October XX

St. Artemius, Martyr

From Theodoret, Hist. Eccles. l. 3, c. 18; Chron. Pasch. p. 297, ed. Du Cange; Julian the Ap. ep. 10; Ammian. Marceli. l. 15, c. 23; Fleury, l. 15, c. 23.

a. d. 362.

Augustus, not being willing to intrust the government of Egypt, which was a rich and powerful country, from which the city of Rome was in part supplied with corn, to a senator, like other great provinces of the empire, passed an order that, instead of a proconsul, it should be governed only by a Roman knight, with the title of Augustal prefect.^† The government of the troops was committed to a general officer with the title of duke, or general of Egypt. Artemius was honored with this command under Constantius, after Lucius and Sebastian. If, in executing some commissions under Constantius, he appeared against St. Athanasius, by various contrivances he afforded him means and opportunities to make his escape. If he betrayed 100 great weakness in obeying his prince at that time, he never approved his heresy. At least, that he was orthodox in his faith in the reign of Julian, is evident from Theodoret, the Paschal Chronicle, and the ancient Greek Calendars. The idolaters in Egypt accused him before that emperor of having demolished their temples, and broke down their idols. Julian summoned him to appear before him at Antioch in 362, and upon this indictment condemned him to be beheaded in that city, about the month of June in 362.

Artemius engaged in the service of impious Arians, who imbrued their hands in the blood of the saints, and placed on the pinnacle of worldly honors, stands upon the brink of the precipice, in imminent danger of being tumbled down headlong into everlasting flames; yet the omnipotent hand of God rescues him from these dangers, and leads him to bliss by a glorious martyrdom. The view of the many imminent dangers of perishing eternally, to which our souls have been often exposed, must fill us with the deepest sentiments of gratitude, love, and praise, for the infinite and most undeserved mercy by which we have been preserved. Should not we burst forth into incessant hymns of praise and thanksgiving? singing with the royal prophet: Unless the Lord had helped me, my soul had long ago dwelt in hell.¹ Should not we, in a transport of gratitude, implore, without interruption, the divine grace, and resolve to serve God with all our strength that the fruit of so great mercies may not perish through our malice?

St. Barsabias, Abbot

and his companions, martyrs, in persia

Eugenius, called by the Orientals, Abus, by the Chaldans, Avus, that is, Our Father, and corruptly by Sozomen, Aones, was a disciple of the great St. Antony. Travelling into the East, he founded and governed a numerous monastery near Nisibis, from whence he sent out colonies over all Persia, in which country there were many monasteries in the fourth century, as appears from Theodoret,¹ Barebrus, and other Syrian writers.² Sozomen tells us, that these monks, the disciples of Abus, completed the conversion of all Syria, and by their preaching brought to the right faith many among the Persians and Saracens.³ Barsabias was one of these zealous disciples of Abus, and was abbot in Persia, having under him ten monks, whom he educated with great attention and care in the paths of Christian perfection. His distinguished zeal made the persecutors mark him out one of the first for the slaughter. He was apprehended in the beginning of the great persecution of Sapor, and impeached before the governor of the province upon an indictment that he labored to abolish in Persia the religion of the Magians. With him his ten monks were led in chains to Astahara, a city near the ruins of Persepolis, where the governor of the province resided. This inhuman judge racked his brain to invent the most cruel kind of torments to inflict upon them. By his order their knees were bruised and shattered, their legs were broken, then their arms, sides, and ears were cut and torn in the most barbarous manner, their eyes were beaten, and their faces were swollen and inflamed with the buffets they had received. At length, the governor, enraged to see himself vanquished by their invincible virtue, and tired with tormenting them, condemned them to lose their heads. The martyrs walked joyfully to the place of execution, singing the praises of God in hymns and psalms, being surrounded by a great troop of soldiers and executioners, and followed by an incredible number of people. The good abbot desired earnestly to send before him to bliss all those souls which God had committed to his charge, and this petition which he put up to God with great ardor and charity, was granted.

The slaughter was already begun, when a Magian who happened to be travelling that way, with his wife, two children, and several servants, seeing the crowd, rode up through the people with a servant before him, to see what the matter was. He beheld the venerable abbot standing joyful, singing the divine praises, and taking each monk by the hand as they passed, as if it were to deliver them to the executioner. The Acts say he saw also a bright cross of fire shining over the bodies of the slain. Whether he had been before inclined to the Christian religion, or owed his conversion wholly to a sudden extraordinary light, he became on the spot a perfect Christian; and being moved by a strong impulse of divine grace, felt in himself an earnest desire to make one in that blessed company. He therefore alighted from his horse, changed clothes with his servant, and whispered in the abbot’s ear, begging to be admitted into the happy number of his holy troop, as he was united with them in faith and desire. The abbot assenting, he passed through his hands after the ninth, and was beheaded by the executioner, who did not know him. He was succeeded by the eleventh martyr. Last of all, the venerable Barsabias, the father of these martyrs, presented his neck to the executioner. The bodies of these twelve saints were left to be devoured by the wild beasts and birds of prey; but their heads were brought to the city, and set up in the temple of Nahitis, or Venus. For, though the Magians detested all idols, there were several sects of idolaters in many parts of Persia.^* The example of the Magian martyr moved his wife, children, and whole family, zealously to profess the Christian faith. These martyrs suffered on the 3d day of June, in the third year of the great persecution of Sapor, the thirty-third of his reign, of Christ 342. St. Barsabias is commemorated both in the Greek Menologies and in the Roman Martyrology on the 11th of December. See the Chaldaic Acts of these martyrs published by Monsignor Stephen Assemani, Acta Mart. Orient. t. 1.

St. Zenobius, Bishop of Florence, C.

This holy pastor is honored at Florence as the patron, protector, and principal apostle of that city, of which he was a native. He was born towards the close of the reign of Constantine the Great, passed through a regular course of education under eminent masters; and applied himself particularly to the study of philosophy. In his search after wisdom he discovered the folly and falsehood of idolatry, in which he had been educated, and listening to the doctrine of the gospel, attained to the happiness of faith. The seeds of the Christian religion had taken some root at Florence under Romulus, Paulinus, and Frontinus, whom some call disciples of the apostle St. Peter.¹ But Lamius² shows that their mission seems not to have been of so early a date, but of the second or third age. Foggini³ thinks it not clear that St. Romulus, bishop of Fiesoli, two miles from Florence, flourished before the beginning of the fourth age, though it is not to be doubted but the faith of Christ began to be planted at Florence long before that time; which is manifest from the undoubted proofs that SS. Minias and his companions, St. Crescius, St. Entius, St. Pamphyla, and others, glorified God there by martyrdom in some of the first general persecutions. It appears no less certain that idolatry was still the fashionable or reigning religion at Florence when St. Zenobius became an humble follower of Christ. He was baptized privately by the bishop of Florence; at which his parents took so great offence, that they raised a violent storm both against their son and the bishop, pretending that the step they had taken was an injury done to their paternal authority. Zenobius answered both for himself and the bishop with so much meekness and constancy, and, in justifying his own conduct, interwove so rational an account of our holy faith, as to satisfy his parents. And when he had once gained their benevolence and attention, it was no hard matter to bring them over to the Church of Christ. In order to devote himself to God in the most perfect manner, and to qualify himself to impart the blessing of divine faith to his countrymen, he entered himself among the clergy. When he was only deacon, he preached with so great fruit, and such reputation, that he became known to St. Ambrose of Milan, and was called to Rome by pope Damasus. The death of that pontiff restored him to his liberty, which he made use of to return to Florence, where he began again to cultivate the vineyard which called for all his strength and attention. The bishop of that city dying, the saint was placed in that see, and by his admirable humility, modesty, abstinence, and charity, approved him self truly an apostolical pastor. In extirpating the kingdom of Satan, and establishing that of Christ in the hearts of so many multitudes, a sphere of action was opened to him commensurate to his zeal; nor did he ever cease earnestly commending to Christ the souls that were intrusted to his care, or feeding them with the word of God, who confirmed his doctrine by miracles. The minds of men grown old in any way of thinking, enfeebled by inveterate sloth, immersed in worldly pursuits, and enslaved to tyrannical passions, have, as it were, formed to themselves a bed in the earth, from which they cannot easily be removed. Zenobius was no stranger to the difficulties of the task which he had undertaken, to awake men who were insensible to spiritual things; he therefore redoubled his earnestness in his labors, and in engaging Omnipotence to bless them with success. Thus he had the comfort to see a numerous people brought into the path of everlasting happiness.

St. Zenobius died in the reign of Honorius. His relics are kept with veneration in the great church at Florence, and his name occurs in the Roman Martyrology on the 25th of May. See the abridgment of his ancient life in St. Antoninus, Ughelli in Italia Sacra, Foggini loco cit., and principally the accurate and elegant Giuseppe Richa, S. J. in Notizie Istoriche delle Chiese Florentine, t. 6, in Fierenze; Anno 1757.

Saint Sindulphus, Priest of Rheims

commonly called st. sendou

Inflamed with a desire to aim at perfection, he left Aquitaine, his native country, and sought for a retreat in the diocese of Rheims, about the beginning of the seventh century. He chose for his residence the village of Aussonce, four leagues from Rheims, where he joined assiduous prayer to the greatest austerities. He was eminent for his knowledge of the scriptures, and for instructing all those who came to consult him. He died before the middle of the seventh century, on the 20th of October, and was buried in the place of his retirement; but his relics were removed in the ninth century to the abbey of Hautevilliers, near Rheims. He is mentioned this day in the Roman Martyrology. See Mabill. Act. SS., t. 1, and part 2, sec. 4; Ben. Flodoard, Hist. Rem. l. 2, c. 9; Baillet, &c.

St. Aidan, bishop of Mayo, is mentioned this day in the Irish Calendar. He died in 768. See Ware and Colgan.