JUNE. 883-884. LIFE OF OUR HOLY FATHER PAUL, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE THE CONFESSOR. VITA S. P. N. PAULI CONFESSORIS. (Latin at Surius for the 7th of June. Greek from Cod. Reg. 1481.)
I. When Constantius, the third son of Constantine the Great, held the A sceptres of the Roman Empire, the followers of Arius raised a persecution against the pious, in order that they might have from Constantius the greatest assistance for these purposes, and they indeed accepted that Athanasius had been exiled to the West; but the divine Alexander, the high priest of Byzantium, when he was approaching the end of his life, did not leave behind a successor for his Church: but when he had singled out two of the others as the most excellent, he gave the people this choice: that if they wished to have a teacher who was resplendent in virtues as high priest, they should choose Paul, whom he himself had ordained a presbyter. But if they only wanted one who was grave in habit and externally honest, they should choose Macedonius, who had been ordained a deacon long ago, and was already verging upon old age. Having said these things to them, he departed to better dwellings, having been high priest for twenty-three years, and having lived in all ninety-eight years. B
II. But around the election of those who had been mentioned, a contention arose. For the Arians were looking more toward Macedonius; the orthodox, however, were choosing Paul. Yet the vote of the orthodox prevailed, and Paul was chosen as bishop of Byzantium, in the church which is called Saint Irene’s, which time, separating from the new, allows to be called the old. But when Constantius had returned to Constantinople from Antioch not long after, he was angry at the one elected, because it had proceeded not according to his own judgment C
A regarding the ordination, and having sat in a conclave of Arians, he condemned Paul to be removed, and declared Eusebius—who was moving to a third see—the bishop of the royal city from Nicomedia. But he who had impiously performed these acts returned again to Antioch. Eusebius, however, left no stone unturned in order to remove the homousion from the sacred symbol.
III.
The dedication of the church in Antioch is celebrated, which Constantine the Great had raised from its foundations, and Constantius had shown eagerness for it to be consecrated; and under the pretext of the dedication, bishops assemble to the number of ninety. But Maximus, the overseer of Jerusalem, a pious man, was not present, nor was Julius of Rome, either in person or through any of his subordinates. The synod is therefore convened in the presence of Constantius as well. Those around Eusebius show eagerness, before anything else, to dispose of Athanasius. They bring against him a first charge, saying that he acted contrary to a canon—a canon which they themselves had issued at that time. For he had returned, they claimed, from exile not by common judgment and vote, but he himself had entrusted the high-priesthood to himself. A second [charge] was that, upon his arrival, a riot had broken out in which many had died. A third was the events that took place in Tyre, from which they condemned the athlete of piety and installed in his place Gregory, who was of the same mind as they. B And having dared these things, they further dared to transform the faith, in no way openly criticizing those things done at Nicaea, but with a wicked and malicious intent sowing seeds beforehand for the destruction of the [i]homousion[/i]. And the synod at Antioch, having decided these things and having dared other transgressions and enacted some canons, is dissolved.IV.
Eusebius acts as an envoy to Julius of Rome, contriving to have the sentence against Athanasius confirmed. But he achieved nothing of what he hoped. Paul the high priest, having reached Rome, as well as other bishops, not a few—but also Athanasius himself, who had been expelled through the machinations of Eusebius—were living together in Rome. But the holy Julius, upon learning that the actions against the high priests were a slander, strengthens them with letters and sends them to the East, C as well as restoring to each his own see and rebuking those who had deposed them. These men, therefore, take back their own churches, and the letters are sent to those to whom they had been written. For Eusebius having perished, Paul is restored to his own see; but those who Arianized in the church now called "of Paul" ordain Macedonius, who blasphemed that the Son was unlike the Father, setting aside the [i]homousion[/i], and [asserting] the all-holy Spirit to be entirely alien to the Godhead.A V. When Athanasius had recovered his own church, those who were residing again in Antioch—for they had gathered once more, attempting to bring charges in turn against Julius of Rome—speedily sent the impious Gregory, whom they had illegally ordained, to that of Alexander. The military commander of Alexandria escorted him, bringing seven thousand soldiers with him. Upon learning of this, Athanasius sailed back to Rome. The people of Alexandria, however, unable to bear such a lawless act, burned down the church called Dionysius’, though they did not act rightly in doing so. When Constantius, who was staying in Antioch, learned that Paul, the herald of the truth, had been restored to his own throne, he commanded Hermogenes, the commander of the army who was being sent to the regions of Thrace, to cast him out of the church. He, having arrived at Constantinople, strove to do as he had been ordered; but the multitude did not endure it, and instead they burned down his house, dragged him out, and destroyed him. B When Constantius heard of this, he was very angry at what had occurred, and, having come to the city himself, he drove the holy Paul out of it, and punished the city by removing half of the grain allowance that his father, the humane Constantine—that is to say—had granted it. The total of this grant was eighty thousand daily loaves of bread. He was also angry at Macedonius, not only because he had been ordained against his will, but also because of the murders for which he had been the cause by stirring up sedition.
VI. Nevertheless, the blessed Paul, leaving him alone, arrived in Rome and remained with Athanasius. He therefore reported what he had suffered to the bishop of Rome, and, being fortified once again by his letters and those of the Emperor Constans, he immediately returned and was restored to his own throne, with the city receiving him back with great joy. C Constantius again took this event ill, and once more issued an order for him to be sent into exile. Therefore, when the prefect Philip had received this order, he sent the holy man into exile and in his place installed the enemy of the Holy Spirit, Macedonius, in the Church of God. The mission into exile did not come about openly, but by way of an ambush; for the murder of Hermogenes had made Philip more cautious in his wrongdoing. He honorably summoned the high priest of God to the bath called Zeuxippus, as if for matters beneficial to the public and for some secret consultations, and from there he sent him to the imperial palace, and through it, then to Thessalonica, which his own ancestors had also held as their fatherland; and while he was forbidden to go to the regions of the East, he was no longer prevented from going to the nearby ones.
VII. D Now the impious Macedonius, with a military force serving him, riding together with the prefect, [entered] the Church of God...
the slaughter having extended to three thousand and fifty. Marcian and Martyrius also suffered this outrage; they were readers and scribes for divine Paul, seeing that they themselves also openly preached the homousion. Thus, therefore, through the slaughter of Christians, the enemy of the Church is established in the ecclesiastical thrones. At which time Constantius also builds the Great Church, which is named for the Wisdom of God, and the divine Paul, a short while later, arrives for the third time in Italy and, taking Athanasius as his partner in the struggle, they explain what they had suffered to Constans, who was emperor of the West and was the brother of Constantius. B And when he had learned more accurately the lawless acts they had endured, he writes to his brother that three bishops should come to him from the East to give an account of those things that were perpetrated against Athanasius and Paul, and at the same time to bring in writing a statement of faith. And indeed, four of the bishops are sent to Rome: Narcissus the Cilician, Theodore the Thracian, Marces of Chalcedon, and Marcus the Syrian. When they reached Rome, they did not dare to enter into discussions with those around Athanasius and Paul, but concealing the faith that had been set forth by them at Antioch, they composed another which openly contained C nothing blasphemous, yet did not uphold the homousion; they handed this over to the emperor, and having neither done nor suffered anything further, they returned.
VIII. After three years had passed, the Easterners gather again and compose another creed, and send it to those in Italy. The deacons of this decree were Eudoxius, who was at that time bishop of Germanicia, and Martyrius, and Macedonius of Mopsuestia. Their exposition of faith was in other respects similar to that which had been previously set forth, but by some additions at the end it was extended to a greater length. The gathering of bishops at Rome, however, did not accept this, saying that they were satisfied with the symbol of faith which the synod in Nicaea had proclaimed. D And as everything was thus held in turmoil and factious strife, an ecumenical synod is proclaimed by the counsel of the two emperors, in the eleventh year after the passing of the most pious Constantine, their father. There came together, therefore, to Sardica from the West more than three hundred bishops, but from the East only seventy-six. And those from the East did not consent to enter into conversation with those from the West; the reason was that Paul and Athanasius, the athletes of piety, were sitting with them.
IX. And since neither would the defenders of true religion remove Athanasius, nor would the heretics desist from...
the hostilities they waged against the athletes, they were divided among themselves. And when the Orientals reached Philippi, a city of Macedonia, they gathered together, and then they openly anathematized the *homousion*. But those who were at Sardica condemned them, though absent, and deposed them as calumniators; and they confirmed the faith that had been ratified at Nicaea. A Constans, the emperor of the West, having received knowledge of these things, instructed his brother Constantius by letter, and urged him to be clement and benign toward Paul and Athanasius, and not to be a hindrance to them so that they might be restored to their own sees, adding that if he would not willingly yield to those who possessed the right, he himself would arrive and, even against his will, render justice to those who were being treated with injury. Constantius, therefore, fearing his brother’s threats, did not prevent the holy Paul from being restored to his own episcopate: he summoned his fellow-contender Athanasius to him by diverse letters, and when he had arrived, he received him kindly and restored him to his own throne. B Thus, that great turmoil was brought to tranquility, and the Church rejoiced to have the defenders of piety.
X. But when Magnentius had seized the tyranny and killed Constans the emperor of the West, the storm of Arian madness once more disturbed the churches of the inhabited world: and again Athanasius fled, and George seized his throne, and Paul, the champion of piety, was sent into exile in Cucusus of Armenia. C There, by the strangulation of the impious who rushed in at night, he was brought to the completion of his martyrdom. Into Constantinople, in his place, the impious Macedonius was introduced, and the shepherds were driven out from the other churches, and wolves invaded them again; and the madness of Macedonius strove to obscure the cruelty of the Gentiles toward Christians. And the whole of the East was afflicted with evils, but especially Constantinople. At which time Angelios, the bishop of the Novatians, inasmuch as he also held to the *homousion*, was sent into exile; and it was a calamity that cannot be explained, not proceeding only as far as the chief priests and priests, but laying hold also of women and children, as many as rejected the communion of Macedonius. For the breasts of women—O the madness!—partly were inserted into the lids of chests and compressed and cut off, and partly with iron, and other heavy tortures were devised for others. For the things which modesty prevented even the Gentiles, who were strangers to God, from devising against common nature, these it then came into the minds of the impious to do. D
XI. Macedonius extended his rage also against the region of Paphlagonia; for he had heard that many of the orthodox and of those from Novatus were staying in it; and he saw to it that four cohorts of armed soldiers were sent against them, and that they be compelled by arms to impiety.
A And those who dwelt at Mantineum, having gathered in a multitude and in their zeal for piety having fashioned into weapons sickles and axes and whatever came to hand, drew up in battle array against the soldiers. Then, an engagement having occurred, many were slain—both of the Paphlagonians, and of the soldiers, all save for a few. This bloodthirsty and shameless deed, therefore, stirred up righteous hatred, not only among those who had been wronged, but even among those who seemed to be well-disposed towards Macedonius; and it provoked the emperor himself to enmity. B Nor was this all, but also [the fact] that he took the body of Constantine—most pious emperor, I say (for the house in which it lay seemed to be in danger of collapse)—and without his permission moved it to the church of Saint Acacius. And since this translation did not meet with everyone's approval, but seemed to many an impious act—that the bodies of the departed should be disinterred, especially that of an emperor who was distinguished for his piety—a great slaughter took place, and for the many and incurable evils which Macedonius dared to commit, he paid a slight penalty: the deprivation of his seat.
XII. The cause of Arius, however, still prevailed throughout the entire reign of Constantius, and yet more during the times of the most impious Valens, until divine justice overtook the latter, and by the righteous sentence of Gratian, who administered the West, elevated the Spaniard Theodosius to the imperial throne of the East, and through him bestowed victory upon orthodoxy. C But thus was the heresy of Arius, which had devastated the churches for forty years, banished by the piety of Theodosius, and the orthodox faith was adorned with its rightful honors. The same most pious emperor, therefore, convenes a synod, intending to bring the followers of Macedonius into concord with the orthodox and those who defended the *homousion*. On this account, he summons those who were leaders of their heresy as well. And there gathered of the orthodox, from Alexandria indeed Timothy, from Jerusalem Cyril, and Meletius from Antioch; and there was present Gregory the Theologian, and Ascholius of Thessalonica, and Gregory of Nyssa, and many others; for their entire assembly was one hundred and fifty [bishops]. D The leader of the heretical crowd, however, was Eleusius of Cyzicus, and Marcian of Lampsacus, and Eudius of Ephesus, and some others, thirty-six in all.
XIII. The emperor himself, and all who were orthodox, exhorted those of the heretical party to come together into unity of mind, and to confess the *homousion*, reminding them that they had of their own accord once accepted the communion of the orthodox. But the heretics, taking no account of the righteous rebukes and gentle admonitions, did not abandon their own impiety. Therefore, they are cast out of the council and the city, and the synod elects Nectarius, who was indeed of senatorial blood, but…
senatorial, but at that time he held the office of praetor; he was, however, of the mildest character. This holy synod also confirms the exposition of the faith which the Council of Nicaea established: and the emperor gives his assent to everything, and he takes care to have the sacred relics of Paul the Confessor brought with great reverence from Cucusus, and those of the bishops who were present with Nectarius go out to meet them far before Chalcedon, and with many hymns and a great retinue they carry them through the middle of the city, and into the church which was indeed built under the name of Saint Irene (the ancient one is so called, which the Emperor Constantine raised from a smaller structure to great breadth and magnitude, and over which he also presided), B they deposited them for a short time, and when they had celebrated nocturnal hymns, in the morning the whole city again, with equal and similar honor and glory, in the church which is now called by his name, with all the high priests and clergy, and the emperor himself also being present with them, they lay them in the sepulcher which receives the saints, honoring him with long and prolix hymnodies, because for having endured great labors and heavy struggles valiantly for piety, he became worthy of immortal rewards in the heavens, C in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is due all honor, majesty, and magnificence, now and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE LIFE AND STRUGGLE OF THE HOLY AND GLORIOUS MARTYRS OF CHRIST, NAZARIUS, GERVASIUS, PROTASIUS, AND CELSUS
C I. While Nero was holding the scepter of the Roman empire, the admirable Nazarius shone forth in his own homeland like one of the radiant stars; for Rome held him as a kind of image of virtue, glorying in his character. For this was the homeland of Nazarius. As for his parents, one was a Libyan, the other a Roman, and she herself by birth... D
was also Roman; both were wealthy in both property and virtue. Being instructed by Peter, the leader of the choir of the disciples, they became more intimate with God, and were perfected through water and Spirit. God, as if rewarding their piety, just as He once gave the son of hospitality to Abraham, gave them Nazarius as an heir to both their virtue and their wealth. A And he, as one given by God, gave himself back entirely to God. And he was adopted by Linus through divine baptism, who was the successor to Peter’s throne and virtue; and as he reached a more mature age, he was deemed worthy of more mature grace. For his growth increased alongside him, and his love for Christ was shown to be much greater and more fervent.
II. But since the torch of piety B in him was already lifted on high and began to call many to the man, he, wishing to avoid the disturbances and the constant arrival of those who kept coming to him, decided to leave his homeland and his relatives and to go into a foreign land, so that he might converse in private with Him whom he desired, and might proclaim piety to many. Having therefore taken the inheritance that fell to him from his parents, he departed from his homeland, and passing from city to city, he provided help to everyone he met from his possessions. Then he bestowed even greater gifts, as he led them to the true knowledge of the Trinity. And at one point, having arrived at the city of Piacenza and reached Milan, he met the wondrous Gervasius and Protasius, C who had already been locked in prison by Anulinus, the governor of Italy, on account of their confession of Christ; but the fame of their works, surpassing all expectation, was spread by miracles even into the neighboring regions.
III. Having then met these men, the divine Nazarius became their intimate through the communion of faith and virtue (for a certain love develops between those who desire the same things, no less than with those who share the same blood); he exhorted them to martyrdom and sharpened their love for Christ. From then on, the fame D of the man was spread everywhere and reached even the governor Anulinus. He, having summoned Nazarius, set himself up as his counselor and urged him not to be impious, nor to insult those gods of his. Then, when he realized that the saint did not think his advice was even worth hearing (for what is more prone to insult than many of the idols that are worshipped?), he struck him many times on the jaw, and like some defilement, the most accursed man disgracefully drove him out of the city. But however great this appeared to the judge as a punishment, it was considered by Nazarius to be a greater benefit, because he was deemed worthy to receive blows for the sake of Christ, who had suffered for him. He departed, therefore, not silent, nor speechless and mute, and bound by fear, but
continuing to teach as he was accustomed, drawing many unbelievers into the net of Christ. Moreover, on that night, it seemed that his mother appeared to Nazarius and exhorted him to visit the cities of Gaul and to sow within them the seeds of truth. He, therefore, just as he had been told by his mother, came to Melia (which is a city of Gaul), and led all whom he met to the knowledge of God, and openly preached piety.
IV. Meanwhile, a certain illustrious woman, one of the first of the city, approached him, leading the son she had, named Celsus, already three years old, and placed him in his hands. “This boy,” she said, “will follow you in every path, until he himself becomes worthy to stand with the throne of the Lord Christ.” And she departed. But Nazarius gladly received the child, whom he carried about almost in his arms. And when he had said the customary prayers, he rendered him familiar to God through baptism, for he knew no other true honor than union and familiarity with God. Thus, Nazarius, proceeding in this manner and embracing the cities of Gaul with his teaching, did not escape the notice of their governor, Dinobaus. Therefore, being summoned to him, he came with the child Celsus; and when Dinobaus inquired of what lineage he was born, and of what parents, and of what religion he was, he said, “I am by birth a Roman; I follow the Christian religion, and I confess as God Him who was crucified.” C Then it is said that Dinobaus, moved to anger, said, “You have a demon. What else do such trifles of yours desire? Have you no father? Have you no mother?” But he said, “If I had a demon, I would not be attacking with reproaches and insults the demons whom you yourself worship.” But Dinobaus, unable to contain his fury, having snatched the boy Celsus from his hands, inflicted upon him unbearable blows—though the boy was possessed of a wisdom white with age—and then cast him into prison, reserving him for the next day. For his great cruelty and inhumanity was not moved by mercy even for such an age, which, if a soul were gentle and kind, would arouse compassion even toward brute animals and young plants, and would deem them worthy of pity. Nevertheless, the boy Celsus gladly received the unbearable blows for Christ, saying only with a stammering tongue, “The God whom I serve, He will judge you, O judge.” And he himself also provoked Dinobaus further by his longing for Christ, just as the chorus of peers of the children had long ago toward the Jews, singing hymns to my Jesus and perfecting praise to Him.
V. A certain noble woman, by name Dinomeda, advised the wife of Dinobaus to take pity on the age of the child and on Nazarius himself, and at the same time to release Nazarius. She communicated these things to her husband, just as of old the wife D of Pilate did. The next day, therefore, when Dinobaus had ascended the judicial throne and had brought Nazarius, he urged him with all his might to assent to his impiety. For the persuasions of his wife prevented him from punishing him at that time. But when he was unable to persuade
A him, he drove the man from the city, having addressed him thus placidly: "The counsels of my wife release you from every torture." Nazarius therefore departed thence with the boy Celsus to the neighboring city of Temerus; for this city of Temerus is near Melia. There, then, he lived, increasing the flock of Christ with his divine teachings and leading many to the knowledge of God. But the devil, who brings forth envy, could in no way bear that things were in this state. For how could he, if he was the devil and from the beginning an opponent of the good? Without delay, he approached the governor of the city and persuaded him to report the matters concerning Nazarius to the Emperor Nero. When, therefore, the affairs concerning the man were made known to him, a letter circulated throughout all the subject territory, ordering Nazarius to be sought with great haste, and that whoever found him should bring him to him.
B V. But since it was not possible for the man to be hidden, as he stood in a conspicuous place of virtue and was proclaimed by her with a great voice, he was quickly found by those searching. Now they, once he had become evident to them, immediately led him with joy to Nero. What then did he do? With tortures set before him, he approached Nazarius with flatteries, so that by inspiring fear on the one hand, and by using gentleness on the other, he might persuade him to change to his will. But Nazarius was altogether immovable, as if he were being sharpened by these things all the more toward martyrdom, not softened, and for this reason he used even greater persistence. Nero, therefore, not knowing what he should do, for the time being handed the man over to custody together with the boy. A short time intervened, and Nero again occupied his judicial throne, and Nazarius was brought in with the boy; and again, likewise, Nero was now vehement with threats, and now sweet with flatteries and promises. But when he saw the man in the same state of firmness, despairing of being able to lead Nazarius in such a way, he ordered him to be cast into the depths of the sea with the boy Celsus, so that he might not even have to look upon those whom he did not even wish to live, being so disposed. C But the words of the divinely inspired Isaiah were truly valid in every way, as if spoken to them: "If you pass through water, I am with you, and the rivers shall not overwhelm you; and if you walk through fire, you shall not be burned." For when the depths already held them, and those who had thrown them into the sea expected that they would become desired food for many fish, an angelic power descended from above, saved them from the depths, and restored them unharmed to the shore, though the boy Celsus, by reason of his still immature age, was, as is natural, filled with sea-sickness and distress. But with prayer, the sign of the cross, and a divine kiss, Nazarius showed him to be healthy.
VI. This miracle caught the servants of Nero who had cast them into the sea, just like fish. For from this time on they became followers of the saint, and were so joined to him that they felt great repentance for their former life, and that they had not, long before, abandoned Nero and applied their minds to him. Therefore, on land D
A Nazarius, having returned with the boy, moved on to the city which is called Tenusa, and setting out from there, arrived in Mediolanum, once again occupied with his former teaching, and truly watering the sons of the kingdom with sweet nectar. But again, the citizens did not allow him to proclaim the message of piety freely, but they seized him and handed him over to the governor Anulinus, who had previously struck him on the cheeks, or through them, to speak more truthfully, to him who from the beginning was envious and hated mankind. He ordered that he be imprisoned again in the former custody. To Nazarius, however, this custody was more precious than many royal palaces, a flowering meadow, a new paradise. For having entered it, he was with Gervasius and Protasius, his companions in the contest, by whom, hour by hour, as if watered by some rivers, he was gathering the sweetest flowers of their conversation, so that he almost felt grateful to Anulinus for having again rejoined him to those he desired. Having met with these men, he received great benefit, and he himself in turn contributed useful things, and sufficiently encouraged them for the struggles, and the boy Celsus, whom his speech showed to be a child, but his action showed to be perfect.
VIII. Anulinus, since he knew well the manic and beastly nature of Nero, B wondered, upon learning the facts about Nazarius, how the lamb, as they say, could have escaped the wolf, Nero. From this, he made known to him by letter the facts about the holy man and his companions, adding also how he orders him to act from now on regarding the saints. But he, having heard that Nazarius was still alive, breathed out slaughter against the lictors whom he had ordered to cast him into the depths of the sea; and in rage, leaping from his throne with shouting, he ran through the palace, crying out against the traitors, the ungrateful, the impious against the gods, and he sought to find them so that he might destroy them together with the martyrs, the foolish man being unaware that God is able not only to save one who has trust in Him from the sea, but even to dry up the sea itself. And divine David bears witness, saying that He set rivers into a desert, and conversely, deserts into pools of water. C Having therefore searched for them greatly, and not having found them, he sets forth his sentence against the saints in letters thus: "Since those who before us ascended to this high throne of empire not only condemned to death those who were impious against the greatest gods, but also, if any were found who corrupted the many by sorceries and deceits, they appointed the same punishment for them, our power also decrees that they be deprived of life as soon as possible, their heads being cut off by the sword; then their bodies are to be cast out to the beasts to be devoured, so that they may not even attain the common burial of all. Let it therefore be a care to you to carry out what I have presently ordered. For it is to me
A a greater care to honor the gods than to manage the affairs of the state.
IX. After these letters reached Anulinus, he immediately ordered the martyrs to be led to death. But they, armed with the sign of the cross, went forth so cheerfully, as if they were being summoned not to death, but rather to life—as indeed was the truth—the eternal life, and they strove, each eager to outstrip the other, engaging in the noble contest, fearing lest Nero might repent of his sentence and they should fail of their blessed end. But after they had made their confession to the Lord and reached the place of consummation, the wicked one, envying this benefit to the Christians, persuaded the executioners to drive away first those pious ones who were present there, so that they might not in any way share in the sanctification of the blood of the saints that was being poured out, and thus to cut off the heads of the martyrs. But B even in this the abominable one was disappointed of his hope, and he gained little from his wickedness. For the precious relics of the saints—I mean of Nazarius and Gervasius, along with their fellow-strugglers—were, by the prompting of God, secretly carried off by certain Christians and honorably deposited near the city gate, which is also called the Roman Gate, on the fourteenth day of the month of October. A little while later, the divine martyrs appeared in a dream to one of those who were friends of the martyrs, commanding him to take up their bodies. It is the characteristic of holy and benevolent souls not to seek their own glory (for how could those who, for the sake of the beatitude that is there, have despised all the glory that is here?), but that they might benefit the pious by their discovery. He, having rejoiced greatly at the vision, arose immediately and with veneration took up the holy relics from that place and placed them in his own house. His daughter, who had been C paralyzed, knew what had come to pass through the guardianship of the martyrs and immediately recovered her former health. And so the treasure of those martyr-relics remained hidden in the man's house until Theodosius the Great, who traced his lineage from Iberia, now called Spain, came to the Roman sceptres.
X. When he, after the destruction of Valens the god-hater by the barbarians in Thrace, was established in authority, he was as pious toward the Divine as any other, and he truly rejoiced in the honors paid to the martyrs; then, too, their sacred relics—I mean those of Nazarius and Gervasius, and Protasius and Celsus, the illustrious martyrs of Christ—were treasured in the church of Milan. Who then were the ministers of their translation and deposition? Ambrose, renowned for his virtue and at that time gracing the throne of the Church of Milan. He was the first to officiate at the translation, being entrusted with things that are D pure, as it is said, not with unwashed hands, but with very clean ones. Furthermore, the entire clergy and all those in authority sang hymns with their tongues, and with their hands bore lamps—things that were more resplendent through miracles than through the lamps themselves. For the blind, indeed, having been led by the hand up to the relics, immediately beheld the light, and they were no longer walking under a guide, but having their own