ONESIMUS was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person of note of the city of ColossÆ, converted to the faith by S. Paul. Having run away from his master, he providentially met with S. Paul, then a prisoner at Rome, who there converted and baptized him, and sent him, with his canonical letter of recommendation, to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at liberty, and sent back to his spiritual father, whom he afterwards faithfully served. The apostle made him, with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians,[44] and afterwards, as S. Jerome[45] and other fathers witness, a preacher of the gospel and a bishop. The Greeks say he suffered under Domitian. There was a bishop of Ephesus, after S. Timothy, of the same name, who showed great respect for S. Ignatius, when on his journey to Rome, in 107, and is highly commended by him.[46] He was conducted to Rome two years after, and was stoned to death.

S. HONESTUS, P. M.
(ABOUT A.D. 270.)

[Commemorated at Pampeluna, as the apostle of that place, and at Amiens with nine lections, and at Toulouse, where his head is preserved. Besides being mentioned in these Breviaries, his name occurs in the Anglican Martyrology of Wytford, and in the additions to Usuardus, by Molanus. All that is known of him is found in the Acts of S. Firmin, B. M. See Sept.25th.]

Honestus, a native of Nismes, was found by S. Saturninus, as he passed through that city, to be of so pious and zealous a disposition that he called him to follow him, as a disciple, and after he had fully instructed him, he ordained him priest, and sent him into Spain. He preached with great effect at Pampeluna, where he converted one Firmus, a senator, with all his house, and his son, Firmin, became his most devoted pupil. He so completely succeeded in the destruction of superstition in the minds of the people of Pampeluna, that he persuaded them to entirely overthrow a temple of Diana, which adorned their town. In some martyrologies he is called a martyr, but nothing is known of the place or manner of his death.

S. CORNELIUS, M.
(DATE UNKNOWN.)

The relics of this martyr, found in one of the Roman catacombs, were given by Pope Innocent X., in 1649, to the Jesuit church at Ghent, where they are enshrined in a silver reliquary, and are exhibited on Feb.16th.

SS. ELIAS, JEREMIAS, ISAIAS, AND COMP., MM.
(A.D. 309.)

[Commemorated on this day by the Greeks, and in some Western Martyrologies. On this day also the Roman Martyrology. Authority:—Eusebius; Martyrs of Palestine, c. ii.]

In the year 309, the Emperors Galerius and Maximinus continuing the persecution begun by Diocletian, five pious Egyptians went to visit the confessors condemned to the mines in Cilicia, and on their return were stopped by the guards of the gates of CÆsarea, in Palestine, as they were entering the town. They readily declared themselves Christians, together with the motives of their journey; upon which they were apprehended. The day following they were brought before Firmilian, governor of Palestine, together with S. Pamphilus, and others. The judge, before he began his interrogatory, ordered the five Egyptians to be laid on the rack. After they had long suffered all manner of tortures, he addressed himself to him who seemed to be their chief, and asked him his name and his country. They had changed their names, which, before their conversion, were those of some heathen gods, as was customary in Egypt. The martyr answered according to the names they had given themselves, which were those of prophets, as Elias, Jeremy, Isaiah, Samuel, and Daniel.[47] Firmilian then asked their country; he answered, Jerusalem, meaning the heavenly Jerusalem, the true country of all Christians. The judge inquired in what part of the world that was, and ordered him to be tormented with fresh cruelty. All this while the executioners continued to tear his body with scourges, whilst his hands were bound behind him, and his feet squeezed in stocks. The judge, at last, tired of tormenting them, condemned all five to be beheaded, and this command was immediately executed.

Porphyry, a youth, the servant of S. Pamphilus, hearing the sentence pronounced, exclaimed that the honour of burial ought to be accorded to these men. Firmilian, provoked at this boldness, ordered him to be apprehended, and, finding that he confessed himself a Christian, and refused to sacrifice, "commanded," says Eusebius, "that they should scrape and mutilate him, not as though they were dealing with flesh of a human being, but as with stone and wood, to the very bones, and the inmost recesses of the bowels. This being continued for a long time, he at length perceived that he was labouring in vain, as he continued without uttering a sound, or evincing any feeling, and almost totally lifeless, although his body was dreadfully mangled. But, as the judge was of an inflexible cruelty, he condemned him to be committed to a slow fire. One could then see Porphyry covered with dust, but with his countenance bright and cheerful, advancing on his way to death, covered only with his philosophical garb thrown round him like a cloak, and, with a calm and composed mind, beckoning to his acquaintance and friends, and preserving a cheerful countenance at the stake. When the fire was kindled, which was done at some distance from him, he attracted and inhaled the flame, and then, most nobly persevering in silence, until his last breath, he uttered not another word, save that which he uttered when the flame reached him, a call upon Christ, the Son of God, his helper."

Seleucus, an eye-witness of this victory, was heard by the soldiers applauding the heroism of these martyrs, whereupon he was apprehended, and his head was struck off.

S. Pamphilus is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology on June 1st; Elias, Jeremias, Isaiah, Samuel, Daniel, Porphyry, and Seleucus, on Feb.16th.

The relics of S. Daniel are preserved at Bologna, in the churches of S. Cecilia and S. Gabriel.

S. JULIANA, V. M.
(ABOUT A.D. 309.)

[Commemorated by the Greeks on December 21st. The ancient Latin Martyrologies on Feb.16th. The Acts are very ancient. They were certainly written before 600, when her relics were at Puteoli. Usuardus, whose Martyrology dates 800, speaks of her relics as at CumÆ, to which place they had been translated about the year 600. The Acts are not, however, to be trusted. They have apparently been interpolated by those who were not satisfied with their original brevity.]

S. Juliana was a Christian maiden, the daughter of heathen parents, very beautiful, and of good birth. Her father resolved on marrying her to the prefect Eleusius, but she refused, alleging, as her excuse, that she was resolved not to marry a heathen. Her father, much exasperated, beat her severely, and when he could not shake her constancy he gave her over to the prefect, hoping that the terror of appearing in court would quell her courage. But he was deceived. She enthusiastically confessed Christ, and her betrothed, brutally ordered her to be stripped and beaten before him, for his love was turned into rage and hatred. The more cruelly she was treated, the more resolved she seemed to become, and the more exasperated grew Eleusius. At last he ordered molten metal to be poured over her, and then that she should be thrown into prison, with her feet made fast in the stocks. On the following day he ordered her to be let down into a vessel of molten lead, and then he bade the executioner strike off her head.

The head of S. Juliana is preserved at Hal, in the Tyrol, but the chief portion of her relics is in the church of Notre Dame de Sablon, in Brussels.

S. TANCO, B. OF VERDEN.
(ABOUT A.D. 800.)

[Authorities:—Krantzius, Leslie, and Wion, in Mart. Benedict.]

Patto, abbot of Amabaric, in Scotland, having gone to preach the faith to the heathen in Germany, and being appointed bishop of Verden, in the kingdom of Hanover, Tanco, monk of Amabaric, was chosen abbot; but, desiring to follow his former superior, he resigned his charge, and sought Patto at Verden, whom he succeeded after a while, being the third bishop of that see. He is said to have fallen a victim to a barbarous mob who were enraged with him for denouncing their licentious and savage manners.