St. Calendio, martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia.
St. Theophilus, martyr of Nicomedia in Bithynia.
The holy African martyrs, 220 or 120.
St. Lucanus, martyr in the diocese of Chartres in Gaul.
St. Serapion, bishop of Antioch.
St. Zenobius, bishop of Aegae, martyr.
St. Zenobia his sister, martyr.
St. Marcellus, centurion, martyr at Tangier in Africa.
St. Nona, martyr at León in Spain.
St. Claudius, martyr at León in Spain.
St. Lupercus, martyr at León in Spain.
St. Victoricus, martyr at León in Spain.
St. Saturninus, martyr at Cagliari in Sardinia.
St. Maximus, martyr at Cumae in Italy.
St. Athanasius, martyr in Egypt.
St. Irene his sister, martyr in Egypt.
St. Asterius, bishop of Amasea in Pontus.
St. Theonestus, martyr in Istria.
The holy companions, martyrs in Istria.
St. Ernacuag, nun in Ireland.
St. Thalasius, martyr at Issoudun in Gaul.
St. Bajus, martyr at Issoudun in Gaul.
St. Germanus, bishop of Capua in Italy.
St. Gonduinus, confessor in France.
St. Foillan, martyr in Belgium.
St. Benedict, bishop of Como in Italy.
St. Colman, abbot of Lann in Ireland.
St. Talarican, bishop of Sodor in Scotland.
St. Arildis, virgin and martyr in the county of Gloucester in England.
St. Æthelnoth, archbishop of Canterbury in England.
St. Thyudgar, priest in Jutland.
St. Gerard, bishop of Potenza in Italy.
St. Dorothea, recluse in East Prussia.
Bl. Alphonsus Rodriguez, temporal coadjutor of the Society of Jesus on the island of Majorca.
Bl. Angelo of Acri, of the Capuchin Order in southern Italy.
The memory of St. Crispinus III, bishop of Pavia or Ticinum, is made today by Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy. Baronius with others thinks that he is the same as the one whom St. Epiphanius II succeeded and whose feast is kept on 7 January. This dispute Bollandus indicated at 7 January.
The memory of St. Adrian, abbot of Hiridanum or Niridanum in Campania, sent by St. Pope Vitalian into England, occurs today in the old Benedictine Calendar of the monastery of St. Saviour. His Acts were published at 9 January.
The name of St. Paul the Great, the faster, is read today in the Capponi Tables Assemani, Kalendaria Eccles. Univ., volume V, page 326.. He is the same as St. Paul, hermit in Egypt, whose Acts were published in the Bollandist Work at 10 January.
The memory of SS. Cronion or Eunus, Julian and thirteen others, who suffered at Alexandria under the Emperor Decius, is recalled today in the Roman Martyrology and in Siber's Ephemerides. But of these it was spoken by our predecessors at 27 February.
St. Besas, martyr at Alexandria, is numbered by Chastelain among the saints of 30 October in the Universal Martyrology. The martyrdom of him and his companions Henschenius recorded in the Acta sanctorum at 27 February.
The feast of St. Leo the Great is indicated today in the Paris Martyrology of de Noailles, archbishop of Paris, and in others of the churches of France, and in the Universal Martyrology of Chastelain. But our predecessors, following the Roman Martyrology, published his Acts at 11 April.
The feast of St. Eutropia, martyr at Alexandria, is announced at 30 October in the Roman Martyrology, and hence also in several other menologies and catalogues of saints: but she has already been treated by our predecessors at 25 May.
BB. Raymond Carbonius and Stephen of Narbonne, of the Order of St. Francis, inquisitors of the faith, killed by the Albigensians in the year 1242, are remembered today in Huber's Franciscan Menology. Inquiry was made about the same, as also about the companions of their martyrdom, at 29 May.
The deeds of St. Eusebius, martyr of Nicomedia, of whom there is mention today in the Hieronymian Martyrologies, were narrated at 30 May.
SS. Ammon, Zeno, Ptolemy, Ingenuus and Theophilus, martyrs of Alexandria in Egypt, are inscribed at this day in the Universal Martyrology of Chastelain. But they are to be passed over by us, because our predecessors treated them at 1 June.
St. Marcian, martyr, bishop of Syracuse in Sicily, is announced today in Siber's metrical Ephemerides, in Ferrarius's General Catalogue, and in Martinov's Graeco-Slavonic Year, who followed, besides the Slavonic calendars, Greek liturgical books and others of Constantinopolitan origin: whence it is established that he was formerly celebrated in that city on the present day. But the people of Syracuse keep his feast on the same day on which our predecessors illustrated his Acts, 14 June.
Bl. Teresa or Tarasia, daughter of Sancho, king of Portugal, entered into marriage with her kinsman Alfonso, king of León in Spain. But since Pope Celestine III had declared it null, Tarasia entered the Cistercian Order at Lorvão and died in the year 1270, in the seventy-second year of her age. Her memory is celebrated today in the Cistercian Calendar or Martyrology of the year 1689, as also in Henriquez's Cistercian Menology and in other catalogues of the saints and blessed of this Order. The Acts of Bl. Tarasia and of her sister Bl. Sancha our predecessors illustrated at 17 June.
Mention of St. Maxentius, priest and abbot in the territory of Poitou, is made today in the Gallican Martyrology and in Ferrarius's General Catalogue of the Saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology. His Acts were published in the Bollandist Work at 26 June.
The ordination of St. Swithun, bishop of Winchester in England, is remembered today in the Altemps Usuardine Auctarium, or rather that of Winchester: for this codex was formerly in use in that church Cf. Hampson, Medii Aevi kalendarium, volume I, page 431.. Of St. Swithun and his ordination it has been spoken in these Acts at 2 July.
The memory of St. Gero, otherwise Jero or Hiero, martyr in Holland, is recalled today in the Usuardine Martyrology of the register of the Charterhouse of Utrecht. But inquiry was made about this holy man in the Bollandist Acts at 17 August.
SS. Asterius, Claudius, Neon and Theonilla occur on this day in Siber's metrical Martyrology. The name of St. Asterius is also inscribed in other Slavonic calendars indicated in Martinov's Graeco-Slavonic Year. Of the same in the Passed Over of 29 October Acta SS., volume XII of October, page 775., where it was also pointed out that their Acts were illustrated by our predecessors at 23 August.
St. Genesius, martyr of Arles, is mentioned at this day by the enlarged Usuardine Martyrology of Dom Du Cheval of Dijon Sollerius's Usuardine Martyrology at 30 October.. His deeds were described in our Work at 25 August.
Bl. Liberatus of Loro occurs on this day in the Franciscan Martyrology published with new care in the year 1879 by order of Bernardine of Porto, minister general of the Order of Minors, but his praises were celebrated at 26 August.
"The repose of the holy great Father Cyriacus of Corinth, under the Emperor Theodosius" [Dillmann, Catalogus codicum mss. Bibl. Bodleianae Oxoniensis, part VII, Cod. Aethiop., page 43.]: these words we read in the Coptic Synaxarion of Michael, bishop of the cities of Athribis and Malig, which was rendered from Arabic into Ethiopic, at the 3rd day of the month Hedar, which corresponds to our 30 October. The origin of this Synaxarion we shall explain below in the Life of SS. Athanasius and Irene. We cannot, however, but gather from it that St. Cyriacus was honoured with ecclesiastical cult in the Coptic and Ethiopic Churches. His Acts, written by Cyril, his disciple, our predecessors illustrated at 29 September. Wherefore we need speak of him only very briefly. Indeed, since the Ethiopic encomium of the Synaxarion, which the most distinguished William Wright, professor of oriental languages in the university of Cambridge, translated into English for our sake, differs not a little from the original Acts, we compare a summary of the eulogy with Cyril's writing. Now St. Cyriacus was born at Corinth, as we learn from the Synaxarion, of orthodox parents, and was taught by them the orthodox religion. By his cousin Peter, bishop of the Corinthians (who took charge of him at his parents' request), he was created lector and ordered to study the sacred Scripture and to read it aloud to the people in the church and to the bishop's household. At eighteen years of age he spurned the marriage offered by his parents, and, after visiting many monasteries in his native land, came to Jerusalem to embrace the monastic life. Thence, by the counsel of Cyril, bishop of that city, he went to the abbot Romanus, father of the monks of Palestine, and under his guidance shone with monastic virtues of every kind. He was also famous for miracles, restoring all the sick to health. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, took him as his companion when he betook himself to the council of Constantinople assembled against the heretic Macedonius; where he ordered him, in the presence of the Fathers of the synod, to champion the cause of the Holy Spirit. St. Cyriacus obeyed and overcame Macedonius. At length, much advanced in age, he rested most piously in the Lord, in the time of Theodosius, father of Arcadius and Honorius. Michael adds that the body of St. Cyriacus in his time, that is, nine hundred years after his death, was preserved incorrupt at Jerusalem. But this narrative, as we have pointed out, conflicts in many places with the Life of St. Cyriacus written by Cyril of Scythopolis, his disciple. For from this work we have gathered [Acta SS., volume VIII of September, page 142 and following. Cf. ibid., volume I of March, page 386 and following.] that St. Cyriacus was born at Corinth of John, a priest, and Eudoxia, in the year 448, under Theodosius the Younger, and was created lector by his maternal uncle Peter, bishop of the Corinthians, and studied the holy Scripture much. Cyril adds that at eighteen years of age he came to Jerusalem, and there, when Anastasius was bishop, was received into hospitality by Eustorgius, a holy man, and was then sent to St. Euthymius the abbot, who clothed him in the monastic habit and handed him over to be trained to St. Gerasimus, abbot of another monastery. After the death of St. Gerasimus he led the monastic life now here, now there in Palestine. Made a priest, he attacked the errors of the Origenists with great eagerness. At length, in the hundred and ninth year of his age, the five hundred and fifty-sixth of Christ, he migrated to heaven. And this is the summary of the narrative of Cyril, who, as a disciple of St. Cyriacus, is altogether to be trusted. But Michael, bishop of Athribis, differing in no small degree from Cyril of Scythopolis, fell into several errors: whose origin is that he thought that St. Cyriacus flourished in the time of the Emperor Theodosius the Great (379 – 395), and hence also in the time of St. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (351 – 386), and of the council of Constantinople of the year 381: whereas, on the contrary, he was among the living when Theodosius the Younger was emperor (408 – 450), when Anastasius was bishop of Jerusalem (458 – 478), and when the Origenists were spreading their doctrine. Wherefore Michael, interpreting the deeds of St. Cyriacus as though they had been done when Theodosius the Great was emperor, named the bishop visited by the holy monk at Jerusalem Cyril, and the heretics attacked by him Macedonians. These things suffice for our purpose. Whoever desires more, let him consult the genuine Acts of St. Cyriacus in our Work at 29 September.
The feast of St. Artemas or Artemon, a disciple, as they say, of St. Paul, is kept at this day by Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology, and by Chastelain in the Universal Martyrology: but he has been treated in our Acts at 21 June.
The memory of St. Fraternus, bishop and martyr of Auxerre, is recalled today in Galesini's Roman Martyrology, in Ferrarius's General Catalogue and in du Saussay's Gallican Martyrology. His Acts our predecessors illustrated at 29 September.
The translation of St. Victor, martyr, in the city of Troy, which is also read as Xanthis or in some other similar form, is remembered today in some Usuardine auctaria, in the Canisian Martyrology, in Ferrarius's General Catalogue, in du Saussay's Gallican Martyrology and in other calendars. This St. Victor is none other than the companion of St. Gereon celebrated in volume V of October of our Acts and in the auctarium of the same volume, at 10 October.
St. Rogatian, priest, and St. Felicissimus, martyrs in Africa, remembered today in the Hagenau Usuardine auctarium Sollerius's Usuardine Martyrology, page 638., were illustrated in our Work at 26 October.
The name of St. Cyriacus, bishop of Constantinople, today is inscribed in the Capponi Tables, in the Calendars of the Melchites of the year 1046 Wright, Catal. of Syriac manuscripts, page 201. and of the Jacobites of about the year 1600 Assemani, Bibl. Apostol. Vatic. codd. mss., volume II, page 275 and following.. We treated him at 27 October.
Bl. Stephen Cioni or Agazzari, of Siena, is celebrated today in Anthony Masini's Bologna perlustrata. He has been treated in our Work at 28 October.
SS. John and Wilfrid, bishops of Autun, are celebrated today by Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology. Du Saussay in the Gallican Martyrology mentions St. John alone. But that they are none other than St. John of Beverley and his successor in the see of York, St. Wilfrid the Younger, follows from what was said in the Passed Over at 29 October.
St. Theodore, abbot at Vienne in Gaul, is preposterously remembered today in the Hagenau Usuardine Auctarium. His Acts were published in our Work on the day before, namely at 29 October.
Chastelain, listing the saints of Gaul venerated on 30 October, relates that a church at Oblincum (Le Blanc) in the ancient diocese of Bourges was dedicated to St. Genitus, father of St. Gendulphus. We described his deeds at 29 October.
The deeds of Bl. Thomas of Florence, otherwise of Rieti, or Bellacio, of the Order of Friars Minor of the Stricter Observance, Francis Xavier De Ram inserted at today's date in Butler's Lives of the Saints. We, however, shall illustrate the blessed man's Acts at the day on which his feast is celebrated by pontifical indult, 31 October.
Bl. Noitburgis, niece, as is said, of Plectrude, wife of Pepin of Herstal, is inscribed on this day in some catalogues of the Saints of Germany. We shall set forth her Acts at the day on which she is remembered in the enlarged Usuardine martyrologies,… 31 October.
The feast of St. Leontius, consular and confessor, at Terracina, a city of Campania, is remembered today in the Greven Usuardine Auctarium, in the Martyrologies of Galesini and Canisius, and in both Catalogues of Ferrarius, or also in other calendars. But since this St. Leontius is chiefly treated in the passion of St. Caesarius the deacon, by whose agency he was converted to the faith, we shall illustrate the Acts of St. Leontius, confessor, together with the martyrdom of St. Caesarius, at 1 November.
St. Pontian, pope and martyr, praised today by Rabanus, Chastelain and others, will be illustrated by us at the day on which his memory is celebrated in the Roman Martyrology, namely 19 November.
The feast of St. Saturninus, bishop and martyr of Toulouse in Gaul, is proposed today in the Usuardine Auctaria. The translation of the blessed bishop is better celebrated in other calendars. Of this, as also of the passion of the holy martyr, we shall treat at the day on which he is chiefly venerated, 29 November.
Stephen Urosh II, king of Serbia, is venerated on this day as a saint by the Serbs. He will be discussed where Stephen Urosh V has to be spoken of, at the day… 2 December.
The feast of St. Macarius, martyr of Alexandria under Decius, is announced in the Roman Martyrology. We shall treat of him on the day on which he recurs again in the Roman Martyrology, 8 December.
Of SS. Alexander, the two Ammonarias, Dionysia and Mercuria, martyrs of Alexandria, Chastelain makes mention at this day. We, however, shall illustrate their deeds under the day on which they are praised in the Roman Martyrology, 12 December.
SS. Hero, Ater and Isidore, martyrs of Alexandria, are recalled today by Chastelain in the Universal Martyrology. In our Work, however, their deeds will be elucidated on the day on which they are celebrated in the Roman Martyrology, 14 December.
St. Sylvia, virgin, is remembered today by Arthur du Monstier in the Sacred Gynecaeum. But we shall recall her memory in our Acts on the day on which she is honoured at Brescia, as we gather from Joseph Onofri Papebroch's Tractatus de Martyrologio Brixiano, page 60, Brescia 1855. and Joseph Brunati [Leggendario di Santi Bresciani, page 61, Brescia edition 1834; Vita o gesta di Santi Bresciani, volume I, page 289, Brescia edition 1854; Commentariolum de tribus sanctis Brixinensibus, page 3.], 15 December.
St. Nemesion, martyr of Alexandria, occurs at this day in the Universal Martyrology of Chastelain. He will have to be treated on the day on which his memory is made in the Roman Martyrology, 19 December.
St. Alvitus, also called Avitus, bishop of León in Spain, occurs today in Ferrarius's General Catalogue. The people of León formerly marked his feast at 5 September [España sagrada, volume XXXV, page 97. Cf. Sainz de Baranda, Coleccion de documentos ineditos, volume XXII, page 400.], but they never seem to have celebrated a feast. His public cult, however, is beyond doubt, and it, no less than his deeds, is illustrated in España sagrada; to which, by mandate of the College of historical monuments of the province of León, there was added in the year 1866 a singular document on the tomb of the same blessed man. At 3 October, at which his memory had also come before them, our predecessors said that this saint would be treated in our Work at the day on which he most probably died, 27 December.
St. Maximus of Apamea, of whom there is mention today in the Roman Martyrology, we mention below in the Preliminary Commentary on St. Maximus of Cumae.
St. Maximus of Compsa is celebrated at this day in the Hieronymian Martyrology of Echternach. But he is the same as St. Maximus of Cumae, whose Acts we illustrate below in this volume.
SS. Januarius, Marcian, Nazarius, Gervase, Protase and Celsus, a boy, are said in the Hieronymian Martyrologies of Lucca, Bern and others to have suffered at Antioch on this day. Fiorentini suspects that an error has crept into these names. Nor is this conjecture absurd: for first, at Milan the cult of certain SS. Gervase and Protase on 19 June is celebrated, and on 28 July that of certain SS. Nazarius and Celsus, a boy: then, in the same and other Hieronymian Martyrologies at 19 June there is read: "At Milan, the feast of the saints Nazarius, Gervase, Protase and Celsus, a boy." These saints have been treated in our Bollandist Work at 19 June and 28 July, and Puricelli wrote a very lengthy commentary De SS. martyribus Nazario et Celso, ac Protasio et Gervasio.. Wherefore he will not be thought imprudent who judges them to be the same as those inscribed on this day in the Hieronymian lists, and also that the copyist wrote Antioch in place of Milan. But on these holy martyrs let the reader see what is written below at page 243.
The memory of SS. Januarius, Marcian, Mark, Martial, Peter and Anticus, who are reported in the Hieronymian Martyrologies to have been martyrs of Nicomedia, will be explained below at page 241 in the Sylloge on SS. Calendio and Theophilus.
St. Savinus, bishop, venerated at Siena, is numbered among the saints of this day by Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints who are not in the Roman Martyrology. In the added Notes the same hagiologist confesses that he does not know the see of this holy bishop, suspecting that he was bishop of Chiusi: but we do not find that a prelate of this name presided over the people of Chiusi. Macedo Divi tutelares Orbis Christiani, page 122 and following. and the authors of the Sienese Calendars [Fasti Senenses, page 3. Cf. Pecci, Storia del vescovado di Siena, page 145 and following.] relate that his relics, together with the relics of SS. Ansanus, Crescentius and Victor, were translated into the cathedral church of Siena in the year 1107, and that these saints were chosen as patrons of the Sienese.
Ferrarius in his General Catalogue indicates that the feast of St. Felix, bishop of Martana and martyr, is celebrated in our times at Todi in Umbria; and rightly, for his feast is inscribed at 30 October in the liturgical calendar of Todi. The same man at the same day briefly narrated, from the proper Offices of that church, the martyrdom of St. Felix, bishop of Martana; which narrative thence passed into the Italian Hagiology. Chastelain, however, in the Universal Martyrology, loosed the knot that lies hidden in this place, or rather wrapped it in darkness: "In the duchy of Spoleto," he says, "of St. Felix of Janocastrum, venerated at Todi as bishop of another see and martyr." Since in the Roman Martyrology at 18 May there is read: "At Spoleto, of St. Felix, bishop, who under the Emperor Maximian obtained the palm of martyrdom" (where Spoleto was written in place of Hispellum, commonly Spello), our Henschenius at that day Acta SS., volume IV of May, page 167 and following. spoke of St. Felix, bishop of Spello, martyr. There he shows that he is different from his namesake whose body is preserved at Split in Dalmatia, and was never translated to Spalis among the Vascones, as the fable-makers would have it: and in doubt he asks whether St. Felix, bishop of Hispellum, is the same as St. Felix, called bishop of Martana: he does not dare to affirm it against Donnola, who says that he found the city of Martana to be imaginary rather than real, and unknown to all ancient writers. Wherefore he referred the examination of this matter to this day. Yet I would not wish to write a huge commentary on this matter, from which, indeed, more smoke than light would arise; but I shall briefly indicate a few certain things. First of all it cannot be denied that Hispellum, situated not far from Foligno, was formerly a not undistinguished town, as is gathered from the decree of Constantine the Great issued about the year 326 on the games to be celebrated there Orelli-Henzen, Inscriptt. ital., volume III, number 5580.; next, that the feast of St. Felix, bishop and martyr, was ascribed to this place in the ninth century by Usuard and perhaps also by Ado at 18 May: which martyrologists omitted at 30 October the name of St. Felix of Martana; so that the existence of St. Felix of Hispellum is beyond controversy, and doubt is raised only about St. Felix of Martana; especially because his Passion, edited by Possevino, Jacobilli, Ferrarius and many others, is the same as that of St. Felix of Hispellum, which saw the light in these our Acts at 18 May. By which argument the dispute would be settled, were it not that almost daily we meet with Acts transferred from one saint to another, especially if they are namesakes. But that the city of Martana is said never to have existed is not a certain thing. For it is established that in the plain near the Monti Martani there formerly flourished the Vicus Martis, facing Spoleto to the east, Todi to the west, the ducal town of San Gemini to the south, and the Terra di Massa to the north. Indeed it is related that that town was built from the ruins of Martana. For the anonymous author who indicated his name by the sigla G. M. S. and had his little work printed at Rome in the year 1771 [Vite de santi della Città Martana e beati della Terra di Massa nell' Umbria, con un discorso storico, dedicate all' Illmo e Rmo Monsignore Francesco M. Pasini, vescovo di Todi. Roma 1771. Nelle Stamperia di Michelangelo Barbiellini nel Palazzo Massimi.] seems to have made this matter manifest by several stones, near Todi, on which was inscribed VICANI VICI MARTIS the villagers of the Vicus Martis. That village must be the same as the station AD MARTIS at Mars's inscribed on the three silver Itineraries from Gades to Rome found in the year 1852 Orelli-Henzen, Inscriptt. lat., number 5210, volume III, page 25.. Which station was distant from Mevania (Bevagna) XVI Roman miles and from Narnia XVIII, on the Via Flaminia. And the Itinerary of Antoninus Pius, where the route from the City through Picenum is described, does not differ from this order of places. The anonymous author also wished to confirm by the testimony of Tacitus that it was formerly called the city of Martana or Martensis; but he quoted the words of some commentator, not of Tacitus. Better authority is a stone set into the tower of the church of St. Mary in Paniano, if it is genuine; in which indeed is read: R. Q. VV. CIVITATIS MARTANÆ TVDERTINORVM MARCI ANTONINI L. D. D. R. Q. VV. of the Martan city of the Tudertines, of Marcus Antoninus; L. D. D. I should not dare, therefore, to affirm with Donnola that the city of Martana is imaginary, and so could have had no bishops. But if it is granted to be real, it does not however follow from this that St. Felix and St. Brictius sat there as bishops, since the Acts of neither are either ancient or of much authority. Again, on the other hand, it seems impossible to deny that at Hispellum there existed, or even still exists, a tomb of a certain St. Felix empty of the body, which was translated elsewhere. To Janocastrum, where formerly, namely from the middle of the tenth century, there existed a monastery of Benedictines, converted in the year 1450 into a convent of the Hermits of St. Augustine, suppressed by the French in the year 1798, and five years later, when the Augustinians had been brought into the Loreto monastery at Spoleto, granted by Pius VII to the Passionists? The old martyrology of this place suggests otherwise, in which at 30 October is read: "Near Janum of the county of Spoleto, of St. Felix, bishop and martyr; who, being bishop of the city of Martana, by order of Tarquinius the prefect, for the faith of Christ, was first bound to a pillar and afflicted with many stripes, thereafter put into a cauldron of boiling oil, moreover placed on an iron grid over burning coals; and when by no kind of torments could he be torn from the faith, at last, struck on the head with the sword, he fell." But this eulogy, drawn from the untrustworthy Acts of St. Felix, is too recent to remove all doubt about the place from which the sacred body was received. And indeed in those Acts there is no mention of any translation whatever; so that this seems to have been performed not immediately after the martyrdom, as they now would have it, but rather after the Acts had been written, perhaps on the occasion of the monastery founded in the middle of the tenth century. Nor is Hispellum, near Foligno, very far distant from Giano, namely, according to Boscovich's map, not more than twelve Roman miles; so that the body could have been translated from there almost as easily as from the Vicus Martis. When the reader has diligently considered all these circumstances, let him himself determine whether it is more likely or not that an episcopal see was formerly erected at the Vicus Martis, known only from most uncertain monuments; that in it sat (to omit St. Brictius) St. Felix, still hidden from the martyrologists in the ninth century; that the body which is venerated at Giano was translated to Giano not from Hispellum (where the tomb of St. Felix is empty), but was brought there shortly after the martyrdom, about which nothing is said in the Acts, recent though they are. Since, then, there are so many causes for doubt, I would not wish to treat in a separate commentary of St. Felix whom they call bishop of Martana. Those who want more about him, let them consult Possevino, Jacobilli, Ferrarius and Donnola, also the historians of Todi and Spoleto, and besides Peter Stefanucci, Augustine of St. Felix, Angelo Alessandrini, the anonymous author who published his little writing at Foligno in the year 1760, the anonymous author of the year 1771 mentioned above, and the Discalced cleric or Passionist who in the year 1809 put his little book to the press at Foligno, and other biographers of the same saint (if perhaps there are any).
St. Monachus, whose age, profession and other things are now entirely unknown, was formerly venerated on 30 October in the parish of Stevenston, formerly named Steynstoune, in the county of Ayr in Scotland. In which place a church was certainly dedicated to him: for a certain Archibald, in a charter of 7 October of the year 1547, says: "I give and bequeath my soul to almighty God … my body to be buried in the church of St. Monachus of Steynstoune." There every year, on the 30th (which day was formerly and is now called the day of St. Monachus, in English St Monk's-day and, for euphony's sake, Sam-Maneuke's-day), a public supplication was held: in the evening dances were led. Alexander Forbes adds that there exists in the parish of Sorn a piece of land called Auchmannoch Alex. Forbes, Kalendars of Scottish Saints, page 412..
The feast of St. Crispinus II, bishop of Ticinum, is celebrated today by the clergy of this diocese. He is said to have held the see of Ticinum from the year 275 to the year 305, after the death of St. Epiphanius I, and to have built the chapel of the Holy Cross and the church of SS. Cosmas and Damian [Gualla, Sanctuar. Papiense, page 11, edition of 1505; Romualdus of St. Mary, Papia Sacra, part I, page 124; part II, page 160; Capsoni, Memorie istoriche di Pavia, volume II, page 103.]. The ancient writers are silent about him. Ughelli doubts Italia sacra, volume I, column 1078. whether he was not taken for St. Crispinus I, venerated on 7 January, who is said to have sat at Ticinum at the beginning of the third century. For the time which is attributed to St. Crispinus II, on account of the most savage persecution of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian, seems hardly suitable for building altars and churches in honour of the holy martyrs. Faustus Anthony Marroni [De ecclesia et episcopis Papiensibus Commentarius, § X, page 7 and following. Cf. Acta SS., volume I of January, page 356.] doubted whether it was one man who, made threefold, was distributed into different times, and venerated on 7 January under the name of St. Crispinus I and St. Crispinus III, and on 30 October under the name of St. Crispinus II. Which doubts cannot be resolved for lack of documents. For these reasons St. Crispinus II seems to be placed among the Passed Over.
The memory of Herbernus, otherwise Henbernus, Hibernus, first abbot of Marmoutier at Tours, then archbishop of that same city, is kept by du Saussay Martyrologium Gallicanum, page 795. Cf. Acta SS., volume VII of July, page 171., Bucelin Menologium Benedictinum, page 745., Ménard Martyrologium Benedict., page 727. and others, who call him a saint. "When Rollo, leader of the Northmen," says Ménard, "was raging with slaughter and sword through the Gauls, having besieged the city of the Cenomani, he sent an army to plunder Tours; but since because of the flooding of the waters it could not invade the city, it laid waste Marmoutier with slaughter and flame, and slaughtered many monks. The soldiers led St. Hebernus the abbot out of his hiding place, and tortured him with dreadful torments, that he might disclose the treasures of the church and the other monks in hiding; but, unable by any atrocity to shake the constancy of the holy man, they returned to the Cenomani; and these having been captured, the people of Tours, terrified, sent the body of St. Martin to Auxerre with chosen guards, Bl. Hebernus the abbot, and twenty-four monks who were left over from the slaughter, twelve canons of the church of St. Martin, and twelve burgesses (notable bourgeois) of Castrum Novum (Châteauneuf). When the war had been settled, the sacred body was brought back to Tours, and St. Hebernus by the wishes and votes of all was created bishop of Tours in the year 890, and died in the year 912 or 915 or 916" Gallia Christiana tertia, volume XIV, column 45 and following.. Although by many, as we have seen, he is called a saint, by St. Odo of Cluny Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, column 118. "a man of the Lord," by the authors of the Deeds of the Counts of Anjou "a holy old man" Gallia Christiana secunda, volume I, page 749., by Chastelain Martyrologe Universel, page 988. "venerable," we nevertheless ascribe him not to the Saints but only to the Passed Over. For from no historical monument does it seem established to us that ecclesiastical cult, and that public, was paid to Herbernus a hundred years before the decrees of Urban VIII, or that he is to be counted among the saints or blessed on any other title.
Simplicius, disciple of St. Benedict and another and homonymous abbot of Monte Cassino, is recalled today as a saint in the supplement of the Benedictine Menology. Erasmus Gattola Historia Abbatiae Cassinensis, part I, page 12. indeed and others call him saint or blessed; but this honour does not seem to have fallen to him a hundred years before the Urban decrees. Certainly Peter the Deacon Mai, Scriptt. Vett., volume VI, part II, page 250., who wrote in the twelfth century, abstains from that singular praise.
Nanterus, abbot of the monastery of Saint-Mihiel in Lorraine, who died about the year 1044, is inscribed at this day among the blessed by Chastelain in the Universal Martyrology. But although Chastelain was a man of outstanding prudence, sufficient arguments are not supplied to us that we should attribute this honour to the servant of God in our Work. But whoever wishes to know the deeds of Nanterus, famous for holiness, talent and many other gifts, let him consult Augustine Calmet, who narrated them Hist. de la Lorraine, volume II, column 204 and following and 349 and following..
Peter, by surname Cuculus, taken from the singularity of his dress or from the bird (I know not for what reason), by birth of Cologne, is remembered today as a Saint in several Cassinese calendars. But in these antiquity seems to be lacking, so that there can be room for a case excepted by the Urban decree. For the first who celebrated his praises, Peter the Deacon, the very well-known twelfth-century monk of Monte Cassino, in the Book on the rising and death of the just of the monastery of Monte Cassino, abstains altogether from the title of Saint or Blessed. And Erasmus Gattola in the History of the abbey of Monte Cassino, where he recites the passage of Peter the Deacon, then not yet edited (for Cardinal Mai first brought the book to light fifty years ago), calls him simply Peter Cuculus. That same Peter the Deacon had not designated the day of his death: which silence is a manifest testimony that nothing singular was done on his feast-day. Indeed Arnold Wion too, who first, in the year 1595, seems to have counted Peter among the saints, places him among the aemeri in the Appendix of the Benedictine Martyrology, or of book III of the Lignum vitae. Hugo Ménard imitated him in the year 1629. Gabriel Bucelin of his own choice was the first to record the memory of Peter Cuculus at 30 October, whom a few others then followed, namely Benedict Cherle in the Martyrology of the year 1714, and a hundred years ago the author of the Historical Description of Monte Cassino, who in the catalogue of the Cassinese men illustrious for holiness listed St. Peter Cuculus at the eleventh century. On the other hand the monk of Donauwörth who published the Benedictine Martyrology in the year 1786, and Peter Lechner, who followed his footsteps in the year 1855, omitted all memory of Peter Cuculus. From all which it appears that the pious monk was neither called a saint a hundred years before the Urban decrees, nor without interruption, and so that there is no place for him in our Work except among the Passed Over.
Teresa of Toledo, who also bore the name de Velado, abbess O.S.B., is remembered today in Bucelin's Menology. She flourished about the year 1590, but has hitherto in no way been duly placed among the heavenly ones.
Sergius, monk in the monastery of St. Severus near Ravenna, and father of St. Romuald, whose deeds St. Peter Damian narrated in his son's Life Acta SS., volume II of February, page 108., is honoured on this day with the title of blessed in the Camaldolese Diary of Basil Duverchius Diarium oder Camaldul. tag-buch, volume IV, page 146.. He is also numbered among the Saints of this Order by Wion Lignum vitae, part I, book I, chapter 26, page 45., Hastiville Romualdina Historia, at the beginning, page 12., Augustine Fortunius and Jerome Fabri Sagre Memorie di Ravenna Antica, part I, page 341.. But these writers do not indicate that he was honoured with immemorial cult: indeed even Mittarelli [Annales Camaldulenses, volume I, book IV, page 159. Cf. Santi e Beati dell' Ordine di Camaldoli, page 9.] could produce no ancient monument to establish this matter. Wherefore his place seems to be among the Passed Over of this day.
Rayner, monk and subdeacon of Villers in Brabant, is remembered on this day, because he is read to have died a pious death about the feast of All Saints, in the History of Villers, in Assignies's Illustrious Cistercian Men, in Raissius's Auctarium to the Feasts of the saints of Belgium, in Bucelin's Benedictine Menology, in Anthony de Heredia's Lives of the saints of the Order of St. Benedict, in the Cistercian Calendar of the year 1689 in smaller type, in Benedict Cherle's German Benedictine Martyrology and in other books of this kind. The monks of Villers seem to have honoured their colleague with some veneration; for in Henriquez, in the Notes from the Chronicle, is read: "Then (namely after his death) the monks cut off his hair and kept it in place of relics." But since these things are omitted in the History of Villers, which is most effusive in the praises of the venerable Rayner; and the age of that Chronicle, never edited in its entirety, is not indicated, this narrative is too obscure to us for us to demonstrate by it that the cult of the Venerable Rayner is legitimate. In Sanderus's Brabantia illustrata you will find inserted a little picture showing the Heaven of Villers, or twenty-four of the chief men who flourished in holiness at Villers, all distinguished with the title of blessed, and surrounded with a nimbus or light of glory: among whom is also Rayner. But this image, as also others of this kind which could be referred to, is not older than the beginnings of the seventeenth century, nor sufficient to admit him among the cases excepted by Urban. Add that Rayner was not among the number of those whose sacred bodies Abbot Henrion in the year 1599 had translated from the old tomb into a marble monument in a chapel magnificently adorned for this purpose Raissius, Hierogazophylacium, page 536; Vos, Abbaye de Villers, page 117.; so that he did not obtain the honours of the elevation of the body. Finally in the Martyrology which in the last century, for the use of the monks of Villers, seems to have been written, and which has been enlarged with almost all the blessed or venerable men of that monastery, the name of Rayner is altogether passed over in silence. We therefore omit to undertake a longer discourse about that venerable man, after the example of our predecessors, who followed much the same rule in the case of other blessed men of Villers.
Philip Agazzari of Siena, hermit O.S.A. of Lecceto, is announced today as Blessed in the Sienese Sacred Diary; in which he was preceded by Ambrose Landucci Sacra Ilicetana sylva sive origo et chronicon coenobii de Iliceto, page 101., who relates that the blessed man departed from life on 30 October of the year 1422; and likewise by Raymond Capisucchi in the Breviary of the Lives of the hermits O.S.A., and others. About him we should have to repeat here almost what was said about the first hermits of Lecceto in our Work at 28 October, in the Acts of Bl. John Chigi, a man of the same congregation, namely that their public cult is not a hundred years older than the Urban decrees, and that if the case of Bl. Chigi is excepted, this is chiefly to be traced to the toleration or approval of Pope Alexander VII of the Chigi family.
James of San Felice, of the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine, found with his body entire long after his death, is praised today with the title of Blessed in the Ephemeris of the Saints of that Order written by Aurelius Knippinga Ephemeris Sanctorum Ord. Erem. S. Augustini, page 83.. But he, having departed this life in the year 1616, has not hitherto been placed among the heavenly ones by apostolic decree.
The pious memory of Hermann Ogier, Premonstratensian canon regular of St. Nicholas at Furnes in Flanders, is kept on this day in the Hagiological Ephemerides of this Order George, Ephemerides Hagiologicae Ordinis Praemonst., page 311..
Bernard de la Tour, first a monk of the Charterhouse of Portes in the diocese of Belley, then prior of the whole Order, is called blessed, although ecclesiastical or public cult never seems to have been paid to him. He died most holily on 30 October of the year 1258 [Depéry, Histoire hagiologique du diocèse de Belley, volume II, page 49; Gallizia, Atti de' Santi della reale casa di Savoia, volume V, page 51.].
Peter of Florence, who departed this life piously among the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 1455, is celebrated today with the title of blessed in the Marian Menology [Menologium Marianum seu gesta Sanctorum Ordinis Servorum B. Mariae Virginis, volume II, page 256.] of that Order. He is honoured with the same praise in the Annals Giani, Annalium Servorum B. Mariae V. Centuriae Quatuor, volume I, page 480. of the same Servants of the Mother of God, where he is read to have died in the year 1452, and in the Etruscan hagiological Catalogue Catalogus Agiologicus Hetruscus, Rome 1731, page 44., as well as in the Sacred Temple of Leonard Cozzando Il sagro tempio Servitano, Vienna 1693.. But he does not seem to have obtained this title a hundred years before the Urban decrees; and so his name is not read in the Catalogue of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary held among the heavenly ones in the sixteenth century, printed in our Acts at 24 October Act. SS., volume X of October, page 883., nor in the common Florentine Calendar Santoni, Diario sacro Florentino, 1853..
John Calerus, otherwise of the Holy Spirit, on this day of the year 1541, and at the same time three anonymous young men, tertiaries of the Order of St. Francis, were cruelly slaughtered for the faith of Christ by certain apostate Indians. Their contest is narrated by Huber, besides Gonzaga, Barezzi and Arthur, who call them blessed, although they have not been placed among the martyrs.
Francis de Alalpardo, at Alcalá, Robert Prévost, at Limoges, and Cecilia, a nun of Volterra, are praised under this day by Arthur, Huber and other Franciscan hagiologists. They lack public cult indeed, as do Brothers Stephen and Raymond, killed in the year 1242 at Toulouse in Gaul: likewise Diego, who died in the year 1470 at Toro in Castile, whom Huber mentions. Add Francis Floriano Mazzara, Leggendario Francesc., part II, volume II, page 281., a tertiary, converted to God by St. Peter of Alcántara, and Elizabeth Vereycken and other Poor Clares of Belgium, praised in the Spiritual Palm-grove of Father Benignus Fremaut.
Alvaro Semedo, born in the town of Nisa in the diocese of Portalegre in Portugal, is inscribed at this day, 30 October, in the Menology of the Society of Jesus by the Rev. Fr. Elesban de Guilhermy [Ménologe de la Compagnie de Jésus, Assistance de Portugal, part II, page 381. Cf. Sotuel, Bibliotheca scriptorum Societatis Jesu, page 44; Franco, Annus gloriosus, page 256; Bartoli, Cina, book III, part I, §74, page 194, edition of 1829.]. In the year 1602 Alvaro, in his seventeenth year, was co-opted into the Society of Jesus. While he was applying himself to philosophy, having obtained the Indian mission, he sailed to Goa. Made a priest, he betook himself to China, where for the cause of the Catholic religion he suffered most cruel torments about the year 1617. He was deported to Canton and thence banished to Macao. But he went back again to China, where he endured incredible labours for Christ, until in the year 1658, in the seventy-third year of his age and the forty-sixth of the Chinese mission, full of days, he migrated from earth to heaven [Cordara, Historia Societatis Jesu, part VI, volume I, page 128; Barbosa, Bibliotheca Lusitana, volume I, page 113; Patrignani, Menolog., July, page 153; Nicholas Antonio, Bibliotheca Hispana nova, volume I, page 61.].
Francis de Almada, a Portuguese, scholastic of the Society of Jesus, died at the age of twenty-two years on this day of the year 1658 of the plague, while serving the sick lying in the public hospital of Évora. The outstanding piety towards Christ the Lord and the Mother of God which he had cultivated from his tenderest years he wonderfully increased in the Society of Jesus to his last breath Guilhermy, page 380; Franco, Annus gloriosus, page 648..
Adam Mankowski, a Pole, born of noble but poor parents in the town of Zabno, ten leagues distant from Cracow, was killed by heretics for the cause of religion on this day, 30 October 1604, at Glatz * in Silesia, when, with his companion Albert Lashius, he was returning to his native land from Rome, where he had visited the threshold of the apostles. The body of this most pious martyr was buried with a solemn funeral on 23 November of the same year in the church of the Society of Jesus at Glatz. And these things are taken from the narrative which Heribert Rosweyde testifies in writing was authentically sent to the province of Poland of the Society of Jesus and distributed through all the houses of the same Society by the members living at Glatz Cf. Jaroszewicz, Matka Swietych Polska, part IV, page 238..
Joseph Passerat, priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, born in the year 1772, was co-opted among the companions of St. Alphonsus de Liguori by the venerable servant of God Clement Hofbauer in the year 1796 at Warsaw in Poland. In the year 1820 he was appointed vicar general of the Congregation on this side of the mountains. In the year 1848, broken by age and labours, he was driven out by the enemies of religion from Austria, where he had his dwelling, came to Tournai in Belgium and laid down his office. This done, a pattern to all of all the religious virtues, he prolonged a most pious life until 30 October of the year 1858 [Villecourt, Vie et Institut de S. Alphonse de Liguori, volume III, page 375; Wilmet, Calendrier Hist. de la Belgique, page 129.].
On this day also died St. Amda Michael, supreme commander of the forces of the kings of Ethiopia, Zara Yakob, Ba-eda Maryam and Eskender (Alexander) [Cf. W. Wright, Catalogue of the Ethiopic mss. in the British Museum, preface, page VII.]. The father of this holy man was named Claudius (in Ethiopic, Galawdewos), and his mother Elizabeth (Elsabeth); who flourished in wealth and faith. That holy man was born on the feast of the four living creatures [Cf. Synaxarium, month of Hatur, 8, in Mai, Scriptorum veterum nova coll., volume IV, page 100, and in others.], and was called Amda Michael (Pillar of Michael). A year after his birth, crawling about, he came into the middle part [a] of the church of St. Michael, and remained there three days without anyone knowing, so that his parents thought him dead and wept for him without ceasing. Then, when the priest was looking for incense in the middle of the church, he found the infant sitting fearless on the ground, without the floor being in any way soiled. His parents took him away and rejoiced greatly that they had found him alive. From that time he advanced in wisdom and learning, until the kings appointed him master and leader of all the works of their house. By his justice and alms he became the father of the poor. Likewise at his own expense he restored all the churches. Under his government the oppressors of the wretched and wicked men took themselves out of the way. Using both fasting and prayer, and with the saints helping, he more than once stormed the cities of the pagans (Arami), until they submitted to the power of the kings and paid tribute. The holy man Amda Michael, whose mind was bound to God by love [b], never took food except after invoking the saints and drinking the water of prayer. Nor did he pass any day without immersing himself in the water of prayer. Moreover he spent his whole substance on relieving the poor. Seeing this kindness, God gave him an opportunity for the salvation of his soul. Certain worthless men accused him before the king, that he might be killed. But the king, because he loved him much, did him no harm. At length, drawn with great difficulty to the side of those wicked men, he most reluctantly sent the holy man into exile to a very distant region. St. Michael the archangel helped him, and, so that he might have plenty to eat and drink, brought bread and a cup, and promised him paradise. And whenever he desired to receive the Eucharist, the archangel brought it from heaven and offered it to him. Afterwards his accusers conspired, and brought him into the royal court and killed him. And on that very night one of those who feared God went to see his body, and found three angels incensing [c] his body: the truth of which thing, invoking the name of God, he attested on oath. Others, when the sun was already high, saw a lamp coming down upon him from heaven. But the king, gathering in his mind the excellent gifts of the holy man, cursed his slayers, and publicly forbade that the memory of Amda Michael should ever be execrated in future: he ordered the body to be solemnly buried in the tomb of his ancestors and a monument erected to his memory, and also that his children be honoured; and he pursued them with love. Afterwards our king Lebna Dengel, having heard the testament of his father * Ba-eda Maryam (who died in the year 1478), which had remained with him, ordered the body of the holy man to be carried to the throne (into the cathedral church) of Our Lady, and to be laid there in the tomb of the kings, that he might obtain fame and memory. Thus far the Ethiopic Synaxarion, which the most learned Wright translated into English for us: of which hagiological document we shall treat below in the Preliminary Commentary to the Acts of SS. Athanasius and Irene. Let the reader know, however, that the Synaxarion was originally written in Arabic by the Copts, and then translated by the Ethiopians into their own language and enlarged with some saints. Now it is manifest that the praise of Amda Michael was superadded by the Ethiopians to the Synaxarion of Michael, bishop of Athribis and Malig: for it is absent from the Arabic codices. Add that Amda Michael lived under the kings Zara Jacob, Ba-eda Maryam and Eskender, of whom the first is said to have died in the year 1468, the second in the year 1478 and the third in the year 1495 Sappeto, Viaggio … dell' Abissinia, pages 81, 364, 377, 439.; whereas the author of the Synaxarion wrote about the year 1425 Acta SS., volume XII of October, page 233.. From the encomium of Amda itself it seems clear enough that the addition was made in the time of King Lebna Dengel, who reigned in Ethiopia from about the year 1508 to 1540 [Sappeto, Viaggio … dell' Abissinia, page 81 and following, pages 364, 439 and following.], and that the cult of the holy man arose then. It is indeed doubtful whether Amda was a Catholic or not. Certainly the Ethiopian nation, through the zeal of King Zara Jacob, by its envoys at Florence before Eugene IV, the Roman pontiff, abjured heresy and embraced the Catholic religion in the year 1442 [Raynaldus, Annal. eccles., volume IX, at the year 1441 and following, page 365 and following, page 391, Mansi's edition; Labbe, Conc., volume XIII, column 1201 and following, 1215 and following.]; and held it at least until, Zara Jacob having died in the year 1468, his son Ba-eda Maryam succeeded; but afterwards now cast it off, now took it up again [Raynaldus, volume IX, year 1442, page 391; volume XI, year 1481, page 16. Cf. ibid., year 1491, page 182.]. Hence I think I am not absurd in supposing that Amda Michael gave his name to the Catholic Church, and stirred up so much envy against himself because, under King Zara Jacob's next successors, Ba-eda Maryam and Eskender, he refused to imitate the rest of the nation, which had returned to heresy. But this is a conjecture. But since it is not plain that Amda Michael was honoured with legitimate cult, we refer him among the saints Passed Over. We cannot but advise the reader of certain doubtful words occurring in the Ethiopic Synaxarion. They are these:
Annotataa. Hamar, which we render: the inner part of the church;
b. fetr, for which we substitute fekr, so that it signifies love;
c. Yatenu, which is to be read Yaatenu: to fumigate with incense, to perfume with vapour.
* Glatz.
* read proavi
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