Ferreolus the Priest

ON SAINTS FERREOLUS THE PRIEST, AND FERRUTIO OR FERRUCIUS THE DEACON, MARTYRS AT BESANÇON IN BURGUNDY

BEFORE THE YEAR 217.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

On their cult, acts, translations, and the time of their Martyrdom.

Ferreolus the Priest, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

Ferrutius the Deacon, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

BHL Number: 2904

G. H.

Besançon, regarded as the metropolis of the great province of the Sequani, from the ancient Registers of the provinces and cities of Gaul, and even now an Archiepiscopal city in the County of Burgundy. It acknowledges as the first heralds of the Christian faith sent to it Saints Ferreolus the Priest and Ferrutio the Deacon, Apostolic men and illustrious Martyrs, joined in friendship with Saints Felix the Priest, Fortunatus and Achilleus the Deacons, sent by the same St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, by whom he himself sent them to Besançon, while the others were sent to Valence, the illustrious city on the Rhône, and crowned there by martyrdom on the 23rd of April, in the same year 212 in which these suffered for Christ at Besançon on the 16th of June.

[2] We have given the Acts of the Three Martyrs of Valence as written by a contemporary author, and we do not even now depart from that opinion; and the things which are there inserted about the two who occur here, most worthy of every acceptance, we think gave occasion for composing those things Ancient Acts are given from 4 Mss. which as if proper to themselves we now give, chiefly from four manuscript codices, namely from one Roman, another from the monastery of St. Maximinus at Trier, a third from Queen Christina of Sweden's collection, which is marked with the number 81, and a fourth, our own distinguished codex: and we think they were composed in the fifth or sixth century of Christ. We diligently compared them with the Acts other more recent ones are indicated first published by Mosander, in the seventh volume of the Appendix to the Acts of Surius; then in their order assigned to this 16th of Surius through the subsequent editions of the Surian Acts.

[3] John James Chifflet, in part 2 of his Besançon, page 17, from the books of the Church of Besançon, had certain other things, and (omitting the beginning) transcribed them for the most part: which from that very fact appear to have been amplified in various places by later writers; as is observed in the Annotations: We received the same things from the lectionaries of the church of Saints John and Stephen, at the beginning indeed much different from the first (which Chifflet seems to have studiously concealed); but in their course partly almost word for word taken from those, partly from the same (as I said) amplified more freely, and distributed into nine Lessons; the first of which, in the place of a Prologue, is recited in this manner: "With the highest veneration may the Blessed Mother Church embrace those whom she has known to have been witnesses of the death of her Redeemer, so necessary for the human race; with a special and more venerable zeal of praise she extols the merit of those whom in her beginnings, while still tender, she had as untiring cultivators in her vineyard. Of whose number these brothers german, namely Ferreolus and Ferrutius, breathed upon by the radiance of the true sun, most highly learned in the wisdom of Apostolic doctrine, he chose beforehand by divine grace to preach the word of God to the Gentiles; and by this his admirable will, that those whom Greece had begotten, Burgundy should have as preachers."

[4] where also "Burgundy" is anachronistic, I think it escapes no one how much more recent the name of Burgundy is than could be fitted to the age of the aforetitled Saints: but I would say this much more of the name Chrysopolis, which marvelously pleased the people of Besançon in the Middle Ages, after someone had taught them that in a certain little book of the Provinces, under the Province of the Sequani, it is found thus: "Metropolis the city of the Chrispolini," that is, of the people of Besançon, which "of the Chrysopolitani" soon began to be believed must be read by most smatterers, and held as indubitable truth. Thereafter even to now. But from the most common sense of the people, and even of his own brother, explained in part 1 page 5, our Peter Francis Chifflet departs far, in the Dissertation on the place and time of the conversion of Constantine, which among the three published by him toward the end of his life in the year 1676, is the second. For there and Chrysopolis is named Besançon according to medieval usage, relying on a manuscript Register of Gaul, in Joseph Scaliger, where it is read, "the fifth Lugdunensian Province, the Metropolis the city of the Crispolini, that is, Besançon"; he attempts to prove that Constantine, grieving over the slaying of his son Crispus, who had been unjustly ensnared through the calumny of his stepmother, ordered that Besançon, in which he had dwelt much with his grandmother Helena, should be called Crispolis, as if Crispopolis, and the citizens Crispolini. However it may be, neither in the age of the Saints, nor even when the second Acts were written, was such an appellation known: but in the Middle Ages, as I said before, it was revived; and it began to be called Chrysopolis from "gold" (aurum), for reasons, if less truly, certainly plausibly devised by John James Chifflet, and set forth on page 52 and following.

[5] Now as to the holy Martyrs being said to have been born in Greece, and the Saints are said to be born in Greece, and indeed (as is soon added) Athenians, which both manuscript and printed Breviaries have; I think this is believed on no other foundation than that they came with St. Irenaeus the Greek, from Greece. But their Latin names, and those of the other three who suffered at Valence, incline the mind to a different conjecture; namely, that they were all born in Gaul, but having set out to Greece for the sake of studies, there fell in with St. Polycarp; by whom, taught the faith of Christ, and desirous of preaching it to their own countrymen, they were initiated into holy Orders for that purpose; and with St. Irenaeus added to them as master, ordained Bishop for the same purpose, they were sent back into Gaul. And let these things be said on the occasion of the third Acts.

G. H.

[6] Now, these things being dismissed, let us return to the first Acts. Gregory of Tours had and cited them, in book 1 On the Glory of the Martyrs, chapter 71, The first Acts cited by Gregory of Tours, whose words are set forth below, where we treat of the Finding of the bodies. The venerable Bede, in his genuine Martyrology, published by us before volume 2 of March, excerpted these things from it: "On the 16th of the Kalends of July, the feast of Ferreolus the Priest and Ferrutio the Deacon, who under the Judge Claudius were stretched on the pulleys and scourged, in the calendar of Bede then shut up in prison, in the morning, with their tongues cut off, preached the word of God. After this, thirty awls were driven into each of them, in their hands, and feet, and breast; at last they were struck with the sword." Thus there, which Rabanus inscribed in his Martyrology entirely the same. Usuard has these things: of Usuard "In Gaul at the city of Besançon, the feast of the holy Martyrs Ferreolus the Priest and Ferrutio the Deacon, who, sent by Blessed Irenaeus the Bishop to preach the word of God, afterward under the Judge Claudius were tortured with punishments, and struck with the sword." Ado, from the eulogy of Bede, adds the torments inflicted. The more recent writers everywhere have similar things, along with the present-day Roman Martyrology, whose words are taken from Usuard. We have an ancient manuscript Breviary of the Church of Besançon, and others. in which the feast is prescribed to be celebrated with most solemn rite, and in it proper Hymns, Antiphons, Responsories, and Lessons are recited, whence some confirmation accrues to the Acts themselves, since the whole series of the matter is drawn from it. We have the same printed in the year 1590 in the Breviary of Besançon, with the assent of the Breviaries by order of Ferdinand de Rye, Archbishop of Besançon. But in the Breviary of Langres of the year 1604, their veneration is prescribed under a double rite: but in the more recent calendar of the monastery of Corbie, in Martène, book 4, chapter 6, On the Rites of Monks, the feast is prescribed to be kept in albs with five wax candles.

[7] An ancient Mass, To the aforesaid Acts we subjoin, first, from the Gallican Missal written nine hundred years ago, an old Mass, as a specimen of the more ancient rite; then various documents of the findings and translations of the bodies: and first we note that on the fifth day of September the feast of the finding is solemnly celebrated in the already cited Breviaries, both manuscript and printed. And this day is regarded as a kind of birthday for them, and to it they are inscribed at the end of the ancient Hieronymian Martyrology copies, likewise in the Martyrologies of Rabanus, Wandelbert, Maurolycus, and others. But the solemn Translation of the year 1063 was made on the 30th of May and is reported in the same Breviaries: on which day also another was performed in the church of St. Vincent in the year 1421. Documents of the Finding and Translation. Other translations made on other days are indicated below. Besides those translations, one is also cited by Ferrari and by Saussay who followed him, on the 30th of March, and the Breviary of Besançon is cited by the latter: but in error: since in the aforesaid Breviaries it is read not on the 30th of March, but on the 30th day of the month of May: but errors of this kind, in which one month is cited for another of a similar name, will be permitted to be noticed elsewhere from time to time.

D. P.

[8] We indicate the time of the martyrdom as before the year 217, under M. Aurelius Antoninus Caracalla, who, succeeding his father Severus in the year 211, may be believed either to have ordered the persecution begun by his father to be continued, The Time of the Martyrdom. or at least not to have hindered the Governors of the Provinces, who were reviving it according to their own judgment and as occasion offered; as is said to have happened at Valence, by the commander Cornelius, in the time of the emperor Aurelius. Instead of this, in the present Acts there is wrongly always named the Emperor Aurelian, as if better known to the people of Besançon; inasmuch as among them there still survives, for the half part, a most beautifully sculpted triumphal arch, before the year 217. erected in his honor. Such as Chifflet shows in copper engraving before his Besançon. Here indeed, in number 6, are cited the precepts of the most sacred Princes, as of two reigning together: but I fear lest this be the author's own addition, by no means a contemporary, such as the author of the Acts of the Martyrs of Valence here touched upon seems to have been; where the same Cornelius, having entered Valence, having heard the voice of those singing psalms, with wonder asks: "Has perhaps, after the severe and laudable tribulation of the people of Lyon by the emperor Severus (in the year 202, when St. Irenaeus himself attained the laurel of Martyrdom), any traces of Christianity remained in these places?" It is therefore supposed that Severus is already dead; but he had died in the year 211 on the 4th of February, having left (as is taught regarding the aforesaid Acts) two sons to reign together: and after 212. of whom the younger, Geta, two years before, had been declared Emperor by decree of the Senate, in like manner truly after the father had himself named the elder-born Caesar: but scarcely one year having elapsed from his death, the elder murdered the younger in the bosom of his mother. From this man, and from the slaying of all his brother's supporters, it would have been no wonder if so savage a man turned his cruelty even against the Christians, or permitted it to be turned; and thus not long after the year 212, both those at Valence, and these of whom we treat suffered at Besançon; for that two brothers, either together for one year, or with their father reigning for two or three, in their common name renewed the edicts, or revived the persecution, no arguments teach.

[9] The people of Besançon think that this very St. Ferreolus is the same one who is reckoned among them the second Bishop after Linus; but, as I said in the Annotations to the Chifflet Chronology, St. Ferreolus was not Bishop at Besançon; Chapter 5 of the Claudian Illustrations, §. 1, no suitable authority persuades, so far is it from compelling, either to identify that Linus with the Roman successor of St. Peter: or Ferrutio the Bishop with the Priest Martyr. This man could have cast the Gospel seed, and brought not a few citizens to the faith; to whom afterward (as was customary) Linus was sent as Bishop from Rome, after the aforesaid Martyrdom; but perhaps another younger than he. and that Ferrutio sat there second, chosen from the very body of the Clergy of Besançon. If however, besides Linus, who is named after St. Protadius, there is any of the Bishops of Besançon whose name has come down to posterity before St. Hilary. See what we shall say on the 29th of June, after the Acts of St. Maximinus of Trier, on the occasion of the chapel which he has in the diocese of Besançon, whence occasion was taken to set up someone there of this name.

ACTS

Collated from various Mss. with others.

Ferreolus the Priest, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

Ferrutius the Deacon, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

BHL Number: 2903

FROM MSS.

[1] At the same time, a when the Priest and Martyr of the Church of the people of Lyon, St. Irenaeus the Bishop, b had been sent, by the command of St. John the Evangelist from Ephesus; with the Lord leading, together with his disciples, he came to the city of Lyon; Sent by St. Irenaeus to Besançon, and there, shining with the light of Christ, he publicly declared the eternal splendor of justice by his preaching in Gaul, with the Lord aiding, and assiduously preached the word of our Lord Jesus Christ; but he sent Saint Ferreolus the Priest and St. Ferrutio the Deacon to the city of Besançon, c truly as a most firm foundation for founding the Church of Christ upon the rock. Who, like the cornerstones of the heavenly bridegroom, and like shining pearls, gleamed; they convert the citizens to Christ, through whom the name of the Lord and the splendor of glory shone forth to the nations which lay in darkness, and by their preaching many flocked to the grace of baptism, in which there was the wondrous power of Christ. For being vigorous in word and wisdom, having an Angelic countenance, like Saints Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus they showed God in themselves to the peoples by manifest virtues. The Catholic faith was increased through them, and daily the Christians rejoiced over the confounded and conquered devil, who, forsaking idols, followed the footsteps of Christ.

[2] Likewise also St. Irenaeus d directed Felix the Priest, Fortunatus and Achilleus the Deacons, set apart from his own side, before his glorious Martyrdom, to the city of Valence. the Martyrs of Valence, When they had entered, the Lord conferred such grace on his Athletes, that that multitude of Pagans, which lay in darkness, loved them with the fullest affection: and there was in them the wondrous grace of Christ, for they were of a most placid countenance, and lavish in words, and while they enjoyed bodily fellowship on earth, they had their hearts suspended on high, and already joined in soul to the Angels they shone in heaven. Who, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, by their word cleansed unclean spirits, [and] restored to health those oppressed by sickness. The human tongue does not suffice to recount how many virtues and how many signs and wonders our Lord Jesus Christ showed to the Gentiles through them. These three most blessed Martyrs and Confessors of Christ, therefore, outside the city of Valence toward the East, dedicated for themselves a little hut woven of wood, in place of an Oratory: and there day and night unceasingly they did not cease to give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ. To these, therefore, celebrating the divine sacrifices, a multitude of Gentiles flocked for the grace of baptism.

[3] While these things, therefore, were being done, it befell Blessed Felix, when he had given himself to sleep, to have seen a vision, which, relating to the brethren, he said: "I saw a place wonderful, dearest brethren, fortified with splendor, adorned with diverse flowers, fragrant with the sweetness of flowers and spices and wondrous odors: in which was a tabernacle constructed with gold and distinguished gems. I also saw five lambs, spotless and clean, these things by the vision made to St. Felix splendid in whiteness, who in that same court were feeding upon lilies. While I was gazing upon this wondrous vision, I heard a terrible voice saying to me: 'Well done, well done, good and faithful servants, because over a few things you have been faithful, I will set you over many things, enter into the joy of the Lord your God: Come, disciples of Irenaeus, invited to the heavenly joy join yourselves with your brethren.'" And it came to pass, while they were conversing with one another about this so glorious vision of Blessed Felix, Fortunatus and Achilleus, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: "Glory to thee, Jesus Christ, eternal light, splendor of grace, glory of the Angels of all heaven, and Lord of earth; who hast deigned to gladden us, thy unworthy servants, through thy servant Felix, and hast not cheated us of thy promise. Now therefore, they praise God: O Lord, King of kings, fill us thy servants with heavenly consolation, that we may worthily be able to attain the passion: Pour upon us the grace of thy gift, we whom by announcing thy word thou hast willed to be thy witnesses. For it is not, O Lord, of our own strength to be able to resist the snares and darts of the perverse enemy, nor to bear the savageries of torments, unless, fortified by thy protection, we grow strong." sacrifices or incense, which is pleasing to our gods, on their account does anyone presume to offer. But they not only forbid sacrificing to them, but even presume to break them in pieces with hammers." When he heard this, Cornelius said: "O most invincible gods, why are your powers reduced to nothing, so that now there is no place in which contempt for you is not raised up through the title of this Christianity? And what, brother Claudius, shall we do, if we do not come to the aid of the gods of our fathers? Almost all the earth is about to surrender itself. Why is so terrible the sign of that Christ crucified, that before him our gods waste away? But neither can that law of the Christians ever be mingled with the laws of our gods. Now therefore take the letters, and going to the place, put to death the teachers of this law with various punishments, that the rest may have fear." Claudius answered: "What you command in words, I will prove by deeds." And having received the letters of the most wicked Cornelius, he returned to the city of Besançon.

[6] Then g Claudius commanded Saints Ferreolus the Priest and Ferrutio the Deacon to be seized, and those who were accustomed to hide in a little crypt and being seized they are turned aside neither by threats nor by promises: were then publicly preaching Christ to the peoples. When they were seized, he said: "The precepts of the most sacred Princes have decreed that either you sacrifice to the gods, or with various punishments I shall put you to death, that the rest may have fear. But if you sacrifice to our gods, remunerated from the public treasury I will permit you to depart unharmed." h Then Ferreolus and Ferrutio, looking up to heaven, fortified with the sign of the Lord's Cross, said: "Behold, you have us ready: what your father the devil has dictated to you, do. But we always hope in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and however much you afflict us with various tortures, yet believing in him our Redeemer and Restorer of our life, we shall always be with him. May your money be with you unto perdition: scourged with whips they feel no pain: but for us it suffices to worship the one God." Then Claudius ordered them to be stretched on the pulleys and beaten with whips; and when they were scourged, they felt nothing of the pains; but the omnipotent God, who always protects his own, deigned to guard these Martyrs so, that although they were tortured with carnal punishment, yet with an Angelic appearance and power they shone wondrously in their faces: which the peoples seeing, marveled.

[7] Then, after they had been shut up in prison, after three days the tyrant ordered them to be presented to him, with their tongues cut out they preach, and said: "Will you sacrifice to the gods, or not?" Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio said: "We will not sacrifice, nor do we desire to recede from the good Confession of Christ." Then the executioner, filled with great wrath and fury, ordered their tongues to be cut off. When they were cut off, they all the more received a spiritual organ of the tongue to confirm the brethren, and to preach the word of the Lord. For they were saying: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God; blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God; blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And turning to Claudius they said: "Know, wretch, and they admonish the commander: that your gods cannot make men speak without tongues, since they themselves can neither speak nor hear: but look upon us, and be converted, and be washed with the laver of Baptism, and with thy whole heart believe in Christ, and thou shalt merit to obtain pardon of thy sins."

[8] Then Claudius, filled with great wrath and fury, ordered thirty most sharp awls for the one, and thirty for the other, pierced through with awls without sense of pain both in their hands and in their feet, or in their breasts or in the other joints of the body, to be driven in with iron hammers: and all these torments, like a most sweet dew which descends from heaven, afforded them refreshment rather than pain. i Since therefore they felt no pain, and had overcome the tyrant with words, he ordered them to be struck with the sword: and when they were struck so great an odor of sweetness, and of wondrous awe, terrified that place, that the people reckoned that they were overshadowed by the grace of divinity. Then the Christians, by night taking up their bodies, buried them in the same crypt, they are struck with the sword. where they were always accustomed to dwell, giving thanks daily to the Lord with prayers, psalms, and hymns. May they themselves be intercessors for us to the Lord. But if we are not able to imitate them in martyrdom, enriched with the fruit of good virtues, let us so govern our bodies while living in this prison of life, that with them we may rejoice in eternal felicity. These things were done concerning the Saints of God, Ferreolus the Priest and Ferrutio the Deacon, on the sixteenth of the Kalends of July, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom is honor and glory, power and might, through the infinite ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS D. P.

THE OLD MASS

From the Roman edition, according to the most ancient Ms. of the Gothic Missal, more truly Gallican.

Ferreolus the Priest, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

Ferrutius the Deacon, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

D. P., FROM THE ROMAN EDITION.

[1] There appeared at Rome in the year 1680 the Codices of the Sacraments, more than nine hundred years old, This Missal seems to be from a Gallican exemplar by the care and study of Joseph Maria Thomasius; among which, after the Gelasian Sacramentary of three books, the next place is held by the Gothic Missal, because the title prefixed at the beginning by a more recent hand calls it so, in the Library of Queen Christina of Sweden, now added to the Vatican. That the Cardinal Bona attributed something to such a title, in his Liturgical Matters, book 1 chapter 12, although he recognized it to be Gallican (for who could doubt, reading there six offices proper to Gaul?), yet he judged that it pertained to Gaul Narbonensis, formerly subject to the kingdom of the Goths: and this conjecture is favored by the fact that there is also found there a Mass of St. Eulalia, Virgin and Martyr of Barcelona, on the 12th of February. Certainly from the Fourth Council of Toledo, canons 12, 13, and 14, it is shown not obscurely that the same rite, which afterward was somehow continued through the Mozarabs, flourished throughout Spain as well as throughout Gaul; yet I would prefer simply to call it Gallican, namely from a Gallican exemplar, copied at Barcelona in Tarraconensian Spain, in the time of the Goths, with that Mass of St. Eulalia added, Patroness of the people of Barcelona, and of no other; although from interior Spain some more illustrious saints could have been added, copied at Barcelona, with a single Mass of St. Eulalia added. if the writer had had a care to write a Missal common to the Goths and Gauls. But he wrote much earlier than when, by the agency of Pippin and Charles, the Roman rites, according to the order of St. Gregory, were introduced into Gaul. Let it please, therefore, to accept this specimen of a more ancient Mass, very different from the Roman rite, not only the Gregorian, but even the Gelasian; with, however, the faults corrected which the faithful Roman edition was unwilling to touch.

[2] Mass (or Introit to the Mass) of the Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutius. Let us, dearest Brethren, as suppliants entreat the Lord our God: who to his holy Martyrs, Ferreolus and Ferrutio, granted certain rewards of future joys, in the very condition of their present struggles; while through the inextinguishable ardor of his love they understand how to acquire the sweetness of life by losses, and to tread down death by dying: to whom while this day, flying past through the bitterness of urgent punishments, is concluded; the entrance of eternal light is opened. May he grant to us, his servants, that, as no kinds of torments broke them, though the body was failing; so may no enticements of this world turn us aside from the purpose of his service by a pernicious security: that that divine fire of his love may kindle the virtue of our faith; and consume in us all the * fuel of bodily vices.

[3] Collect (we say "Collecta") O God, whose love thy most holy Confessors and Martyrs, Ferreolus * and Ferrutio, attest by their blood and confirm by their death, who, while so freely they expend for thee the gift of life received from thee, testify that everyone ought to die for thee: grant that the faith, which they left inscribed in our hearts with their own blood, we may cultivate by the merits of our life; and what we admire in them, we may imitate; what we venerate, we may love; what we follow with praise, we may pursue in our manner of living. Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

[4] After the NAMES of the living and the dead, the oblation of bread and wine being made, accustomed to be recited from the diptych. The names of our Brethren and dear ones having been recounted, let us pray for the Lord's mercy, that in the midst of Jerusalem, in the congregation of the Saints, he may cause these names to be recounted to himself by the Angel of Sanctification, in the blessedness of eternal joy: and may he sanctify this our Sacrifice in its power, as in the prefiguration of Melchizedek; and the prayers also of those offering in this * oblation, being made propitious, mayest thou hear, those making the commemoration of the most blessed Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutio and of all the Saints; that aided by their prayers, they may merit to obtain not only protection for the living, but also rest for our dear departed. Through.

[5] Collect AT THE PEACE, which the faithful invoked upon one another with a kiss given mutually. Wondrous art thou in thy saints, O Lord of hosts; grant peace to us sinners, by the patronage of thy most blessed Martyrs, Ferreolus and Ferrutio; that as they merited crowns, distinguished with gems * and precious stones, by the virtue of Martyrdom; [so] may we, by their suffrages, by thy gift, obtain pardon of our offenses: and grant us, that the joining of lips may be made the union of souls; and the ministry of the kiss may provide for perpetual charity. Through our Lord.

[6] Contestation (otherwise the Immolation of the Mass: in the present-day rite called the Preface of the Canon, up to "It is meet and just," where the priest subjoins) It is truly meet and just, as often as we recall the battles of the Saints, that we praise thee, and that what [in] the honor of thy Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutio we offer, we ascribe to thy praises: because their crown is thy glory, who through thine only Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, didst teach mortal bodies to bear the palm of precious martyrdom. But justly we show by thy merits that we venerate the deeds of the most valiant Martyrs; who dost kindle human minds for the contest of heavenly glory, by the love of thy mercy. For of thy power is the reward, the punishment of the Saints: for in that body in which the limbs lay subject to the cruelty of the executioner, the shed blood of the Martyrs serves thee, to thee the bloody hand of the lictor brings back triumph: and those who voluntarily placed their necks under the sword, and those who lay subject to the claws and flames, brought back the palm of thy name. Thou hast therefore, O Lord, reason in which to exult, as often as we recall the memory of so great a virtue; nor undeservedly dost thou dispose heavenly gifts to each one, who from thy Saints everywhere acquirest such love. Who, after so great a magnificence of thy mercy, would not compose his mind to the vows of Martyrdom? or who is not provoked to the battle, when he sees the victory of the Martyrs to have been requited with the great fruit of labor? We ask therefore, O Lord, that in the commemoration of thy Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio, recalling the memory of their precious virtue, thou wouldst admit us into a part of the reward; and grant that thy family may * perseveringly complete the course of the labor begun: insofar as those who believe in thee, and serve thee, even if not in the first, or in the second lot of reward, may merit to obtain a place of justice with thee; and therefore with the Angels and Archangels they cry, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy. &c.

[7] Thus far the Mass, as it is found printed. The Canon is almost word for word the same as the Roman, except that it does not have the commemorations of the living and the dead, premised in the Gallican rite (as we have seen); The rest were to be taken from the Common. and other prayers are to be recited under it and after it in an intelligible voice, partly common with the Roman, partly proper to the Gallican: which however are placed neither in this, nor in the other Masses of the Saints in this Codex; because they were to be sought in the common order of the Mass. Certainly the Mass of St. Germanus the Bishop, as after this Missal (so called) Gothic, it is found printed, at the beginning of the old Gallican Missal, or rather of its fragments, proper to him, such as concerning Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio are placed here, subjoins indeed several things foreign to the Roman; but contributing nothing to St. Germanus; and common to any Mass whatever, even of the Season, (as our Rubrics now speak) That the same Order, used throughout Gaul, obtained also throughout Spain, not only under the Goths, but even before their coming under the Romans, appears from book 1 of St. Isidore of Seville On the Ecclesiastical Offices, chapter 15, On the Mass and on the prayers, which it pleases here to transcribe.

[8] "The Order of the Mass or of the Prayers, with which the sacrifice offered to God is consecrated, was first instituted by St. Peter, whose celebration the whole world performs in one and the same manner": namely throughout the West: for Isidore seems neither to have known nor regarded the special rites of the Eastern Churches, But the former [parts were used in their Order among the Spaniards,] when he wrote these things: and as regards the Westerners Isidore seems to be understood chiefly of the Canon, for the rest had already been much changed at Rome by the predecessors of St. Gelasius. "The first," says Isidore, "of these same Prayers is one of admonition toward the people, that they may be roused to entreat God. The second is of invocation to God, that he may clemently receive the prayers and oblation of the faithful … But the third is poured forth for those offering, or for the faithful departed, that through the same Sacrifice they may obtain pardon. The fourth after these is brought in for the kiss of peace, that by charity all being reconciled to one another may worthily be joined together in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The fifth is brought in, the Illation in the sanctification of the oblation, in which also to the praise of God the creation of earthly things, and the universality of the heavenly powers, is provoked, and Hosanna in the highest is sung … Then sixthly after this succeeds the confirmation of the Sacrament, that the oblation which is offered to God, St. Isidore proves it, describing that order. sanctified by the Holy Spirit, may be confirmed as the Body and blood. The last of these is the Prayer, which our Lord instituted for his disciples, saying: Our Father who art in heaven." Where thou seest that to the five former parts there correspond the five articles of the Mass proper to Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutio, as they are placed above.

* "to perish" in the ext.

* "by the bitterness"

* "foundations"

* "by the love"

* "of the Martyr"

* "Ferreolus and Ferrucio"

* "of Life"

* "blessedness"

* "prefiguration"

* "oblation"

* "with gems of stone"

* "we shall recall"

* "we praise"

* "in which"

* "thy Martyrs"

* "let us be ascribed"

* "placed under"

* "lay subject"

* "brought back"

* "undeservedly"

* "thou acquirest"

* "let it be called pious"

* "the commemoration"

* "these"

* "to persevere"

THE FINDING OF THE BODIES

From the Manuscript Lectionaries of the church of Saints John and Stephen.

Ferreolus the Priest, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

Ferrutius the Deacon, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

BHL Number: 2907

FROM MSS.

III

[1] In the City, which from ancient times was called Chrysopolis (for it was of such cultivation and ornament; that from the beauty of its form it received this name) the blessed Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutius, as they bore together a brotherly likeness of lineage in Life, so also of Martyrdom for the name of Christ they alike endured the deadly punishments of the persecutor. But this city is also called "Bisuntica," the city of Besançon, by the ancient opinion also of the old inhabitants it is rendered to the Memory of the younger: whence it is called Bisuntica. For at that time when it was being restored, since it was still a wooded place, a wild Vison (bison) was found there and from thence it obtained its perpetual name; that is, Bisuntica, the letter B placed for V, just as is their affinity, and our age has known the true name. For after, by a barbarian incursion, its dignity having been preserved for many courses of years, as it were the most excellent Seat of the Romans, because it is denied to the highest things to stand long in this world, it fell; it lost the appellation of its first dignity (as the opinion of the ancients and the true report bears) of the temporary period, and was for some time a habitation of wild beasts.

[2] But thereafter, restored to the Dominion of its dignity, a great people of Gentiles having been established there, converted by the preaching of Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutius; and exhibiting the ceremonies of the Gods according to the rite of the Romans, it received the most blessed Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutius, excellent preachers, with the unworthy Emperor Aurelian reigning, by divine predestination; whom it had as learned eradicators of thorns and brambles from the field of unbelief, and recognized as most learned planters of flowers, roses, and lilies, in the field of faith. These brothers german, therefore, since they were abundantly instructed in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, by that supreme judgment of disposition by which all things are governed, were destined by Blessed John the Evangelist, the beloved of the Lord, from the regions of the Greeks, together with Blessed Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon, to preach the Son of God to Burgundy. By whose instructions indeed and signal miracles, and they having suffered and been buried there; which the sacrificing Spirit worked through them, the city of Besançon put off the error of ancient antiquity: and confirmed in the catholic faith, the superstition of demons removed, it recognized the author of eternal life. But persecution being decreed against the Christians by the command of the raging Aurelian, the madness of the Princes also acting, namely of Cornelius the Commander and of Claudius in the same City, as their venerable written passion attests, they took the palm of glorious Martyrdom.

[3] But the most holy bodies of these the worshippers of Christ, a mile and a half from the city, in a certain retreat, where in the time of their preaching the blessed Martyrs had chosen for themselves a place of praying, the bodies are elevated by St. Anianus the Bishop, delivered to burial: where, with the longevity of times succeeding, they lay hidden from the Clergy and people, to whom in them was the highest protection. But the truth of the matter, with Aurelianus the Bishop intimating it, has been discovered and known by us: through whom the house of the Martyrs was founded and built. Finally, with the Blessed and Holy Pontiff Anianus intimating, the miracles of the Holy Martyrs, or their glorious several contests, were manifestly revealed and shown. For when in the aforesaid city he was discharging the Episcopal office; a certain Tribune of soldiers, who had been assigned to the guard of the city, out of zeal for hunting, advanced about a mile and a half from the city. And when he was following a fox found by the dogs; by chance the fox fled into the ancient pit of the monument of the Martyrs: but the Tribune, while he persistently presses on, ordered a digging-tool to be brought to the soldiers. While this is being sought through the pit, the hidden house, where the bodies of the Holy Martyrs rested, is found. Truly God is truly admirable, truly in all his works praiseworthy! an irrational animal opens the way of salvation to those using reason and shows them an incomparable treasure, desirable above all riches. The fox, the most sagacious among brute animals, found by the indication of a fox, loving the shadows for its own protection, finds the light; because the sinful soul conscious of crime, while it is affected by the fear of death, is occupied by the shadowy mournings of death itself, and through this sometimes, with the Lord being propitious, is led to the light. Which fox not only saved itself by finding the light; but also, in the finding of the holy Martyrs, brought forth the greatest salvation for those living by reason: because the soul converted from the shadows to the light, not only profits itself, but also brings joy to the Angelic hosts with which it is to be associated. A messenger therefore is immediately dispatched to Blessed Anianus. But he hastening ran to the spot: because he had already before heard this by the opinion of the people; and since he had been breathed upon by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the piety of the Divinity in such mercies was not hidden from him. The burial of the Martyrs therefore is uncovered by his command: and immediately the bodies of the Saints are found in the monument.

VII

VIII

[4] The bodies of the Holy Martyrs, therefore, showed in themselves the marks of their passion and wondrous virtue. For into their heads beam-like nails driven in with iron hammers were found affixed. But the palms of their hands open up the sign of the Lord's passion; because they show themselves pierced with nails. And although the excellent Martyrs had received the cutting off of their heads, together with the nails and awls, the instruments of the passion: yet the row of nails in their heads formed as it were a crown, which possessed the frame of the whole world. In the rest of the joints of the limbs everywhere were found awls, fastened together with hammers. These indeed are the marks of the passion of the Saints, in which the merits of the divine reward are also shown. For the nails afford healing to various infirmities at many times: the awls also, more precious than all most precious gold, and more becoming than every adornment of Pearls, show to believers the power of all healing. O the madness of the most impious tyrant! The Martyrs are deprived of sight, the hearing of the ears is taken from them, the speech of the mouth and tongue is cut off, and the joints of their breasts are dug into, and from the crown of the head the punishments of the whole body are taken. The guarding of the prison had not sufficed for the persecutors, the bonds of chains, the various kinds of punishments: for the faith of the Saints constantly bore the trials of the persecutors, aided by the solaces of no surrounding people, relying on the hope of no earthly rule; but already secure of the rewards of the heavenly homeland.

[5] and for the time deposited in the Cathedral, The Blessed Anianus the Archbishop, therefore, and the Tribune also with the soldiers, return to the city with triumph and the greatest watches of the Governor, and bear the bodies of the Saints to the mother Church of St. John the Evangelist, whose disciples they had been, with the highest reverence; by whom the city itself is defended from barbarian assault and absolved from Gentile superstition. Where they make themselves known by their virtues, while they worthily receive the vows of those praying: they also drive away infirmities and languors, put to flight unclean Spirits, grant liberty to captive bodies. they are brought back to the monastery built at the place of burial. Meanwhile indeed, by the most blessed aforesaid Anianus, a Church is built at the place of burial, and the bodies of the Saints are there again buried with spices. A community of brethren is established to serve the Lord, in veneration of the Holy Martyrs. But the nails, taken from their heads by the hands of the Holy Priests, are kept: through which often healing is imparted to men in various infirmities. We celebrate therefore the finding of the Blessed Martyrs Ferreolus the Priest and Ferrutius the Deacon, with Christ assenting, on the Nones of September, where the Finding is celebrated on 5 September so that, since their victories are recounted in heaven by the Angels, the praise of Jesus Christ and our redeemer, who always triumphs in his saints, may never depart from the mouth and mind of men on earth. But since these things we have learned from our most Holy Father Anianus the Archbishop, and have touched his inestimable life not in order but in passing; it is fitting that according to the measure of our frailty we should set forth his most blessed end. on whose anniversary St. Anianus dies For when the courses of some years had been completed, after the finding of the bodies of the Saints; on the same day of the same finding; as he had preserved the inner man immaculate, so, with the Martyrs themselves bearing him along whom he had devoutly served, he passed to the Lord.

[6] These things therefore concerning the triumph of the Holy Martyrs and their revelation, concerning the passing of our Father Anianus, to confirm the minds of the Catholic people, with Christ as author, we have written with a devout mind; not trusting in our own merits, but in the supports of their prayers. For when we implore the aid of all the Saints, whom we believe to enjoy the perennial light in the sight of the Most High, who is invoked together with them; and confidently ask their support venerably for our needs; especially do we recur specially and more trustingly by right to the protection of those whom we have had as preachers in the soundness of faith, hope, and charity. These therefore let us confidently entreat, to these with devout mind let us recur, to these with every effort of a devout mind let us supplicate; that while their festival is celebrated, with them as patrons, in a happy time, with the circles of the year revolved in the Lord; they themselves, for the state of the Catholic religion, for the defense of their own city, for the salvation of the supreme pontiff, for the preservation of the Pastor of this same city, for the felicity of the king and princes, for the deliverance of the whole people, for the stability of the Holy congregations; for the need of all the faithful, the granted Patrons and Martyrs, may they entreat Christ the Lord; and may they deign, out of the reckoning of their piety and mercy, to reward him who obediently composed these things; with him aiding, to whom before the ages [be] virtue and honor, Majesty and dominion, praise and jubilation, glory and power, through all the ages of ages. Glory to thee, O Lord, glory to the Only-begotten, together with the Holy Spirit unto everlasting ages. Amen.

D. P.

[7] Thus far that Manuscript, distributed into 9 Lessons, and for part described by Chifflet; even naming the Emperor Aurelian themselves, from the now-received and above-noted error: of which we received that same transcript which Chifflet used for the edition of his work, he died in the year 374. at the beginning and in the course marked with certain dashes for things less pertaining to the history. I preferred to give the matter whole, that it might be better judged concerning the author's age; and therefore I judged that not even the popular little tales about the naming of the city, placed at the beginning, were to be omitted with Chifflet. But although the Author professes that the things he writes were known to him from the most Holy Father Anianus; it appears nevertheless that this is to be understood thus, that handed down through hands, and only mediately taken from the Saint, that knowledge is to be believed. He is said, in the age of Julian the Apostate, and with Valentinian and Valens reigning, to have found the bodies of the Saints; and to have died in the year 374: but here repeatedly Besançon is named Chrysopolis; although nevertheless he who preferred to be surnamed from this "Chrysopolitan," the first found thus far was Theodoric, For in the Epistles of John Pope VIII, given in the year 878, the Archbishop is named "of Besançon" (Bisuntinensis or Bisunticensis); but in those given in the year 880 he is entitled Archbishop "of the Holy Chrysopolitan Seat or Church"; so that about that year the appellation seems to have been changed, not destined to last many centuries; nor was it long after that there were written, both the more recent Acts, and the history of the finding.

[8] The miracles, by which after the finding they are said to have shone, either no one took care to write, or being written they perished by the injury of time: one however it is permitted to set forth from St. Gregory of Tours, book 1 On the glory of the Martyrs, chapter 71, which is of this kind: "The city of Besançon, illustrated by its own Martyrs, for the most part rejoices in present miracles. In this city, in the hiding-place of a crypt, two Martyrs, as the Passion declares, Ferreolus A troublesome fever is driven off and Ferrutio, are buried: But it came to pass at a certain time, that the husband of my sister, with a fever growing strong, was gravely ill. And when now for the space of a fourth month he was lying gasping in his little bed, so that his sad wife thought of nothing else except the things necessary for burial; weeping and sad she sought the basilica of the Saints, and prostrate before the tombs, with palms and face stiff she presses the pavement. But it happened by chance, that the palm of her right hand, extended, covered a leaf of the herb sage, which in honor of the Martyrs had been scattered in the crypt. But after, prayer poured forth with tears, she rose from the tombs, thinking that she had grasped something of the linens, with which she was clothed, with her hand, as is wont, she kept her palm closed: and going out of the basilica, with her hand opened, she marvels at the leaf of the herb. But astonished, as to what this was, she recognizes it as a heavenly gift granted to her divinely: namely, that through it the virtue of the Martyrs might succor the sick man. Therefore returning home now more joyful, she offered the leaf diluted with water to her husband to drink. Who when he had drunk it, full of faith, immediately merited to obtain most full health." These things Gregory of Tours says. But how afterward the Sacred bones were translated to Besançon in the year 1063 on the 30th of May, from the old codices of St. John and St. Stephen we have received thus described.

VARIOUS TRANSLATIONS,

From the Mss. of the same Cathedral Church.

Ferreolus the Priest, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

Ferrutius the Deacon, Martyr, at Besançon in Burgundy (S.)

BHL Number: 2910

The moral instruction of the earlier Fathers, since it instructs [us] to proceed rightly in the order of this life by chastity of morals, or by the honesty of gravity; then in a certain way it announces to a leaping spirit the joy of that theoretical delight; while it teaches the minds of men to dance with exulting souls in the solemnities of the saints. The Author For these are they who are perennially satiated with the sweetness of that supreme contemplation, and who, adhering to the supreme good, fully enjoy the joys of eternal gladness. The memory of these, finally, we ought to celebrate together with wondrous love: of whom, persisting in the love of God, there was no other love; and who, going out from the prison of the flesh, through the dark night of the world merited the perennial day: Therefore, most devoutly celebrating the feasts of the Blessed Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutius, to commend to the faithful people the knowledge of this matter, how their most blessed bodies were translated from the place of ancient burial to the city, we have judged it opportune to make it known by the office of the pen: to commend their memory, that we who, strengthened by their presence, are able to overcome the contrivances of each enemy, namely of mind and of body; on this day, which the Lord has made for us, on which also for the common gladness of the human race we have received so precious a treasure, may rejoice above others and exult.

III

[2] Since therefore these most holy Martyrs and Apostles are of great merit with the Lord, who, fighting for the faith of Christ in the agony of their contest, conquered the battle-line of the devil; as often as the faithful soul is led by thought into the contest of their labor and reward, he intends to write already thirsting for their fellowship, it is deservedly strengthened in their praise and proclamation, whom in the sight of the supreme King it contemplates as white-robed and crowned with a diadem, by the sharpness of its own vigor. For these are holy men, chosen by divine providence into the bond of perfect charity, whom the Lord made and showed to us; to whom he gave eternal glory: by whose doctrine the Church shines forth in comparison to the sun and moon; whose bodies, though they be not separated from the earth, yet their souls are by merit equal to the Saints in heaven. Of these, therefore, under the Emperor Aurelian, with the commander Cornelius ordering it, how once they suffered, with Claudius acting as governor of the City of Chrysopolis, the venerable passion illustrated that same Chrysopolis: and although for the rite of the Gentiles it was, among the Gallic cities, nobler than all, in the cultivation of Christ it was most nobly adorned. For, the most filthy worship of idols being forsaken, by their preaching and merits it prostrated itself before Christ the Lord; and, the blackness of sins rooted out, with the brightness of faith and the habit of holy religion it shone forth everywhere.

VII

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[3] At the time, therefore, of the passion of the holy Martyrs, the Christians, solidified by their preaching upon the rock of faith, are proven to have carried the most holy clods (relics) at night-time outside the city, and buried a mile and a half from the city, fearing the tyrannical rage, into the space of a mile and a half: and there, as the old history relates, in the place of the desert which they were accustomed to inhabit, the fellowship of the Angels was not lacking; the blessed multitude of heavenly powers offered service at their obsequies, whose souls indeed it first carried up to the heavens with great joy. A time of long age having passed, therefore, when the earlier care of the faithful had handed over their passion to devotion, it was unknown as to their burial. But with Valentinian and Valens reigning, with Blessed Anianus presiding in the chair of the holy Church of Besançon, by the wondrous disposition of God they were found; just as in the narration of the finding itself, set in order, it can be found. But the Blessed Anianus, an excellent preacher of the Christian faith, incomparably rich from the treasure of the Lord found, in that place built a church, where, instituting the most sacred life of Monks, as he was filled with the perfection of all religion, in a short time he made a Monastery, and elevated by St. Anianus, a monastery having been founded there; sufficiently content with its provision of necessary things. So for a long time, with the monastery remaining in its state, with the sins of the people bringing it about, by the permission of God, whose judgments are hidden, with the negligence of the Pastors coming on, it came to this, that as it had been the dwelling of the highest religion, so it became the abode of irreligion. For with the estates pertaining to that place handed over into benefice at the will of the laity, by a certain Prelate ill-advised, the same being desolated, they were translated in a short time it so fell into ruin, that, the congregation being destroyed, for the service of the blessed Martyrs, besides exceedingly few ignorant and unteachable Priests, none remained.

[4] When * therefore in the common destruction of the whole country, the holy Martyrs lay as if placed in the open (inasmuch as robbers from France were attempting to carry them off to the ruin of Burgundy) the everlasting piety of Christ, not permitting his people to be deprived of so great a patronage, preserved them for us for so long not by the guarding of men, not by the enclosure of walls, not finally by any strength of that place, but by its own admirable grace. by Hugh the Archbishop, In the time, therefore, of Henry the Second the Emperor, Lord Hugh the Archbishop, to whom the diligence of friends had intimated this supreme danger, bearing this as a vow, namely that he should transfer them to the city, kept it secret: but sought an opportune time to do this.

[5] Finally on the third of the Kalends of June, which was the morrow of the Lord's Ascension, for the sake of praying the Archbishop ordered the Clergy and people to gather there (as their custom had been). 30 May But he himself coming there, and the Mass celebrated by himself, they go to the tomb: where were reposing the two splendid luminaries of heaven, twin brothers, illuminating their homeland, conferring peace upon the nations, delivering the people of God. But the sarcophagus being opened, and by his order the Sarcophagus was opened. a fragrance of inestimable sweetness besprinkled the whole circuit of the church, which without doubt signified the presence of God to be there. But some of those beholding who were present, divine fear, at the sight of their bones, held as if placed in ecstasy. One could behold the Clergy and people mingled for joy, dripping with a great shower of tears, in God's praises commonly exulting. Marvelous to see, so great a multitude of men, since it had been announced to no one, was suddenly present there, that no one ever remembered so many to have gathered in so brief a moment of time, not only citizens, not only those dwelling nearby, but those running together from remote far-off parts.

[6] But of these most sacred bodies the smaller part the Lord Metropolitan, The smaller part is set aside under the altar there. using sagacious counsel, for the conservation of the place, which had been dedicated in their honor, placed there under the principal altar: but the larger portion, which should always be a protection for him, he carried to the city with hymns and praises, and gloriously laid up in the church of Blessed John the Evangelist, in the altar of the most blessed Mother of God Mary: the larger is carried to the Church of St. John where the glorious Martyrs afford a divine refuge to those fleeing to them, a patronage to those seeking it, to the praise of the Lord, to whom is honor and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

G. H.

[7] These things there likewise divided into 9 Lessons, and described by Chifflet: in which a triple character of time is noted: the first that of Henry the Second the Emperor, who departed life in the year 1056, having left his son Henry the Third, a boy of seven or eight years, under the regency of his mother Agnes; but some of his years seem to be attributed to Henry the Second. The other character is in Hugh the First, Archbishop of Besançon, who is said to have presided from the year 1031, up to the year 1067. In his time only once did Easter fall on the 20th of April [and] the feast of the Ascension on the 29th of May, in the year 1063 and consequently the 30th day of May, or the third of the Kalends of June, was the morrow of the Lord's Ascension, which is the third character; accordingly that Translation occurred in the year 1063. But Hugh himself, also called Archbishop of the holy Chrysopolitan Church, is named Blessed by Chifflet, having died on the 6th of the Kalends of August, and laid in that tomb, which in the middle nave of St. Paul he had himself erected for himself: Is this Hugh a Blessed? whose tomb three hundred years after, together with the rest of the church's pavement, seems to be indicated to have been raised by these verses again noting the same day of death, in this way:

In the year one thousand, three hundred, seventy, Add one, Father Hugh is laid to rest in the depth; When the fifth light of July is over, from Libitina (death).

By which thou understandest that in the year 1371, on the very anniversary day of death, this was done. Concerning whom more perhaps on the 27th of July, if in the meantime the cult and the title of Blessed, from which Claudius Robert, the Sammarthani, and others abstain, shall have been proven to us.

[8] Meanwhile, one century before these things were done, the aforesaid larger part of the sacred Bodies, which we said was translated to the church of St. John in the year 1063, is indicated to have been raised again there, in Chifflet page 272, from the Martyrology of St. John in these words: "In the year of the Lord 1246, A new raising in the year 1246, 2 September on the 4th of the Nones of September, with Pope Innocent IV residing at Lyon, there was made in this church a revelation (perhaps rather a raising) of the holy Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutius, preachers of this city, by the venerable Fathers William Archbishop of Besançon, John of Lausanne, Seguinus of Mâcon, Alexander of Chalon, Ansericus … and other Prelates of the city and diocese of Besançon." These things there. Chifflet adds that this revelation was nothing else than the placing of the sacred bodies in chests or cases, made skillfully of gilded wood; and he reckons that at the same time about half of the sacred Relics were translated to the church of St. Vincent. Peter Francis Chifflet of the Society of Jesus submitted to us two Charters, in the former of which is indicated the translation of the Relics of St. Ferreolus in the Church of St. Vincent in these words: some Relics given to the Church of St. Vincent "On the penultimate day of the month of May on the Vigil of Pentecost, in the year of the Lord 1411 the Relics of St. Ferreolus were translated, by the Reverend in Christ Father and Lord, Lord Robert de Courbeton, Abbot of St. Paul of Besançon, translated in the year 1421 from the old chest to the present new one in the church of St. Vincent of Besançon; and there were present religious men, the Lords John de Villanova, Prior; Aymo de Vaitus, Infirmarian; Peter de Myone, Sacristan; Bertenius de Devissen, Refectorer; and John de Melincuria, Priest-Monks, of the monastery of the said church, and several citizens of Besançon in the said church." These things there with the best agreement of the days and year indicated. For in the said year 1411, with the Dominical letter D, Easter was celebrated on the 12th of April, and the feast of Pentecost on the 31st of May. In the other charter of Chifflet these things are indicated:

[9] "In the year of the Lord 1424, on the 8th day of the month of May, the most reverend in Christ Father and Lord, Lord Theobald de Rougemont, by the grace of God Archbishop, of Besançon, translated the Relics of the bodies of Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutius, from the old chest into a new one: of which Relics indeed he handed over to the Church of Blessed Mary Magdalene of Besançon one rib, Others placed in the new chest in the year 1424 to the church of St. Peter of Besançon half a rib. To the Brothers of the Order of Minorites of Salins, one small bone; and the most reverend Father himself retained two teeth, with part of the jaw; and the bones given to others. and handed over to John Porcelleti one bone, with the Lords John de Thorasia, James Moschet of Besançon, Knights, Master Aegidius Grusigneti, Nicholas de Vouclans, Canons of Besançon, present there, and several other witnesses, under the secret signet of the said most reverend Father, and the manual sign of the Secretary. Signed G. Gaji, with the seal of the said most reverend Lord in green wax."

[10] Moreover John James Chifflet, in part 2 of his Besançon, page 307: "In the year 1539, about the year 1539 translated into a silver chest " he says, "on the Monday after the feast of the Lord's Resurrection, in the Metropolitan church of St. John the Evangelist of Besançon, with the Governors of the city, and the greatest multitude of Clergy and people gathered there, with the Reverend Lord Francis Symard, Bishop of Nicopolis and Suffragan of Besançon, celebrating the Mass; after the Offertory there was made, with great sweetness of voices and the majesty of the whole office, the translation of the sacred Relics of the holy Martyrs Ferreolus and Ferrutius, from the old into a new chest, by the hands of the Lord Archbishop, Antony de Vergy. From the Acts of the Chapter of Besançon." That chest of silver, distinguished either in mass or in the elegance of the workmanship, the Governors and Canons of Besançon caused to be cast, as is noted in the Acts of the Chapter in the years 1518 and 1525. These things the said John James Chifflet. But his brother Peter Francis indicated these things in addition: "On the 12th of June of the year 1636, the French besieging Dole, having made an excursion from their camp as far as Besançon, burned the church of Saints Ferreolus and Ferrutius three miles from the city, and behind the altar overturned the chest of Relics, which afterward were translated to Besançon to St. Vincent." That church seems to have been the villa, which in the Life of St. Germanus the Martyr is described by the elder Chifflet, page 62; which, he says, lies on the middle way between Grandfontaine and Besançon; for there he indicates that both a Basilica and sacred λείψανα (relics) existed.