Rewards For Remaining

Si manseritis in me... Supra ostendit, se esse fructus originem per oppositum mansionis; hic nunc ostendit per ipsam mansionm, quae fructum dat et respectu mi et respectu proximi. Respectu sui: Si manseritis in me, et verba mea in vobis manserint; non sicut illi, de quibus Lucae octavo: Ad tempus credunt et in tempore tentationis recedunt; sed sicut illi, de quibus in Psalmo: Qui servant testamentum eius et memores sunt mandatorum ipsius ad faciendum ea. Quodcumque volueritis, petetis, et fiet vobis. Supra nono: Si quis voluntatem Dei facit , hunc exaudi. Non solum est fructus respectu sui, sed etiam proximi convertendi ad Dei gloriam; ideo subdit: In hoc clarificatus est Pater meus, ut fructum plurimum afferatis... Ut scilicet homines convertantur vestro verbo et exemplo ; Matthaei quinto: Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona et glorificent Patrem vestrum, qui in caelis est; et ex hoc, Efficiamini mei discipuli, Id est imitatores mei, qui plurimum fructam attuli per meam mortem, sicut supra duodecimo: Si granum frumenti mortuum fuerit , multum fructum affert. Sic etiam Apostoli; unde Ecclesia cantat de eis, quod plantaverunt Ecelesiam sanguine suo; ad Colossenses primo: Adimpleo ea quae desunt passionum Christi. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput XV Source: Here, p447-8

'If he remains in me...' 1 Having just shown what the reward will be for those who are opposed to remaining with Him, He now shows what it will be for those who do remain, which reward is given with regards to the one who remains and with regards to his neighbour. As regards the one who does remain: 'If you remain in me, my words shall remain in you.' Not as those who in the eighth chapter of Luke: 'Believe for a time and in the time of trial fall away,' but as those who, as it says in the Psalm, 'Keep His testament and are mindful in the doing of His commandments.' 2 'And whatever you wish, ask, and it shall be yours.' In the ninth chapter of this Gospel: 'If someone does the will of God, he will be heard.' 3 And there is not only reward for the one who remains, but even in the turning of his neighbour to the glory of God. Therefore He adds: 'In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit...' That is, you convert men by your word and example. In the fifth chapter of Matthew: 'So let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.' 4 And because of this, 'You are made my disciples,' That is, imitators of me, as in the twelfth chapter of this Gospel, 'If a grain of wheat dies, it bears much fruit.' 5 So even the Apostles, whence the Church sings concerning them, 'They have nurtured the Church with their blood.' And in the first chapter of the letter to the Colossians: 'I complete those things lacking in the passion of Christ.' 6 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 15 1 Jn 15.7 2 Lk 8.13, Ps 102.18 3 Jn 9.31 4 Mt 5.16 5 Jn 12.25 6 Colos 1.24

Trials And Victory

Dixitque Dominus ad eum: Numquid considerasti servum meum Job, quod non sit ei similis in terra, homo simplex et rectus, ac timens Deum, et recedens a malo? A commendatione justi incipit: Non enim qui se ipsum commendat, ille probatus est, sed quem Deus commendat; illasque virtutes ei proponit, quas amplius habebat exosas, ut inimicum vehementius torqueat et provocet ad tentandum. Vult enim Dominus servos suos fortiter tentari, ut faciat etiam cum tentatione proventum. Gaudet princeps militiae, si militem suum cum forti adversario strenue pugnantem aspexerit. Exsultat Christus cum martyrem suum videt nunc flagellari, nunc extendi in eculeo, nunc ferreis laniari unguibus, nunc sagittis exponi, nunc membris truncari, nunc ignibus superponi. Stat martyr afflictus quidem, sed invictus, vidensque sanguinem suum ex diversis partibus corporis ebullire, non sua, sed Redemptoris vulnera attendit. Inter anxietates ergo acerrimas tripudians et triumphans, dolores corporis lacerati non sentit, quia peregrinatur a corpore. Non facit hoc stupor, sed amor; non deest dolor, sed pro Christo contemnitur. Sic Dominus et possessiones, et personam servi sui Job malitiae tentarois exponit, ita per interiora et exteriora afflictus, munitus tamen a Domino a dextris et a sinistris, et cresceat in gratiam, et proficiat ad coronam Petrus Blenensis, Compendium In Job: Ad Henericum II Illustrissimum Anglorum Regem, Caput I Source: Migne PL 207.805d-806a

And the Lord said to Satan: 'Have you not considered my servant Job, that there is no one like him on the earth, a simple and upright man, who fears God and avoids evil?' 1 He begins with a commendation of the righteous man, 'For it is not he who commends himself who is approved, but him whom God commends.' 2 And He proposes those virtues to him, which the more he has, so the more vehemently he provokes the tempter to put him to the test. And indeed the Lord wishes that His servants be put to strong trials so that 'even in trial there is advance.' 3 A leader of soldiers rejoices if one of his own men fights bravely against the enemy, and Christ exults when He sees His martyr now whipped, now stretched on the rack, now with his sides pierced with iron nails, now having fire put upon him. Certainly the martyr is afflicted, but he is unconquered, he sees his own blood flow out of various parts of his body, but he does not think of his own wounds but of Christ's. Therefore exultant and triumphant amid bitter pains, he does not feel the sufferings of his torn body, but he wanders far from the body. And the cause of this is not some doltish insensitivity, but love. He is not free of pain, but he scorns it for Christ. So the Lord exposed the possessions and person of Job to the evils of the tempter, so that afflicted within and without, yet walled by the Lord to the right and to the left, he might grow in grace and advance to the crown. Peter of Blois, Compendium On Job, To Henry II Most Illustrious King Of The English, Chapter 1 1 Job 1.8 2 2 Cor 10.18 3 1 Cor 10.13

Tribulation And Rest

Et unus de senioribus dixit mihi: Hi qui amicti sunt stolis albis, qui sunt? Ad hoc interrogat, ut doceat. Et dixit mihi: Hi sunt qui venerunt ex magna tribulatione. Per multas tribulationes oportet nos introire in regnum Dei.'Quis autem nesciat tribulationem Antichristi caeteris futuram esse majorem? Et laverunt stolas suas in sanguine Agni. Non de solis martyribus dicit. Illi enim sanguine proprio lavantur. Ecclesiam autem totam sanguis Jesu Filii Dei mundat ab omni delicto, ideo sunt ante thronum Dei. Illi enim digni habentur illic in Dei consistere ministerio, qui hic inter adversa fideles nominis ejus confessores existunt. Et serviunt ei die ac nocte in templo ejus. More nostro loquens, aeternitatem significat. Et qui sedet in throno habitabit super illos. Thronus Dei, sancti sunt, super quos et in quibus in saecula habitat Deus. Non esurient neque sitient amplius. Hoc est quod Dominus ipse promisit: 'Ego sum,' inquiens, 'panis vitae: qui venit ad me, non esuriet, et qui credit in me, non sitiet unquam'. 'Beati enim qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur.' Neque cadet super illos sol, neque ullus aestus. Transivimus, inquit, per ignem et aquam, et induxisti nos in refrigerium. Quoniam Agnus, qui in medio throni est, reget illos. Agnum in medio dicit esse throni, qui superius Agnum a sedente in throno librum dixerat accepisse, docens Ecclesiam unum esse Patri et Filio thronum, in qua per fidem inhabitat unus, tota Trinitas, Deus. Et deducet eos ad vitae fontes aquarum. Ad consortium utique sanctorum, qui fontes sunt doctrinae coelestis. Potest et ipsa Dei visio significari, in quo sunt thesauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi. Juxta quod David ait: 'Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.' Et absterget Deus omnem lacrymam ab oculis eorum. Immortalium adepta plenitudine gaudiorum, omnis moeror penitus oblivioni mandabitur. Beati enim qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Potest autem visio hujus turbae stolatae de praesenti etiam tempore intelligi, ubi spe salvi facti sumus, et quod non videmus sperantes, per patientiam exspectamus. Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 93.153b-154b

And one of the elders said to me, 'Who are these who are clothed in white robes?' 1 He asked that he might teach. And he said to me: 'These have come through great tribulation' Through many tribulations we shall enter into the kingdom of God. 2 And who does not know that the tribulation of the Antichrist in the future shall be great? And they washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb. This is not said of the martyrs alone. It is right that they wash in the blood, but also the whole Church is cleansed from every sin by the blood of Jesus the Son of God, and so they too are before the throne of God, and they indeed are worthy to enter into the service of God who here in adversity have stood as faithful confessors of His name. And they serve him day and night in His temple. In our manner of speaking this signifies eternity. And He who sits on the throne shall dwell over them. The throne of God are the saints, over whom and in whom God dwells through the ages. They will not hunger or thirst anymore. This is what the Lord promised. 'I am,' He said, 'the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall not thirst.' And, 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.' 3 Nor shall the sun strike them, nor any heat. 'We passed,' it says, 'through fire and water, and you led us into rest.' 4 Because the lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, shall rule them. The lamb is said to be in the midst of the throne, and before this it was said that the lamb took the book from one seated on the throne, 5 which teaches that the Church is the one throne of the Father and the Son, in which through faith they dwell as one, the whole Trinity, God. And he shall lead them to springs of flowing water. To the gathering of the saints who are the springs of heavenly teaching. The same image can also signify God, in whom the treasuries of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. Whence David says, 'Like the hart that desires springs of water, so my soul desires you, O God.' 6 And he shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. On receiving the fullness of immortal joy all sorrow shall be consigned to oblivion. 'Blessed are those who weep, for they shall be comforted.' 7 This scene can also signify the troubles of the present time when we hope for salvation, and not seeing that for which we hope, we wait patiently. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Apocalypse, Chapter 7 1 Apoc 7.14 2 Acts 14.21 3 Jn 6.35, Mt 5.6 4 Ps 65.12 5 Apoc 5.6-7 6 Ps 41.2 7 Mt 5.5

Martyrs And Innocents

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini, Deus Dominus, et illuxit nobis. Benedictum nomen gloriae ejus, quod est sanctum. Neque enim otiose venit quod ex Maria natum est Sanctum: sed copiose diffundit et nomen et gratiam sanctitatis. Nimirum inde Stephanus sanctus, inde Joannes sanctus, inde sancti etiam Innocentes. Utili proinde dispositione triplex ista solemnitas Natale Domimi comitatur: ut non modo inter continuas solemnitates devotio continua perseveret, sed et fructus Dominicae Nativitatis exinde nobis velut ex quadam prosecutione evidentius innotescat. Siquidem advertere est in his tribus solemnitatibus triplicem quamdam speciem sanctitatis; nec facile praeter haec tria sanctorum genera, quartum aliud posse arbitror in hominibus reperiri. Habemus in beato Stephano martyrii simul et opus et voluntatem: habemus solam voluntatem in beato Joanne; solum in beatis Innocentibus opus. Biberunt omnes hi calicem salutaris, aut corpore simul et spiritu, aut solo spiritu, aut corpore solo. Calicem quidem meum bibetis, ait Dominus Jacobo et Joanni: nec dubium quin de passionis calice loqueretur. Demum cum Petro diceret: Sequere me, evidenter eum ad imitationem suae provocans passionis; conversus ille vidit discipulum, quem diligebat Jesus, sequentem, non tam gressu corporis, quam promptae devotionis affectu. Et bibit ergo Joannes calicem salutaris, et secutus est Dominum sicut Petrus, etsi non omni modo sicut Petrus. Quod enim sic mansit, ut non etiam passione corporea Dominum sequeretur, divini fuit consilii, sicut ipse ait: Sic eum volo manere donec veniam; ac si dicat: Vult quidem et ipse sequi, sed ego sic eum volo manere. An vero de Innocentium coronis quis dubitet? Ille pro Christo trucidatos infantes dubitet inter martyres coronari, qui regeneratos in Christo non credit inter adoptionis filios numerari. Alioquin quando coaevos sibi pueros puer ille qui natus est nobis, non contra nos, propter se pateretur occidi, quod utique solo nutu poterat prohibere, nisi melius aliquid eis provideret? ut, quemadmodum caeteris infantibus tunc quidem circumcisio, nunc vero baptismus sine ullo propriae voluntatis usu sufficit ad salutem, sic nihilominus pro eo susceptum martyrium illis sufficeret ad sanctitatem. Si quaeris eorum apud Deum merita, ut coronarentur, quaere et apud Herodem crimina, ut trucidarentur. An forte minor Christi pietas, quam Herodis impietas, ut ille quidem potuerit innoxios neci dare, Christus non potuerit propter se occisos coronare? Sit ergo Stephanus martyr apud homines, cujus voluntaria passio evidenter apparuit in eo vel maxime, quod in ipso mortis articulo tam pro persequentibus, quam pro se ipso sollicitudinem gereret ampliorem, vinceretque in eo sensum corporeae passionis internae compassionis affectus; ut illorum magis scelera, quam sua vulnera plangeret. Sit Joannes apud angelos martyr, quibus, tanquam spiritualibus creaturis, spiritualia devotionis ejus signa certius innotuerunt. Caeterum hi sunt plane martyres tui, Deus, ut in quibus nec homo nec angelus meritum invenit, singularis tuae praerogativa gratiae evidentius commendetur. Ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem. Gloria in excelsis Deo, angeli dicunt, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. Magna quidem, sed, audeo dicere, necdum perfecta laus, donec veniat qui dicat: Sinite parvulos ad me venire, quia talium est regnum coelorum; et pax hominibus, etiam sine voluntatis usu in sacramento pietatis. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Nativitate Sanctorum Innocentium, De quatuor continuis solemnitatibus, scilicet Nativitatis Domini, ac SS. Stephani, Joannis, et Innocentium. Source: Migne PL 183.129c-131c

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord and He enlightened us. 1 Blessed the name of His glory which is holy. 2 For He who was born holy from Mary did not come uselessly, but He abundantly spreads forth the name and grace of holiness. Certainly because of this Stephen was holy, and likewise John and the Holy Innocents. Usefully, then, these three solemnities are arranged in association with the birth of the Lord, so that there is no interruption of the devotion of the successive feasts, but rather the fruit of the Lord's Nativity becomes known more openly to us by this accompaniment. Certainly with these three solemnities we are directed to a sort of threefold type of holiness, and besides these three types of holy people, I cannot think how it is found among men. In the blessed Stephen we have the work and the will of martyrdom. In the blessed John we have the will alone. In the Holy Innocents the work alone. All these drink of the cup of salvation, either in both the body and the spirit, or in the spirit alone, or in the body alone. 'You shall certainly drink of my cup,' says the Lord to James and John, and doubtless he spoke of the cup for the passion. 3 Then He said to Peter, 'Follow me,' evidently calling him to the imitation of His own passion. And he turned and saw the Apostle who Christ loved following them, not so much with the steps of the body, but with the love of eager devotion. And therefore John drinks of the cup of salvation and is following the Lord like Peter, even if not in every way like Peter, because he remained and did not follow the Lord in corporeal passion, but in Divine counsel, just as He said: 'If I wish him to remain until I come.' 4 As if He said, 'Surely he wishes to follow, but I wish him to remain.' And who doubts the Innocents have their crown? He who doubts that the infants slaughtered for Christ are crowned among the martyrs, does not believe those regenerated in Christ are numbered among His adopted sons. Besides, would that boy born for us, not against us, allow them to be slain who were of the same age as He, which with a nod He was able to prohibit, unless He foresaw something better for them? So it was with those other infants then circumcised, as now baptised, that without anything of their own will, it is enough for salvation, and likewise with a few who have suffered martyrdom for Him it has been enough for holiness. If you wonder at the merit of these children with God, so that they were crowned, seek with Herod the crimes for which they were slain. Or perhaps the piety of Christ is inferior to the impiety of Herod, so that he was able to slay the innocent but Christ was not able to crown those slain because of Him? Let it be, therefore, that Stephen was a martyr with men, he whose will and passion openly appeared in him, and especially at the point of death, when he showed such great care for his persecutors and not for himself, and he conquered in himself the feeling of bodily suffering with the love of eternal compassion. 5 So he lamented more for their crimes than for his own wounds. Then let John be a martyr with the angels, by which, as with spiritual creatures, with his spiritual devotion he made known His signs more certainly. And the others are certainly your martyrs, Lord, those in whom man nor angel finds merit, each one by your singular prerogative of grace being more evidently commended. From the mouths of infants and babes you perfect your praise. 6 'Glory to God the Highest,' the angels say, 'and peace on earth to men of good will.' 7 Certainly it is great, but if I might dare say it, your praise is not yet perfected, until He comes who says: 'Allow the children to come to me, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 8 And it is peace for men even without the use of the will in the mystery of piety. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Year, On the Holy Innocents, On The Four Successive Solemnities, the Nativity of the Lord, and Saint Stephen, and Saint John and the Holy Innocents. 1 Ps 117.26-27 2 Dan 3.52 3 Mt 20.23 4 Jn 21.25 21.22 5 Acts 7.58-59 6 Ps 8.3 7 Lk 2.14 8 Mt 19.14

The Gates Of Death

Misere mei, Domine, vide humilitatem meam de inimicis meis, qui exaltas me de portis mortis. Ista est oratio cunctorum pauperum ad singularem numerum competenter adducta, quia semper in unitatem sanctorum haec turba perducitur. Sic enim sibi postulat subveniri, ut a clementissimo Rege videatur: quia revera conspectus ejus auxilium est, et tenebrosa protinus dispereunt, cum se tanti luminis serena concedunt. Humilitatem igitur suam de inimicorum superia supplicat aestimari, quia tantum carnaliter humiliantur martyres Christi, quantum persecutores eorum temporaliter videntur extolli. Porta, vero, mortis est diabolus, vel omnis illecebra saecularis: quoniam per haec ad aeternum exitium infeliciter introitur. Exaltas me, dicit, id est, longe facis a talibus. Nam cum porta mortis sit conversatio scelerata multorum, jure se ab ea dicit exaltatum: quia praeceptis vitalibus adhaerebat. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus IX Source: Migne PL 70.83d-84a

Be merciful to me, O Lord, look on my lowliness before my enemies, you who lift me up from the gates of death. 1 This is the prayer of all the poor fittingly attributed to single one of their number, because this multitude is ever led to the unity of the saints. So, then, he asks that aid might come to him, and that it appear from the most merciful King, because truly even His look is help and the darkness swiftly perishes when He bestows the serenity of such light. So he prays that his humility might be judged against the pride of his enemies, because as much as the martyrs of Christ are humble in the flesh, so their temporal persecutors evidently exult in it. But the gates of death are the devil, or every snare of the world, because by these we woefully enter into eternal exile. 'You who lift me up,' he says, that is, you take me far from such things. For when the gate of death is the wicked conduct of many, he rightly says he is exalted above them, because he cleaves to the commandments of life. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.13

The Fifth Seal

Et cum aperuisset quintum sigillum Quia Ecclesiam dixerat in praesenti multipliciter afflictam, dicit et gloriam animarum post corporum poenam. Vidi, inquit, eas sub altare, id est, in secretario laudis aeternae. Ara enim aurea et interius posita, et prope dominici corporis arcam, non ut exterior carnem et sanguinem, sed sola offert Domino thymiamata laudis. Et qui nunc exhibent corpora sua hostiam viventem, tunc, diruptis carnis vinculis, illi sacrificant hostiam laudis. Potest autem et per hyperbaton esse, ut non sub ara viderit, sed sub ara occisos, id est, sub testificatione nominis Christi, sicut de Machabaeis dictum est. Sub testamento Dei ceciderunt. Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Caput VI Source: Migne 93.147d-148a

'And when He opened the fifth seal...' 1 Because he has spoken of the much afflicted Church in the present, he even tells of the glory of souls after the suffering of the body. 'I saw,' he says, 'those beneath the altar,' that is, those in the sanctuary of eternal praise. And the altar is gold and placed within and near the ark of the body of the Lord, so that it is not the exterior flesh and blood that is offered to the Lord but the sacrifice of praise alone. And they who now exhibit the body as a living sacrifice, then, with carnal chains broken, they sacrifice the sacrifice of praise. 2 And it is possible that this is hyberbaton, that he did not see them beneath the altar, but slain beneath, that is, bearing witness under it in the name of Christ, as it is said of the Maccabees. 'Beneath the witness of God they fell.' 3 St Bede, from Commentary On The Apocalypse, Chapter 7 1 Apoc 6.9 2 Ps 115.8 3 2 Mac 7

Stephen's Martyrdom

Ecce, inquit beatus Stephanus, video coelos apertos, et Filium hominis stantem a dextris virtutis Dei. Considerate attentius, fratres dilectissimi, cum beatus martyr Dominum mostrum Jesum Christum ad dexteram Dei Patris sedere vidissset, cur se Filium hominis videre testatus est, et non potius Filium Dei, cum utique plus honoris Domino delaturus videretur, si se Dei potius quam hominis Filium videre dixisset? Sed certa ratio postulabat ut hoc ita ostenderetur in coelo, et praedicaretur in mundo; omne enim Judaeorum scandalum in hoc erat, cur Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui secundum carnem est Filius hominis esse etiam Dei Filius diceretur. Ideo ergo pulchre Scriptura divina Filium hominis ad dexteram Dei Patris stare memoravit, ut ad confundendam Judaeorum incredulitatem, illi martyri ostenderetur in coelo, qui a perfidis negabatur in mundo; et illi testimonium coelestis veritas daret, cui fidem terrena  impietas derogarat. Unde licet juxta psalmum, qui lectus est: Pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum sit, si quid tamen distare inter martyres potest, praecipuus videtur esse qui primus est. Nam cum Sanctus Stephanus ab apostolos ipsos beata ac triumphali morte praecessit: ac sic, qui erat inferior ordine, prior factus est passione; et qui erat discipulus gradu, magister coepit esse martytrio; complens illud quod veatus propheta in psalmo dixit: Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi? Retribuere enim primus voluit Stephanus martyr Domino, quod cum omni humano genere accepit Domino; mortem enim, quam Salvator dignatus est pro omnibus pati, hanc ille primus reddidit Salvatori. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LXIV, In Natali Sancti Stephani Levitae et Protomartyris Source: Migne PL 57.379

'Behold,' said the blessed Stephen,'I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.' 1 Consider attentively, dear brothers, when the blessed martyr saw our Lord Jesus Christ sat at the right hand of God the Father, why he gave witness to seeing the son of Man and not rather the Son of God, when more honour he would seem to speak to the Lord if he had said the Son of of God rather than the Son of Man? But with good reason it was desired that this be so shown in heaven and preached in the world, for every scandal of the Jews was in this: why our Lord Jesus Christ who was according to the flesh the Son of Man, was to be spoken of as the Son of God. Therefore rightly Holy Scripture declares the Son of Man to be standing at the right side of God that the disbelief of the Jews be confounded, showing Him in heaven to that martyr, who by traitors was denied in the world, and to him had given witness to heavenly truth, the faith of whom was denounced on earth by impiety. Whence fittingly according to the Psalm, we read, 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His holy ones.' 2 If, however, there is difference among the martyrs, it certainly seems he is the first. For when the blessed Stephan was ordained a deacon by the Apostles, he preceded those same Apostles in a blessed and triumphant death, and so he who was inferior in rank, first made his passion, and he who was a pupil by status became a teacher by martyrdom, fulfilling what the blessed Prophet said in Psalm: What shall I return to the Lord for all the things that he has given me? 3 For the first martyr Stephen wished to give return to the Lord, that when everything human he had received from the Lord, even death, which the Saviour deemed worthy to suffer for all, he first returned to the Saviour. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 64, On The Feast Day of St Stephen 1.Acts 7.56 2 Ps 115.15 3 Ps 115.12

The Pearl And Correction

Satis ad correctionem vestram arbitror posse sufficere, fratres dilecti, quod anteriore dominica profecturus nulla vobis sacrarum litterarum spiritualia dona largitus sum, sed tantum vos increpans et arguens pro peccato sine aliqua praedicationis consolatione dimiserim. Volui enim vos hoc ipsum intelligere, quam graviter peccaveritis, quod divina eloquia audire minime meruistis. Haec enim sacerdotum vehemens et copiosa vindicata est indignis quibusque litterarum coelestium sacramenta non credere, nec, sicut ait Dominus, dare sanctum canibus, neque margaritas projicere porcorum pedibus conculcandas. Perdit enim coelestis margaritae gratiam quisquis eam foedissimo peccatori circumdare conatur. Gemma enim, sicut ipsi scitis, nisi auro non convenit, margarita, nonnisi pretiosis monilibus non aptatur. Estote ergo aurum optimum, estote monile pretiosum, ut possit in vobis margarita spiritualis includi. Margarita enim Christus est Dominus, quam negotiator ille dives in Evangelio, venditis omnibus rebus suis, emere festinavit, et maluit omnes, quas habebat, saeculi gemmas amittere, tantum ut unam Christi emeret margaritam. Unde et ego, fratres, pro magnitudine quod admiseratis delicti, nolui vobis pandere evangelicae refectionis eloquia; sed magis ingerere animosae indignationis injuriam, et prius vos verberibus spiritualibus emendare, ac sic margaritae ditare muneribus: malui, inquam, peccatum vestrum incusando acriter increpare, quam leniter dissimulando nutrire. Quisquis enim fratrem non arguit peccantem, quodammodo hortatur. Nolo autem putetis quod non de amore faciam vos saepius verberando. Filius enim qui castigatione dignus est, plus amatur, sicut ait Scriptura sancta: Quem enim diligit Dominus corripit; castigat autem omnem filium quem recipit. Dicite mihi si non dolendum fuerit hoc peccatum, sic vos salutis vestrae immemores tunc fuisse, ut beatissimis apostolis Petro et Paulo honorificentiam minime redderetis, cum ipsos esse sciatis doctores gentium, auctores martyrum, principes sacerdotum, nec volueritis eorum natalem nobiscum festivissimum celebrare, atque illi coelesti interesse convivo in quo pro martyrum tanta laetitia substantiam vitae ipse nobis Dominus ministravit. Vultis autem scire quantis bonis fraudati fueritis? Interrogate, fratres, qui tunc mecum pariter adfuerunt, quam refecti a dominica mensa discesserint, vel quales secum domum spirituales divitias reportaverint. Unum scio, quod si quis illa die honoratus aut dives, ob natalem filii sui ad decimum usque milliarium ad prandium rogavisset, propter accuratas epulas, et inaequales mensuras, absque dubio vos ituros fuisse. Igitur, fratres, quotiescunque martyrum memoriam celebramus, praetermissis omnibus saeculi actibus, sine aliqua dubitatione concurrere debemus, reddere illis honorificentiam qui vobis salutem profusione sui sanguinis pepererunt, qui tanquam sacrata hostia pro nostra propitiatione Domino sunt oblati, praesertim cum dicat ad sanctos suos omnipotens Deus: Qui vos honorat me, honorat, et qui vos spernit, me spernit. Quisquis ergo honorat martyres, honorat et Christum, et qui spenit sanctos, spenit et Dominum. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia CXVII, De Margarita Source: Migne PL 57.527c-530a

It think it enough for your correction, dear brothers, that before the Lord's day for your profit I shall not offer you any spiritual gift from Sacred Scripture but only cry out against you and dispute with you concerning sin without having sent forth any comfort of preaching. For I wish you to understand this, how gravely you have sinned, and because of which you are the least worthy to receive the Divine words. This indeed is a fierce and grave punishment of clergy, that they are thought to be unworthy of the mysteries of the heavenly Scriptures, that, as the Lord said, 'one should not give holy things to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine who will trample on them with their feet.' 1 For he destroys the grace of the heavenly pearl who tries to set it in the filth of the sinner. A jewel, as you know, unless it is placed amid gold does not befit, unless it is part of a precious necklace it is not apt. Be then, that best gold, be that precious necklace, so that the spiritual pearl is able to be set among you. The pearl is Christ our Lord, which that rich merchant in the Gospel, selling all his things, made haste to buy, and he preferred to lose all that he had, the jewels of the age, only that he might buy the pearl of Christ. Whence even I, brothers, on account of the magnitude of crimes you have committed, am unwilling to open to you the speech of the restorative Gospel, but prefer far more to impose on you the wounds of ardent indignation, and beforehand to improve you with spiritual blows, and so then to enrich you with gifts of pearls. I prefer, I say, to cry against your sin with reproof than to feed you easily with lies. He who does not dispute with a sinful brother can in no way improve him. I do not want you to think that is it is on account of a lack of love that I so often strike you. For the son who is worthy of correction is the one more loved, as  Holy Scripture says: 'He whom the Lord loves He corrects, for He admonishes every son he receives.' 2 Say to me rather that he who did not trouble you for this sin would be the one heedless of your salvation, which fault is that to the most blessed Peter and Paul you have hardly returned any honour, when you know them to be teachers of nations, authors of martyrdom, princes of priests, nor do you wish to celebrate their birthday feast with us and be amid that heavenly feast in which, for martyrdom, with such joy the Lord ministers to us the substance of life. You wish to know how many goods you have been deprived? Ask yourselves, brothers, who would stand together with me when they have been cut off from the refreshment of the Lord's table, or what spiritual wealth would they bring with them to the house? One thing I know: if some man honoured or rich, on that day on which is celebrated the birth of his own son, had sent invitation to a meal, whether you be the tenth or the thousandth asked, for the sake of attending a feast, even with unequal measures, without doubt, you all would have come. Therefore, brothers, as many times as we celebrate the memory of the martyrs, removed from all worldly deeds, without hesitation we should run to give them honour, they who for you have given birth to salvation in the shedding of their blood, who as sacred victims have given themselves for our propitiation to the Lord, especially when the almighty God says to his holy ones: 'He who honours me I will honour, and he who spurns me I will spurn.' 3 Whoever, then, honours martyrs, he honours Christ, and he who spurns the saints, he spurns the Lord. Saint Maximus of Turin, Homily 117, On The Pearl 1.Mt 7.6 2 Prov 3.12 3 Lk 10.16

Blessings And Persecution

Beati persecutionem patiuntur propter justitiam, et reliquia. Perfecta ad postremum eos beatitudine muneratur, quibus omnia pro Christo pati pronus affectus est, quia ipse justitia est. His igitur et regnum reservatur et merces in coelo copiosa promittitur, qui in contemptu saeculi pauperes spiritu et damnis rerum praesentium jacturisque probrosi, et adversus maledicta hominum coelestis justitiae confessores, ac deinceps gloriosi promissorum Dei martyres, omnem vitae usum testimonio aeternitatis ejus impenderint. In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 9.933b-934a

Blessed are those who suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness...1 Finally He rewards with perfect blessedness those who are willing to suffer all things for Christ, because He is righteousness. For these both the kingdom is reserved and the abundant rewards of heaven are promised, those who in contempt for the world are poor in spirit, and by the loss of present things, and by the taunts of the shameless and in opposition to the abuse of men, are confessors of heavenly righteousness, and then glorious martyrs of God's promises, having given over their life in every way for the witness of His eternity. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 4 1 Mt 5.10

Names And Stephen

Sicut dominum praediorum limitibus affixi tituli proloquuntur, ita nomina ipse saepe sanctorum merita indicant, testantur insignia. Ita Abraham, quod fide credidit, nominis adjectione monstravit, quando ex Abram Abraham divinitus nuncupatur: ut dilatandus genere, nomine ante dilataretur, dicente Domino: Et non vocabitur amplius nomen tuum Abram, sed Abraham erit nomen tuum, quia patrem multarum gentium posui te. Sic conjux sancta ejus cum de sterili fit fecunda, ex Sarai vocitate est Sarah, ut et ipsa ante crescat nomine quam crescat pignore; et quia permittente Domino risum edidit si verula conciperet exarata jam rugis, si praeret desperata jam fecunditas, si sterilitas jam penes senectutis extrema praegnans fieret, risum mox quod genuit, nuncupavit; et hoc aptavit in nomine, quod sensu passa est cum rideret: Et vocavit nomen ejus Isaac, quod interpretatur risus. Sic Jacob, qui in utero coepit ante luctari quam vivere, ante viribus superare quam membris, etiam inter viscera materna ipsa supplantatori est vocabulum consecutus, eo quod antequam nasceretur noscitur divinitus reprobatum supplantasse germanum. Et quia longum est ire per singula, sicut Petrus a petra nomen adeptus est, quia primus meruit Ecclesiam fidei firmitate fundare; ita Stephanus vocatus est a corona, quia primus meruit pro Christi nomine subire conflictum, primus meruit sanguine militium Christi martyrium dedicare. Petrus apostolici chori vetustum teneat principatum, aperiat intrantibus regnum coelorum, reos potestate vinciat, poenitentes clementer absolvat; Stephanus est martyrum primus, Stephanus purpuratum ducat exercitum, qui pro Domini sui adhuc calente sanguine sanguinem suum avidus bellator effundit. Et quia cruore proprio tinctam sibi ipse purpuram conquisivit, meruit a rege suo consecutus est post corona: vere quem praescivit et praedestinavit, ipsum nunc martyrii primum vocavit ad gloriam. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CLIV, In Divum Stephanum protomartyrem Source: Migne PL 52.608a-609a

As titles proclaim the limits appointed to the lordship of estates, so names often indicate the merits of the holy, bearing witness to their achievement. This was shown with Abraham, who believed and thus received an addition to his name, when he was renamed Abraham from Abram, and with expansion of the family, the name was likewise expanded, with the Lord saying, 'And no longer shall you be called Abram, but Abraham shall be your name because I have appointed you to be the father of many nations.' 1 So his holy wife, when she was made fertile from sterility, was renamed Sarah from Sarai, her name growing before grew the pledge, and because the Lord permitted her to laugh saying that a shoot would be conceived in her already furrowed with lines, that in the presence of despair there was now fecundity, that in the fruitless end of old age she would became pregnant, that she laughing would soon give birth, He made it fitting by the name, which sense was passed on when she laughed, and she called the name of the child Isaac, which translated means laughter. So Jacob, who in the womb before his birth began to struggle, who before having strength of limbs would overcome even within his mother, by which the name of supplantor followed, whence before he was born it is known by Divine influence he had supplanted a rejected twin. And because it would take far too long to go through each name, as Peter was given his name from a rock, because first he merited with firmness of faith to establish the Church, so let it be said that Stephen is named from a crown, because he first merited to undergo struggle for the name of Christ, he first merited to be a martyr soldier of Christ with blood. Peter holds the elder and principle seat of the Apostolic choir, he opened the kingdom of heaven to those who would enter, he conquered the guilty with power, absolved the penitent with mercy. Stephen is the first martyr, Stephen in purple leads the army, a zealous soldier who for the blood of His Lord pours out his own hot blood. And because he has sought the purple hue for himself with his own blood thus he earns from his king the crown that follows after, truly him whom He knew and predestined, who now, the first of martyrs, He calls to glory. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 154, On Saint Stephen The Protomartyr 1 Gen 17.5

Blessings of the Living And The Dead

Beati satis qui, ex vobis per haec gloriarum vestigia commeantes, jam de saeculo recesserunt, confectoque itinere virtutis ac fidei, ad complexum et osculum Domini, Domino ipso gaudente, venerunt. Sed et vestra non minor gloria, qui adhuc in certamine constituti et comitum glorias secuturi, pugnam diu geritis, immotaque et inconcussa fide stabiles quotidie spectaculum Deo vestris virtutibus exhibetis. Quo longior vestra pugna, hoc corona sublimior. Agon unus, sed multiplici praeliroum numerositate congestus. Famem vincitis et sitim spernitis, et squalorem carceris ac receptaculi poenalis horrorem roboris vigore calcatis. Poena illic subigitur, cruciatus obteritur, nec mors metuitur, sed optatur; quae scilicet immortalitatis praemio vincitur, ut vitae aeternitate qui vicerit coronetur. Qui nunc in vobis animus, quam sublime, quam capax pectus, ubi talia et tanta volvuntur, ubi non nisi Dei praecepta et Christi praemia cogitantur. Voluntas est illic tantum Dei; et in carne adhuc licet vobis positis, vita jam vivitur non praesentis saeculi, sed futuri. Sanctus Cyprianus, Epistola XV, Ad Moysen et Maximum et Caeteros Confessores Source: Migne PL 4.267a-268a

Abundantly blessed are they who, from you, passing along these footprints of glory, have already departed the world, and have completed the journey of virtue and faith unto the embrace and the kiss of the Lord, to the joy of the Lord Himself. But your glory is not less, who are yet engaged in the struggle, and, about to follow the glories of your friends, are long engaged in battle, and standing firm in an unmoved and unshaken faith, daily exhibit your virtues as a spectacle to God. The longer your combat, the greater the crown. The contest is one, but it is crowded with a multitude of trials. You conquer hunger and you despise thirst, and the squalor of prison and the horror of the place of punishment you tread under foot by the vigour of your courage. Punishment is there subdued, torture is crushed, nor is death feared but desired, since it is conquered by the reward of immortality, so that he who has conquered is crowned with eternal life. What now must be in your soul, how elevated, how large the heart, when such and so great things are considered, when nothing but the precepts of God and the rewards of Christ are meditated. Only there is the will God's will, and though you remain placed in the flesh, now you do not live the life of the present world, but of the future. Saint Cyprian of Carthage, from Letter 15, To Moses, Maximus and other Confessors

A Mother's Martydom

In civitate vero Culusitana non valeo quae gesta sunt nuntiare, quia et ipsam quantitatem martyrum vel etiam confessorum impossibile est homini supputtare. Ubi quaedam matrona, auctrix sui nominis Victoria, dum in conspectu vulgi continuato suspendio cremaretur, a marito jam perdito filiis praesentibus taliter rogabatur: Quid pateris conjunx? Si me despicis, vel horum miserere quos genuisti, impia, parvulorum. Quare oblivisceris uteri tui, et pro nihilo ducis quos cum gemitu peperisti? Ubi sunt foedera conjugalis amoris? ubi societatis vincula, quae inter nos dudum honestatis jure tabulae conscriptae fecerunt? Respice, quaeso, filios ac maritum, et regiae jussionis implere festina praeceptum, ut et imminentia adhuc tormenta lucreris, simul et mihi doneris et liberis nostris. Sed illa nec filiorum fletus, nec serpentis audiens blandimenta, affectum multo altius elevans a terra, mundum cum suis desideriis contemnebat. Quam cum jam continuatione suspendi avulsis humeris, etiam qui cruciabant conspicerent mortuam, deposuerunt prorsus omni parte exanimatam. Quae postea retulit quamdam sibi virginem astitisse, atque tetigisse membra singula, et illico fuisse sanatam. Victor Vitensis, Historia Persecutionis Africae Provinciae, Liber V Source: Migne PL 58.243b-244a

However I cannot tell all that happened in the city of Culusitana, because it is impossible for any man to recount even the amount of martyrs or confessors. But I shall say that there was a certain woman, a mother by the name of Victoria, who having been hung up to burn in the presence of the crowd, was asked by her husband, a man who was already ruined, with their children present: 'Why do you suffer, O wife? If you scorn me, at least have mercy on these to whom you have given birth, wicked woman. Why have no care for the fruit of your womb and reckon as nothing these whom you bore amid groans? Where are the bonds of conjugal love? Where that bond of association between us that the honourable written tablets once rightly made? I beseech you, look on your children and your husband, and make haste to fulfill the command of the king, 1 so that you may yet acquire relief from your imminent torment and give a gift to me and your children.' But that woman wept not for her children, nor listened to the charms of the serpent, but with as much passion as she hung above the earth, so she condemned the world and its desires. Then when her shoulder bones had been wrenched out by continual suspension, and those who were torturing her suspected she had expired, they took her down and found that she was indeed dead. It is told that afterwards a certain virgin was brought near and healed by touching every member of her body. Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province, Book 5 1 King Huneric, who commanded adoption of Arianism

Martyrs In Life

Sufficere nobis deberent ad profectum salutis nostrae martyrum exempla sanctorum, qui propter adipiscendam coelestem coronam omnibus se mandatis dominicis subdiderunt; et ita cunctis devinxerunt se legibus Salvatoris, ut propter anteactam vitam mererentur ad hanc martyrii gloriam pervenire. Non enim illo in tempore tantum perfecerunt praeceptum Domini, quo confessionis supplicum pertulerunt; sed necesse est illos prius secundum Evangelium vixisse Christi, ut Christi passionibus potirentur. Necesse est enim, ut initia bona fuerint, quorum finis est optimus subsecutus; et martyres eos non solum fuisse cum passi sunt, sed etiam martyres Christi fuisse cum viverent. Martyr enim Latine testis dicitur; ac quotiescunque bonis actibus mandatum Christi facimus, toties Christo testimonium perhibemus. Unde et crux Domini non illa tantum dicitur quae passionis tempore ligni affixione construitur, sed et illa quae totius vitae curriculo cunctarum disciplinarum virtutibus cooptatur; de quae mihi videtur Salvator dicere: Qui vult venire post me, tollat crucem suam et sequatur me?  Nunquid omnes virgines, qui juxta Apocalypsim sequuntur Agnum Dei, crucifixi sunt, ut sequantur? Nunquid Paulus apostolus crucifixus fuerat, cum dicit: 'Mihi autem absit gloriari, nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi, per quem mihi mundus crucifixus, et ego mundo'? Hoc autem dicit, ut intelligas crucem non ligni esse patibulum, sed vitae virtutisque propositum. Tota igitur vita Christiani hominis, si secundum Evangelium vivat, crux est atque martyrium. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia  LXXXII, De Sanctis Martyribus Migne PL 57.429-430

Sufficient should the examples of the saints be to us to profit for our salvation, those who on account on obtaining the celestial crown subdued themselves to all the teachings of the Lord, and served all the precepts of the Savior, that by the life lived they might merit to come to the glory of the martyrs. For it is not to him alone in that time when he undergoes the sufferings of confession that the precepts of the Lord are perfected, but it is necessary that those who have lived according to the Gospel of Christ are like those who undergo the sufferings of Christ. For necessary it is that there were goods before, of which the subsequent end is the best; the martyrs were not only those who suffered, but even they were martyrs who lived for Christ. Martyr means witness, and as many times as we adhere to the teaching of Christ by good deeds, so often do we give witness to Christ. Whence even the cross of Christ is said to be not only in that time of suffering when there is the fixing to the wood, but even of that whole life taken up as a training in every discipline of the virtues, about which it seems to me the Saviour spoke when he said, 'He who would come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me.' 1 Was it that all the virgins who followed the Lamb of God in the Apocalypse, were crucified, that they might follow? 2 Was it that Paul was crucified when he said, 'May it not be for me to glory unless in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world is crucified to me and I to the world' ? 3 This indeed he says that you understand that the cross is not the wooden gibbet, but the pursuit of the virtuous life. Thus the life of the Christian man, that he lives according to the Gospel, is the cross and martyrdom. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 82, On The Holy Martyrs 1. Lk 9.23 2 Apoc 14.4 3 Gal 6.14

A Rich Man's Martyrdom

Qualiter autem Adrumentinae civitatis civem Victorianum, tunc proconsulem Carthaginis, praedicem, nescio, deficientibus verbis. Quo in Africae partibus nullus ditior fuit, qui etiam apud impium regem pro rebus semper sibi comissis fidelissimus habebatur. Mandatur ei a rege familiariter, diciturque quod eum habiturus esset prae omnibus domesticum, si ejus precepto facilem commodasset assensum. Sed ille vir Dei missis ad se tale dedit cum fiducia magna responsum: Securus ego sum de Christo Deo et Domino meo. Haec regi dicatis: Subrigat ignibus, adigat bestiis, excruciet generibus omnium tormentorum. Si consensero, frustra sum in Ecclesia catholica baptizatus. Nam si haec praesens vita sola fuisset, et aliam, quae vere est, non speraremus aeternam, nec ita facerem ut ad modicum atque temporaliter gloriarer, et ingratus existerem ei qui suam fidem mihi contulit, creditori. Ad quod tyrannus excitatus, quantorum temporum, et quantis eum afflixit peoneis, humanus sermo non poterit explicare. Qui tripudians in Domino, feliciterque consummans, martyrialem coronam accepit. Victor Vitensis, Historia Persecutionis Africae Provinciae, Liber V Source: Migne PL 58 244a-b

Likewise I do not know, lacking the words, how to commend Victorianus, a citizen of the city of Hadrumetum and then proconsul of Carthage. No one in Africa was richer than him, and even the business of the wicked king Huneric was faithfully committed to him. A command was issued by the king that he should be more closely associated with him, and that he would be preferred above all his servants if he acceded with easy assent to his instruction. 1 But that man of God, giving attention to himself, gave this response of great faith: 'I am safe with Christ and my Lord. Say this to the king: stoke fires, rouse beasts, torment with every kind of torture, if I consent then I have been baptised in the Catholic Church in vain. For if there were only this present life and we did not hope for another eternal one, which truly is life, I would not thus scorn mediocre and temporal glory and live ungrateful to him who bestowed his own faith on me, and to whom I am indebted.' The tyrant was enraged by this and afflicted him with many punishments over a long time, such that human speech is not able to recount it. He who, exulting in the Lord, happily reaching his end, received the crown of martyrdom. Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province, from Book 5 1 To adopt Arianism

Friends And Enemies

Positis genibus clamavit dicens: ne statuas illis hoc peccatum. Videte, dilectissimi fratres, affectum beati viri; videte magnam et admirabilem caritatem. In persecutione positus erat, et pro persecutoribus supplicabat, atque in illa lapidum ruina, quando alius oblivisci poterat etiam carissimos suos, ille Domino commendabat inimicos. Quod enim dicebat, cum lapidaretur? Domine, ne statuas illis hoc peccatum. Plus itaque tunc illorum dolebat peccata quam sua vulnera, plus illorum impietatem quam suam mortem; et recte plus. In illorum quippe iniquitate erant multa quae plangi, in illius autem morte non erat quod debuisset doleri; illorum impietatem mors sequebatur aeterna, hujus autem mortem vita perpetua. Imitemur ergo in aliquo, dilectissimi fratres, tanti magistri fidem, tam praeclari martyris caritatem; diligamus nos hoc animo in Ecclesia fratres nostros, quo ille tunc dilexit inimicos suos. Sed quod pejus est aliquoties non solum inimicos non diligmus, nec amicis quidem fidem integram custodimus. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LXIV Source: Migne PL 57.381a-b

'And on his knees he called out saying, Do not hold this sin against them.' 1 See, dearest brothers, the state of the blessed man, see his great and admirable love. In persecution he was placed, and for his persecutors he prayed, and in that rain of stones, when other would have forgotten even their dearest ones, he commended his enemies to the Lord. For what did he say when he was stoned? 'O Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' Thus he groaned more for their sins than for his own wounds, more for their impiety than his own death, and rightly more. For in their iniquity there was much to lament and in his death there was nothing to grieve, since eternal death followed upon their impiety and eternal life his death. Let us imitate in some way, dearest brothers, the faith of such a teacher, the love of this glorious martyr; let us love in our souls our brothers in the Church as he loved his enemies. For what is much worse  is not only that we do not love our enemies,  but that neither do we keep faith with friends. Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 64 1 Acts 7.59

Bringing The Soul To Life

Inposuisti homines super capita nostra, transivimus per ignem et aquam et induxisti nos in refrigerium. Introibo in domum tuam in holocaustis, reddam tibi vota mea Tentationum autem  genera et diversas martyrium victorias contuentes, scimus quibus modis anima ponatur in vitam, cujus contemptu desaevientibus poenarum ingeniis, a fidei gressu et testimonio non moventur. Alii enim in vinculis carcerum gloriantur, alii caesi in verberibus gratulantur, alii potestati irreligiosorum desecanda felicium capitum colla submittunt: plures in exstructos rogos currant, et trepidantibus poenae ministris, ignem saltu devotae festinationis insiliunt: alii in profundum demergendi, non in aquas necaturas; sed in refrigerium aeternae beatitudinis decidunt, toto ipso se corpore Deo hostiam tamquam holocausta praebentes. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LXV Source: Migne PL 9.432c

'You placed men over our heads, we passed through fire and water, and you led us into rest. I shall enter into your house with sacrifices, I shall return my vow to you.' 1 Observing the types of trial and the victories of the martyrs, we know by what ways the soul is brought to life, of which is contempt for the savage cunning of punishments, that they do not move one from the position of faith. Some gloried in prison's chains, some rejoiced amid a flurry of blows, others submitted the necks of their happy heads to the cleaving power of the irreligious, many ran to the heaped pyre and amid the fearsome ministers of punishments leaped into the fire with swift and devout bound, others in the depths were drowned, not into killing waters but passing into the rest of eternal life, offering the whole body to God as sacrifice. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 65 1 Ps 65.12-13

The Martyrdom of Alban

Magnificavit igitur misericordiam suam nobiscum Deus volens omnes homines salvos fieri et vocans non minus peccatores quam eos qui se putant iustos. Qui gratuito munere, supra dicto ut conicimus persecutionis tempore, ne penitus crassa atrae noctis caligine Britannia obfuscaretur, clarissimos lampades sanctorum martyrum nobis accendit, quorum nunc corporum sepulturae et passionum loca, si non lugubri divortio barbarorum quam plurima ob scelera nostra civibus adimerentur, non minimum intuentium mentibus ardorem divinae caritatis incuterens: sanctum Albanum Verolamiensem, Aaron et Iulium legionum urbis cives ceterosque utriusque sexus diversis in locis summa magnanimitate in acie Christi perstantes dico. Quorum prior postquam caritatis gratia confessorem persecutoribus insectatum et iam iamque comprehendendum, imitans et in hoc Christum animam pro ovibus ponentem, domo primum ac mutatis dein mutuo vestibus occuluit et se discrimini in fratris supra dicti vestimentis libenter persequendum dedit, ita Deo inter sacram confessionem cruoremque coram impiis romana tum stigmata cum horribili fantasia praeferentibus placens signorum miraculis mirabiliter adornatus est, ut oratione ferventi illi Israeliticae arenti viae minusque tritae, stante diu arca prope glareas testamenti in medio Iordanis canali, simile iter ignotum, trans tamesis nobilis fluuii alueum, cum mille uiris sicco ingrediens pede suspensis utrimque modo praeruptorum fluvialibus montium gurgitibus aperiret et priorem carnificem tanta prodigia videntem in agnum ex lupo mutaret et una secum triumphalem martyrii palmam sitire vehementius et excipere fortius faceret. Ceteri vero sic diversis cruciatibus torti sunt et inaudita membrorum discerptione lacerati ut absque cunctamine gloriosi in egregiis Ierusalem ueluti portis martyrii sui trophaea defigerent. De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae, Sanctus Gildas Sapiens

God, therefore, magnified His mercy to us, wishing that all men should be saved, and He calls sinners no less than those who think themselves righteous. He who, of His own free gift, in the above mentioned time of persecution, as we understand it, lest Britain be utterly engulfed in the thick darkness of black night, kindled for us the bright lamps of holy martyrs, the tombs of whose bodies and the places of their passion, had they not, so many of them, been taken from us the citizens on account of our numerous crimes, through the woeful division of the barbarians, 1 would now inspire the minds of those who gazed at them with a far from feeble glow of divine love, Saint Alban of Verulamium, Aaron and Iulius, citizens of the city of the legion, and the rest of both sexes in different places, who were firm in the lofty spirit of the mind of Christ. The former of these, for the sake of charity, hid a confessor when he was hunted by persecutors and just about to be taken, imitating in this Christ laying down his life for the sheep. First in his house and then by exchanging clothing with him, he concealed him, in the clothes of the brother mentioned willingly exposing himself to being pursued. Thus being well pleasing to God, during the time between his holy confession and cruel death, in the presence of the impious, who bore the Roman marks with their hideous forms, he was wonderfully adorned with miraculous signs, so that by fervent prayer, like that dry little-trodden way of the Israelites, when the ark of the covenant stood long on the gravel in the middle of Jordan, he opened an unknown way through the bed of the noble river Thames, and with a thousand men walked through with dry foot, the rushing waters on either side hanging like abrupt precipices, and by sight of such wonders first transformed his executioner from a wolf into a lamb, and as one with himself caused him to thirst more eagerly for the triumphant palm of martyrdom and more bravely to achieve it. Others, in truth, were so tortured with diverse torments, and mangled with unheard of tearing of limbs, that without delay, as if at the illustrious gates of Jerusalem, they raised trophies of their glorious martyrdom. On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain, Saint Gildas the Wise 1 The Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britain

Martyrs and Witnesses

'Et vidimus, et testes.' Forte aliqui fratrum nesciunt, qui graece non norunt, quid sint testes graece: et usitatum nomen est omnibus et religiosum; quos enim testes latine dicimus, graece martyres sunt. Quis autem non audivit martyres, aut in cuius christiani ore non quotidie habitat nomen martyrum? Atque utinam sic habitet et in corde, ut passiones martyrum imitemur, non eos calcibus persequamur. Ergo hoc dixit: Vidimus, et testes sumus: Vidimus, et martyres sumus. Testimonium enim dicendo ex eo quod viderunt, et testimonium dicendo ex eo quod audierunt ab his qui viderunt, cum displiceret ipsum testimonium hominibus adversus quos dicebatur, passi sunt omnia quae passi sunt martyres. Testes Dei sunt martyres. Deus testes habere voluit homines, ut et homines habeant testem Deum. Vidimus, inquit, et testes sumus. Ubi viderunt? In manifestatione. Quid est, in manifestatione? In sole, id est in hac luce. Unde autem potuit videri in sole qui fecit solem, nisi quia in sole posuit tabernaculum suum, et ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo, exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam ? Ille ante solem qui fecit solem, ille ante luciferum, ante omnia sidera, ante omnes Angelos, verus creator - quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil -, ut videretur oculis carneis qui solem vident; ipsum tabernaculum suum in sole posuit, id est carnem suam in manifestatione huius lucis ostendit: et illius sponsi thalamus fuit uterus Virginis, quia in illo utero virginali coniuncti sunt duo, sponsus et sponsa, sponsus Verbum et sponsa caro; quia scriptum est: Et erunt duo in carne una; et Dominus dicit in Evangelio: Igitur iam non duo, sed una caro. Et Isaias optime meminit unum esse ipsos duos: loquitur enim ex persona Christi, et dicit: Sicut sponso imposuit mihi mitram, et sicut sponsam ornavit me ornamento. Unus videtur loqui, et sponsum se fecit et sponsam se fecit; quia non duo, sed una caro: quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Illi carni adiungitur Ecclesia, et fit Christus totus, caput et corpus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, In Epistolam Ioannis ad Parthos, Tractatus I

'And we have seen and are witnesses.' 1  Perhaps some of the brethren who do not know Greek are not aware that the word witnesses is in Greek, and yet it is a term much used by all, and religious, for what in the Latin tongue we call witnesses, in Greek are martyrs. Where indeed is the man that has not heard of martyrs, or in which Christian mouth does not the name of martyrs daily dwell? And I would that it so dwelt in the heart also that we might imitate the sufferings of the martyrs and not distress them with our drinking! Well then, 'We have seen and are witnesses,' is as much as to say, We have seen and are martyrs. For it was for bearing witness of that which they had seen, and bearing witness of that which they had heard from them who had seen, that, while their testimony itself displeased the men against whom it was delivered, the martyrs suffered all that they suffered. The martyrs are God's witnesses. It pleased God to have men for His witnesses, that men also may have God to be their witness. 'We have seen,' he says, 'and are witnesses.' Where have they seen? In the manifestation. What does this mean, in the manifestation? In the sun, that is, in the light. And how should He be seen in the sun who made the sun, except as "in the sun He has set His tabernacle; and Himself as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber, exulted as a great one to run His course?" 2 He before the sun, who made the sun, He before the day-star, before all the stars, before all angels, the true Creator, 'for all things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made,'3 that He might be seen by the corporeal  eyes of which see the sun, set His very tabernacle in the sun, that is, showed His flesh in manifestation of this light of day, and that Bridegroom's chamber was the Virgin's womb, because in that virginal womb were joined the two, the Bridegroom and the bride, the Bridegroom the Word, and the bride the flesh, because it is written, 'And two shall be one flesh.'4 And the Lord says in the Gospel, Therefore they are no more two but one flesh.5 And Isaiah remembers well that one are two, for speaking in the person of Christ, he says, 'As upon a bridegroom He has set a mitre upon me, and adorned me with ornament like a bride.'6 One seems to speak, yet makes Himself  Bridegroom and Bride; because 'not two, but one flesh:' because "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."7 To that flesh the Church is joined, and so there is made the whole Christ, Head and body. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On The First Letter of John, First Homily 1 1 Jn 1:2 2 Ps 18.6  3 Jn 1.3  4 Gen 2:24  5 Mt 19:6  6 Is 61.10  7 Jn 1.14

Stephen and The Holy Spirit

Πῶς εἶδε τὴν ὑπερουράνιον δόξαν ὁ Στέφανος; τίς αὐτῷ τὰς πύλας τῶν οὐρανῶν διεπέτασεν; Ἄρ' ἀνθρωπίνης δυνάμεως ἥν τὸ κατόρθωμα; ἆρά τινος τῶν ἀγγέλων πρὸς τὸ ὕψος ἐκεῖνο τὴν κάτω κειμένην φύσιν ἀναβιβάσαντος; Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα· οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἡ κατ' αὐτὸν ἱστορία φησὶν, ὅτι Στέφανος δὲ πολὺς κατὰ τὴν δύναμῖν ὤν, ἢ τῆς ἀγγελικῆς βοηθείας πλήρης γενόμενος, εἶδεν ἂ εἶδεν. Ἀλλὰ τί λέγει; 'Στέφανος δὲ. πλήρης ὤν Πνεύματος ἁγίου, εἰδε τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υιόν. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστι, καθώς φησιν ὁ Προφήτης. τὸ φως ὀφθῆναι, μὴ ἐν φωτὶ καθορώμενον.' Ἐν  γὰρ τῷ φωτί σου,' φησιν, 'ὀψόμεθα φῶς.' Εἰ οὖν οὖκ ἐνδέχεται μὴ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ γενέσθαι τὴν τοῦ φωτὸς θεωρίαν· πῶς γὰρ ἔστιν ἀπιδεῖν εἰς τὸν ἥλιον ἔξω τῶν ἀκτίνων γενόμενον; ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐν τῷ φωτὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς, τουτέστιν ἐν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ τῷ ἐκεῖθεν ἐκπορευομένῳ, τὸ Μονογενὲς καθορᾶται φῶς· διὰ τοῦτο προκαταυγασθεὶς τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πνεύματος, ἐν περινοίᾳ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Ὑιοῦ δόξης γίνεται. Ἐπεὶ, πῶς τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν ἀπόφασιν ἀληθεύειν φήσομεν, ὁτι 'Θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε πώποτε; Πῶς δὲ τὸν Ἀπόστολον μὴ ἐναντία τοῖς ἱστορηθεῖσι Βοᾷν, ὅταν λεγει· Οὔτε τις εἶδεν αὐτὸν ἀνθρώπων, οὐτε ἰδεῖν δύναται; Εἰ γὰρ ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τε καὶ δυνάμει, ἡ τοῦ Πατρός τε καὶ του Ὑιοῦ δόξα χωρητὴ κατέστη· ψευδὴς πάντως, ὁ ἀχώρητον ἀνθρώποις ἀποφηνάμενος εἶναι τὸ θεῖον θέαμα. Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐτε ἐκεῖνον ψεύδεσθαι, καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀληθεύειν ἐπάναγκες. Ἂρα φανερῶς ἡ κακουργία τῶν Πνευματομάχων πεφώραται, ὅτι τῷ ὁμοίῳ καθορᾶσθαι τὰ ὅμοια παρὰ τῆς Γραγῆς μεμαρτύρηται. Ὁ γὰρ Στέφανος οὐκ ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει τε καὶ δυνάμει μένων τὸ Θεῖον βλέπει· ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἀγίου Πνεύματος χάριν ἀνακραθεὶς, δι' ἐκείνου ὑψώθη πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατανόησιν. Οὐκοῦν εἰ χωρὶς τοῦ Πνεύματος  οὕτε Κύριον Ἰησοῦν ἔστιν εἰπεῖν, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, οὔτε τὴν Πατρικὴν δόξαν κατανοῆσαι· δέδεικται σαφῶς, ὅτι ὅπου τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν, ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ Ὑιὸς καθορᾶται, καὶ ἡ Πατρικὴ δόξα καταλαμβάνεται. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἁγιον Στεφανον Τον Προτομαρτυρα

How did Stephen see transcendent glory? Who revealed the gates of heaven to him? Was this wonder by the power of men? Which of the angels elevated a lower nature soar to that height? I do not speak of these things from his own telling, for Stephen was among many when he was filled with power coming from the angels by which he saw the things he saw. What is said? 'Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and saw the glory of God and his Only-Begotten Son'1. For it is not, as the Prophet says, that light is seen unless one is brought into the light: 'In your light we shall see light,' 2 If observation of the light does not partake of the light, how can anyone deprived of the sun's rays see it?. Since the Father's light makes this possible, the Only Begotten's light emanates through the Holy Spirit which makes it visible. Therefore the Spirit's glory enables us to perceive the glory of both the Father and Son. But can we say that the Gospel is true which says that 'No man has ever seen God'? 3 How do the Apostle's words agree with the following, 'No man has seen nor can see '?4 If human nature and power is able to grasp the glory of the Father and Son, it must be an error that the sight of God is unachievable by man. But this is no lie and the record is true. The evil deed of the pneumatomachoi is indeed exposed because Scripture bears witness to similar sights. For Stephen does not see God by human nature and power but he is lifted up by the grace of the Holy Spirit that he might comprehend God. Therefore, apart from the Spirit one cannot say that Jesus is Lord, as the Apostle says. 5 And nor can one contemplate the Father's glory, for where the Spirit is the Son is seen and there the Father's glory is grasped . Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On the First Martyr Saint Stephen 1. Acts 7.55 2. Ps 35.10 3 Jn 1.18 4 1 Tm 6.16 5 cf. 1Tm 6.16, 1Cor 12.3

The Burial of the Dead

Profecto etiam provisus sepeliendis corporibus apud memorias sanctorum locus, bonae affectionis humanae est erga funera suorum: quoniam si nonnulla religio est ut sepeliantur, non potest nulla esse quando ubi sepeliantur attenditur. Sed cum talia vivorum solatia requiruntur, quibus eorum pius in suos animus appareat, non video quae sunt adiumenta mortuorum, nisi ad hoc ut dum recolunt ubi sint posita eorum quos diligunt corpora, eisdem sanctis illos tamquam patronis susceptos apud Dominum adiuvandos orando commendent. Quod quidem facere possent, etiamsi talibus locis eos humare non possent. Sed non ob aliud vel Memoriae vel Monumenta dicuntur ea quae insignita fiunt sepulcra mortuorum, nisi quia eos qui viventium oculis morte subtracti sunt, ne oblivione etiam cordibus subtrahantur, in memoriam revocant, et admonendo faciunt cogitari: nam et Memoriae nomen id apertissime ostendit, et Monumentum eo quod moneat mentem, id est, admoneat, nuncupatur. Propter quod et Graeci vocant, quod nos Memoriam seu Monumentum appellamus; quoniam lingua eorum memoria ipsa qua meminimus dicitur. Cum itaque recolit animus ubi sepultum sit carissimi corpus, et occurrit locus nomine martyris venerabilis, eidem martyri animam dilectam commendat recordantis et precantis affectus. Qui cum defunctis a fidelibus carissimis exhibetur, eum prodesse non dubium est iis qui cum in corpore viverent, talia sibi post hanc vitam prodesse meruerunt. Verum et si aliqua necessitas vel humari corpora, vel in talibus locis humari nulla data facultate permittat, non sunt praetermittendae supplicationes pro spiritibus mortuorum: quas faciendas pro omnibus in christiana et catholica societate defunctis etiam tacitis nominibus eorum sub generali commemoratione suscepit Ecclesia; ut quibus ad ista desunt parentes, aut filii, aut quicumque cognati vel amici, ab una eis exhibeantur pia matre communi. Si autem deessent istae supplicationes, quae fiunt recta fide ac pietate pro mortuis, puto quod nihil prodesset spiritibus eorum quamlibet in locis sanctis exanima corpora ponerentur.   Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, De Cura Pro Mortuis Gerenda

Without question the provision for the burial of bodies at a place among the Memorials of the Saints is a mark of a good human affection towards those who have died, since if there be religion in the thought that they should be buried, it cannot but also accompany the thought of where the burying should be. But while such things are comforts to the living, by which their pious intent is apparent, I do not see what help they be to the dead unless that, on recalling the place in which are placed the bodies of those whom they love, they should by prayer commend them to those same saints who have as patrons taken them into their care to help them before the Lord. Which indeed they would be still able to do, even though they were not able to be buried in such places. But the sepulchres of the dead are called Memorials or Monuments only when they are specially distinguished, that is, when they call to memory those who by death are withdrawn from the eyes of the living, that they may not by forgetfulness be withdrawn from the hearts of the living, and it reminds us to think of them. For both the word Memorial evidently shows this, and Monument is so named from 'monere', that is, to instruct the mind. So it is that the Greeks call that μνημεῖον which we name a Memorial or Monument because in their tongue the memory itself, by which we remember, is so called. When, therefore, the mind remembers where the body of one dear is buried, and there occurs to the mind a place rendered venerable by the name of a martyr, to that same martyr the affection commends the dear soul in memory and prayer. And when this is exhibited to the dearly departed by the faithful, without doubt it profits those who while living in the body merited that such things should profit them after this life. And yet if some necessity does not allow the burial of bodies, or it is by lack of ability that they cannot be placed in such places, yet there should there no absence of supplications for the souls of the dead, supplications which should be made for all the departed in the Christian and Catholic community, even without mention of their names, under a general commemoration, that which the Church has taken upon herself, so that those who lack parents or children, or relations or friends, may have the same offered to them by the one pious and common mother. Indeed if there were lack of these prayers made with right faith and piety for the dead, I think that it should not profit at all their souls even though their lifeless bodies should be placed in holy places. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On Care for the Dead