Chapter 16. Zeal of the Roman Pontiffs in collecting the Acts of the Martyrs

Maximinus, upon his accession to the imperial throne, manifested a bitter hostility against the Christians. The persecution, which had been suspended since the reign of Septimus Se verus, was renewed with the greatest violence. The new Emperor directed his decrees in a special manner against the heads of the Church j* and singled out the Pontiff of Rome as his first victim. An order was immediately dispatched to the island of Buccina, commanding the execution of the courageous pastor whose absence had been so severely felt by the Roman Church. Pontianus had occupied the Holy See, two months and seven days. His body was afterwards transported to Rome and buried in the cemetery of St. Callistus.f Anterus

• Eusob. t Amastas. in Pontiano, succeeded Pontianus upon the apostolic chair; but lie had scarcely governed the Church one month when he was beheaded by order of Maximinus, and thus obtained the crown of martyrdom. A fact, connected with the short pontificate of Anterus, is of some importance in relation to the history of Cecilia. In the first ages, under the persecution of Domitian, the great Pontiff, St. Clement, wishing to preserve for future ages an account of the triumphs of the Martyrs, had appointed seven notaries whose duty it was to commit to writing all the circumstances, accompanying the generous sacrifice of these athletes of the faith. Each notary was appointed overseer of two of the fourteen regions of Kome.* The glorious memoirs they had the charge of collecting, must have considerably increased both in number and importance, during the persecutions of Trajan, Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, and Severus. We have seen what sublime pages were furnished to the collection, through the tyranny of Almachius, in the reign of Alexander Severus. The holy Pope A nterus made a compilation of the acts collected by the Notaries of the Church, in order to preserve them in the Archives of the Apostolic See. A fresco painted on the ceiling of a cubiculum in the cemetery of Sts. Nereus and Achilles, joining that of St. Callistus, seems to have been designed for the purpose of handing down to posterity the remembrance of this wise measure of Anterus. A venerable old man is represented seated upon an estrade, between two ministers, who are standing on

• Hie fecit septem Regiones dividi Notariis fidelibus Ecclesioe, qui gesta martyrum sollicite et curiose unusquisque per Regionein suain diligenter perquirerent. Anastas in Clemente.

either side. His hands are raised in the act of blessing three other persons, one of whom is kneeling, the other two in an attitude of profound veneration. They have just placed at his feet a round box filled with rolls of parchment. Boxes containing similar rolls of parchment, are very frequently seen in the wrall paintings of the Roman cemeteries. The learned archaeologist, F. Bianchini, whose opinion is of great weight, thinks that this fresco was designed as a memento of the holy PopeV* zeal in collecting the Acts of the Martyrs; however this may be, the fresco painting is of an elegant and correct style, and was most probably executed in the third century.

The Christians of this period, who were so interested in preserving mementos of all that related to faith, must have been anxious to perpetuate the remembrance of the holy pontiffs zeal in gathering the Acts of the Martyrs ; the more so, as he received the palm of martyrdom in reward for the labor by which he laid the foundation of the Archives of the Church. Anterus was denounced before the prefect as one who honored the memory of the enemies of the empire and of the gods, and he expiated with his blood, the crime of having generously opposed the policy of the Caesars.f His body was buried in the Cemetery of Callistus.

The pious Fabian, successor of Anterus, was not less zealous for the glory of God. He commanded

• Anastasii Bibliothecarii de vitis Pontificum, in Antero notce historical. Tom. i. p. 184.

f Hie gesta Martyrum diligenter a Notarns exquisivit, ot in Ecclesia recondidit. Propter quod a Maximo Praefecto martyrio coronatus est. Anastas, in Antero, that the seven notaries should each be assisted by a sub-deacon, who should aid him in compiling the Acts of the Martyrs.* The same desire of rendering homage to these noble victims, among whom he himself was ranked after a pontificate of fourteen years, led him to undertake the great works in the cemeteries.f He caused several additional galleries to be excavated, and many new frescos to be painted. It was but natural he should wish that one of these frescos should represent the zeal shown by his predecessor in transmitting to posterity the remembrance of the trials, endured by the innumerable heroes who slept in these gloomy vaults.

The age in which Cecilia lived, was prolific in reliable historians, who faithfully gathered such precious reminiscences, and the Supreme Pontiff did not feel that he was lowering his dignity by carefully superintending the compilation of the Acts, so that even the slightest circumstance might not be omitted. Moreover, it was a discipline established in the church from the time of the first persecutions, to write the circumstances attending the combats of the martyrs, and, notwithstanding the immense losses we have sustained by the ravages of time, and by other accidents, the authentic Acts which are still extant throughout all parts, both of the Eastern and Western Church, suffice to prove that the intentions of Popes Clement, Anterus, and Fabian, were understood and carried out throughout Christendom.

• Fecit septem subdiaconos qui septem Notariis imminerent, ut gesta Martyrum in integro colligerent. Anastas. in Fabiano, f Multas fabricas per ccemeteria fieri prsecepit. Ibid,

• LIFE OF SAINT CECILIA. 143

We will particularly quote the following words of the deacon, Pontius, in the life of his bishop, St. Cyprian, written at the death of this great martyr, twenty-eight years after the death of St. Cecilia : " Such was," says this author, " the veneration of our ancestors for the martyrs, whether baptized or catechumens, that they have committed to writing nearly all the details respecting the sufferings they endured, so that these accounts have been transmitted to us, who were not then even born."*

If such was the case in a simple province of the Church, the measures organized by the sovereign Pontiff, in the centre of Christianity, must have resulted in the most authentic and imposing Acts concerning the martyrs. Add to this, that many Acts which have been transmitted to us, refer to persons of secondary importance, and yet the most precise account is given of every circumstance attending the martyrdom ; the interrogations, the replies, the torments, the miracles, and the sepultures. The noble birth of Cecilia, Valerian and Tiburtius ; the impression which such a tragedy must naturally have created among the Gentiles, as well as among the Christians, rendered the compilation of their Acts an easy matter. Even in the absence of the notaries of the Church, the faithful would have retained for along time, the greater part of the details.

• Cum majores nostri plebeiis et catecliumenis martyrium consecutis tantum honoris pro martyrii ipsius venoratione dederint, de passionibus eoruin multa, aut prope dixcrim pen6 cuncta conscri-pserunt, ut ad nostram quoque notitiam qui nonduin nati fuimus pervenirent. Pontius diaconus, in vita Cacilii Cypriani.

We cannot, therefore, doubt that the Acts of St. Cecilia were written at a time when there was every facility of authenticating the facts. Divine Providence, who wished to give Eome a Christian Cecilia in place of that matron of ancient times, whose fame was not destined to survive the Capitol, took care that the memory of our Saint should be preserved and become more glorious from age to age.

After the persecution of Maximin, the Church was called to suffer those of Decius, Valerian, Gallienus, Aurelian, and finally the most terrible of all, that of Diocletian. The number of martyrs increased to a frightful extent, but none of these new and illustrious names eclipsed that of Cecilia. In the fourth century, when the Diptych of the Canon of the Mass was closed to be opened but once more, Cecilia's name was retained therein, and the greatest honor which the Church can bestow, was thus secured to her forever.

From her throne in heaven, she hears her name daily pronounced in the silent prayers which accompany the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice ; and her blood, once shed for Christ, is presented before the throne of God with that of the Spotless Lamb, to whom she is forever united, amidst the roses and lilies of paradise.

Thus after the persecutions, the Eoman Church awarded to Cecilia an honor granted to but few of those who had been her glory during those times of trial. Out of the thirty Popes, martyrs, six only were commemorated on the immortal Diptych ; the daughter of the Cecilii was preferred to so many heroes. The Virgin Agnes, her rival in the love of Christ, precedes her upon this triumphal list ; the pious widow Anastasia follows her ; all three daughters of the Roman Church. In the sixth century, St. Gregory added the names of the two Virgin Martyrs of Catania and Syracuse, Agatha and Lucy ; but thrcnigh liturgical courtesy, he gave the precedence to the two Eoman Virgins.*

The tenth of the Calends of December (22 Nov.) was appointed for the feast of St. Cecilia in the earliest ages, as we find in the Martyrology attributed to St. Jerome.f The holy martyrs, Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus, continued to be venerated on the eighteenth of the Calends of May (14 April), and St. Urban on the eighth of the Calends of June (25 May), the respective anniversaries of their martyrdom . That of Cecilia took place between these two epochs. But the feasts of the Ascension and of Pentecost were celebrated at this season, and sometimes fell on the anniversary of the holy Virgin's death. It was therefore resolved to honor her memory on another day, that nothing might interfere with the solemnity of her

• Many liturgists maintain that St. Gregory at the same time inserted in the canon the names of all the female Saints fonnd therein. The only author who speaks of the addition made by St. Gregory to the Diptych contained in the prayer, Nobis quoqne peccatoribus, is St. Adhelmar of Sherbum, whose words are very clear, and who speaks but of Saints Agatha and Lucy as having been added to the others. Vid. S. Adhelmi Episcopi Saxonum occidentalium de Virginitate, cap. xxiii. Bibblioth, vet. Patrum, tome xiii., page 44. The author, speaking of St. Cecilia and Agnes, gives no reason to suppose that their names had been recently added, which he distinctly states of the two Sicilian martyrs.

f Florentini, Martyrologium S. Hieronymi. X, KaL Decembris.

festival. It is impossible to determine why the Church selected the 22d of November* Probably the rebuilding of Cecilia's house, under a form more appropriate for a church, or its dedication in the fourth or fifth century, may have been the occasion of transferring the feast of its holy Patroness to a day so much later than that of her martyrdom. The importance and solemnity of St. Cecilia's feast at Eome in the fifth century, are attested by the sacramentary of St. Gelasius, which was drawn up at this period. The feast is preceded by a preparatory Vigil.f St. Cecilia shares with St. Lawrence this honor, which St. Sebastian and St. Agnes, although so famous in the Archives of the mother Church, do not seem to have obtained. It is true that the feast of St. Cecilia no longer enjoys this distinction ; but this testimony of the veneration of earlier times towards the Saint is sufficient to show how vividly the memory of her virtues was retained among the Christians even at the end of the fifth century, when her acts were compiled for the last time.

The Church which was erected beyond the Tiber under the name of St. Cecilia, likewise bore witness to the magnificent reminiscences we have retraced.

• It is remarkable that the Roman Martyrology of the 22d of November, neither mentions the death (Natalis) nor the burial (Depositio) of St. Cecilia. We simply read Romae. sanctae Caeciliae, Virginis et Martyris, quae sponsum suum Valerianum, etc. The 23d thus mentions the feast of St. Clement, Natalis sancti Clementis Papae. On the 14th of April, Saints Tiburtius, Valerian, and Maximus, are announced by the Natalis, as well as St. Urban on the 25th of May.

t Muratori. Liturgia Ilomana vetus, tome i. Sacramentarium Gelasianum, page 672.

It is well known that when the churches erected in honor of the Eoman Martyrs, in the capital of Christendom, did not contain their relics, or were not built at the entrance of the cemeteries where the bodies of their patrons reposed, they served to mark the places sanctified by the martyr's life and sufferings. This custom was not observed merely in Eome, it was established as a point of discipline in the African church by the fourteenth canon of the fourth council of Carthage, in 398,* which canon is even inserted in the digest of ecclesiastical laws.f Later, this discipline was modified ; but it was still kept up in Eome for many centuries. This accounts for the small number of churches dedicated to St. Peter, although he was patron of the city. Four churches only were dedicated to him, and these are all monuments of his life ; the Vatican, which preserves his body ; that of St. Peter ad Vincula, where his chains are kept ; the Mamertine Prison, or St. Peter in Carcere, which is built over the dungeon where he was confined with St. Paul ; and finally, St. Peter in Montorio, upon the ground where it is presumed he was crucified. The body of our glorious martyr reposed many centuries in the cemetery of Callistus, out of the city, upon the Appian Way. In order to explain the origin of the trans- Tiberian Church, which bore the name of St. Cecilia, we must naturally refer to the house which Cecilia confided at her death to the Pontiff Urban. The bathroom where she suffered martyrdom is still visi-

• Et onmino nulla memoria Martyrum probabiliter acceptctur, nisi aut ibi corpus, aut aliquoe oertffl reliquiae shit, aut ubi origo alicujus hnbitationis, vol possessions, vol passionis, fidelissima origine traditur. Labbe. Concilia, tome ii, page 1218.

\ De consecratione. Distinct, i, can. xxvi. IHacuit ut altar ia.

ble, and the memory of St. Ceoilia so intimately associated with this Church could never be lost in Kome."*

The first mention we find of the Church of St. Cecilia in the official documents which have reached us, dates back to the year 499. Among the signatures of a council held in Eome in that year, under Pope Symmachus, are those of Boniface and Marcian, who sign themselves priests of St. Cecilia's Church.f

But even before this time, many epigraphical monuments prove the existence of this church, and the veneration paid in it to the Eoman Virgin. An inscription, unfortunately mutilated, which was still to be seen in the last century, in the pavement of the Church, contained a consular date, which could scarcely be later than the year 464. The following is the inscription, for the restoration of which we are indebted to the science and friendship of M. le Chevalier de Eossi :

ApolhOmAE H. P. BONITATIS EXIMIAE et mirae verecurWlA.'E ET VLTRA aetatis ANKOS filiae (isr. N.) c^&iCVLARlS sanctae martyris CAE ciliae q. vix. ann. XII. MENSE. I. DIEB. XIII.

de ssecvlo reCESSiT x vim kal sept.

RIO COSS. parentes wniseri /^NERIS ACERVITATE PERCVLSI tituhim CI IVSSERVNT.4

• Among the Churches of Rome, erected like that of St. Cecilia, upon the ground formerly occupied by the dwellings of their patrons, we will cite those of St. Praxedes, of St. Boniface, now St. Alexis, upon the Aventine ; of Saints John and Paul ; of St. Eusebius ; of St. Prisca ; of St. Bibiana, etc.

t Labbe. Concil. Tome iv, page 1316.

X This inscription has been inaccurately given by Mallei, Musceum Verononse, page 291, IN'0 6.

We learn by this epitaph that a private individual, exercising the functions of cubicularis, or guardian of St. Cecilia's Church, had buried his daughter in this place, under the date of a consul whose name terminates with these two syllables; EI VS. The writing of this inscription being evidently of the V. century, and the VT. presenting no consul whose name terminates with the given syllables, we must seek in the V. the person designated. Now, here we find several consulates which might answer our purpose. The most recent is that of Eusticus Olybrius in the year 461. In preferring this one to others of more ancient date, we confirm the opinion that from the year 464, under the pontificate of St. Hilarius, the Church of St. Cecilia was sufficiently important to require the services of cubiculares.

In the last century, there still existed in the pavement, a number of inscriptions, either whole or in fragments, which would be very useful now in tracing the historyof this venerable Sanctuary.

Later, we will mention under what circumstances these valuable records of antiquity were destroyed. But we must mention one slab found in the pavement of the portico, the inscriptions on which, relating to a young girl named Thecla, might, according to the opinion of our learned friend, be referred to the IV. century.

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