At Tours, on this day is celebrated the festival of S. Gorgo the martyr, whose body, found at Rome, on the Appian way, near that of S. Cecilia, was transported to the great monastery of Tours in 847, and on the way worked many miracles of healing. The Roman Martyrology names on the same day another Gorgo, martyr at Antioch, of whom nothing further is known.

S. ALBERTA, V. M.

(A.D. 286.)

[Venerated at Agen. Authority:—The Agen Breviary.]

Alberta, the sister of S. Faith in blood and religion, and one of the first martyrs of the Agenois, earned the double crown of virginity and martyrdom. Her relics, long preserved at PÉrigueux with those of S. Phebadas, were translated to the church of Benerque, on the AriÉge, where they are preserved to this day.

S. VINCENT, AB. M.

(ABOUT A.D. 555.)

[Benedictine Martyrology, and that of Leon, and other Spanish churches. Tamayus Salazar complains, "The Acts of S. Vincent are shut up in the Spanish Benedictine Libraries, and are never shown by the most reverend fathers, possibly lest they should become too common, content rather that they should lie in bags and boxes, buried in dust and cobwebs, rather than exposed for the public benefit." We have, accordingly, in Bollandus, only a compendium of the Acts by the historian, Antonio Yepes, gathered from MSS., at Leon, and the lections of the monastic breviary of Coimbra.]

When the Vandals overran Spain, in company with the Suevi and the Alani, the Suevi settled down in Gallicia and part of Portugal, whilst the Vandals crossed into North Africa. They were Arians, and their king, Hermanrik, and his son, Richild, harassed the Catholics in every way possible, destroying or seizing on their churches. The Arians drew Vincent, abbot of S. Claudius, before the prince, charging him with contempt of the laws made against the Catholics. He boldly proclaimed the divinity of Jesus Christ before the king, and was ordered to be beaten and thrown into prison. Next day he was again brought before the king, and was condemned to death. The executioner struck at him with his sword, and clave his skull. His martyrdom was followed by that of the prior, Ramirus, and twelve of the monks of his house.

Relics: the body of S. Vincent in the cathedral of Oviedo. The body of S. Ramirus was translated, April, 26th, 1596, to the monastery of S. Claudius, at Leon.

S. CONSTANTINE, K. MONK AND M.

(ABOUT A.D. 576.)

[Aberdeen Breviary, Cologne and German Martyrologies. Not to be confused with Constantine, the successor of king Arthur, nor with Constantine, the Scottish king, who resigned his throne to live as a monk at S. Andrews, in 943. Authority:—The Aberdeen Breviary, John Fordun, John of Tynemouth, and mention in the Life of S. David.]

Constantine, son of Padarn, king of Cornwall, was married to the daughter of the king of Brittany, but had the misfortune to lose his wife by death shortly after. He was so deeply attached to her, that he could find no rest in his loneliness. Therefore, resigning his crown, and bidding farewell to his subjects, he crossed over into Ireland, and entered a monastery, without declaring who he was, and whence he came. He was ordered to grind the corn for the brothers; and for seven years he filled this situation. But one day as he sat in the granary, working the rude stone quern with his hands, and thinking himself alone, he laughed, and said, "Is this then, king Constantine of Cornwall, who wore helm and bore shield, who drudges thus at a hand-mill? It is the same, and it is not the same."

Now it happened that one of the brethren was in the granary and heard this, therefore he stole off unperceived to the abbot, and told him who his miller was. Then the abbot called the others, and all the brethren hasted to the mill, and drew Constantine therefrom, and made him one of themselves, instructed him in letters; and finally, by the grace of God, he was ordained priest. And after that, he bade them all farewell, and crossed over into Scotland, and was with S. Columba and S. Kentigern, who sent him to preach the Word in Galloway. And afterwards he was made abbot, but of what monastery is not specified, though there can be little doubt it was Glasgow. Now, when he was very old, he went a mission into Kintyre, where he was assailed by the heathen, who knocked him down and cut off his right arm. Having called his brethren about him, and blessed them, he gently bled to death. He is regarded as the first martyr of Scotland.

S. SOPHRONIUS, PATR. OF JERUSALEM.

(A.D. 638.)

[Greek Menologium and MenÆa on this day, also the Roman Martyrology. Authorities:—His Life collected from various sources, by Bollandus, and an epitome of his life in the Greek MenÆa.]

Sophronius, surnamed the Sophist, was the son of pious parents at Damascus. His learning and virtue caused his election to the patriarchal throne of Jerusalem. On the invasion and capture of Jerusalem, by Chosroes, king of Persia, Sophronius fled to his friend, S. John the Almsgiver, (Jan. 23rd,) patriarch of Alexandria, who supported him till he was able to return to his see. He held a synod at Jerusalem, against the Monothelites, and drew up a synodal letter on that occasion, which was sent to pope John IV.

S. VINDICIAN, B. OF ARRAS.

(ABOUT A.D. 712.)

[Arras Martyrology. Authority:—A Life by Balderic, bishop of Noyon.]

This saint was a disciple of S. Eligius. He was born at Bulcourt, in Bapaume, about the year 620. He spent many years in seclusion on Mont S. Eloi, where S. Eligius lived with ten others, in the practice of great austerities. He was nominated by S. Aubert, bishop of Arras, his vicargeneral. In 675, on the death of S. Aubert, he was elected bishop of Cambrai and Arras. He completed, in 691, the abbey of S. Waast, begun by his predecessor, dedicated the church of the monastery of Elnone, and that of the abbey of Hasnon. S. Leger, bishop of Autun, having been killed by Ebroin, mayor of the palace, and as the king, Thierry III., was suspected of having connived at the deed, several bishops deemed it expedient to remonstrate with the king, through some one of authority and renown for his sanctity. Vindician was chosen for this dangerous task, and he executed the commission with such prudence and firmness, that he attracted the admiration of the court, and succeeded in bringing the king to repentance. On his return to his diocese, he built the monastery of Honcourt; and at last, wearied with the cares of his diocese, he laid them aside, and retired, to be alone with God, and prepare for his passage, into a hermitage on Mont S. Eloi, and died at the age of ninety-two. His relics are preserved in the cathedral of Arras.

S. EUTHYMIUS, M. B. OF SARDIS.

(ABOUT A.D. 827.)

[Roman Martyrology. By the Greeks on Dec. 11th. Authorities:—The Greek MenÆa, and the Acts of the second council of NicÆa, also the Chronography of Leo the Grammarian, Cedrenus, Zonaras, &c.]

S. Euthymius, bishop of Sardis, was one of the most zealous defenders of images against the Iconoclastic emperors. He flourished under the empress Irene, and her son, Constantine VI., as abbot, but was then created bishop, and took a prominent part in the second council of NicÆa. Under the emperor Nicephorus he was sent into exile, together with other bishops, to Patalarea, for having admitted a virgin to the religious life. For the next nine-and-twenty years he did not see his diocese. When Leo the Armenian assumed the purple, he recalled Euthymius, but before restoring him to his see, he demanded of him whether he venerated images. The saint boldly replied, "O emperor, it belongs not to thee to meddle with the affairs of the Church. To thee is given the care of the State and the government of the army. Attend to them, and suffer the Church to remain faithful." This answer so angered Leo, that he ordered him to be banished to Assos. On the death of Leo by assassination, his successor, Michael the Stammerer, recalled Euthymius, and again demanded whether he reverenced sacred images. And when Euthymius protested that he reverenced whatever represented or recalled Christ, the tyrant banished him to Acrita, where he was cast into a noisome dungeon, and afterwards, by the emperor's orders, was brought out and stretched on the ground, with his hands and feet attached to posts, at the utmost distention possible, and then was cut and lashed with cow-hide scourges, till he died.

S. ANGUS OF KELD, B. AB.

(ABOUT A.D. 824.)

[Irish Martyrology. Authority:—Colgan.]

Angus, surnamed Kel-Dhu, a man of great love and fervour in the service of God, was born in Ireland in the eighth century, of the race of the Dalrhidians, kings of Ulster. In his youth, renouncing the pomp and vanities of the world and all earthly pretensions, he chose Christ for his inheritance, and entered religion in the famous monastery of Cluain-Edneach, in East Meath, under the holy abbot Malathgen. There he became such a proficient in virtue and learning that he was thought to excel all others in Ireland. He is said to have sung a hundred and fifty psalms every day, fifty of which he recited standing up to his neck in water, in winter and summer; and three hundred times a day he adored God on his bended knees. Finding that his sanctity attracted attention, he privately withdrew from his monastery, and disguising himself, took refuge in that of Tamlacht, three miles from Dublin, where he was received as an outside novice by the abbot Moelruan, and for seven years was given the meanest drudgery of the monastery. At length his great merit was discovered, and his name having been found out, the abbot apologised to him for having set him such degrading tasks, and brought him into the brotherhood. S. Angus became afterwards abbot of Desert-Aenguis and Cluain-Edneach, where he was raised to the office of bishop, the abbots in the ancient Irish Church being very generally bishops as well, but without territorial jurisdiction.

S. Angus is regarded as one of the most famous writers of Ireland. He composed a metrical martyrology, and five books of lives of the saints of Ireland, together with other treatises.

S. EULOGIUS, P. M.

(A.D. 859.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authority:—An account of his life and martyrdom by his friend Alvar.]

Eulogius belonged to one of the principal families of Cordova, then in the hands of the Moors, who had constituted it their capital. These Mohammedans, who had ruined the Gothic kingdom in Spain, had not succeeded in trampling out Christianity. They did, indeed, suffer Christians to exercise their religion, and for this indulgence they obliged them to pay a heavy tax, but Christians were strictly forbidden, on pain of death, to make converts. Eulogius had a fellow scholar at Chute-Clar, a monastery on the north-west of Cordova, named Alvar, to whom he was warmly attached, and who became afterwards his biographer. On reaching his maturity, Eulogius taught letters in Cordova, and was ordained priest. In the year 850, the Moors began to persecute the Christians, and the metropolitan bishop of Andalusia, Reccafred, instead of defending his flock against the wolves, basely taking the part of the king, Abderahman, arrested all the clergy of Cordova, together with their bishop, and threw them into prison. S. Eulogius, from his dungeon, wrote an exhortation to two virgins, named Flora and Mary, exhorting them to stand fast in the faith. "They threaten to sell you as slaves, and dishonour you, my daughters, but know that whatever infamy they may heap upon you, they cannot defile the virginal purity of your souls." But these holy maidens were spared this terrible humiliation, being executed with the sword.41 S. Eulogius and the other prisoners heard with joy of their triumph, and celebrated a mass of thanksgiving to God in their dungeon.

Six days after, S. Eulogius and the other priests were released; and he at once composed a metrical account of the passion of the virgins Flora and Mary.

Under Mohammed, the successor of Abderahman, the persecution became still more cruel, and S. Eulogius was constantly employed in encouraging timorous Christians, who, to escape death, or the irksome disabilities and petty tyranny to which they were subjected, were prepared to desert Christ.

The number of martyrs at this time was very great, and Eulogius collected all the acts of their passion into a history, in three books, entitled "The Memorial," which still exists. He then composed an "Apology" against those who disputed their title, as martyrs, because, firstly, they wrought no miracles like the ancient martyrs; secondly, they had offered themselves to death; thirdly, they had died by a stroke of the sword instead of through lingering torture; fourthly, they had not been killed by idolators, but by Mohammedans, who worshipped the One true God.

After the death of the archbishop of Toledo, the clergy and people of that city cast their eyes on Eulogius, as his successor. But God was about to crown him with martyrdom. There was in Cordova a girl named Leocritia, who had been converted from Mohammedanism to Christianity. For a Moslem to profess the religion of Christ was death. To save her, Eulogius hid her in the house of his sister, Annulona, and when the officers of justice were in pursuit of her, he conveyed her from one Christian house to another. But this could not last long. The place of her concealment was discovered, and Leocritia was taken, and Eulogius, for having secreted her, was also confined. He was ordered to execution, and was decapitated on Saturday, March 11th, 859, and Leocritia suffered the following Wednesday, and was buried in the church of S. Genes, at Cordova. Because March 11th usually falls in Lent, the Church of Cordova transfers the feast of S. Eulogius to June 1st, the day of the first translation of his body, and observes it with an Octave. The body was afterwards carried to Oviedo, together with that of S. Leocritia, on Jan. 19th, 883, and a third translation took place to Camarasanta, in 1300. For Flora and Mary, see November 24.

S. PETER THE SPANIARD, H.

(DATE UNCERTAIN.)

[Roman Martyrology. Authorities:—A Life from MS. of Babuco, published by Bollandus.]

S. Peter was the son of noble parents in Spain, and was brought up in the profession of arms. In the army he distinguished himself as much by his zeal for souls and purity of life, as by his courage. His parents having insisted on his marriage, he yielded with great repugnance, for his heart was drawn elsewhere, and he desired to live a virgin life to his dear master Jesus. The marriage ceremony took place, and when the banquet was over, he retired to the bridal chamber, where he saw the fair young girl who had given him her hand lying asleep on the bed. She looked so pure and innocent in her slumber, that he gazed on her with reverence, and kneeling at her feet, prayed long and earnestly; and then stealing away, left the house, and fled the country. Taking his passage on a boat for Italy, he reached the eternal city, and going forth into the Campagna, found a place suitable for a cell, and there buried himself from the world.

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