ON SS. PRIMUS AND FELICIANUS, ROMAN MARTYRS ON THE NOMENTAN WAY.
UNDER DIOCLETIAN.
PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.
Primus, Roman Martyr, on the Nomentan Way (S.)
Felicianus, Roman Martyr on the Nomentan Way (S.)
G. H. & D. P.
§. I. On their Acts & Relics.
Among the more illustrious Roman Martyrs, who in the persecution of Diocletian & Maximian, after enduring very many torments, suffered, deservedly are reckoned SS. Primus & Felicianus, & themselves Roman citizens. The Acts of the martyrdom were edited by Laurentius Surius, but (as he prefaces) with phrase altered & described somewhat more briefly. We have found them in very many ancient manuscript codices, of which we have two by us, and one indeed written in a most ancient hand. The Acts of the martyrdom are given from ancient Mss. We also have the same Acts from manuscript codices of the Cathedral Church of Saint-Omer in Artois, of the Trier monastery of S. Maximinus, of Rebdorf of the Canons Regular in the diocese of Eichstätt, of Utrecht of S. Salvator, of Parc near Louvain, & a triple one of the Queen of Sweden. The same in Kaiserwerth on the Rhine, at Capua & Naples in Campania, then also at Rome in the Vallicellian, Lateran & Vatican Libraries are extant, and they are also in volume 2 of Boninus Mombritius. There is everywhere a great agreement to amazement, if some minutiae of almost no moment are excepted. Meanwhile they do not please John Hesselius; perhaps because the Saints are said to be presented to both Emperors, which should be attributed to one. Nor do we believe them to be of the first class and taken from Proconsular Acts: but long afterwards adorned with rhetorical style, and with circumstances of speeches held back and forth, perhaps even of various punishments: yet we think they were written long before the translation of the bodies.
[2] On the same ancient Acts the Martyrologies rely, & what we have, Cult from ancient Fasti. the most ancient Epternach apograph of S. Jerome begins this IX day thus: V Ides of June. At Rome of Primus & Felicianus. In a very ancient Ms. of the Queen of Sweden, valued by Lucas Holstenius in his Animadversions on the Roman Martyrology, is added "on the Nomentan Way." In the Corbie apograph printed at Paris it has thus: At the city of Nomentum, the passion of SS. Primus & Felicianus, Martyrs. That they were delivered by command of the Emperors to Promotus, Governor of the city of Nomentum, the Acts have at no. 3. That the city of Nomentum is called at this time Lamentana and was restored from the ruins of ancient Numentum, a town of the Sabines, and that not far thence the Numentan Way falls into the Salarian, Athanasius Kircher accurately teaches in his Latium p. 221; with whom agrees in these Acts the noted distance of XIII miles from the city of Rome. There therefore at the Numentan arches, buried near (others within) the Sand-pit, & when the persecution of the Pagans had ceased, the Christians there built a basilica in honor of Primus and Felicianus. And thus the Acts end, with the agreement of the ancient Fasti.
[3] Anastasius the Librarian, in the Life of Pope Theodore of Rome, when he had related that Paul, Bishop of Constantinople, and Pyrrhus, having relapsed into the heresy of the Monothelites, and condemned by Theodore (which is said to have been done in the year DCXLVIII); Translation to the church of S. Stephen on the Caelian hill adds these things. At the same time were revealed the bodies of the holy Martyrs Primus & Felicianus, which were in the Sand-pit buried on the Nomentan Way, and were brought into the city of Rome. Which were also deposited in the basilica of B. Stephen the Protomartyr on the Caelian hill, where also gifts he offered, three golden bowls, silver tablets before the confession, two silver arches. Hence Baronius, in his Notes on this day, has these things: In the same ancient memorial of S. Stephen the Protomartyr, placed on the Caelian hill, still are extant their most ancient sacred images, woven in mosaic work, where also their bodies were deposited, on which account in the Martyrologies of various authors, written after this translation, the natal day of the same Martyrs is described as at the Caelian Hill. So Usuard, on the V Ides of June, says, At Rome on the Caelian Hill SS. Primus & Felicianus, under Diocletian & Maximian the Emperors. These most glorious Martyrs, leading a long life in the Lord, & now together enduring like, now separately various and exquisite torments, at length completed the course of their happy combat being smitten with the sword. It is added in the Roman Martyrology, By Promotus, Governor of Nomentum. In the same manner Ado and Notker begin this day, who weave a very long elogium from the same Acts: & these the later writers commonly follow.
[4] Relics at Legione on Lake Verbano. That at this time no notable Relics of SS. Primus & Felicianus are extant at Rome, we gather from the Index of Relics, published by Octavius Pancirolus in the Hidden Treasure of the city of Rome, where there is nothing about them, not even in the church of S. Stephen on the Caelian hill, now the Rotunda, of which he treats in region 2 church 5. There is a place, on the left side of Lake Verbano, now Maggiore, called Legione; which Paul Morigia in the History of the said lake describes in ch. 23, and asserts that the body of S. Primus & Relics of S. Felicianus were deposited in the church dedicated to S. Primus, and that they were given by Pope Sergius II, the monument of which translation Galesinius in his Notes on this day asserts is read thus: Here rests buried the body of S. Primus Martyr, to be venerated in Christ: which the Pope worthy of God Sergius the Younger granted to Erembertus an illustrious man from the city of Rome, with hymns and praises, and spiritual canticles, when it was translated; whose spirit holds the primacy among His Saints has been declared by many signs. The body of B. Primus the Martyr with the Relics of S. Felicianus was deposited in the year of the Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ DCCCVI, on the Kalends of August, Indiction VIII. By the ordering of the Lord Angilbertus Archbishop in his XXIII year. The Passion of the Saints on the VI Ides of June. The same monument is exhibited by Bonaventura Castilioneus, on the ancient Seats of the Insubrian Gauls in Italy illustrated col. 373, but Indiction IX. But because Sergius II sat from the day XXVII of January of the year DCCCXLIV to the next XXVII of January of the year DCCCXLVII, we judge it should be read in the year DCCCXLVI, Indiction IX, in the XXIII year of Archbishop Angilbertus, because he is proven to have begun the Archbishopric of Milan in the year DCCCXXIV. In the same monument such as it is there is again error, when the passion of the Saints VI Ides of June, instead of V Ides of June, is ascribed. Wrongly also, in the Appendix to volume X of the Ecclesiastical Annals, the same matter is transferred to Pope Sergius III, because he sat from year V to XII after the nine hundredth, because then among the Milanese not Angilbertus, but Acho or Atho held the Episcopate, as can be seen in our Exegesis on those Archbishops before volume 7 of May. Then Sergius the Younger is wont to be called the second, not the third. But because Castilioneus asserts that, from the remains of the ruins of the little town of Legiunum, how great its extent had once been can easily be discerned (which ruins were perhaps made when Frederick Barbarossa in the year MCLXI overturned Milan, as we have more fully recounted at the Life of S. Galdinus XVIII April), it can be that on this occasion the aforesaid Relics were carried elsewhere.
[5] Jacobus Gualla, lib. 5 Sanctuary of Pavia ch. 20, deduces the Acts of the Martyrdom of SS. Primus & Felicianus, At Pavia, and calls them brothers & asserts that their bodies were brought to Ticinum. But in the preceding chapter he treats of the Church of S. Agatha, there founded by Partharitus King of the Lombards, adding, that it is adorned with the venerable Relics of the Divine Martyrs Primus & Felicianus. But before, namely lib. 4 ch. 14, he had said, among the Relics found in the year MDIV in the church of S. Peter in Caelo-aureo, were some of SS. Primus & Felicianus. That some Relics also of these are in the village of Quadringentum in the Alexandrian territory in a marble urn, At Quadringentum, notes Ferrarius in his elogium of these Saints. The same in the General Catalogue indicates, that at Tuscana in Etruria is celebrated on the IV day of March the Translation of SS. Cornelius & Pontianus the Pontiffs, Primus, Felicianus, & other Martyrs, about which since he adds nothing in his Notes, nor have we read anything elsewhere, further information must be awaited by us concerning the quality and quantity of the same Relics, and concerning the time & author of the donation made to this church, which commonly has the name Tuscanella, between Orvieto & Castro, At Tuscanella as among the Passed-Over we have said.
[6] We celebrate on this day the martyrdom of S. Vincent of Agen in Aquitaine; At Agen in the church of S. Caprasius, where also S. Caprasius suffered martyrdom on XX October: in whose church there are preserved the Relics of the bodies of SS. Primus & Felicianus, not however of the head: and thence the occasion was seized of saying that these Martyrs were there crowned together with Caprasius: & this is inserted in some Acts of S. Caprasius. Which however is not found in the more accurate Acts, such as are extant in Labbé in the Appendix to Volume 2 of the New Library; nor likewise in any ancient Martyrologies, in which the memory of S. Caprasius is celebrated, and indeed with a fuller elogium, but without any mention of these Martyrs. It is not new that by error Martyrs are said to have suffered there, where their Relics are extant. Examples occur very often in this our work. I bring one from Gregory of Tours book 1 of Miracles ch. 47, where the reading of their combat relates that SS. Nazarius & Celsus suffered at Embrun, a city of the Gauls, & that their bodies were there buried; whereas it is certain that they were taken away by the sword at Milan, as is to be said on XXVIII July. In the Gallican Martyrology of Saussay on the second day of June are joined to S. Vincent SS. Primus & Felicianus, as if they had suffered together, which we reject to the Acts of S. Vincent of Agen on this IX of June; until learned men among the people of Agen shall supply us with more certain documents, for separating their Saints from those whom we here put forth, Among the Vermandois. with the Acts of S. Caprasius on the day XX October to be elucidated. Meanwhile we see no cause why Saussay could have referred them to 2 June, as he did, & we said among the Passed-Over then. Among the Relics (which with the body of S. Rigobertus, Archbishop of Reims, are enumerated IV January in the history of the Translation ch. 4, in the year DCCCXCIV translated to the Vermandois, & placed at his head) are also reckoned some of SS. Primus & Felicianus the Martyrs.
[7] Masinus in his Bologna surveyed, on this IX of June asserts, S. Felicianus is venerated in various Churches, Relics of S. Felicianus at Bologna. on account of the Relics brought from Rome; namely among the Nuns of S. Louis on the Pratella street, on account of the body of some S. Felicianus received in the year MDCXXII with the faculty of Gregory XV: likewise in the Church of the Servites; because there is the Head of S. Felicianus Martyr, obtained from the cemetery of S. Cyriaca in the year MDCLX. He also says that some Relics are in the church of S. Columban of the Fathers serving the sick, as also in the church of All Saints: but of these we believe nothing pertains to the Saints of whom we now treat. Several by that name may have suffered at Rome; on several also the same name may have been imposed by exhumers of sacred bodies, who were believed to be of Martyrs, but bore no indication of name: to such, that some name be given at the discretion of the Pontifical Vicar, who permits the same to be carried to public cult, the custom has obtained.
[8] Of S. Primus among the Comensians, Thus the body of S. Primus Martyr, suffering at Rome, buried in the cemetery of Cyriaca, in the year MDCLXVII was brought into the diocese of Como to the village of Campo Dulceno in the valley of S. Jacobi, & the memory inscribed in the Martyrology of Como of Primus Aloysius de Tattis; who however prudently warns, that this Primus should not be considered the brother of S. Felicianus, which same is to be said of other Relics under both names among various places: for also our College of Münster in Westphalia, & elsewhere of both. has some Relics under the names of SS. Primus & Felicianus, & at Tuscanella in Etruria the same are named among the Saints, concerning whose translation to the church of S. Mary Major there is performed an Office Double on the day IV of March.
§. II. On the Bodies of the same Saints, at Lithopolis in Carniola.
[9] Joannes Ludovicus Schonlebius, Archdeacon of Lower Carniola, In the town of Stain in Carniola, most studious of this our work, has often written to us about the bodies of both Saints, long honored in his province, in a church once dedicated to S. Radegund, but now bearing the name of both Saints, near the town of Stain, which the learned call Lithopolis. The tenor of his last letter is this: I am soliciting documents about the bodies of SS. Primus & Felicianus Martyrs, which are said to be preserved in Carniola; & indeed in a place distant only three miles from this city of Laibach which I inhabit. The Franciscan Fathers have them at Stain or Lithopolis, near whom on a high hill is a church, today called of SS. Primus & Felicianus, from which their bodies were brought thither; which from there were translated into the town, only a small part being left on the mountain, on account of the incursions of the Turks & the insolences of the heretics. The bodies are believed to be held, There mostly lives the Provincial of the Franciscans, whose Secretary, familiar to me, will go thither in the first days, & will bring the requested documents. Thus he on that day VII of July, at Laibach in the year MDCLXXXI: but alas! soon afterwards extinguished, he could not transmit whatever he had received.
[10] Yet the same Schonlebius published, in the same year, Carniola old and new, or Annals sacred and profane of the famous Duchy of Carniola, from the creation of the World to our age, in volume 1 part 3 on the year DCCCCLXXIV p. 517 he is written to have these things,… In the same year Abraham Bishop of Pritingen, driven into exile by the Emperor Otto, because he had conspired with Henry of Bavaria, grasping the fasces of the Empire, fled into Carinthia; where at Lake Weresee he founded a Collegiate Church, in 874 brought; with a Dean & five Canons, dedicated the sacred edifice to SS. Primus & Felicianus the Martyrs, with their lipsana brought in, which now in Carniola at Lithopolis among the Franciscan Fathers under the high altar are preserved: but how & when they were translated hither, I have not yet detected. In the cemetery of this church in our age, the skull of a certain one long since deceased, separated from the rest of the bones, and destitute of every natural tenor, from itself brought forth a white lily, which together with the lily in the sacristy of the church is today raised up. We have already seen a miracle similar to this, in the Addenda to XVI May volume 7 p. 791; where is represented the still incorrupt body of B. Francis of Siena with a lily from his mouth, inscribed by leaves with the name of Mary. & they were still in 1689: But after Schonlebius had written these things, namely in the year MDCLXXXIX a Chronicle of Carniola in the native German tongue was published by John Weichardus Valvasor, & p. 810 says, the sarcophagus which now contains the bones of the Saints, is offered to be seen under the altar through iron grates: then p. 811 says, one league from the city among snowy mountains one higher than the others numbers four churches; the first of which is of SS. Primus & Felicianus, the second of S. Radegund, the third of S. Lawrence, the fourth again of SS. Primus & Felicianus; & in this remains still a small shrine, containing some part of the said Relics.
[11] How and when this was separated from the other parts, the Instrument sent to us will likewise teach. for when these were demanded back from the Franciscans, We Fr. Nardus of Monopoli, by the grace of God & of the Apostolic See Bishop of Ansariensis, of His Imperial Majesty Preacher & Counselor, Provost of Lansbron, Canon of Olmütz, Parish Priest of Gurkfeld, throughout Styria & Carinthia with all authority Visitor delegated Apostolic & Patriarchal. There is no one who does not know, that the victories and glories of the Martyrs by this divine counsel are frequented by peoples, that due honor may be paid to them, but that honor is due, to be carried to the mountain to the proper church of the Saints which falls wholly to the glory of God: thence indeed David exhorts us; praise the Lord in His Saints; on account of which the Lord keeps their bones, that not one of these may be broken, that He may appear wonderful in His Saints, and as is fitting be glorified by us. Wherefore since a certain difference arose between the people of Camnik, & the Friars Minor of the Observance so called, concerning the bodies of the holy Martyrs Primus & Felicianus, where they ought to be preserved; whether in the temple of the said Friars, where now for many years they rest; or truly upon the mountain afar, in the church constructed to the honor of the same saints; We, first led, because in the city, on account of nearness and far lesser troubles of the times, greater concourses of the peoples are made to the temple of the Friars Minor of the Observance, where there is the presence of Christ our God and Lord, the Propitiator; where divine Offices and sacred things are celebrated, sung; where the Sacrament is administered, sermons are attended, & professions: to which reason alone & first we must look, as we are admonished by the usage of holy Church, & by the testimonies of the holy Fathers & Doctors: the Visitator Chorepiscopus in the year 1028 with this also added, that since custody must be applied to the whole treasure (for he wishes to be plundered, who carries the treasure publicly in the road) nor must it be exposed to the dangers of enemies, of thieves, nor of solitude; and we are taught by example, when from fear of the invading Turks, by common vow of the peoples it was translated from the desert to the habitation, where now the said Friars will give attention to the cult of the holy Relics, of the church, of the altars, not only to cult, but also to diligent custody, and the citizens with them: finally, because the condition of the possessor is better, especially of holy Relics, as the custom & examples of the whole Christian world supply, and in good faith the Friars entered into the possession of the said church, conferred to them with annexed properties: & for these causes, and others known to us, of full judgment & sound counsel, by no particular affection, had decreed to be left to the Friars, but led by the zeal of justice & religion (of which the cult of the Saints is a species), we adjudge the deposit of the said holy Martyrs to the church of the Friars, & there to be preserved we command and pronounce, under a double key, of which one the city, the other the Friars shall have.
[12] with two particles sent back to the mountain But truly, since many attest the devotion of the peoples towards the church above the mountain, & allege that it was built in honor of the said Saints, & that if it should be destroyed it will fall; for the greater honor of the Saints, the devotion of the peoples, & a notable increase of merit, from both bodies a fragment of bone honorably and processionally shall be transferred thither, & preserved under a double key likewise, of which one the Parish Priest, the other the City shall hold. And so the city of Camnik, as Sion will be; a wall and outer-wall will be placed in it: it will enjoy a double protection of city & fields; within and without the spirit will find pastures: in the lower church the weak shall be healed of sins, that with virtues advancing they may be able to ascend to the mountain. We wish the authentic copy of our decree to be communicated to the parties, the original being diligently kept with the Parish Priest. In faith &c. Given at Laibach on the first day of February in the year of the virginal birth MDCXXVIII. And it was subscribed; Fr. Caesar Bishop of Ans. Apostolic & Patriarchal Visitor. So the transcript, sent to us from Carniola, where the Visitor's name, at the beginning Nardus, the name & title of that Visitor, at the end Caesar written, throws upon us the suspicion that neither place is sound, but he is to be called Caesnardus. Nor does it seem more accurately to be said Bishop of Ansariensis, instead of Ansamensis: since Anserium is known nowhere to be or to have been, Ansamum a city of Moesia Secunda is shown from the old register of the Empire by Ortelius: whence that title could be taken, as commonly they are wont to be taken from the Parts of the infidels which it is the custom to give to such Bishops, ordained for the support of the greater Bishops, just as this one seems to have been ordained in support of the Patriarch of Aquileia, Stain is also called Camnik. for visiting the more remote Churches. Finally I wish here from the Carniolans to inquire how the city commonly called Stain by a general name, signifying Citadel or Stone, is here called Camnik, whether perhaps that older and proper name which in the time of that Visitor the half-learned affected, the more usual being despised?
ACTS
From various ancient manuscript Codices.
Primus, Roman Martyr, on the Nomentan Way (S.)
Felicianus, Roman Martyr on the Nomentan Way (S.)
BHL Number: 6922
FROM MSS.
[1] The idolaters inciting, In the time of Diocletian & Maximian the Emperors, a fierce storm had arisen against the Christians, so that whoever was found a follower of this way, & had not been willing to agree with the idols, was punished by various and diverse tortures. Therefore the holy men, Primus & Felicianus, persevering in the faith of Christ, were by the Pontiffs of the temples accused before Diocletian & Maximian, who said: The gods scorn to give us responses, saying; Unless you compel Primus & Felicianus to sacrifice, you can attain no benefits. Therefore succor us & your Empire, lest we perish. Then Diocletian a & Maximian ordered the soldiers, that searching for them more diligently, bound by order of the Emperors, they should arrest them: for they were Roman citizens. And when they were searched out, they were arrested by the soldiers: who leading them to the Emperors, bound with iron, they ordered them to be shut in prison. they are consoled by an Angel: And when they had been bound for the name of Christ, an Angel of the Lord b stood by them, to console them; & freed them from the chains, with which they were bound. And the blessed Martyrs said: We bless Thee, Lord our God; because Thou hast consoled us Thy servants, & hast loosed all our chains through Thy Angel, just as Thou didst to Blessed Peter Thy Apostle. And we beg Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou wouldst not make us aliens from his merits.
[2] But after some days, the Emperors ordered them to be presented to their sight. And when the blessed Martyrs Primus & Felicianus had been brought in, from the Office it was said: They stand by. And the Emperors said to them: Are you the ones, who scorn our commands, they refuse to sacrifice to Hercules & Jupiter, & reckon them as nothing? The holy Martyrs said: We have always reckoned them as nothing. The Emperors said: We patiently bear your insults: sacrifice to the god Hercules & Jupiter, & do not destroy the dignity of your race. The blessed Martyrs said: We offer to God a sacrifice of propitiation & praise in an odor of sweetness; & we do not consent to the works of darkness; of which you are partakers. The Emperors said: Approach & sacrifice to the god Hercules & Jupiter the most invincible; otherwise, the executioners will mightily tear you. The blessed Martyrs said: We do not fear to suffer torments for the name of Christ, that we may be able to attain the crown of martyrdom: but we even gladly embrace these, that we may merit to be partakers of His promises. The Emperors said: ready to suffer martyrdom: Let words cease, & offer libations to the gods, & to their aid invoke them. The holy Martyrs Primus & Felicianus said: We marvel at your imprudence. How then can we invoke stones & wood to our aid, which are reduced to such miseries, that unless they are helped by men, & unless they have been more tightly fastened with iron & lead, they can in no way stand; & unless they are guarded by dogs, they are stolen by thieves at night. And knowing these things, why are you blind? Then Diocletian was indignant & Maximian, & they ordered the soldiers, that they should lead them to the temple of Hercules; &, if they were unwilling to sacrifice, they should mightily afflict them with punishments. they are beaten with rods: And the soldiers receiving them, led them according to the order of the Emperors to the temple of Hercules. And when by no reason could they move them, but for the name of Christ they preferred rather to die than to live: the soldiers extended them, & mightily slaughtered them with rods, saying to them: Why do you not obey the decrees of the Emperors, & sacrifice to the omnipotent gods? The Martyrs said, We must obey the heavenly Emperor, who has power, & can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna. Your earthly Emperors, who worship vain and empty images, Gehenna of inextinguishable fire shall receive.
[3] When the soldiers had announced to the Emperors what had been done; very angry, taken away to Numentum, they ordered them to be handed over to Promotus Governor of the city of Numentum, that he should mightily tear them: &, if they were unwilling to place libations to the gods, he ordered them to be killed. And the soldiers receiving them, led them on the way, which is called Numentan, at the thirteenth milestone, bound with iron; & they put them in prison near the forum of the city. But the blessed Martyrs Primus & Felicianus did not cease from prayer and hymns; singing psalms to the Lord and saying: For the honor of Thy name, Lord, free us; & be propitious to our sins, for Thy name; lest sometime the gentiles say, Where is their God? But daily they were refreshed by an Angel of the Lord, & they blessed the Lord. But after a long time, Promotus the Governor ordered a tribunal to be prepared for him in the forum of the city of Numentum: & sitting at the tribunal, said: Let the persons be brought in. And when they had been brought in holy Primus & Felicianus, the Governor said to them: According to the precept of our Lords the Princes, sacrifice to the gods, whom divinity has declared to be great. The holy Martyrs said: they are refreshed by an Angel: Do not say Of our Lords, but say, Of the impious, who kill those who believe in Christ, & worship stones & wood. How can your gods bestow benefits on you, who speaking do not speak, seeing do not see, nor shall ever see?
[4] Hearing these things, the Governor ordered them to be separated from each other, S. Felicianus is separated from Primus, estimating that they could be changed by punishment from their consent, & thus sacrifice. And with B. Primus separated, the Governor says to B. Felicianus; Take counsel for your old age, & sacrifice to the most invincible God Jupiter, according to the command of our Lords. B. Felicianus answered: The Lord my God will take counsel for my old age, who has preserved me from my youth in the faith of His name, & may He deign henceforth to preserve me. For your threats can inflict on me earthly terror, he is beaten with leaded scourges, but can in no way change my mind. But the angry Governor: ordered him to be mightily beaten with the leaden scourges. Afterwards, having raised him, he said to him; Why do you not put away this insanity of your breast, & choose good & pleasant days, & not with various torments macerate your body? B. Felicianus said: I am now eighty years old, & it is thirty years since I knew the truth of God, & I chose to live well in Christ, who will free me from the hands of your cruelty. And when he said many things similar to these, the Governor ordered him to be tied to a post, & sharp nails in his hands & feet to be fixed, he commanded. And the insane Governor said to him; So long will you stand fixed, as long as to the immortal gods you render the due office. his hands & feet are pierced with nails: To these things S. Felicianus, fixed in the love of the Lord, with a joyful gray-haired face, hanging on the wood, was singing psalms to the Lord, saying: In the Lord will I hope, I shall not fear what man may do to me. The Governor says to him; Wretch, put away this vanity of your mind, & deny that you are a Christian, & free yourself from the various torments, which are prepared for you. To whom S. Felicianus answered, saying; Unhappy man and most wretched of all, shall I deny my Creator, who made heaven & earth, the sea & all things which are in them? And how can I deny this, & adore dead trunks & vain gods? Then filled with fury the Governor, ordered him to be tortured for a long time. But the holy Felicianus said: I give Thee thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, only-begotten Son of the living & true God, because I have merited now to be counted in the society of those, who for Thy name have attained to the crown of martyrdom. tied to a post for three days he remains without food, But the angry Governor; ordered him for three days & three nights to remain on the same wood, & neither water, nor bread to be ministered to him, saying; Or thus he will fail. And when three days & three nights had been completed, & S. Felicianus remained in the praises of God satisfied with heavenly food, he was saying: beaten with scourges he is shut in prison. Be my helper, do not forsake me, nor despise me, God my Saviour. But the Governor, filled with fury, ordered him to be beaten with scourges, & thus from the post taken down, & shut in custody; & ordered that no one should enter to him at all.
[5] But on another day, he ordered B. Primus to be presented to him. And when he had been brought, Promotus the Governor said to him: Behold your brother c, already consenting to the decrees of the Emperors, sacrificing to the omnipotent gods, S. Primus does not believe the Governor about S. Felicianus perverted, is now a friend of the Augusti, & a Lord within the palace. Whence you, if you likewise consent, & sacrifice to the most invincible gods; both of you will be friends of the Augusti. S. Primus answered: Although you may be a son of the devil, yet you foretell that my brother has consented to the heavenly Emperor, & not to most vain men, who refused to place their hope in the Lord, & therefore their soul will be in extermination, & in destruction: & now as if by persuading, you meditate things feigned, & not true: for they can be ignorant of nothing who receive the Holy Spirit. For B. Felicianus, whom you wearied with tortures, & could not change from his purpose, you have made to be in custody: but he for the name of the Lord, as if in paradise, so rejoices. Yet whatever punishments & beatings you have inflicted on him, today have been announced to me through an Angel of the Lord: whence I do not deserve to be separated from his passion. Then he ordered him to be beaten with the strongest cudgels, until he should consent to sacrifice. And when he was being beaten, B. Primus answered: Even if you have my body in your power, my soul however no one has in power except God alone. Again the Governor said to him: he is beaten with cudgels, Approach & sacrifice to the gods. S. Primus said: You sacrifice to your gods, & all who stand by you: but I will sacrifice to my God a sacrifice & offering of propitiation. Again the Governor said to the soldiers, that with torches his sides should be burned. And when they had raised him on the rack, & burned his body with torches; the blessed and glorious Martyr of Christ Primus was singing psalms, saying: Thou hast tried us with fire, as silver is tried; & I shall not die, but shall live, he is burned with torches & I shall narrate the works of the Lord. And I bless Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, because trusting in Thee I feel nothing of what the ministers of the devil have inflicted on me. And when the Governor had heard this that he felt nothing, he said to his own: I think the gods have shown their virtues to men, or by sorceries this man overcomes all things. To these things S. Primus said: feeling nothing: Do you presume to impute to sorceries, what Christ to the praise of His name has deigned to confer on His servants? And he ordered him to be taken down from the rack, & he commanded lead to be melted, & stretched on a bed, boiling he commanded to be poured into his mouth, boiling lead that all his interior parts might be consumed: & he commanded S. Felicianus to be present, that as if terrified by his suffering, he might consent to the sacrifices. And when B. Primus had been stretched out, he drank the lead, which they poured for him, as if it were the coldest water: & he was singing psalms to the Lord & said: he drinks it as water. Behold how good & how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell as one. And again: How sweet are Thy words to my palate, above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth.
[6] And B. Primus said to the Governor: Behold he is not separated from me, of whom you promised, & said to me, Both joined warn the Governor. that he would consent to your mortal gods. But this one, stands by trusting in the Lord, because He Himself will free us from all punishments, for whose name we suffer these things: because all things which are seen, are for a time; but the things which God has prepared for those who love Him, are eternal. Behold we have been united in the glory of redemption: no enemy will deceive us by fraud, nor will any darkness of shadows snatch Christ from us. The Governor says to him; Sacrifice to the gods, & place libations: else I will make you to be tortured by the bites of wild beasts. The blessed Martyrs said: Hear us, & understand, & return from the dead & perishing demons, & believe in the living & true God, & in Jesus Christ His Son, that your soul may be saved. Then the Governor, kindled with fury, said to Felicianus: Why do you persist in insanity, just as this lost one? Approach & sacrifice. S. Felicianus said: For he is not lost: but if you assent to his words, you will merit to enter into the powers of the Lord: but because your father the devil has hardened you, you will have entrance into eternal fire. And when the Governor was placed in anguish of soul, he ordered them to be led to the amphitheater, which is near the forum of the city of Numentum: & sitting at the tribunal, he ordered two huge lions to be released against them, Lions sent against them at whose roaring all the people of the city of Numentum trembled. And when they had been released, falling with a rush, at the very feet they began to roll themselves; & as a father seeing his son after a long time, so with all joy & meekness they congratulated them, & rolled themselves at their footsteps. & bears are tamed: And when the lions had withdrawn, he ordered the most ferocious bears to be released against them: who likewise when they had been released, putting off all ferocity, were made as fawning lambs, & they too began to roll themselves at the footprints of the holy Martyrs. And the blessed Martyrs said: Governor of iniquity, behold the beasts recognize their Creator; whereby when 1500 had been converted, & you are hardened in heart, & you do not recognize God, who deigned to create you in His image. Then the people roared among themselves, & gave infinite shouts to heaven; & there believed in the Lord more than a thousand d five hundred men with all their own. But the multitude of the neighboring cities had come to the spectacle about twelve thousand; excepting boys & women.
[7] & buried they shine with miracles: But the Governor seeing, that he could not overcome them, & that many through them believed in the Lord, ordered them to undergo capital sentence. And when they had been cast outside the amphitheater, there nearby they were beheaded, & their bodies they cast out unburied to the dogs. But neither beast, nor bird, nor fly could touch their bodies. But by night their bodies were seized by faithful Christians, & they carried them to the Numentan Arches within the sand-pit; & there they made a great lamentation, & wrapping them in a new shroud with aromatic spices, near the sand-pit placed them; & in hymns and psalms for thirty days and nights in the name of God e they persevered; where many benefits abound unto the present day. And if any of the sick were brought there; they were freed, from whatever infirmity they were held. Which thing also Christ does still now, let none doubt unto the present day. & a basilica built they are honored. And after some years when the persecution of the Pagans had ceased; many Christians, in honor of the blessed Martyrs Primus & Felicianus, built a basilica in their name f, hoping to obtain mercy in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: but their basilica is from the city of Rome g at the fourteenth mile. Whose natal is V Ides of June, with our Lord reigning, to whom is honor & glory, for ages of ages. Amen.