The Lives of the Saints, Volume III (of 16): March. Baring-Gould Sabine

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СКАЧАТЬ them down as martyrs in some unknown city of Spain; Salazar improved on the Pseudo-Dexter by planting them in the Sierra di Guadalupe. The life of S. Basiliscus, if genuine, is by Eusignius, who knew the martyr, and was himself, probably, a martyr in the persecution afterwards, and is commemorated on August 5th. In the life are many passages which show that Eusignius was well acquainted with the facts he describes, such as "Christ accompanied His martyr, as Basiliscus afterwards told me, Eusignius." He was eye-witness of the events; he says, "As we approached the city, we heard, &c., … we tasted … and when we went in, we heard, … we, to whom it was granted to see this terrible mystery … we asked the speculator, and gave him thirty gold pieces, and he gave us the body, and we buried it, and we sowed vegetables … and we went to rest." The Acts, if they are genuine, and not an impudent forgery, have undergone much interpolation. Some of these additions are apparent from a change of the "we" to "they" in the account of the journey to Comana.]

      In the reign of Maximian and Maximin, Agrippa was sent into Pontus, to be governor in the room of Asclepiades, with orders to constrain all Christians to sacrifice. Basiliscus, Eutropius, and Cleonicus, three Christians of Amasea, were seized and thrown into prison. And when Eutropius and Cleonicus had suffered, the blessed Basiliscus with many tears prayed, saying, "O Lord Jesus Christ, remember me, even unto the end, and make my calling manifest unto all, that I may not be separated from these holy men who have been taken with me, and who have suffered before me, and are crowned!" Then the Lord appeared to him and said, "I will not forget thee. Thy name is written with those who have been with thee. But be not downcast because thou art last; for thou shalt precede many. But go, bid farewell to thy mother and thy brethren, and when thou returnest, thou shalt receive thy crown. Fear not the torments prepared for thee, for I shall be at thy side."

      Then Basiliscus asked, and prevailed on, the jailor to let him go to the village of Cumiala, near Amasea, where his mother lived, that he might say farewell to her. Now it fell out that early in the morning Agrippa unexpectedly sent for Basiliscus, and when he heard of the indulgence that had been granted him – though soldiers had been sent as guards with the prisoner – he was filled with rage, and threatened the jailor with capital punishment. Then he called to him a city officer named Magistrianus, a brutal fellow, implacable in his detestation of Christianity, and commissioned him to take a band of soldiers and convey Basiliscus to Comana, whither he himself was starting. Magistrianus mounted his ass, and ambled to Cumiala, and surrounded the doors of the house, as Basiliscus was parting with his mother and three brothers, before returning. Magistrianus ordered a pair of boots to be put on Basiliscus, with the nails in them protruding, and then bade him limp along among the guards back to Amasea. The nails made his feet bleed, and as he walked through the street of Amasea a crowd gathered, murmuring against the tyranny of the governor and his satellites. Magistrianus, in a rage, leaped off his ass, and cudgelled the mob with the stick he had used to make the ass go, and the soldiers assisted him to disperse the crowd. Basiliscus was then led along the road to Comana, singing, "Though an host of men be set against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid; for thou, O Christ, art with me!"

      At mid-day the party, which consisted of fifteen, came to a little village, and a lady's villa. The lady very courteously invited the officer and his men into the house to refresh themselves, and they tied Basiliscus with his hands behind his back to a plane tree in the court yard. A number of the villagers came up to stare at the martyr, who stood under the dry tree, suffering intensely from the heat, and with blood dribbling from his wounded feet, "whilst Magistrianus and his folk were feasting in Trojana's house, on all kinds of delicacies, meats, and costly wines, served up in the cool summer dining hall," says Eusignius, bitterly.

      But God did not forget the poor martyr under the blazing mid-day sun, for the plane tree put forth leaves, and overshadowed him, and a fountain bubbled at his feet, and cooled and laved his festering wounds.

      On the party reaching Comana, Magistrianus led Basiliscus direct to the temple of Apollo, where was the governor at the moment.

      The governor at once ordered him to be brought in. Basiliscus smilingly entered. "Why wilt thou not sacrifice, fellow?" asked the governor. "Who told thee that I will not sacrifice?" answered Basiliscus. "Ah! the gods be praised! thou wilt sacrifice then."

      "I will offer to God the sacrifice of praise." "Offer to whom you please," said the governor, sharply, "only sacrifice and have done with this folly."

      "Who is that?" asked Basiliscus, pointing to the image of Apollo. "That is the god Apollo," answered Agrippa. "The name is appropriate enough," said Basiliscus, "for he brings to destruction all who trust in him."6 Then he cried aloud to all in the temple, "Hearken, all men, to my prayer, to the Lord of Heaven and earth." And he prayed, "God, who art alone and true, with thine only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit; who art invisible, incomprehensible, whom none can describe and include, who art good and merciful, and acceptest not the person of man, who createst the things that are out of that which is not, and enlightenest us who sat in darkness, and gavest us the bright knowledge of Thy deity: Thou art the helper of all them that trust in Thee. God, who art alone holy, and dwellest in Thy saints, in me, thy humble servant, exhibit Thy mercy, and confirm my prayer, for I pray to Thee of Thy great goodness, Thou who spreadest out the heavens as a curtain, and by Thy command makest them fast, and adornest them with the bright shining stars, and with the glory of the sun, and the moon walking in brightness, and givest us the hours of day; Thou didst make Thy sun a chamber, and gavest him everlasting limits, and didst set the moon to rule the course of time, and didst divide the hours and days and months; Thou didst found the earth by Thy command, that it should be an habitation for man, and didst give to it an everlasting bound, and didst clothe it with trees and flowers; Thou didst lay the sea and bound it by Thy precept, and madest a way over it; and didst fashion man with Thine own holy hands after Thine image, and didst give him wisdom and reason, and didst breathe into his face the breath of life. Lord, who didst create the whole world, who from Adam till this present, and hereafter till endless ages, keepest those that love Thee, and glorifiest those that fear Thee! Lord Jesus Christ! hear the prayer of Thy servant, and be present with me at this hour, and destroy this deaf, and dumb, and blind, and senseless idol; break and dissolve this god made with hands, and shew to these heathen the madness of their worship, and Whom we worship and adore as God. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing against Thy saints? Look, O Lord, and keep not still silence, for thus behoves all honour and glory and magnificence to Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, through ages of ages. Amen."

      And when he had said Amen, there was an earthquake, and a thunder underground, and the temple shook to its foundations, and the image of Apollo fell and was broken. Then all who were in the temple fled, leaving Basiliscus alone with the broken idol at his feet. And when the earthquake was past, the governor sent, and brought Basiliscus forth, and his head was struck off with the sword. The governor ordered the body to be thrown into the river, but Eusignius bribed the soldier who was carrying it away to let him have it, and he buried it in a field, and sowed herbs over it. S. Basiliscus died on July 21st. He appeared in vision to S. Chrysostom the night before that aged saint died; (see Jan 27th, p. 412.)

S. WINWALOE, AB(6TH CENT.)

      [Anglican Martyrologies; Saussaye, in his Gallican Martyrology, the Belgian Martyrologies. His translation from the old wooden church at Landevenec, to a stone one, is commemorated on April 28th, and to Montreuil-sur-Mer, on August 1st. Authorities: – Three Lives; the first by an anonymous writer, given by the Bollandists, is full of fable, and by no means early. The second is still less trustworthy, and is given by Surius. The third is by Gurdestin, Monk of Landevenec. The life by Albert le Grand is deserving of notice, but the historical particulars are not accurate. There is great difficulty about this saint. It is probable that there were two of his name, and only by this means can the very different accounts of his life be reconciled. One Winwaloe is a native of Brittany, and a disciple of S. Corentine, and was translated to Montreuil. Another Winwaloe is a native of Britain, a disciple of S. Sampson, of Dol, and afterwards of S. Similian, abbot of Tauriac; and his body lies at Ghent. M. Ch. Barthelemy, in his "Annales Hagiologiques de la France," 5th cent., СКАЧАТЬ