Chapter 17. Compilation of the Acts of S. Cecilia, in the Fifth Century, in their present form

As we have already stated, we cannot assign an earlier date than the V. century, to the definitive compilation of the Acts of our Saint. The defective Latin of this document, does not permit us to place it at an earlier date ; and, besides, the use immediately made of it, by all the Churches of the West, is a positive proof that it was not written at a later period.

These Acts must be classed among those which were compiled from ancient memorials, after the close of the persecutions. The author wished to unite in a simple narrative, the different circumstances of St. Cecilia's life, which he had been enabled to gather, either from the Acts collected by the Notaries of the Church ; or from other records which must have been abundant in a city where the holy Martyr was so highly venerated; or, finally, from oral traditions and metaphorical monuments. ■ His story begins -at the preparation for the marriage of Cecilia and Tiburtius, and ends with the Virgin's death and burial. It is very evident that the author endeavored to make his work uniform throughout, and that he blended in his recital all the documents which were at his disposal. His language is naive, and his style such as is remarked in the series of Acts of the Martyrs, which begins at the IV. century ; numerous examples of which are published in the collection of Dom Bainart. In these compositions, the Latin language is so altered that it is easy to see it was on the eve of ceasing to be the vulgar tongue. Our Acts, however, are not written in the barbarous style, used in the Papal Chronicle, known under the name of the Catalogue of Felix IV., and which stops at the year 534*

Besides we must not suppose that during the two centuries preceding the reign of Constantine, the Latin language was written and spoken in Eome with the purity and accuracy found among the classics of this period, the tradition of which St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, and St. Augustin, made every effort to preserve. The greater part of the Christian inscriptions in the Catacombs, even those on profane monuments, previous to the IV. century, prove that the language of the masters of the world was far from being universally spoken and written correctly, even in the capital of the empire.

The neglect of the rules of grammar and of rhetoric, which characterizes the decline of a nation, is very visible in the Acts of the martyrs compiled at this period ; in fact, the writers seem to have affected unusual carelessness of style. The transpositions of phrase disappear, the language becomes more simple ; the biblical narrations are imitated with minute exactness, and more or less success ; the expressions used in the Italic version of the Holy Scriptures are introduced with eagerness, and frequently impart animation to the recital. Such is the literary character of the Acts of St. Cecilia. If the narrative be found

• Sec the text of this Chronicle in the work entitled : Originea de l'Eglise Romaine, torn i, pages 212, 248.

very interesting, the credit is not due to the style in which it is related ; although the tone of candor which reigns throughout, is a powerful proof of the sincerity of the author, and even in those passages which are evidently written for effect, we can easily trace the original Acts. These rhetorical attempts merely prove that the genius of the compiler was not equal to the conception of a drama, so sublime and so touching, as the one to which he has consecrated his feeble talent. We may assuredly affirm that the admirable discourse of St. Cecilia to Tiburtius was not composed by the narrator, who has given it to us in his rude and inelegant diction which almost conceals its original beauty.

We shall have many occasions in the course of our story, to demonstrate the accuracy of our historian, and to defend his narrative from the imputations cast upon it by the Jansenists. Let it suffice to observe here, that the author wrote under the eyes of his fellow citizens ; that he was not relating the life of an obscure person, about whom he could have invented many circumstances without being liable to contradiction ; finally, that his recital was almost universally accepted throughout the Churches of the West. The presumption consequently would be in his favor, even had we not the most distinct and evident proofs of his veracity. The Acts of St. Cecilia, like those of many others, were composed to be read from the Ambon, in the church dedicated to the Saint, on the day of her feast. This public reading being intended to increase the solemnity, it was necessary to make a complete and uniform narration of every thing contained in the documents of the Eoman Church, relating to the martyr. Hence the monotonous style, and the oratorical velleities of the compiler, who precedes his narrative with a prelude of generalities, in the style of the exordiums found in many of the Acts collected by Dom Euinart. This custom of solemnly reading the Acts of the Martyrs, on their festivals, has been preserved until the present day in our Legends of the Breviary. In the fifth century it Avas in full force, and very dear to the faithful. St. Augustin, Bishop of Hippo, frequently alluded to it in his Sermons de Sanctis;* and we have still a Canon of one of the Councils of the African Church, expressly confirming this custom. It was likewise in vigor in the Gallican Church at the same epoch, as we learn from a sermon of St. Cesarius of Aries, in which he complains of the abuse of the permission given to invalids, to sit during the reading of the Holy Passions of the Marty rs.^ Eome, so rich in memorials, and so zealous in demonstrations of piety towards the martyrs, could not be outdone by the other Churches. Each of its Basilicas had, as it were, its own martyr, and honored him with special veneration ; the Eomans must have desired to have the Acts of each glorious patron, that they might be read on the solemnity of his feast. But Diocletian having particularly ordered the destruction of ecclesiastical books, many Acts compiled by the notaries, were destroyed. Later accounts of the deeds of certain martyrs were not

• See, among others, the second of St. Stephen, the first in Natali S, S. Perpetuce et Felicitatis, etc.

f Labb. Concil. tome ii. page 1072.

written with sufficient discernment. Moreover, many Acts, at different epochs, had been compiled by heretics, with the intention of insinuating their errors by means of these documents. Towards the close of the fifth century, the Holy See found it necessary to take measures for guarding the faith of the Church from the danger to which it was exposed. As all the Acts of the Martyrs, whether genuine or apocryphal, were supposed to be authorized by the Church, they were all read with equal avidity by the unsuspecting faithful, and hence many inconveniencies might arise. The examination of all the Acts extant was a labor requiring time, hence no alternative was left but that of a temporary prohibition of all. A council held by Pope, St. Gelasius, about 495, drew up the famous canon which contains the catalogue of the books considered orthodox by the Eoman Church."56, It is couched in the following terms : " We likewise receive the Acts of the holy Martyrs with the brilliant description of their torments and the marvellous triumph of their confessions. What Catholic could doubt their truth ? Who does not know that the martyrs in their combats suffered the most dreadful torments, and supported fearful trials, not by their own strength, but with the grace and assistance of God."f

• We attribute this council to St. Gelasius, according to the most common belief, without prejudice to the opinion of those who would date it back to St. Damasus, In the latter case, the recommendation of the Acts would be still more striking, as it would date back to the days immediately following the age of persecutions, and consequently prove the existence of a certain number of Acts of the Martyrs, preserved by the faithful, even after the violent edicts of Diocletian.

t Item recipiuntur gesta sanctorum Martyrum qui multipli-

Thus the canon of St. Gelasius confirmed the existence of the Acts of the Martyrs, and appealed to catholic opinion respecting the truth of their accounts ; it approved and recommended the use of them, and signalized them as being glorious proofs of the wonderful power of God. But as these acts were not of equal authority, and as it was important that they should not be indiscriminately used in the Eoman Liturgy, such use being the most solemn confirmation which they could receive from the Holy See, the Pontiff adds the following general order: " According to ancient custom and the dictates of prudence, it is not our practice to read the Acts of the Martyrs in the Holy Eoman Church. The reasons for this conduct are manifold. The authors of some of these Acts are completely unknown; others have been written by unbelievers, or by illiterate men, who have introduced superfluous things without that perspicuity which the subject requires. As examples, we may cite the Acts of Quiricus, Julitte, George, whose Passions, it is said, have been compiled by heretics. Therefore the Holy Eoman Church has prohibited the use of them, lest the contrary practice should offer some slight ground for criticism."*

cibus tormentorum cruciatibus, et mirabilibus confess ion urn triumphis irradiant. Quis ita esse catholieorum dubitet, et inajora eos in agonibus fuisse perpessos nee suis virions, sed gratia Dei et adjutorio nniversa tolerasse ? Decret. i. pars, distinct, xv, can. iii. Sancta Romana.

• Sed ideo secundum antiquam consuetudinem singular! oautela in sancta Romana Ecclesia non leguntur, quia et eoruin qui conscripsere nomina penitus ignorantur, et ab infidelibus, aut idiotis superflua, aut minus apta, quam rei ordo i'uerit, script*

This extreme reserve with which the Eoman Church prohibited the public reading of these Acts, applied even to those, which, as historical monuments, were considered the most certain ; it is, therefore, no argument against the authenticity of any particular Acts. There is no question of literary criticism, but of ecclesiastical policy.

But we have said that the Acts of St. Cecilia were compiled in the fifth century, for the purpose of being publicly read in the Church of the martyr, and that the custom was universal throughout Eome. In order to reconcile this apparent contradiction, it is only necessary to remember that in the language of the ecclesiastical Acts of Eome during the pontificate of St. Gelasius, and long after, when referring to liturgical customs, the Holy Eoman Church signified the Patriarchal Church of Lateran, See of the supreme Pontiff, or the Church of St. Peter on the Vatican. This fact is established by Dom Mabellon, who interpreted in this sense the Canon of St. Gelasius,* and by the learned Moretti who developes this Thesis in speaking of the Acts of St. Callistus.f Since this celebrated decree recognizes the importance of the Acts of the Martyrs, and does not invalidate their historical truth, except in the case of esse putantur, sicut cujusdam Quirici et Julittae, sicut Georgii, aliorumque hujusmodi passiones, quae ab hoereticis perhibentur conscriptse, Propter quod, ut dictum est, ne vel levis subsannaudi oriretur occasio, iu sancta Romana Ecclesia non leguntur. Canon. Sancta Romana.

• Disquisitio de Cursu Gallicano, page 386. In ordinem Romanum Commentarius. page cxxvu. Musceum italicum. tome n.

t De S. Callixto Papa et Martyre, ej usque Basilica S. Marice trans-Tiberim, page 206.

those which it expressly condemns, as for instance, in the case of the Acts of Quiricus, Julitte, and George, it evidently was not intended to prohibit the reading of the Passions of Martyrs in the private churches of Borne.

This conclusion is rendered still more clear by the direct testimony of a venerable memorial of the Eoman Liturgy, published by Blessed Joseph Maria Tommasi. It is an Ordo Bomanus of the Tenth Century, taken from the library of the Yallicella, and also found in that of the Abbey of St. Gall. * Under the rubric DeFes tis Sanctorum, qualiter apud Romanos celebrantur, the following lines are found in this official document. M Until the time of Adrian, the Passions and Acts of the Saints were only read in the Churches dedicated to these saints. This Pope changed the rule, and directed that they should also be read in the Church of St. Peter.*"

This important passage does not tell us, it is true, at what epoch the custom was introduced of reading the Passions of the saints at the divine office in their titulary Churches ; but the custom was quite an ancient one during the pontificate of Adrian, who was Pope at the end of the VIII. century. If there be any difficulty in reconciling this custom with the primitive usages of the Eoman Church, which, during the pontificate of St. Gelasius, might perhaps have shrunk from introducing into the Liturgy,

• Passiones sanctorum, vel Gesta ipsorum, usque Adriani tempora, tantummodo ibi legebantur, ubi Ecclesia ipsius Sancti vel Titulus erat. Ipse vero a tempoere suo rennuere jussit, et in Ecclesia Sancti Petri legendas esse constituit. B. Jos. M.Thomasii opp. tome iv, page 325.

lessons not taken from the Holy Scriptures, we mayobserve, that without being inserted into the divine office, the Passions of the Saints might have been read to the faithful on the festivals of these Saints, in order to increase the solemnity of the day. We have examples of such reading being made out of the time of divine office. It will be sufficient to mention one fact that occurred in the VI. century. It is well known that the subdeacon Arator read his poem upon the Acts of the Apostles in the Church of St. Jeter in Chains, by order of Pope Yigilius. With still greater propriety, might the Passions of the Martyrs have been read. The use which the Eoman Church made of the Acts of St. Cecilia, in her Liturgy, from the V. century, proves that the text was familiar to the Church, as we will presently show, whether it was read to the people in the daily office, or made the subject of a solemn reading, out of the time of divine worship.