31 October

Prid. Kal. Nov. · 16 entries
The day in the Acta: saints venerated, and those passed over

THE THIRTY-FIRST DAY

SAINTS WHO ARE VENERATED ON THE DAY BEFORE THE KALENDS OF NOVEMBER

St. Stachys, mentioned by St. Paul the Apostle.

St. Ampliatus, mentioned by St. Paul the Apostle.

St. Urban, mentioned by St. Paul the Apostle.

St. Narcissus, mentioned by St. Paul the Apostle.

St. Ammonius, martyr of Macedonia.

St. Vigilantius, martyr of Macedonia.

St. Felix, martyr of Noviodunum in Pannonia.

St. Donatus, martyr of Noviodunum in Pannonia.

And twenty-nine other martyrs of Noviodunum in Pannonia.

St. Rustician, Hieronymian martyr.

St. Agapitus, Hieronymian martyr.

Eight companions, Hieronymian martyrs.

And other Hieronymian martyrs.

St. Natalis, confessor at Rome.

St. Epimachus of Pelusium, martyr at Alexandria.

St. Nemesius, martyr at Rome.

St. Lucilla, martyr at Rome.

St. Quintinus, martyr at Augusta of the Veromandui.

St. Stratonica, martyr at Cyzicus on the Propontis.

St. Seleucus, martyr at Cyzicus on the Propontis.

St. Lucillus, bishop of Verona.

St. Antoninus, bishop of Milan.

St. Noitburga, virgin at Cologne.

St. Nicholas, presbyter, at Ledesma in Spain.

St. Leonard, presbyter, at Ledesma in Spain.

Nicholas the boy, at Ledesma in Spain.

St. Cissa, anchorite in Crowland.

St. Egbert, anchorite in Crowland.

St. Tatwin, anchorite in Crowland.

St. Tancred, hermit, venerated at Thorney in England.

St. Torthred, hermit, venerated at Thorney in England.

St. Tova, hermit, venerated at Thorney in England.

St. Huna, hermit, venerated at Thorney in England.

St. Herefurth, hermit, venerated at Thorney in England.

St. Arnulf, martyr at Novalesa in Piedmont.

St. Wolfgang, bishop of Regensburg.

Bl. Thomas of Florence, otherwise of Rieti, of the Order of Friars Minor of the Strict Observance.

Appendix on St. Pigmenius.

PASSED OVER AND REFERRED TO OTHER DAYS

St. Aristobulus, disciple of St. Paul, who is remembered today in Sirleto's Menology of the Greeks In Canisius, Thesaurus monumentorum, volume III, page 483., has already been praised in the Acta Sanctorum at 15 March.

St. Marcellus, bishop and confessor, is numbered among the saints of Spain at 31 October by Tamayo Martyr. Hispanum, volume V, page 680.; Bivar also celebrates him. They read, that is, in the chronicle of that Flavius Dexter of theirs at the year 300: "In the city of Solia in Baetica, St. Marcellus (as is believed), a Spanish bishop, a man outstandingly pious and learned" [Flavii Dextri chronicon, edited by the labour of F. Bivar, page 327; cf. page 331.]. Tamayo thinks he was bishop of Solia, Bivar of Seville, Rodrigo Caro of Dia, who also thinks that the sees of Solia and Dia are the same, united from two neighbouring cities In Tamayo, Mart. Hisp., volume V, page 680.. These authors dispute about the site of these cities: how little authority is to be attached to them has long since been discovered [Cf. Acta SS., volume I of February, preface, page XVII; volume I of July, preliminary treatise, page 42 and following, 58 and following; volume VI of July, preliminary treatise, page 11 and following, etc.]. Nicholas Antonio refutes their errors Censura de historias fabulosas, page 252 and following., showing that no episcopal see of Solia or Dia existed in Spain, and that that Marcellus is none other than St. Marcellus, bishop of Die in Gaul. His Acts were published by G. Henschenius under the day on which he is venerated, 9 April.

St. Apelles, whom St. Paul, writing to the Romans, greets as approved in Christ, is inscribed at this day in several calendars of the Greeks. He does not seem different from the one who was praised in our Acts on 22 April.

SS. Epimachus and Azirianus, whom Chastelain inscribed in his martyrology, are commemorated at the 4th day of the month Hatur (which for us is 31 October) in the sacred calendars of the Ethiopian Church Ludolf, Commentarius in Historiam Aethiopicam, page 296.. The martyrdom of SS. Epimachus and Azarianus under the Emperor Maximian is also narrated in the Ethiopic Synaxarion Dillmann, Catal. codd. mss. bibl. Bodleianae Oxoniensis, part VII, page 43.: in another codex they are called Romans Zotenberg, Catal. des mss. Éthiopiens de la bibl. nationale, page 161.. Mention is made of the same in the Martyrology of the Copts which, rendered into Latin by Simon Moysis the Maronite, was given in the year 1698 to our Conrad Janning, and exists to this day in the Bollandist Museum. What is related there occurs in almost the same words in the Coptic Synaxarion edited by F. Wüstenfeld Synaxarium der Coptischen Christen, page 98., except that there they are called Epimachus and Gordian. In the same way the names are given in the Synaxaria indicated by Mai Scriptt. veterum nova collectio, volume IV, Arabic codices, page 99. and by Assemani Bibl. Mediceae codd. Orientales, page 168.. The Roman Martyrology indeed presents SS. Epimachus and Gordian at 10 May: but the martyrdom of the latter is referred to the times of Julian the Apostate; and there are not a few other things which bring obscurity. Wherefore, until more certain things are brought forward, let what was disputed about those holy martyrs at 10 May suffice.

Mention of St. Rictrude, virgin, is made in some enlarged martyrologies of Usuard Sollerius, Martyr. Usuardi, at 31 October.. Her Acts were set forth in our Work at 12 May.

St. Helentrude, recluse in Saxony, is extolled on this day in the sacred Gynecaeum of Arthur du Monstier. Our predecessors wrote of her at 31 May.

St. Dogmael or Dogfael, abbot, is mentioned at this day by Richard Challoner in the supplement of the British calendar published in the year 1761. But in the calendar itself A memorial of ancient British piety, page 92. the same feast-day is fixed as in the older sacred calendars Cf. Rice Rees, An essay on the Welsh Saints, page 211.: at which day also the holy abbot was discussed in the Acta Sanctorum Acta SS., volume II of June, page 957., 14 June.

St. Marcian, bishop of Syracuse and martyr, is commemorated on 31 October in a Greek manuscript menology of the public library of Paris Edited by J. Scholz, Bonn 1823.. The Acts were published in our Work at 14 June.

The feast of the holy Father James, bishop of Mygdonia, is proposed today in Sirleto's Menology of the Greeks In Canisius, Thesaurus monumentorum, volume III, page 483.. His Acts our predecessors commented on at the day on which he is venerated in the Latin Church, 15 July.

"Of Eusebius, martyr, whose deeds are extant": these words we read at 31 October in the martyrology of Usuard enlarged by Greven: likewise "of St. Eusebius, martyr," in the Usuardine martyrology of Molanus; but "of St. Eusebius, confessor," at 30 October, in the old calendar which Martène and Durand published from a manuscript codex of the monastery of Lyre Thesaurus novus anecdot., volume III, column 1615.. The same authors put into print the Passion of St. Eusebius, with these words prefixed: "which is on the nineteenth day before the Kalends of September. From the MS. of Saint-Ouen of Rouen." Of the same St. Eusebius, namely the one who suffered martyrdom in Palestine under the Emperor Maximian and the governor Maxentius, mention seems to be made at 15 August in the Usuardine martyrologies of Centula and Lübeck-Cologne: the former has: "In Palestine, of St. Eusebius, martyr"; the other: "In Palestine, of St. Eusebius, beheaded for Christ"; Greven's, however: "In Palestine, of St. Eusebius, priest and martyr, beheaded for Christ" Sollerius, Martyrol. Usuardi, at 15 August., and the martyrology of Maurolico: "In Palestine, of St. Eusebius, beheaded for Christ." His acts exist in several manuscript codices, formerly of the Bollandist museum, now of the royal library of Brussels Codices 8927, 8933, 9289.: they are almost the same as the Passion edited by Martène, except that in them there is this closing clause: "And the saint of God Eusebius was martyred on the day before the Kalends of November, our Lord Jesus Christ reigning, to whom is honour and glory for ever and ever." Had our predecessors seen these things, they would, I believe, have referred to the last day of October the Acts Acta SS., volume II of August, page 150 and following. which, following Martène, they published at 14 August.

St. Bega, virgin and abbess in Cumbria, a province of England, is remembered on this day in the Breviary of Aberdeen of the year 1509, in Greven's Usuardine martyrology and in Chastelain's Universal Martyrology. Our predecessors thought that she is the same as Heyna or Heiu [Acta SS., volume II of September, page 694 and following. Cf. volume VII of May, page 235.]; but Alban Butler thinks her different Vies des Saints, volume VI, page 204, de Ram's edition, Brussels 1849.. Her Life is presented in an old codex of the Cottonian library of London (Faustina, B. IV), of which a copy exists in the royal library of Brussels [MS. codex 8927. Cf. T. Duffus Hardy, Descriptive catalogue of materials relating to the history of Great Britain, volume I, part I, page 223 and following.]. An epitome of her deeds was published in the Acta Sanctorum at 6 September.

The feast of St. Heraclius, martyr, is announced in the old marble calendar of Naples. But he has been spoken of in our Acts Acta SS., volume IX of October, page 520. on the day on which he is praised in the Roman Martyrology, 22 October.

St. Gaudiosus, an African bishop, confessor, is praised on this day in the Ephemeris of the Saints of the Order of St. Augustine, by Aurelius Knippinga. He was discussed in the Acta Sanctorum at the day on which he is proclaimed in the Roman Martyrology, 28 October.

St. Sigebert (otherwise Sigbrecht or Sigebrecht), king of the East Angles, is presented today by the manuscript Benedictine calendar of the monastery of St. Michael at Antwerp. The deeds of the holy king were set out at 28 October.

SS. Zenobius and Zenobia, martyrs in Cilicia, are commemorated today in the Basilian Menology of the Greeks and in other sacred calendars. We treated them at the day on which they are commonly venerated, 30 October.

Mention of St. Philip, martyr, is had at this day in Greven's Usuardine martyrology, both of the year 1515 and of the year 1521. I think him the same as the companion of St. Calendio, martyr, about whom there was discussion in the present volume at 30 October.

The feast of St. Foillan, brother of St. Fursey, is mostly kept on this day, 31 October; sometimes, however, on the day before. We published his Life in this Work at 30 October.

St. Romanus, priest and martyr, is brought forward by Greven with no mention made of companions; although he does not seem different from the Romanus who suffered martyrdom with several others, and of whom it will be treated below at the present day.

St. Sophia, abbess, who flourished at Rome about the beginning of the fourth century, is placed among the holy women of the last day of October by Arthur du Monstier. In the acts of St. Anastasia, her disciple, composed by Metaphrastes and published in our Work at 28 October, she is often mentioned and there called a saint (and in one of the codices most holy). But her name is absent from most sacred calendars. Since, then, beyond what is narrated in the Life of St. Anastasia, we find nothing about the holy abbess, we must not discourse further about her.

The martyrdom of Thomas, bishop of Damascus, is celebrated on the 4th day of the month Hatur (the 31st day of the month of October) in the Synaxarion of the Coptic church of Alexandria Mai, Scriptt. veterum nova collectio, volume IV, Arabic codices, page 99.. There he is said to have been killed by a prince of the Arabs, at the time when they held the region, because he had overcome a learned man of theirs in disputation. They reported it to the prince, and accused Thomas of having cursed his sect. The prince therefore summoned him and asked: "Have you cursed our religion, as this man contends of you?" To this he said: "A curse," he said, "did not come forth from my mouth, but I made it plain to this man that Christ is true God, and that after his religion no other will come." And when he asked: "So our religion is not from God?" he answered: "It is not." Then he ordered his head to be cut off; and so it was done, and he received the crown of martyrdom F. Wüstenfeld, Synaxarium der Coptischen Christen, page 97 and following.. The same things we read in the manuscript Martyrology of the Copts, whose translation was sent in the seventeenth century to the Bollandist associates. But in the Ethiopic Synaxarion [Wright, Catalogue of the Ethiopic mss. in the British Mus., numbers CCXXX and CCXXXII. Cf. Dillmann, Catal. codd. mss. bibl. Bodleianae Oxon., part VII, page 43. Zotenberg, Catal. des mss. Éthiop. de la bibl. nationale, page 161.] the praise of the bishop begins thus: "On this day also St. Thomas, bishop of the city of Damascus, was made a martyr by the hand of the king of the Mohammedans of the Arabs (in another codex, by the Mohammedan king of the Arabs): for the Mohammedans held Syria and Egypt. And that holy man overcame a certain learned man in disputation, etc." The rest scarcely differs from the former narrative, except that at the end of the Ethiopic writing a song is added: "Hail, Thomas, disciple of Zacharias," etc. Hence in Ludolf's Ethiopic calendar Commentarius in historiam Aethiopicam, page 396. at the 4th day of the month Hatur: "Thomas, companion of Zacharias, bishop of Damascus." Of whom Michael Lequien says Oriens christianus, volume II, page 835.: "I think that Zacharias, bishop of Damascus, lived at least before the fifth synod (in the year 553), whose disciple Thomas is held as a saint in the calendar of the Abyssinians." Everyone sees that this notation of time conflicts with the Ethiopic narrative. The holiness of Thomas of Damascus, moreover, and his legitimate cult we have hitherto by no means ascertained.

Chastelain says in the Universal Martyrology that St. Abaidas, confessor, is praised today in the sacred calendars of the Ethiopians. In fact in the Ethiopic calendar edited by Ludolf, at the 4th day of the month Hatur, there occur John and Abaidus his disciple. In the Ethiopic Synaxaria themselves Dillmann, work cited, page 43; Zotenberg, work cited, page 161. there is inscribed a commemoration of Obaida, a perfect monk, disciple of the abbot John. Whether he is legitimately venerated is not known to us.

Apollonius, whom at this day Henriquez Menologium Cisterciense., Bucelin Menol. Benedictinum. and others proclaim blessed, but to whom ecclesiastical cult seems never to have been paid, was a Cistercian monk in Germany, in the very age, says Bucelin, of Caesarius of Heisterbach, his eulogist Dialogus miraculorum, distinction XII, chapter 45.; or in the twelfth century, as Sigismund Alberti wrote in the Catalogue of the Saints of the Cistercian Order.

Ladislaus, lay brother of the Cistercian Order in Poland, is numbered among the blessed of 31 October by Henriquez Menol. Cisterc.. He is praised both in the Cistercian Calendar and in the Catalogue of the saints of Poland Cf. ibid., page 368., and also by Caesarius of Heisterbach Cf. ibid.: but he was by no means, as it seems, honoured with ecclesiastical cult.

Jutta, a nun in the monastery of Bechbure [Cf. Ephemerides hagiol. Ord. Praemonstratensis, page 312. Cf. Henriquez, Menol. Cist., page 367.], is remembered at this day in the Premonstratensian and Cistercian menologies, where she is called blessed. Caesarius of Heisterbach narrates her wonderful conversion to God Dialogus miraculorum, dist. X, chapter 55.. The honours of the saints were never, I believe, paid to her. Certainly in the Cistercian Calendar published by authority of the abbot general at Paris in the year 1689, the name of Jutta (as also those of Ladislaus and Apollonius) is written in smaller letters Cf. Kal. Cisterciense, notice, number 11..

Christopher, sprung from Romagna, one of the companions of St. Francis of Assisi, famous for virtues and miracles, is called blessed in the Franciscan martyrologies [Arthur du Monstier, Martyr. Francisc., at 31 October; Huber, Menolog. S. Franc., column 2051 and following; Chastelain, Martyr. Universel, page 552.]. But nothing is established about his cult. The most religious man died in the year 1272.

Vicus of Sant'Angelo in Vado in Umbria, a member of the Servants of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who died about the year 1331, is celebrated on this day in the menologies of this Order [Cf. Menologium Marianum, volume II, page 258, Douai 1767; Cozzando, Il sagro tempio Servitano, part I, page 90.]. Traces of ecclesiastical cult are lacking.

Bernard the Pole, martyr, of the Order of Friars Preachers, archbishop of Halicz [Cf. Cromer, De origine et rebus gestis Polonorum, book XIII, page 341; Theiner, Monumenta Poloniae et Lithuaniae, volume I, page 713.], is praised at this day in the Dominican Sacred Diary Sagro diario Domenicano, page 260, Rome 1758.; where he is said to have been killed for the sake of religion in the year 1240. Bzovius refers his death to the year 1233 Annales eccles. post Baronium, volume XIII, column 399.. No indications of cult have become known to us.

Teresa Enriquez, after the death of her husband Frederick, duke of Medina de Rioseco in Spain, took up the Third Order of St. Francis and shone with wonderful holiness about the year 1490. Arthur du Monstier proclaims her blessed [Sacrum Gynecaeum, at 31 October. Cf. Wadding, Annales Minorum, volume X, page 143, Rome 1734.].

Peter, guardian of the convent of Rodez in Gaul, another Peter likewise, and Joachim, of the Order of St. Francis, were slain by heretics for the Catholic faith in the year 1577. At this day they are inscribed in the Franciscan martyrologies, although the Roman pontiff has not yet numbered them among the blessed.

The outstanding virtues of John Picus, lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor in Aragon, are extolled by Arthur du Monstier, who adds these words [Cf. Huber, Menol. Ord. S. Francisci, column 2060; C. Rapine, Hist. gén. des Récollets, page 42.]: "Concerning whose holiness processes are being made in the regions before the Ordinaries." Nowhere do we see that he was lawfully placed among the number of the blessed. He died in the year 1577.

The praises of Bartholomew, of the Order of Friars Minor, who flourished at Villa Castina in Castile about the year 1600, are celebrated on this day in the Franciscan Martyrology Arthur du Monstier..

The holy Fathers John and James, bishops of Persia, martyrs under King Sapor, son of Hormisdas, are mentioned at the 4th day of the month Hatur (for us 31 October) by the Coptic Synaxarion [Mai, Scriptt. vett. nova coll., Arabic codices, page 99; Wüstenfeld, Syn. der Coptischen Christen, page 97.]. But since they are held as saints in the Latin Church also, their Acts will come forth on the day on which their feast is indicated in the Roman Martyrology, 1 November.

The name of St. Benignus, confessor, in the monastery of Glasconia, is presented by the Altemps martyrology of Usuard Sollerius, Martyr. Usuardi, at 31 October.. His Acts will come up for inquiry on the day on which St. Benignus, bishop and confessor, of Glastonbury, is praised in the Usuard of Molanus, 3 November.

St. Siricius, pope, is venerated today at Rome in several churches. But it will be better to speak of him on the day on which he is inscribed in the Roman Martyrology, 26 November.

Coman, nephew (ua) of Ciaran, abbot of Lismore, and Colman, abbot of Lismore, who died in the year 702, who are remembered at this day in the Martyrology of Donegal Todd and Reeves, The martyrol. of Donegal, page 289., I do not know whether they are one and the same. For in the manuscript Martyrology of Marianus Gorman Royal library of Brussels, codex 5100. there occurs only the word Comanus, with a small stroke written above and these words added by a glossator: "Ua Ciarain, abbot of Lismore"; and in the Four Masters we read at the year 702: "Colman, nephew of Finnbhar, abbot of Lismore, died" Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland, page 305.. For him in very many calendars the feast-day is fixed on 22 January; at which day Colgan too in the Acta SS. Hiberniae expressly discusses his history and cult. Which will also have to be done in our Work in the supplement of the day, 22 January.

Feedback

Noticed an error, have a suggestion, or want to share a thought? Let me know.