A Community of Love, Unity and Service

St. Pantaleon

Saint Pantaleon was born in Nicomedia of a pagan father and a Christian mother, who died while her son was still a child. He was among the court physicians of the Emperor GaleriusMaximianus. Deceived by hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, he was withoutreligion when God decided to rescue his soul from its unhappy darkness. A zealous and prudentChristian named Hermolaus took special notice of him and awakened his conscience, telling himthat although the famous physicians of ancient times had possessed the science which curesbodies, Jesus Christ was a far more excellent Physician, able to cure not only bodies, but souls, byHis divine doctrine. Hermolaus succeeded in bringing him into the fold of the Church.

The young Christian strove to procure for his father the same grace he himself had received, and his words had already begun to separate his father from his idols, when one day a blind man, ledby friends, came to the door and begged Pantaleon to cure him. His father was present and heardthe promise his son made to this man to do so, if he would give to the poor the money he wasoffering him. The father was amazed and feared that the promise could not be fulfilled. But theyoung Saint prayed and touched the eyes of the blind man, invoking the name of Jesus Christ, andhis eyes were opened. Pantaleon’s father and the blind man were both baptized as a result of thismiracle. When Eustorgus, his father, died, Saint Pantaleon liberated all his slaves and, having soldmost of his possessions, gave to the liberated ones and others the assistance their povertyrequired. He cured other illnesses and soon became renowned in Nicomedia.

Saint Pantaleon, being a very sincere penitent, ardently wished to expiate his former idolatry by the martyrdom he could foresee. When a bloody persecution broke out at Nicomedia in 303, theblind man he had cured was beheaded upon refusing to admit that it was the gods who had curedhim. Saint Pantaleon, to prepare himself for the imminent combat, distributed all he had leftamong the poor. Not long after this act of charity he was arrested and subjected to varioustortures, during which he was preserved from death. Three other Christians, of whom one wasHermolaus, were apprehended. After suffering many torments, the four confessors were allsentenced to be beheaded.

The relics of Saint Pantaleon were translated to Constantinople, and there received great honor. His blood, conserved in a small vial, is said to liquefy on his feast day and become oxygenated. Charlemagne brought a part of his relics into France, where they are presently divided again, aportion being in the abbey of Saint Denys near Paris, and the head at Lyons. Saint Pantaleon,whose name means the “all-compassionate one,” is the patron of physicians.

St. Celsus

Saint Nazarius, born in Rome, was the son of a pagan military man who held an important post in the Roman army. His mother, honored by the Church as Saint Perpetua, was a zealous Christian,instructed by Saint Peter or his disciples in the most perfect maxims of Christianity. Nazarius atthe age of nine embraced the Faith with so much ardor that he copied in his own young life all thegreat virtues he saw in his teachers. He was baptized by Saint Linus, who would later becomePope. His pagan father was touched by his son’s virtue and seconded his project to go elsewhereto preach the Gospel. Out of zeal for the salvation of others, Nazarius therefore left Rome, hisnative city, and preached the Faith in many places with a fervor and disinterestedness fitting for adisciple of the Apostles.

Ten years later he is known to have been in Milan. He was driven from the city by the prefect after being whipped, and he left Italy to go to eastern Gaul or France. There a young boy by thename of Celsus was brought to him; his mother asked him to teach and baptize her son, and totake him for his disciple. The child was docile, and Nazarius did so; and they were neverseparated. When conversions multiplied, the local governor was alarmed and the apostle wasagain arrested, beaten and tortured. The wife of this governor was a Christian, however, andsucceeded in obtaining liberty for the two young innocents. They were freed on condition theywould not preach at this place any longer.

The two fervent Christians went to the Alpine villages where only a few solitary settlers braved the rigors of the climate and the altitude. They were not rebuffed and went as far as Embrun. There they built a chapel to the true God, and then continued on to Geneva, and to Treves whereSaint Nazarius was arrested and imprisoned. Celsus followed him in tears, longing to share hiscaptivity. When after a few days the prefect ordered them brought before him, they were treatedcruelly but appeared before the magistrate, their faces shining with glory. The prodigies whichfollowed caused fear in the pagans, and they were released and told to leave the region.

They returned to Milan, but were soon arrested there also. When they would not sacrifice to the gods of the empire, after several tortures in which God again preserved them, they weresentenced to be beheaded. They embraced one another in transports of joy and praise to God forthis grace. It was during the reign of Nero, in about the year 56, that these generous Martyrsadded their blood to the treasure of the Christians.

Their bodies were buried separately in a garden outside the city, where they were discovered and taken up by Saint Ambrose in 395. In the tomb of Saint Nazarius, whose decapitated body andhead were perfectly conserved, a vial of the Saint’s blood was found as fresh and red as if it hadbeen spilt that same day. Saint Ambrose conveyed the bodies of the two martyrs into the newchurch of the Apostles which he had just built. A woman was delivered of an evil spirit in theirpresence. Saint Ambrose sent some of these relics to Saint Paulinus of Nola, who received themwith great respect as a most valuable gift, as he himself testifies, and placed them in honor at Nola.

St. Nazarius

Saint Nazarius, born in Rome, was the son of a pagan military man who held an important post in the Roman army. His mother, honored by the Church as Saint Perpetua, was a zealous Christian,instructed by Saint Peter or his disciples in the most perfect maxims of Christianity. Nazarius atthe age of nine embraced the Faith with so much ardor that he copied in his own young life all thegreat virtues he saw in his teachers. He was baptized by Saint Linus, who would later becomePope. His pagan father was touched by his son’s virtue and seconded his project to go elsewhereto preach the Gospel. Out of zeal for the salvation of others, Nazarius therefore left Rome, hisnative city, and preached the Faith in many places with a fervor and disinterestedness fitting for adisciple of the Apostles.

Ten years later he is known to have been in Milan. He was driven from the city by the prefect after being whipped, and he left Italy to go to eastern Gaul or France. There a young boy by thename of Celsus was brought to him; his mother asked him to teach and baptize her son, and totake him for his disciple. The child was docile, and Nazarius did so; and they were neverseparated. When conversions multiplied, the local governor was alarmed and the apostle wasagain arrested, beaten and tortured. The wife of this governor was a Christian, however, andsucceeded in obtaining liberty for the two young innocents. They were freed on condition theywould not preach at this place any longer.

The two fervent Christians went to the Alpine villages where only a few solitary settlers braved the rigors of the climate and the altitude. They were not rebuffed and went as far as Embrun. There they built a chapel to the true God, and then continued on to Geneva, and to Treves whereSaint Nazarius was arrested and imprisoned. Celsus followed him in tears, longing to share hiscaptivity. When after a few days the prefect ordered them brought before him, they were treatedcruelly but appeared before the magistrate, their faces shining with glory. The prodigies whichfollowed caused fear in the pagans, and they were released and told to leave the region.

They returned to Milan, but were soon arrested there also. When they would not sacrifice to the gods of the empire, after several tortures in which God again preserved them, they weresentenced to be beheaded. They embraced one another in transports of joy and praise to God forthis grace. It was during the reign of Nero, in about the year 56, that these generous Martyrsadded their blood to the treasure of the Christians.

Their bodies were buried separately in a garden outside the city, where they were discovered and taken up by Saint Ambrose in 395. In the tomb of Saint Nazarius, whose decapitated body andhead were perfectly conserved, a vial of the Saint’s blood was found as fresh and red as if it hadbeen spilt that same day. Saint Ambrose conveyed the bodies of the two martyrs into the newchurch of the Apostles which he had just built. A woman was delivered of an evil spirit in theirpresence. Saint Ambrose sent some of these relics to Saint Paulinus of Nola, who received themwith great respect as a most valuable gift, as he himself testifies, and placed them in honor at Nola.

St. Martha

Saint John tells us that Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus (John 11:5), but only a few glimpses are vouchsafed us of them in the Gospels. First, the sisters are set before us: Martha received Jesus into her house, and was busy in outward, loving, lavish service, while Mary sat in silence at the feet she had bathed with her tears. Then we learn that their brother is ill when theysend word to Jesus concerning their brother Lazarus, “Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” (John 11:3) In His own time the Lord came, and they went out to meet Him; then follows that scene of unutterable tenderness and of sublimity unsurpassed: the silent mourning of Mary; Martha strongin faith, but realizing so vividly, with her practical turn of mind, the fact of death, and hesitating: “Lord, by this time he is already decayed! He has been dead four days.”

And then once again, on the eve of His Passion, we see Jesus at Bethany, with His resurrecteddisciple. Martha, true to her character, is serving; Mary, as at first, pours the precious ointment,in adoration and love, on His divine head, as a preliminary to His burial. (John 12:1-4) We do not hear of the beloved family again in the Scriptures, but tradition tells us that when the storm ofpersecution came, the family of Bethany, with a few companions, were put into a boat withoutoars or sail, and borne miraculously to the coast of France. Martha assembled a holy company ofwomen, with whom she lived in great austerity of life and admirable sanctity at Tarascon whereher tomb is venerated. Saint Mary’s tomb is at La Sainte-Baume; Saint Lazarus is venerated asthe founder of the Church of Marseilles. It is this family which brought to France the relics ofSaint Anne.

St. Abdon

The emperor Decius, enemy of Christians, had defeated the king of Persia and become master ofseveral countries over which he reigned. He had already condemned to torture and death SaintPolychrome, with five members of his clergy. Saint Abdon and Saint Sennen, illustrious Persiandignitaries of the third century whom the king of Persia had highly honored, were secretlyChristian; it was they who had taken up the body of the martyred bishop, which had been castcontemptuously before a temple of Saturn, to bury it at night, with honor. The two royal officials,now fallen under the domination of Rome, were grieved to witness the emperor’s cruelty towardsthe faithful, and believed it their duty to make known their love for Jesus Christ; thus, without fearof their new sovereign, they undertook by all possible means to spread and fortify the faith, toencourage the confessors and bury the martyrs.

Decius, learning of their dedication, was extremely irritated. He sent for the two brothers to appear before his tribunal, and attempted to win them over to sacrifice to the gods, by appealingto his recent victory as a sign of their favor. The Saints replied, however, that this victory wasnot at all a proof of such power, since the unique true God, Creator of heaven and earth with HisSon, Jesus Christ, gives victory to some and defeat to others, for reasons hidden in the designs ofHis providence. They said they could never adore any but Him, and Decius imprisoned them. Soon afterwards, when he learned of the death of the viceroy he had left to govern in his place atRome, he returned to Rome and took his two captives with him to serve as splendid trophies ofhis Persian victory. In effect, these magistrates were wearing jewels and rich fabrics under theirchains.

He arraigned them before the Senate, in whose presence they again testified to the divinity of Christ, saying they could adore no other. The next day they were flogged in the amphitheater;then two lions and four bears were released to devour them. But the beasts lay down at their feetand became their guardians, and no one dared approach for a time. Finally the prefect sent outgladiators to slay them with the sword, which with the permission of God was done. Their bodiesremained three days without burial, but a subdeacon, who afterwards wrote their history, tookthem up and buried them on his own terrain.

Under Constantine the Great, their tombs were discovered by divine revelation and their relics reburied in the Pontian cemetery, which afterwards was called by their names. We see them in apicture of the catacombs, crowned by Our Lord Himself. Their glorious martyrdom occurred inthe year 254.

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