Curiosities of Christian History Prior to the Reformation

by James Paterson

When Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, was burnt as a martyr about 168, a contemporary account by the leaders of the Church contained in Eusebius says this: “As soon as the martyr uttered ‘Amen’ after his prayer the fire was lighted, and a great flame burst out in the form of an arch, as the sail of a vessel filled with wind, surrounding as with a wall the body, which was in the midst, not as burning flesh, but as gold and silver refining in the furnace. We received in our nostrils such a fragrance as proceeds from frankincense or some other precious perfume. At length the wicked people, observing that the body could not be consumed with the fire, ordered the executioner to approach and to plunge his sword into his body. Upon this such a quantity of blood gushed out that the fire was extinguished, and all the multitude were astonished to see such a difference providentially made between the unbelievers and the elect. Afterwards the body was burned, and we gathered up the bones, more precious than gold and jewels, and deposited them in a proper place, where, if possible, we shall meet, and the Lord will grant us in gladness and joy to celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom, both in commemoration of those who have wrestled before us, and for the instruction and confirmation of those who come after.” Polycarp was burned at the age of eighty-six, and had been a pupil of St. John the Evangelist.

ST. FELICITAS AND HER SEVEN SONS (A.D. 173).

A rich widow named Felicitas lived at Rome about 173, and had seven sons, whom she brought up as Christians. She was cited before the tribunals for not sacrificing to the false gods. But she refused; and being told she should comply out of regard to her sons, she replied that her sons would know how to choose between everlasting death and everlasting life. They also were cited; but the mother encouraged them to defy the tyranny and refuse to obey. Then they were ordered to be tortured most cruelly, each in different form and before the mother’s eyes; but she heroically stood by and encouraged them to be firm. Instead of flinching, she gloried that she had seven sons worthy to be saints in Paradise, and she herself was subjected to a barbarous and lingering death, and at length beheaded or plunged into boiling oil.

THE MARTYRS OF LYONS, BLANDINA AND ATTALUS (A.D. 199).

Eusebius, referring to the end of the second century, says that one day, in place of the gladiatorial combats at Lyons, Blandina and Attalus were thrown to the wild beasts. Blandina was bound to a stake; and as her body appeared to hang in the form of the cross, this greatly encouraged her fellow-martyr. As none of the beasts touched her, she was remanded to prison to be kept for another day. Attalus was then demanded by the mob. He bore a label: “This is Attalus the Christian.” He was placed on the iron chair and his body roasted; but he maintained his courage to the last. Blandina was again brought forward, along with a youth of fifteen, named Ponticus. Refusing to swear as they were ordered, they were led the whole round, and subjected to horrible brutalities. When Ponticus drew his last breath, Blandina stood exulting, as if she were invited to a marriage feast rather than thrown to the wild beasts. After scourging and exposure to the beasts, and after being roasted, she was finally wrapped in a net and tossed in the air before a bull; and when she had been tossed by that beast, and had now no longer any sense of what was done to her by reason of her hope, confidence, and faith in Christ, she too was despatched. The Gentiles confessed that no woman among them had ever endured sufferings as many and great as these; yet they insisted on watching the dead bodies, and what remained after the mangling of beasts, day and night, lest the Christians should attempt to bury them. They finally burnt the remains to ashes, and cast them into the Rhone, that there might not be a vestige of them left on dry land. Some of the ashes, however, were preserved in the church at Lyons.

ST. CECILIA THE MARTYR AND HER SINGING (A.D. 200).

Peter de Natalibus says: Cecilia, virgin and martyr, born of a noble house among the Romans about 180, was brought up in the faith of Christ, and always carried the Gospel hid in her bosom, and never ceased from Divine colloquy and prayer. She composed hymns to the glory of God, which she sang so sweetly that the angels came down from heaven to hear them and sing along with her. Being espoused to a youth named Valerian, who heard her often speaking of an angel whom he desired to see, she told him where to go; he was directed to the Catacombs, where the angel appeared to him in white raiment, holding a book, on which was written, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Valerian thereupon received baptism from Pope Urban. Valerian earnestly desired that his brother Tiburtius should be brought to the knowledge of the truth. So when on the morrow Tiburtius came to salute his sister-in-law Cecilia, he perceived an excellent odour of lilies and roses, and asked her wondering whence she had roses at that untimely season. He was told that God had sent them crowns of roses and lilies, but that he could not see them till his eyes were opened and his body purified, and yet that he also might see them if he would believe in Christ and renounce idols. And Tiburtius also believed and was baptised. The two brothers were afterwards seized and put to death. Cecilia also was ordered by the prefect Almachius to be burned; but though put in the fire a day and night, it had no effect on her. Nor could the executioner, though striking thrice at her neck, kill her. On the third day of her sufferings she distributed her goods and departed this life.

THE MARTYR PERPETUA (A.D. 202).

In the early persecution of 202 under the Emperor Severus, a touching scene occurred between a young wife, aged twenty-two, named Perpetua, and her father. She was arrested, and implored by her father, who threw himself in tears at her feet, beseeching her to renounce her creed, and not bring ruin on her brothers and parents and relatives. But she gloried in being called and in calling herself a Christian. The father brought her child in his arms, and called on her in vain to spare his grey hairs and to pity the child, and join in the Pagan sacrifice to the Emperor. The guards at last ordered him to be removed after his last appeal to her pity; and after tearing the hair of his beard in his anguish, she only exclaimed, “I am pained at the sight of my father as if I had been struck with a blow. His grief is enough to move any creature.” But no other faltering word escaped her. She and some young companions were thrown to the wild beasts to gratify the brutal tastes of the multitude when celebrating a prince’s birthday. The cruel spectacle made such an impression on one of the jailers, named Pudens, that he felt an irresistible impulse to acknowledge that there must be something divine in such a triumph over human weakness. He could not choose but indulge the friends of the wretched prisoners by giving them access to cheer the latter in their desolate state.