine to be cut out to put an end to thy prating.” Andronicus—“I ask it as a favor that those lips and tongue with which you imagine I have concurred in partaking of the meats and wine offered to idols, may be cut off.” Maximus—“Pluck out his teeth, and cut out his blasphemous tongue to the very root; burn them, and then scatter the ashes in the air, that none of his impious companions or of the women may be able to gather them up to keep as something precious or holy.* Let him be carried to his dungeon to serve for food to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre.”

The trial of the three martyrs being thus concluded, Maximus sent for Terentianus, the chiliarch or pontiff, and first magistrate of the community in Cilicia, who had the care of the public games and spectacles, and gave him orders to exhibit a public show the next day. In the morning, a prodigious multitude of people flocked to the amphitheatre, which was a mile distant from the town of Anazarbus. The governor came thither about noon Many gladiators and others were slain in the combats of the gladiators and by the beasts, and their bodies were devoured by them, or lay slaughtered on the ground. We, say the authors of the acts, came, but stood on an adjoining mountain behind, looking over the walls of the amphitheatre, waiting the issue in great fear and alarms. The governor at length sent some of his guards to bring the Christians whom he had sentenced to the beasts. The martyrs were in so piteous a condition by their torments that, far from being able to walk, they could not so much as stir their mangled bodies. But they were carried on the back of porters, and thrown down in the pit of the amphitheatre below the seat of the governor. We advanced, say the authors, as near as we could on an eminence behind, and concealed ourselves by piling stones before us as high as our breasts, that we might not be known or observed. The sight of our brethren in so dismal a condition, made us shed abundance of tears: even many of the infidel spectators could not contain theirs. For no sooner were the martyrs laid down, but an almost universal deep silence followed at the sight of such dismal objects, and the people began openly to murmur against the governor for his barbarous cruelty. Many even left the shows, and returned to the city: which provoked the governor, and he ordered more soldiers to guard all the avenues to stop any from departing, and to take notice of all who attempted it, that they might be afterwards called to their trial by him. At the same time, he commanded a great number of beasts to be let loose out of their dens into the pit. These fierce creatures rushed out, but all stopped near the doors of their lodges, and would not advance to hurt the martyrs. Maximus, in a fury, called for the keepers, and caused one hundred strokes with cudgels to be given them, making them responsible for the tameness of their lions and tigers, because they were less cruel than himself. He threatened even to crucify them unless they let out the most ravenous of their beasts. They turned out a great bear which that very day had killed three men. He walked up slowly towards the martyrs, and began to lick the wounds of Andronicus. That martyr leaned his head on the bear, and endeavored to provoke him, but in vain. Maximus possessed himself no longer, but ordered the beast to be immediately killed. The bear received the strokes, and fell quietly before the feet of Andronicus.⁵ Terentianus seeing the rage of the governor, and trembling for himself, immediately ordered a most furious lion less to be let out. At the sight of her, all the spectators turned pale, and her terrible roarings made the bravest men tremble on their safe seats. Yet, when she same up to the saints, who lay stretched on the sand, she laid her self down at the feet of St. Tarachus, and licked them, quite forgetting he natural ferocity. Maximus, foaming with rage, commanded her to be pricked with goads. She then arose, and raged about in a furious manner, roaring terribly, and affrighting all the spectators; who, seeing that she had broke down part of the door of her lodge, which the governor had ordered to be shut, cried out earnestly that she might be again driven into her lodge. The governor, therefore, called for the confectors or gladiators to dispatch the martyrs with their swords; which they did. Maximus commanded the bodies to be intermixed with those of the gladiators who had been slain, and also to be guarded that night by six soldiers, lest the Christians should carry them off. The night was very dark, and a violent storm of thunder and rain dispersed the guards. The faithful distinguished the three bodies by a miraculous star or ray of light which streamed on each of them. They carried off the precious treasures on their backs, and hid them in a hollow cave in the neighboring mountains, where the governor was not able, by any search he could make, to find them. He severely chastised the guards who had abandoned their station. Three fervent Christians, Marcian, Felix, and Verus, retired into this cave of the rock, being resolved to spend there all the remainder of their lives. The governor left Anazarbus three days after. The Christians of that city sent this relation to the church of Iconium, de siring it might be communicated to the faithful of Pisidia and Pamphylia for their edification. The three martyrs finished their glorious course on the 11th of October, on which day their names occur in the Roman and other martyrologies.

The heroism of the martyrs consists not only in the constancy and invincible courage with which they chose to suffer, rather than to sin against God, all the torments which the most inhuman tyrants were able to invent and inflict upon them one after another, but also in the patience, charity, meekness, and humility, with which they were animated under their sufferings. In our daily and hourly trials we have continual opportunities of exercising these virtues. If we fail even in small things, and show ourselves strangers to the Christian spirit, can we assume, without blushing at ourselves, the sacred name of disciples of Christ?

St. Gummar, C.

called by the french, gomer

This saint was a native of Emblehem, a village three miles from Lire, of user, in Brabant. His parents were very rich, and related to king Pepin, and took care he should be instructed in the maxims of our holy religion, and in the practice of piety, though he had not the advantage of a literary education. He was from his cradle meek, affable, exceeding compassionate, religious, and devout. Pepin, then mayor of the palace, and soon after king of France, called him to his court. The saint preserved there his innocence: from a spirit of religion he was punctual and faithful in every duty of his station, and an enemy to vanity, ambition, and dissimulation, (which is almost the soul of a court life,) also to pleasure, luxury, and passion: he was rigorous in his fasts and other mortifications, exact and fervent in all his exertions of devotion, and most beneficent and liberal in works of mercy. It was his study, as much as possible, never to give the least trouble or do the least prejudice to any one, and to serve, and do good, as much as lay in hi-power, to all men. Pepin, though tainted with ambition, was a lover of up rightness and virtue; and being acquainted with the probity and piety of Gummar, raised him to the highest posts in his court. After some time, this king proposed a match between him and a lady of great birth and fortune named Gwinmary, in Latin, Grimnaria. Both parties acquiesced, and the marriage was solemnized. As God does every thing for Ids elect, and the government of the universe is subordinate to the predestination of his saints, so this affair, which seemed unhappy in the eyes of the world, was directed by him to perfect the virtue of his servant, and exalt him to the glory of the saints Gwinmary was most extravagant and perverse in her humor; haughty, whimsical, and altogether ungovernable. Gummar’s whole life became from that time a train of continual trials, which were so much the sharper as the person from whom he suffered them was the nearer and dearer to him. We are prepared for evil treatment from strangers or enemies; we are animated by it, and we easily conquer ourselves so far as to triumph in it. But when bosom friends, from whom we have reason to expect our greatest comfort and support, seem to have no other satisfaction but continually to wound and persecute us: this is one of the severest of trials, under which it is hard for the firmest mind to maintain its ground without sometimes failing in some of the duties of charity, patience, and meekness.

This was the heroic virtue which Gummar practised for several years, seeking all his comfort and strength in God by constant exercises of penance and devotion, and endeavoring by all means which Christian prudence and charity could suggest, to inspire his wife with sentiments agreeable to reason and religion. Being called upon by king Pepin to attend him in his wars, first in Lombardy, afterwards in Saxony, and lastly in Aquitaine, he was absent eight years. Returning home, he found that his wife had thrown all things into the utmost disorder and confusion; and that scarce any one among his servants, vassals, or tenants had escaped her unjust oppressions. Gummar made to every one of them full restitution and satisfaction; and, that he might have a place of quiet and retirement, in order to attend his private devotions, built the chapel called Nivesdone. Gwinmary was at length so far overcome by his heroic patience and virtue, as to be ashamed of her past conduct, and to seem penitent. This change, however, was only exterior; and her furious passions, which were only smothered for a time, not healed, broke out again with greater rage than ever. Gummar studied to reclaim her; but at length obtained her consent to embrace a retired penitential life, in order to prepare himself for his passage to eternity. Having built himself a cell by his chapel near his own house, he gave himself up to holy contemplation and to the most perfect practices of penance and mortification. In the mean time, he took all possible care of his wife and family being solicitous, in the first place, to bring them over to virtuous courses Herein he so far succeeded by perseverance that his wife became a remarkable penitent. In this manner he served God nine years, and went to receive the recompense of his patience and charity in 774. This village of which he was lord, was then called Nivesdone, afterwards Ledo, and now Lire: from the devotion of the people to this saint, it became a considerable town. The saint’s relics were preserved for several ages in the above-mentioned chapel which he had built, and were visited by the bishop’s order in 1369 and 1406. The saint’s shrine was plundered by the Calvinists; but the relics were saved by Catholics, and are kept in the collegiate church at Lire. He is honored in Brabant with singular veneration, and named on the 11th of October, in the Roman Martyrology. See his life in Surius, Miræus and Gramaye, Antiqu., Antwerp, c. 8; Vite de Santi, t. 2, p. 251.

St. Ethelburge, Or Edilburge, V. Abbess

This saint was an English Saxon princess, sister to St. Erconwald, bishop of London. To the end that she might live entirely to herself and God, she in her youth renounced the world, and neither riches nor the tempting splendor of a court could shake her resolution; for the world loses all its influence upon a mind which is wholly taken up with the great truths of faith and eternal salvation. A soul which is truly penetrated with them, listens to no consideration in the choice of a state of life but to what virtue and piety suggest, and being supported by those noble principles which religion inspires, whether she is placed in the world or in a religious state, whether in opulence or poverty, amidst honors or in contempt, equally carries all her desires to their proper mark, and studies with constancy and perseverance, to acquit herself of every duty of her state, and to act up to the dignity of her heavenly vocation. This makes saints who live in the world the best princes, the best subjects, the best parents, the best neighbors, the most dutiful children, and the most diligent and faithful tradesmen or servants. The same principle renders them in a cloister the most humble, the most obedient, the most devout, and the most fervent and exact in every point of monastic discipline. St. Erconwald considered only the perfection of his sister’s virtue, not flesh and blood, when he appointed her abbess of the great nunnery which he had founded at Barking, in Essex. Ethelburge, by her example and spirit, sweetly led on all the chaste spouses of Christ in that numerous house in the paths of true virtue and Christian perfection. How entirely they were dead both to the world and themselves, and how perfectly divine charity reigned in their souls, appeared by the ardor with which they unanimously sighed after the dissolution of their earthly tabernacle, desiring to be clothed with immortality; in the mean time exerting continually their whole strength and all their affections that they might lot be found naked when they should appear before God. When a raging pestilence swept off a part of this community, in 664, all rejoiced in their last moments, and thought even every day and every hour long before they went to the possession of their God, to love and praise whom with all their powers, and without interruption for eternity, was the pure and vehement desire with which they were inflamed; and the living envied the dying. The comfort of those that survived was in the divine will, and in knowing their retardment could be but for a moment, that they might labor perfectly to purify their hearts before they were united to their friends, the saints, and swallowed up in a glorious immortality. St. Ethelburge survived this mortality for the support and comfort of the rest. Having sent before her so many saints to heaven, she met her own death with a great spirit, and her glory was manifested by miraculous visions. See Bede, l. 4, c. 6–10. St. Ethelburge’s body was honored at Nunnaminstre in Winchester. Leland Collect, t. 1, p. 10.

St. Canicus, or Kenny, Abbot in Ireland

The Irish Annals fix the birth of this illustrious saint in 527, and his death in 599. In his youth he studied some time in Wales under a celebrated and holy abbot named Docus, and afterwards in Ireland under St. Finian, to whose famous school, in his monastery of Cluain-Irraird the lovers of true wisdom repaired from all sides. The zeal and labors of St. Kenny, in propagating the practice of Christian perfection throughout Ireland, have ranked him among the most glorious saints whose virtue has been the greatest ornament of that island. St. Kenny was intimately connected by holy friendship with St. Columkille, whom he sometimes visited in the isle of Hij. He founded himself the great monastery of Achadbho, (or The Ox’s Field,) which grew up into a town, and was formerly the seat of the bishops of Ossory, who now reside at Kilkenny, a city which takes its name from this saint, that word signifying Cell or Church of Kenny. See Usher, Antiq. Britan. pp. 493, 495, &c.; Adamnan, Vit. S. Columb. l. 1, c. 4, l. 3, c. 17; Sir James Ware, Antiqu. Hibern. p. 314.

* This manner of girding those that were punished seems to mean a covering their waist with a tunic or something else, that they might not be exposed naked. See Fleury, l. 9, n. 1.

* Οβελίσκους in the Acts.—Οβελίσκος verucula, ab ὀβελός veru. Lexic. Hederici.—Obeliseus. (ex ὀβελός veru, magis nomine quam re. A great square stone, broad beneath and growing smaller and smaller towards the top.—Ains. Those made use of on this occasion were of the like figure, and of a size suitable to the purpose of torturing. Fleury calls them spits. their form though of stone.

³ Acts 23:3

⁴ In Ps. 39 n. 16, p. 23.

* “Dentes ejus et linguam blasphemam tollite, et comburite, et ubique spargite, ut nemo de consortibus ejus impiis, aut de mul erculis aliqua colligat ut servet quasi pretiosum aliquid aut sanctum sestimet.”—p. 444.

⁵ See Oral, diss. de Actis SS. Perpetuæ et Felic. c. 8. How the martyrs were impatient to suffer, see St. Chrys. serm. ap. Orsi. ib.

 Butler, A., The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints (New York 1903) IV, 128-139.