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(Feast Day September 19)
In the time of Diocletian, emperor, and in the fifth consulate of
Constantine [Constantius], and
seventh [probably "fifth"] of Maximian, there was a great persecution of
the
Christians. At that time
Diocletian appointed Timothy, a pagan, governor in the province of
Campania
and ordered him to
offer sacrifices to idols and to compel all who believed in Christ to do
the
same. It happened as he
was making the customary round of cities, he came to the city of Nola.
There
he ordered the
officials to present themselves before him and when they were present he
began to inquire from
them concerning the judgments of his predecessors.
To him the officials related their deeds and among them, when they reached
the affairs of the
blessed martyrs Sosius, deacon of the church at Miseno and Proculus,
deacon
of the church at
Pozzuoli, and Eutychetes and Acutius, and how they had been tormented by
various tortures and
had been recast into prison by the order of the judge, he asked the
officials what had been done
with them. They replied saying that they for a long time were detained in
chains and they uttered in
addition evil remarks concerning the Blessed Januarius, bishop of
Benevento.
This most unjust Timothy having heard these remarks regarding Januarius,
ordered him to be
brought before him and when he was presented before his tribunal at Nola,
Timothy the judge said
to him: "Januarius, having heard of the reputation of your family I exhort
you to sacrifice to the gods
in obedience to the decrees of the invincible rulers. But if you are
unwilling I shall subject you to
horrible torments which the God whom you worship when he shall see them he
himself shall fear."
St. Januarius however replied: "Be silent, O unhappy man, and do not
insult
in my hearing Him who
created heaven and earth, lest the Lord God may hear such a blasphemy as
that which proceeds
from your mouth and he may destroy you and you shall be mute and deaf, not
hearing and like a
blind man not seeing."
Having heard these things the tyrant Timothy says to the saint: "Is it in
your power that by any
enchantments whatever you or your god can prevail against me?"
St. Januarius replies: "My power is nothing but there is a God in heaven
who
can resist you and all
who obey and abet you." And when he had said this the tyrant ordered him
back to prison.
Being very angry he ordered a furnace to be heated for three days and the
saint to be cast into it.
The holy man made the sign of the cross on his forehead, looked up to
heaven
sighing and extending
his hands, and having entered the fiery furnace he was praising God,
saying:
"O Lord Jesus Christ
for the sake of thy holy name I embrace willingly this suffering and I
expect every promise which
thou hast promised to those who love Thee. Hear me praying to Thee and
deliver me from this
flame, thou who wert present with the three children, Ananias, Azarias,
Misael in the fiery furnace,
and be with me in this my trial to deliver me from the hands of the
enemy."
Saying these things,
Blessed Januarius began to walk with holy angels in the midst of the fire
praising the Father and Son
and Holy Ghost.
When the soldiers who were around the furnace heard St. Januarius in its
depth praising God they
feared with a great fear and ran in great haste and told the judge saying,
"We beseech thee, sir, not
to be angry with us but we have heard the voice of Januarius in the
furnace
invoking his Lord, and
being greatly terrified we fled." Timothy hearing this ordered the furnace
to be opened and when it
was opened the flames shot out and devoured some incredulous pagans who
were
around about it.
But St. Januarius appeared in the midst glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ
so
that the fire could not
touch either his clothes or his hair.
Timothy however when he had heard this ordered him before him and said to
him: "Of what avail is
it that the magic you exercise is powerful? By various torments I will
make
you perish." St. Januarius
replied: "It will not be well for thee, thou cruel tyrant, to alienate the
servant of Christ from the truth
of Christ or to cause me to obey through fear. I will hope in the Lord. I
will not fear no matter what
men may do to me," and thus replying the judge ordered him led back to
prison.
On another day early in the morning Timothy had Januarius before him: "How
long, unhappy man,
will you refuse to sacrifice to the immortal gods? Approach now and offer
incense. If not I shall
order you to be beheaded and if he can, let your God free you from my
hands." The saint replied:
"You do not know that the power of God is great. Would that you would
repent
so that my God
might pardon you whom you say to be unable to free me from your hands!
When
you speak thus
you are heaping up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath."
The judge not liking this speech ordered his shackels [-nervi-] to be
removed. Januarius prayed
God saying: "O Lord Jesus Christ who hast not abandoned me from my
mother's
womb now hear
thy servant crying to thee and command me to depart this world and obtain
thy mercy." The judge
thinking how he would kill him sent him back to prison.
While guarded by soldiers in hard captivity, two of his clergy, the deacon
Festus and the reader
Desiderius, learned of their bishop's captivity and being moved by the
Holy
Ghost they immediately
set out from Beneventum and came to Nola, and there weeping they cried:
"Why
is such a man in
custody? What crimes did he commit? When did he fail to aid those in
trouble? What sick man was
visted by him without regaining health? Who approached him weeping and
went
away not
rejoicing?"
Their words were reported to Timothy who ordered them at once to be
detained
and along with
Januarius to be brought before him, whereupon he asked Januarius who were
these two and the
saint replied: "One is my deacon and the other is my reader." "Do they
proclaim themselves
Christians?" "Certainly, for if you ask them, I hope in my Lord Jesus
Christ
that they will not deny
themselves to be Christians," and being asked, they said: "We are
Christians
and we are prepared
to die for the love of God."
Then Timothy filled with anger ordered Januarius the bishop, along with
Festus the deacon and
Desiderius the reader, to be bound in chains and to be dragged before his
chariot to the city of
Pozzuoli, determining that there along with Sosius, Proculus, Eutyches and
Acutius, they should be
delivered up to wild beasts. When they were come to Pozzuoli, they were
kept
in prison until the
arena was prepared. On the day appointed they were led into the
amphitheatre
and Timothy coming
ordered the wild beasts to be let loose; and when this was done, St.
Januarius cried: "O brethren,
seize the shield of faith and let us pray to the Lord our Helper in the
name
of the Lord who made
heaven and earth." And the mercy of God was so present that to the feet of
Januarius like sheep
with heads down ran the wild beasts.
The unbelieving judge had the beasts removed and the saints of God taken
from the arena and
brought before his tribunal, where sitting in state he dictated their
sentence: "We order to be
beheaded, Januarius bishop, Sosius, Proculus and Festus deacons,
Desiderius
reader, Eutyches and
Acutius, citizens of Pozzuoli, who have professed themselves Christians
and
have despised the
sacrifices of the gods and the commands of the emperor." But St. Januarius
looking up to heaven
said: "Lord Jesus Christ who descended from on high for the redemption of
the human race, deliver
me and free me from the hand of this enemy and I beg thee my God that you
punish Timothy for the
things he did against me thy servant and that thou blind his eyes so that
he
may not see the light of
heaven."
When he had finished his prayer darkness fell on his [Timothy's] eyes and
suddenly he was made
blind. Then prayed Januarius to the Lord, and said: "I give thanks to
thee,
Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hast heard thy servant and destroyed the eyes of the impious
Timothy because many
souls on account of him have been perverted to the evil spirits."
Then Timothy was suffering with his stricken eyes and the pain was
increasing. Repentant he began
to cry out and say to the officials: "Go, bring Januarius to me." And they
going found him lead along
by the executioners on the incline that leads to the Solfatara and
bringing
him back they set him
before the judge and a great multitude of people was attracted by the
sight.
But Timothy began to
cry out with a great cry and to say to St. Januarius: "Januarius, servant
of
the most high God, pray
the Lord, thy God, for me blind that I may recover the sight which I have
lost."
Then Januarius raising his eyes to heaven prayed: "God of Abraham, God of
Isaac, God of Jacob,
hear my prayer and restore to Timothy though unworthy his eyes that all
the
people present may
know that thou art God and there is no other but thee; for we may not
return
evil for evil." And
when St. Januarius had finished his prayer his were opened.
The multitude seeing the wonderful things which the Lord wrought by
Januarius his martyr, many of
the bystanders believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, almost five thousand,
and
they cried out raising
their voices: "Will not the God of such and so great a man be feared? Will
he not perhaps take
revenge for their sufferings and death and will we not all likewise
perish?"
Januarius was very
beautiful both in body and disposition. Then the impious judge Timothy
seeing such a crowd turned
toward the Lord was troubled and (lest the servant of the Lord Jesus
Christ
might be deprived of
his crown) fearing the commands of the emperor the judge ordered the
soldiers to take him away
quickly and to behead him with the holy martyrs.
When they were on their way to martyrdom a certain old and very poor man,
hoping favor from
Januarius placed himself in his way and fell at his feet and besought him
that he might receive some
of his clothes. But Januarius said to that old man: "When my body has been
buried thou wilt see that
I myself will give thee my orarium with which I will have bound my eyes."
The mother also of St.
Januarius residing at Benevento, three days before her son suffered, saw
in
a dream that Januarius
was flying in the air to heaven and when she was puzzled by the dream and
would inquire what it
meant, suddenly it was announced to her that her son was imprisoned for
the
love of God. She
however greatly terrified, prostrating herself in prayer before the Lord,
gave up her spirit.
In the meantime when the saints had arrived at the place where they were
to
be beheaded, that is at
the Solfatara, St. Januarius kneeling prayed: "O Lord, omnipotent God,
into
thy hands I commend
my spirit" and then rising he took his orarium and bound his eyes and
kneeling again he placed his
hand on his neck and asked the executioner to strike. The executioner
struck
with great force and
cut off at the same time a finger of the saint's hand and his head. The
other saints received likewise
their crown.
St. Januarius after his execution appeared to the old man and offered him
as
he had promised the
orarium which had bound his eyes and said: "Behold what I promised you,
take
it as I promised it,"
and he took it and hid it in his bosom with great reverence.
The executioners and two other officials seeing the old man, laughingly
asked him: "Have you got
what he who was beheaded promised?" But he said, "Yes," and showed them
the
orarium which
they recognized and wondered greatly.
On the very same hour at which St. Januarius and the holy martyrs were
beheaded the cruel
Timothy began to suffer very much and he was exclaiming aloud: "I suffer
these pains for having
treated Januarius the servant of God so impiously. The angels of God
torment
[me]." And when he
had been long tormented he gave up the ghost.
The Christians of various cities were guarding the bodies of the saints
that
they might carry them off
at night to their own cities and they kept a careful though secret watch;
and when night was come
and all were sleeping, St. Januarius in the silence of the night appeared
to
one of those who were
prepared to take away his body and said to him: "Brother, when you take
away
my body know that
the finger of my hand is missing. Seek it and place it with my body." And
so
it was done as the saint
himself had admonished. The bodies of the saints lay at the Solfatara
where
later was founded a
church worthy of St. Januarius the martyr.
Here ends the passion of Januarius Martyr.
APPENDIX ONE: Additional paragraph found in some codices.