The Lives of the Saints, Volume III (of 16): March

In 951, Anlaf the Dane burnt the church and monastery of Tyningham, and immediately after was struck with sudden sickness, and died. The body of S. Balther was rediscovered by revelation, by a priest, Elfrid, two centuries later, whose mission seems to have been the recovery of lost relics, for he found also those of SS. Bilfred, Acca, Alkmund the bishop, king Oswin, and the abbesses Ebba and Ethelgitha, being directed to them all by visions. The bones of S. Balther and S. Bilfred were put together with the body of S. Cuthbert in his shrine at Durham. But they were removed from the shrine again in 1104, the head of S. Oswald being alone left with S. Cuthbert, and were put in the shrine of the Venerable Bede.

S. Bilfred was a goldsmith, who is said to have chased a book of the Gospels with gems in gold, which was long preserved at Durham, and is now in the Cottonian library in the British Museum. On the cover is "✠ Eadfrid, Oetilwald, Billfrith, Aldred hoc Evangelium Deo et Cuthberto uonstruxerunt et ornaverunt;" above this in Saxon characters, and in a Northumbrian dialect, "And Billfrith, the anchorite, he fabricated the curious works that are on the outside, and it adorned with gold and with gems, also with silver overgilded, a priceless treasure." Billfrith is supposed to be a local form of Bilfred.

S. CHRODEGANG, B. OF METZ

(A.D. 766.)

[Metz Martyrology, Molanus and Herimann Greven in their additions to Usuardus. Belgian Martyrologies, and Saussaye in his Gallia Christiana. Authority: – His life by Paulus Diaconus ([fl]. 790), and a larger one by John, abbot of Gorze, (d. 793), published in Pertz, Mon. Sacr. T. x. p. 552-572.]

This saint was a native of Hasbain, that portion of Brabant which surrounds Louvain, and was educated in the abbey of S. Tron. On account of his learning and general talents he was made chancellor of France by Charles Martel, mayor of the palace, in 737. Soon after the death of Charles, he was elected bishop of Metz, in 742. In 754 he was sent on an embassy by king Pepin to Astulph, king of the Lombards, who had overrun the North of Italy, praying him not to commit degradations in Rome, nor to force the Romans to desert their faith. But the embassy proved fruitless. In 755 the saint organised a regular community to serve as chapter to his cathedral, requiring them to live together in one house, and observe certain rules, which he drew up in thirty-four articles. Amongst other rules, he required his canons to confess at least twice in the year to the bishop, before the beginning of Advent and Lent. He built and endowed the monasteries of S. Peter, of Gorze, and of Lorsch; and died on March 6th, 766. He was buried at Gorze. His relics disappeared at the Revolution.

S. COLETTE, V

(A.D. 1447.)

[Roman Martyrology. Her festival was celebrated with proper office at her convent in Ghent, by permission of Clement VIII.; and Paul V. extended this privilege to all other convents of her order. She was canonized by Pius VII., in 1807. Her life was written by Peter à Vallisus, [or] de Rheims, for many years her confessor, in French, and it was translated by Etienne Julliac, a contemporary, into Latin; and an epitome of her life was written by Jodocus Clichthrove.]

Colette Boillet, a carpenter's daughter, was born at Corbie, in Picardy, on Jan. 13th, 1380. Her parents gave her at the font the name of Nicoletta, and this has been contracted into Colette, the name by which she is now usually known. From her earliest infancy she seems to have been singled out for a special work, and her young soul, from the first, opened to divine grace, as a spring flower to the sun. At the age of seven, she yearned for a retired life, and she fashioned for herself a little oratory in the back premises of the carpenter's wood-yard, into which she retreated for prayer, and there spent many hours in communion with God. When her childish companions sought her that they might draw her into their sports and pastimes, she hid under her bed; but when anything was really wanted of her, or any of her companions were in trouble, she was at once at hand to assist and console. If a poor person came to the door whilst the family was at meals, she would rise and give him her share.

In 1402, at the age of twenty-two, Colette bade farewell to nature, to her friends, to all of life that was most lovely, and enclosed herself in an anchorite's cell, built against the walls of the church of Corbie. These voluntary recluses were common in the Middle Ages. Those who desired to live this life of seclusion, entered living into these tombs, which were built up, leaving only a window open, through which they were fed and communicated. Throughout all Picardy the fame of the austerities of Colette spread, and many sought her counsel and prayers. Fearing that her humility would suffer, for three years she maintained a complete silence, only opening her window to receive the Holy Sacrament. At length the call came, which it was impossible for her to resist. Henry de la Balm, her confessor, saw in a dream a vine full of leaves, but fruitless; then came Colette and pruned the vine, and it began to yield abundantly. Shortly after this Colette saw, in vision, a great tree growing in her cell, laden with golden fruit, and numerous saplings springing up about its roots. Fearing a deception of Satan, she tore up the young plants, but there appeared more in their place. Then she thought God summoned her to reform the Order of the Poor Clares. But she still hesitated; whereupon she was struck blind for three days, and after that for three days dumb. She hesitated no longer, but came forth ready, in God's name, to undertake her mission. She left her cell with regret; turning at the door, and kissing the threshold, she sobbed forth, "Oh, dear little home, farewell! farewell my joy and repose! Oh, if men knew how much happiness I have enjoyed in thee, they would desert palaces to inhabit thy narrow walls."

It was the close of autumn in 1406. The vines were heavy with grapes, the trees had put on their many-coloured autumnal tints, and the last shocks of yellow harvest were being gathered in. For four years, in her seclusion, she had seen nothing of all this, only the golden light playing on the wall of her chamber, sometimes pale, and sometimes burning as flame, and the blue sky and the drifting clouds, now dark grey with winter rains, and then white and fleecy in summer light.

Colette had written all that she had deemed expedient for the reformation of the Franciscan Order; she placed her writings in a pouch attached to her girdle, and on foot she started for Nice, where Benedict XIII. resided, on account of the schism. The pope received Colette with honour; she made profession of the rule of S. Clare at his feet, and he appointed her superior-general of the whole order; naming Henry de la Balm, her confessor, as assistant for the reformation of the Friars of S. Francis.

This young and feeble woman now set her hand with incredible energy to the accomplishment of her task. She traversed France, Savoy, Germany, and Flanders, meeting in some places with violent opposition as a crazy fanatic, but in other succeeding in establishing a reform. The provinces of France were ravaged by war, and all the evil passions of wicked men were let loose; but Colette walked through all dangers, relying on Divine protection, and never relying in vain. She was accused of heresy, and even of unchastity, but she was not crushed by slander, despising reproach as she had defied danger.

In 1410, she founded a convent at Besançon; in 1415, she introduced a reform into the convent of the Cordeliers, at Dole, and in succession into nearly all the convents in Lorraine, Champagne, and Picardy. In 1416, she founded a house of her order at Poligny, at the foot of the Jura, and another at Auxonne. "I am dying of curiosity to see this wonderful Colette, who resuscitates the dead," wrote the Duchess of Bourbon, about this time. For the fame of the miracles and labours of the carpenter's daughter was in every mouth.

In 1422, Colette started for Moulins to meet the duchess, and to found there a religious house. The Duchess of Nevers summoned her into her duchy, and she obeyed the summons. It was on her way to Moulins that she met another maiden, also acting under a special call, though one of a very different nature. One maiden was called to wear cord and veil, the other to gird the sword and wear the casque. It was Joan of Arc, then on her way with Dunois at the head of an army to besiege Charité-sur-Loire. In Auvergne, Colette converted Isabeau de Bourbon, and at the age of nineteen the young princess exchanged her diamonds for the knotted cord of S. Clare.

After having founded the convent of Le Puy, at the request of Amadeus VII., Colette carried her reformation into Savoy. On the north shore of the Lake of Geneva, she found a still sweet spot, itself silent and secluded as a monastery, its white walls reflected in the deep blue of the lake, and looking out on a range of snowy mountains. At Vevey she rested to look around her, relax her weary soul, and breathe in the soft air, sweet from the fields of narcissus. But God had not yet called her to rest. From all sides devotees came to her, – the Duchess of Valentinois, the unfortunate Jacques de Bourbon, in turn jailor and prisoner of his wife, Jeanne of Sicily, with his children, who, having tasted the life of the cloister, found it was so sweet, that they abandoned for it the pleasures and ambitions of the world.[26 - Jacques II. of Bourbon, Count of la Marche and de Castres, married to Jeanne Q. of Naples and Sicily, was imprisoned by his wife, but escaped, and becoming a third Order brother of S. Francis, at Besancon, died there, Sept. 24, 1428.]

After having spent two years at Vevey, Colette went to Nozeroy, to the princess of Orange, and remained with her till 1430. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, recalled Colette to Flanders, where she founded several houses, and glorified God by many miracles. In the memoirs of Oliver de la Marche, a Burgundian gentleman of this time, occurs the following notice of S. Colette; "En celui temps, régnoit une moult sainte et dévote femme, religieuse de Sainte-Claire, au pays de Bourgoigne, nommée soeur Colette. Cette femme allait par toute la chrétienté, menant moult sainte vie, et édifiant maisons et églises de la religion de Saint François et de Sainte Claire. Et ai été acertené, que, par son pourchas et par sa peine, elle avait édifié de son temps trois cent quatre-vingts églises."

It would seem almost as if Colette had a natural love for mountains, so generally do we find her returning to them, and laying at their feet the foundations of her dearest homes. Perhaps the mystery of their blue-veined valleys, and the wondrous changes wrought by the sun and clouds on their sides, filled her with a sense of love and awe. But it was not from among the mountains that she was summoned away. The call to the everlasting hills came to her on the flats of Flanders, in the city of Ghent. There she died on March 6th, 1447, laying herself down to repose as gladly as the weary labourer in harvest time, who returns to his home and to sleep after a day of incessant toil.

When the Emperor Joseph II. suppressed many religious houses in his dominions, in 1785, the Poor Clares of Ghent took up the body of S. Colette, and traversing France, laid it beneath the mountain shadows at Poligny. The holy relics were secreted at the time of the French Revolution, and on the return of tranquillity, they were placed in the parish church; but the Poor Clares having re-established themselves at Poligny, the bones of the saint have been restored to them.

March 7

SS. Perpetua, Felicitas, Saturus, and Companions, MM. in Africa, A.D. 203.

S. Eubulus, M. at Cæsarea in Palestine, A.D. 308.

S. Paul the Simple, H. in the Thebaid, 4th cent.

S. Gaudiosus, B. of Brescia, circ. A.D. 445.

S. Easterwin, Ab. of Wearmouth, A.D. 785. (See S. Benedict Biscop, Jan. 12th; p. 172.)

S. Thomas Aquinas, Doct., O.P., at Fossa Nuova, A.D. 1274.

SS. PERPETUA, FELICITAS, AND COMP., MM

(A.D. 203.)

[Roman and all Western Martyrologies on this day, but by the Greeks on March 1st. Authorities: – The genuine Acts of these martyrs, and a sermon by S. Augustine of Hippo on them. The names of Perpetua and Felicitas occur in the Canon of the Mass. The first part of the Acts was written by S. Perpetua herself, and reaches to the eve of her martyrdom. S. Saturus then took the pen, and added the account of his vision; and when he had gained his crown, an eye-witness of their passion closed the account. Tertullian quotes these Acts in his Book De Anima, c. 55; and S. Augustine in his Sermons, 280, 283, and 294. They were anciently read publicly in the churches of Africa.]

A violent persecution broke out under the Emperor Severus, in 202. It reached Africa the following year; when, by order of Minutius Timinianus, or Firminianus, five catechumens were apprehended at Carthage for the faith; namely, Revocatus, and his fellow-slave Felicitas, Saturninus, and Secundulus, and Vivia Perpetua. Felicitas was expecting her confinement; and Perpetua had an infant at her breast, was of a good family, twenty-two years of age, and married to a person of quality in the city. She had a father, a mother, and two brothers; the third, Dinocrates, died about seven years old. These five martyrs were joined by Saturus, probably brother to Saturninus, and who seems to have been their instructor: he underwent a voluntary imprisonment, because he would not abandon them. The father of S. Perpetua, who was a Pagan, and advanced in years, loved her more than all his other children. Her mother was probably a Christian, as was one of her brothers, the other a catechumen. The martyrs, for some days before they were committed to prison, were kept under a strong guard in a private house: and the account Perpetua gives of their sufferings to the eve of their death, is as follows: "We were in the hands of our persecutors, when my father, out of the affection he bore me, made new efforts to shake my resolution. I said to him, 'Can that vessel, which you see, change its name?' He said, 'No.' I replied, 'Nor can I call myself any other than I am, a Christian.' At that word my father in a rage fell upon me, as if he would have pulled out my eyes, and beat me; but went away in confusion, seeing me invincible. After this we enjoyed a little repose, and in that interval received baptism. The Holy Ghost, on our coming out of the water, inspired me to pray for nothing but patience under bodily sufferings. A few days after this we were put into prison; I was shocked at the horror and darkness of the place; for till then I knew not what such sort of places were. We suffered much that day, chiefly on account of the great heat caused by the crowd, and the ill-treatment we met with from the soldiers. I was, moreover, tortured with concern, because I had not my baby with me. But the deacons, Tertius and Pomponius, who assisted us, obtained, by money, that we might pass some hours in a more commodious part of the prison, to refresh ourselves. My infant was then brought to me almost famished, and I gave it the breast. I recommended him afterward carefully to my mother, and encouraged my brother; but was much afflicted to see their concern for me. After a few days my sorrow was changed into comfort, and my prison itself seemed agreeable. One day my brother said to me, 'Sister, I am persuaded that you are a special favourite of heaven; pray to God to reveal to you whether this imprisonment will end in martyrdom, or not.' I, knowing God gave me daily tokens of His goodness, answered, full of confidence, that I would inform him on the morrow. I therefore asked that favour of God, and had this vision. I saw a golden ladder, which reached from earth to heaven; but so narrow that only one could mount it at a time. To the two sides were fastened all sorts of iron instruments, swords, lances, hooks, and knives; so that if any one went up carelessly, he was in great danger of having his flesh torn. At the foot of the ladder lay a dragon of enormous size, who kept guard to turn back and terrify those that endeavoured to mount it. The first that went up was Saturus, who was not apprehended with us, but voluntarily surrendered himself afterward on our account: when he had reached the top of the ladder, he turned towards me, and said, 'Perpetua, I wait for you; but take care lest the dragon bite you.' I answered, 'In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, he shall not hurt me.' Then the dragon, as if afraid of me, gently lifted his head from under the ladder, and I, having got upon the first step, set my foot upon his head. Thus I mounted to the top, and there I saw an extensive garden, and in the middle of it a tall man sitting down dressed like a shepherd, having white hair. He was milking his sheep, surrounded with many thousands of persons clad in white. He called me by my name, bid me welcome, and gave me some curds made of the milk which he had drawn: I put my hands together, and took and ate them; and all that were present said aloud, Amen. The noise awakened me, chewing something very sweet. As soon as I had related this vision to my brother, we both concluded that we should suffer death.

"After some days, a rumour having got about that we were to be examined, my father came from the city to the prison, overwhelmed with grief. 'Daughter,' said he, 'have pity on my grey hairs, if I yet deserve to be called your father; if I have brought you up. I pray you consider that my love of you made me always prefer you to your brothers, and make me not now a reproach to mankind. Have respect for your mother and your aunt; have compassion on your child that cannot survive you; lay aside this obstinacy, lest you ruin us all; for not one of us will dare open his lips any more if misfortune befall you.' He took me by the hands at the same time, and kissed them; he threw himself at my feet in tears. I confess, I was pierced with sorrow when I considered that my father was the only person of our family that would not rejoice at my martyrdom. I endeavoured to comfort him, saying, 'Father, grieve not; nothing will happen but what pleases God; for we are not at our own disposal.' He then departed, much concerned. Next day, whilst we were at dinner, a person came in suddenly to summon us to examination. The report of this soon brought a vast crowd of people into the audience chamber. We were placed on a sort of scaffold before the judge, Hilarian, procurator of the province, the proconsul having lately died. All who were questioned before me boldly confessed Jesus Christ. When it came to my turn, my father stood forward, holding up my infant. He drew me a little aside, conjuring me in the most tender manner not to be insensible to the misery I should bring on that innocent creature, to which I had given life. The president Hilarian joined with my father, and said, 'What! will neither the gray hairs of a father, nor the tender innocence of a child, move you? Sacrifice for the prosperity of the emperors.' I replied, 'I will not do it.' 'Are you then a Christian,' said Hilarian. I answered, 'Yes, I am.' As my father attempted to draw me from the scaffold, Hilarian commanded him to be beaten off, and he had a blow given him with a stick, which I felt as much as if I had been struck myself, so much was I grieved to see my father thus treated in his old age. Then the judge pronounced our sentence, by which we were all condemned to be exposed to wild beasts. We then joyfully returned to our prison; and as my infant was not yet weaned, I immediately sent Pomponius the deacon, to demand him of my father, but he refused to send him. And God so ordered it, that the child no longer required to suck, nor did my milk incommode me." Secundulus, being no more mentioned, seems to have died in prison before this interrogatory. Before Hilarian pronounced sentence, he had caused Saturus, Saturninus, and Revocatus to be scourged; and Perpetua and Felicitas to be beaten on the face. They were reserved for the shows which were to be exhibited for the soldiers in the camp, on the festival of Geta, who had been made Cæsar four years before, by his father Severus, when his brother Caracalla was created Augustus.

S. Perpetua relates another vision with which she was favoured, as follows: "A few days after receiving sentence, when we were all together in prayer, I happened to name Dinocrates, at which I was astonished, because I had not before had him in my thoughts; and I that moment knew that I ought to pray for him. This I began to do with great fervour before God; and the same night I had the following vision: I saw Dinocrates coming out of a dark place, where there were many others, exceedingly hot and thirsty; his face was dirty, his complexion pale, with the ulcer in his face of which he had died at seven years of age, and it was for him that I had prayed. There seemed a great distance between him and me, so that it was impossible for us to come to each other. Near him stood a vessel full of water: he attempted to drink, but could not reach it. This mightily grieved me, and I awoke. By this I knew my brother was in pain, but I trusted I could relieve him by prayer: so I began to pray for him, beseeching God with tears, day and night, that he would grant me my request; and I continued doing this till we were removed to the camp prison: being destined for a public show on the festival of the Cæsar Geta. The day we were in the stocks[27 - These stocks, called Nervus, were a wooden machine with many holes, in which the prisoners' feet were fastened and stretched to great distances, as to the fourth or fifth holes, for the increase of their torments. S. Perpetua remarks, they were chained, and also set in this engine during their stay in the camp-prison, which seems to have been several days, in expectation of the day of the public shows.] I had this vision; I saw the place, which I had beheld dark before, now luminous; and Dinocrates, with his body very clean and well clad, refreshing himself; and in the place of his wound was a scar only. I awoke, and knew he was relieved from his pain.[28 - It is evident from the visions S. Perpetua had of her little brother, that the Church, at that early age, believed the doctrine of Purgatory, and prayed for the faithful departed.]

"Some days after, Pudens, the officer who commanded the guards of the prison, seeing that God favoured us with many gifts, had a great esteem of us, and admitted many people to visit us, for our mutual comfort. On the day of the public shows, my father came overwhelmed with sorrow. He tore his beard, threw himself on the ground, cursed his years, and said enough to move any creature; and I was ready to die with sorrow to see my father in so deplorable a condition. On the eve of the shows I was favoured with the following vision. The deacon Pomponius, methought, knocked very hard at the prison door, which I opened to him. He was clothed with a white robe, embroidered with innumerable pomegranates of gold. He said to me, 'Perpetua, we wait for thee, come along.' He then took me by the hand and led me through very rough places into the middle of the amphitheatre, and said, 'Fear not.' And, leaving me, said again, 'I will be with thee in a moment, and bear a part with thee in thy pains.' I was wondering the beasts were not let out against us, when there appeared a very ill-favoured negro, who came to encounter me with others. But another beautiful troop of young men declared for me, and anointed me with oil for the combat. Then appeared a man of a great stature, in rich apparel, like the master of the gladiators, having a wand in one hand, and in the other a green bough on which hung golden apples. Having ordered silence, he said that the bough should be my prize, if I vanquished the negro: but that if he conquered me, he would kill me with a sword. After a long and obstinate engagement, I threw the negro on his face, and trod upon his head. The people applauded my victory loudly. I then approached the master of the amphitheatre, who gave me the bough with a kiss, and said, 'Peace be with thee, my daughter.' After this I awoke, and found that I was not to combat with wild beasts so much as with devils." Here ends the relation of S. Perpetua.

S. Saturus had also a vision, which he wrote down himself. He and his companions were conducted by a bright angel into a most delightful garden, in which they met some holy martyrs lately dead, namely Jocundus, Saturninus, and Artaxius, who had been burned alive for the faith, and Quintus, who had died in prison. They inquired after other martyrs of their acquaintance, and were conducted into a most stately palace, shining like the sun; and in it saw the king of this most glorious place surrounded by his happy subjects, and heard the voice of a great multitude crying, "Holy, holy, holy." Saturus, turning to Perpetua, said, "Thou hast here what thou didst desire." She replied, "God be praised, I have more joy here than ever I had in the flesh." He adds, that on going out of the garden they found before the gate, on the right hand, the bishop of Carthage, Optatus, and on the left, Aspasius, priest of the same church, both of them alone and sorrowful. They fell at the martyrs' feet, and begged that they would reconcile them together, for a dissension had happened between them. The martyrs embraced them, saying, "Art not thou our bishop, and thou a priest of our Lord? It is our duty to prostrate ourselves before you." Perpetua was discoursing with them; but certain angels came and drove away Optatus and Aspasius; and bade them not to disturb the martyrs, but be reconciled to each other. The bishop, Optatus, was also charged to heal the divisions that reigned in his church. The angels after these reprimands seemed ready to shut the gates of the garden. "Here," says he, "we saw many of our brethren and martyrs likewise. We were fed with an ineffable odour, which delighted and satisfied us." Such was the vision of Saturus. The rest of the Acts were added by an eye-witness. God had called to himself Secundulus in prison. Felicitas was eight months gone with child, and as the day of the shows approached, she was inconsolable lest she should not be confined before then; fearing that her martyrdom would be deferred on that account, because women with child were not allowed to be executed, before they were delivered: the rest also were sensibly afflicted on their part to leave her behind. Therefore they unanimously joined in prayer to obtain of God that she might be delivered before the day of the shows. Scarce had they finished their prayer, when Felicitas found herself in labour. She cried out under the violence of her pain; then one of the guards asked her, if she could not bear the throes of childbirth without crying out, what she would do when exposed to the wild beasts. She answered, "It is I myself that am enduring these pangs now; but then there will be another with me who will suffer for me, because I shall suffer for Him." She was then delivered of a daughter, which a certain Christian woman took care of, and brought up as her own child. Pudens, the keeper of the prison, having been already converted, secretly did them all the good offices in his power. The day before they suffered they were given, according to custom, their last meal, which was called a free supper, and they ate in public. Their chamber was full of people, with whom they talked, threatening them with the judgments of God, and extolling the happiness of their own sufferings. Saturus, smiling at the curiosity of those that came to see them, said to them, "Will not to-morrow suffice to satisfy your inhuman curiosity? However you may seem now to pity us, to-morrow you will clap your hands at our death, and applaud our murderers. But observe well our faces, that you may know them again at that terrible day when all men shall be judged." They spoke with such courage and intrepidity that they astonished the infidels, and occasioned the conversion of several among them. The day of their triumph having come, they went out of the prison to the amphitheatre full of joy. Perpetua walked with a composed countenance and easy pace, with her eyes modestly cast down; Felicitas went with her, following the men, not able to contain her joy. When they came to the gate of the amphitheatre, the guards would have given them, according to custom, the superstitious habits with which they adorned such as appeared at these sights. For the men, a red mantle, which was the habit of the priests of Saturn; for the women, a little fillet round the head, by which the priestesses of Ceres were known. The martyrs rejected those idolatrous vestments; and, by the mouth of Perpetua, said they came thither of their own accord, on the promise made them that they should not be forced to anything contrary to their religion. The tribune then consented that they should appear in the amphitheatre habited as they were. Perpetua sang, as being already victorious; Revocatus, Saturninus, and Saturus threatened the people that beheld them with the judgments of God: and as they passed before the balcony of Hilarian, they said to him, "Thou judgest us in this world, but God will judge thee in the next." The people, enraged at their boldness, begged that they might be scourged, and this was granted. They accordingly passed before the Venatores,[29 - Pro ordine venatorum. Venatores is the name given to those that were armed to encounter the beasts, who put themselves in ranks, with whips in their hands, and each of them gave a lash to the Bestiarii, or those condemned to the beasts, whom they obliged to pass naked before them in the middle of the pit or arena.] or hunters, each of whom gave them a lash. They rejoiced exceedingly in being thought worthy to resemble our Saviour in his sufferings. God granted to each of them the death they desired; for when they had discoursed together about what kind of martyrdom would be agreeable to each, Saturninus declared that he should prefer to be exposed to beasts of several sorts, in order that his sufferings might be aggravated. Accordingly, he and Revocatus, after having been attacked by a leopard, were also assaulted by a bear. Saturus dreaded nothing so much as a bear, and therefore hoped a leopard would despatch him at once with his teeth. He was then exposed to a wild boar, but the beast turned upon his keeper, who received such a wound from him, that he died in a few days after, and Saturus was only dragged along by him. Then they tied the martyr near a bear, but that beast came not out of his lodge, so that Saturus, being sound and not hurt, was called upon for a second encounter. This gave him an opportunity of speaking to Pudens, the gaoler that had been converted. The martyr encouraged him to constancy in the faith, and said to him, "Thou seest I have not yet been hurt by any beast, as I desired and foretold: believe then stedfastly in Christ; I am going where thou wilt see a leopard with one bite take away my life." It happened so, for a leopard being let out upon him, sprang upon him, and in a moment he was deluged with blood, whereupon the people jeering, cried out, "He is well baptized." The martyr said to Pudens, "Go, remember my faith, and let our sufferings rather strengthen than trouble thee. Give me the ring thou hast on thy finger." Saturus, having dipped it in his wound gave it him back to keep as a pledge to animate him to steadfastness in his faith, and soon after, fell down dead. Thus he went first to glory, to wait for Perpetua, according to her vision.

In the mean time, Perpetua and Felicitas had been exposed to a wild cow; Perpetua and Felicitas were the first attacked, and the cow having tossed the former, she fell on her back. Then putting herself in a sitting posture, and perceiving her clothes were torn, she gathered them about her in the best manner she could, to cover herself, thinking more of decency than her sufferings.[30 - Does not this remind the classic scholar of the description of the death of Polyxena, by Talthybius, in the Hecuba, "She even in death showed much care to fall decently."] Getting up, not to seem disconsolate, she tied up her hair, which was fallen loose, and perceiving Felicitas on the ground much hurt by a toss of the cow, she helped her to rise. They stood together, expecting another assault from the beasts, but the people crying out that it was enough, they were led to the gate Sanevivaria, where those that were not killed by the beasts were despatched at the end of the shows by the confectores. Perpetua was here received by Rusticus, a catechumen. She seemed as if just returning out of a long ecstasy, and asked when she was to fight the wild cow. When told what had passed, she could not believe it till she saw on her body and clothes the marks of what she had suffered. She called for her brother, and said to him and Rusticus, "Continue firm in the faith, love one another, and be not distressed at our sufferings." All the martyrs were now brought to the place of their butchery. But the people, not yet satisfied with beholding blood, cried out to have them led into the middle of the amphitheatre, that they might have the pleasure of seeing them receive the last blow. Upon this, some of the martyrs rose up, and having given one another the kiss of peace, went of their own accord into the arena; others were despatched without speaking, or stirring out of the places they were in. S. Perpetua fell into the hands of a very timorous and unskilful apprentice of the gladiators, who, with a trembling hand, gave her many slight wounds, which made her languish a long time. Thus, says S. Augustine, did two women, amidst fierce beasts and the swords of gladiators, vanquish the devil and all his fury. The day of their martyrdom was the 7th of March, as it is marked in the most ancient martyrologies, and in a Roman Martyrology as old as the year 554. S. Prosper says they suffered at Carthage, which agrees with all the circumstances. Their bodies were preserved in the great church of Carthage, in the 5th century, as Victor of Utica relates. The body of S. Perpetua is said to be preserved at Bologna, in the Church of the Franciscans, but it is very questionable whether it is that of the S. Perpetua of Carthage, whose passion has just been narrated.

S. EUBULUS, M

(A.D. 308.)

[By the Greeks on Feb. 3rd, in conjunction with S. Adrian; but by the Roman Martyrology on this day, and S. Adrian on March 5th. Authority: – Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. lib. viii., c. 11.]

In the persecution in Palestine, carried out under the ferocious governor Firmilian, Adrian and Eubulus, natives of Manganæa, suffered. They came to Cæsarea, and were asked the cause of their coming, as they entered the gates of the city. They confessed that they had come to see and minister to the martyrs of Jesus Christ. They were at once apprehended and brought before Firmilian. He ordered them to be scourged and torn with hooks, and then to be devoured by the beasts. After the lapse of two days, on the third of the nones of March, Adrian was cast before a lion, and afterwards slain with the sword. Eubulus was also reserved to the nones of March, and was then cast to the beasts. He was the last to suffer for the faith at Cæsarea in that persecution.

S. PAUL THE SIMPLE, H

(4TH CENT.)

[Greek Menæa and Roman Martyrology on the same day. But some Latin Martyrologies on Dec. 18th, others on Jan. 11th. Authorities: – Palladius, in his Hist. Lausiaca; Ruffinus, in his Lives of the Fathers of the Desert; and Sozomen, Hist. Eccles., lib. i., c. 13.]

Paul the Simple was one of the first disciples of S. Antony. He did not embrace the religious life till he was sixty, and then it was in consequence of the bad conduct of his wife. He had been a labourer in a village of the Thebaid, and was very ignorant. He came to S. Antony, but the patriarch of hermits refused to admit him, thinking him too old to adopt the monastic life. Paul, however, remained three days and nights outside the cell of Antony, and would not leave. Antony then came forth, and found that the man had no food; he, therefore, received him for a while, hoping to disgust him with the life of a hermit by the severity of his discipline. He set Paul to pray outside his door, and told him not to desist till he was released. The simple old labourer obeyed, and Antony observed him, unseen, praying with the blazing sun shining down on his head at noon-day, and the moon looking on him at night, as rigid and immoveable as one of the date palms of the desert. He then brought him into his cave, and gave him some platting to do. When it was accomplished he rebuked Paul for his having doing it badly, and bade him undo his work again. The postulant did as ordered without a murmur. Then Antony brought bread, and set the table in order for supper, and called the hungry Paul to it; then he said, "Before we eat, let us recite twelve psalms and twelve prayers," and he did so; and when the psalms and prayers were done, Antony said, "We have looked on the bread, that will suffice for supper; now let us retire to rest." Yet Paul murmured not; so Antony saw that he was qualified to be a monk.

Once, as Antony and some of his guests were discoursing on spiritual matters, Paul asked very simply, "Were the prophets before Jesus Christ, or Jesus Christ before the prophets?" Then Antony reddened, and bade him keep in the background, and hold his tongue. Now Paul at once obeyed, and remained for some time silent, and out of sight, and they told Antony of it. Then he said, "Oh, my brethren! learn from this man what our obedience towards God ought to be. If I say anything, he does it instantly and cheerfully, and we – do we thus behave towards our God?"

S. THOMAS AQUINAS, D., O.P

(A.D. 1274.)

[The oldest notices of S. Thomas are found in Gerard de Fracheto; in Thos. Cantipratensis; Stephen de Salanacho; Tocco, a Dominican, who had seen S. Thomas, and heard him preach, left an account of his life and miracles, this work formed the basis of the labours of the Inquisition into our saint's miracles, held in 1319. This, and the bull of his canonization, issued by John XXII., in 1323, is the foundation of the first part of Guido's life and acts of S. Thomas; the latter part contains the miracles substantiated at the second Inquisition, or those told on trustworthy authority. There are many other lives, as also histories of the translations of his body. John XXII. ordered his festival to be kept as that of a confessor, on March 7th; Pius V., in 1567, ordered it to be honoured in the same manner as were the feasts of the Four Doctors of the Church.]

"The age of S. Thomas Aquinas," says Bareille, "was that of Innocent III., and of S. Louis, of Albert the Great, and of Roger Bacon, of Giotto, and of Dante. That age witnessed the birth of the cathedral of Cologne, and the Summa Theologiæ, of the Divine Comedy, and La Sainte Chapelle, of the Imitation of Jesus Christ, and the cathedral of Amiens. It was so fruitful in great men and great monuments, that it would need an entire volume to give a complete list of both. When we wander amidst the marvels of the thirteenth century, we are astonished at the injustice done to it through the ignorance of mankind.

"This astonishment is increased when we consider more attentively the vast movement which was then going on in the bosom of mankind. This was the age in which the Universities of Oxford and Paris were founded, in which S. Louis established his kingdom on a legitimate basis; in which the barons wrung the Magna Charta from king John; in which the great religious orders of S. Dominic and S. Francis sprung up; in which gunpowder was invented, the telescope discovered, the laws of gravitation recognized; in which the principles of political representation and of parliamentary debate sprang into fresh life; in which, lastly, the great nationalities of modern times were settling themselves decisively into their places. In the middle of this century S. Thomas appeared. This man sums up in his own person all that was purest and strongest in his age; he is a personification of that power which subjugates all other powers to its sway – the power of great ideas.