IN JUVENTINUM ET MAXIMINUM MARTYRES
A and trampled upon the phantom of life, he taught kings not to drive power beyond the measure given to them by God. He showed those in holy orders how they ought to preside over this authority. And these things, and more than these, he did while he was in the flesh; but when he moved on and departed, he enervated the strength of the demon, refuted the deception of the Greeks, exposed the vanity of sooth-saying, crushed its mask, and laid bare all its histrionic art, forcing him who seemed to preside over it to be struck dumb, and oppressing him with great vehemence. Today even the stones of the temple stand B proclaiming to everyone the shame of the demon, his laughter, and his weakness, but the martyr's crowns, his victory, and his power. Such is the strength of the saints, so invincible and formidable is it, both to emperors and to demons, and even to the prince of demons himself.
To the Father, and to the co-beginningless Spirit, now and always, and unto the unending ages of ages. Amen.
ADMONITION
Not only, as we said, does the location demonstrate that this discourse was delivered a few days after the homily on Babylas; but Chrysostom provides another indication of this fact shortly after the beginning. There was an Emperor, he says, even in our grandfather’s day, who was superior in impiety to those who preceded him, as I recently said at greater length. Indeed, many things in the preceding homily on Saint Babylas are said about Julian the Apostate. Do not think, however, that the sermon on Saint Babylas is a lengthy book; it is not a speech, nor is it a homily, nor was it ever recited in the assembly of the people, as we said in the preceding admonition; rather, it is handled as a homily preceding this one. We have not been able to assign a year to it, just as we could not for the homilies on Lazarus, nor to this one on the Holy Martyrs Juventinus and Maximinus. For while it seems certain that they were delivered in the same year and at the same time, it has not been possible to discover which year that was by any probable indication. Compare with this, if you will, the things we said in the preceding admonition.
The Latin interpretation is by a certain learned man, which we have corrected in many places.
BY THE SAME, A PANEGYRICAL SERMON ON THE HOLY MARTYRS JUVENTINUS AND MAXIMINUS, WHO SUFFERED MARTYRDOM UNDER JULIAN THE APOSTATE
C The blessed Babylas formerly gathered us here with the children; today, however, a pair of holy soldiers has arrayed the army of Christ in the line of battle. Formerly, a chariot of martyrs; today, a pair of martyrs. Their age is different, but their faith is one; their struggles are varied, but their fortitude is the same: the former are older in time, the latter are more recent. Such is the treasure of the Church, having both new pearls and old; but the beauty of them all is one. Their flower neither withers nor falls away with time; the nature of this splendor does not know the rust of age. By the length of time, wealth that belongs to the body easily perishes; for garments are worn out, houses are destroyed, and gold is consumed by rust; and in sum, the nature of all sensible faculties is eventually abolished and destroyed by time. But it is not so with that which the Church has in her spiritual treasures concerning the martyrs (I speak of those who always remain in the same vigor, are always in the same D flower of youth, always emitting the brightness of their glory and their rays). Knowing this, you do not honor the saints differently—some in one way, others in another—but with the same eagerness, the same love, and the same affection you honor and commend them all. For you do not examine the time, but you seek out the fortitude of their souls, their piety, their unwavering faith, their zeal that is incited and fervent, and those virtues which the saints, to whose honor we are gathered today, display. For these were burning with such love for God that they were crowned with the martyr's crown even outside the time of persecution; without a battle they erected a trophy, without a war they gained a victory, without a struggle they seized the prize. And how shall I say this? But bear with me, as I relate it from a little further back.
On the Holy Martyrs Juventinus and Maximinus, who suffered martyrdom under Julian the Apostate. Panegyrical Sermon. Chapter 1.
There was a certain emperor in our own generation, who surpassed all before him in impiety, of whom I also spoke to you recently. This emperor, seeing how our cause flourished—I mean, from the death of the martyrs—and that not only men, but even tender children and virgins untouched by marriage, and in sum people of every age and station, were leaping toward the slaughter for the sake of piety, was stung and pained, yet did not wish to declare war openly. For everyone, he said, flies toward martyrdom as bees to the honeycomb. Nor did he learn this from another, but from his own predecessors. For tyrants indeed warred against the Church, and the populace incessantly rose up, while the spark of piety was still small; but they did not extinguish it, they did not destroy it, but rather they were destroyed, while that spark grew, rose to the heights, and captured the entire world, as all the faithful were slaughtered, burned, cast down precipices, drowned, and delivered to beasts. For they walked upon coals as if upon mud, and viewed the depths and the waves as if they were meadows, and ran to the sword as if to a diadem and crown, and they proved that of all the forms of punishment, it was not only because they bore them nobly, but also because they did so with pleasure and great eagerness. For just as plants are naturally watered and made to grow, so also our faith flourishes all the more when it is warred upon, and abounds when it is harassed; nor does the watering of waters usually make gardens nearly so lush as the blood of the martyrs is wont to water the Churches. Knowing all these things and more, therefore, he feared to move openly against us in war, lest, he said, we raise up successive trophies, perform continuous victories, and make them provide themselves with crowns. A And what does he do? Observe the malice: he ordered doctors, soldiers, sophists, and orators, all of them, to abandon their professions or renounce their faith; thus skirmishing the war against us, so that if they yielded, the defeat would be laughable, in that they did not prefer piety to their livelihoods; and if they stood nobly and prevailed, the victory would not be very illustrious, nor the trophy conspicuous, for there is nothing great in scorning a craft or profession for the sake of piety. And he did not stop even there; but if there was anyone in previous times, when the emperors were pious, who had either demolished an altar, or torn down a temple, or taken away dedicatory offerings, or done anything else of that sort, he was dragged to court and slaughtered—not only the one who had done something of that sort, but even the one who was merely accused. And he fabricated ten thousand other manifold pretexts, so as to cut down all those living in piety. And he did all these things wishing to dim the crown of martyrdom, so that while the murder proceeded for him and the slaughters continued, the rewards of the martyrs might not appear glorious. But nothing more came of it for him. For not by his judgment, nor by his malice in any way, but by the impartial judgment—the one from above, I mean—are they about to receive their crown.
Chapter 2: Juventinus and Maximinus imprisoned; and the reason for this.
Therefore, with matters being such, and that man fearing to declare war and dreading defeat, it happened that a soldiers’ symposium took place, in which those who have gathered us today, the martyrs, participated. And as is to be expected at a symposium, with many words being put forward and different people discussing different things, these men lamented the existing evils and blessed the former times, saying both to themselves and to those present: "Is it worth it to live at all? To breathe, or to look upon this sun, while sacred laws are being trampled, piety is being insulted, and the Master of the common creation is being dishonored? Everything is full of smoke and stench, everything is full of impure sacrifices, and we cannot even breathe pure air." And do not, I beg you, simply pass over what is said, but consider the time when these things were spoken, and observe the devoutness of those speaking. For if, in a soldiers' symposium, where there is unmixed wine, drunkenness, the competition of extreme dissipation, and a struggle of debauchery and madness, they were groaning in this way, they were lamenting in this way—what were they like when they were in their own homes, when they were with one another alone? What were they like at their prayers, who even at the very moment of revelry were so composed, and demonstrating apostolic empathy? Others were falling, and these were lamenting; another was practicing impiety, and these were being scorched; they did not even feel their own health because of the infirmity of their brethren, but as if they had been given as common protectors of the world, so they grieved and wept over the evils being committed. Having said these things, they did not escape notice; but one of those who were companions at that table, a slanderer and flatterer, wishing to curry favor with the emperor, reported all that had been said to him. And he, having found what he had been seeking for a long time, and having seized a pretext capable of depriving them of the reward of martyrdom, ordered all of their property to be confiscated, accusing them of tyranny on account of these words, and ordered them to be cast naked into the prison. But they were rejoicing and exulting. "For what is wealth and expensive clothing to us?" they said. "For even if it is necessary to strip off the very last garment from the flesh for Christ's sake, we will not hold onto even that, but will cede even it." And soon seals were upon their houses, and all their belongings were seized. And just as men, intending to travel to a distant, far-off homeland, often turn their house into cash and send it on before them, so, indeed, it happened in their case. Since they were intending to journey to heaven, their substance was sent on before them, with their very enemies acting as ministers for the transit. For not only is money given in the name of almsgiving transferred to heaven, but even what those who war against the faith and pursue those living in piety steal—even this is stored up there. For that this is no less than the other, hear what Paul says: "And you accepted the plundering of your possessions with joy, knowing that you have a better and an abiding possession in the heavens" (Hebr. 10:34). The martyrs, therefore, were in the prison, and the whole city was rushing there; even though great fears and threats and dangers were hanging over anyone who approached and conversed and shared words with them. But the fear of God pushed all those aside, and through them many at that time became martyrs, scorning the present life for the sake of communion with them, and while many were running together, continuous psalms...
martyrs: for many, by contemplating the present life, visited them frequently, celebrating psalmodies and sacred vigils. Those intimate encounters were full of spiritual instruction and consolation; and the church having been closed, the prison became a church. Nor did those only who visited them, but also those who were held within with them, learn the greatest wisdom and virtue from their patience and faith. When the Emperor heard these things, he was greatly angered; yet wishing to supplant them, and to cast them down from their alacrity, he suborned certain foul men and sorcerers to urge them, if ever a private conversation offered itself, not as sent by the Emperor, but as if acting by their own counsel, to desist from religion and pass over to impiety. For they said: "Thus you will not only escape the imminent danger, but, being honored with greater dignity, you will also attain greater rule, the Emperor’s anger being happily placated. Have you not seen others of your rank do the same?" To whom they replied: "Nay, we shall stand manfully especially for this reason, that for their fall we might offer ourselves as sacrifices." Our Lord is benign; He is accustomed, even with one sacrifice accepted, to be reconciled to the whole world. And as the three children of old said: "There is in this time no prince and prophet, and leader, neither burnt offering, nor sacrifice, nor place of offering before thee, that we may find mercy, but [let them be received] in a contrite heart and spirit of humility" (Dan. III, 38, 39): so also those martyrs, seeing the altars overturned, the churches closed, the priests driven away, all the faithful put to flight, were eager that they might be offered for all to the Lord, and having left the military ranks, might join themselves to the angelic choirs. "Even if we do not die now," they said, "we must die and suffer this not much later; and for this we shall pay the same price. It is better therefore to die for the King of angels than for a king so impious; it is better to lay down arms for a heavenly fatherland than for an earthly one, which even we trample underfoot." Here, even if one dies, he will receive nothing from the Emperor worthy of his courage. And what could a man confer upon one deceased? Nay, often even burial does not fall to his lot, and not rarely is he devoured by dogs. But if we shall have died for the King of angels, we are certain that we shall receive a body much more glorious, we shall be conspicuous with greater glory, far greater will be the rewards of our labors for us, and we shall be crowned with a crown. Therefore, let us seize spiritual arms: there is no need of arrows and bows, no need of other arms that fall under the senses; the tongue suffices for all. For the mouths of the saints are quivers, from which continuous and frequent blows are inflicted upon the devilish head.
Chapter 3: The craftiness of Julian the Apostate. Juventinus and Maximinus are beheaded.
These and similar things were reported to the Emperor, who did not desist, but tempted them again and again with enticements. But that subtle and crafty man, wise in doing evil, so conspired the matter that if they yielded, conquered, they would be brought forth before the eyes of all, and he would cause them to sacrifice; but if they persevered, and displayed such courage in the fight, it might not be that their victory would be manifest, but that they would be executed as if for an A affected tyranny. But He who reveals things deep and hidden did not permit those secret machinations and unknown ambushes to remain; but just as that Egyptian woman, laying hold of Joseph in a chamber and in much solitude (Gen. XXXIX, 11), although she hoped her deed would be hidden from all men, was yet not hidden, either from that eye of slumber, or from posterity; but what she said to Joseph without a witness, that is now sung everywhere on earth: so also those things which he spoke through suborned counselors, hoping they would be hidden, in no way remained hidden. For all posterity learned both the ambushes and the victories of those who triumphed. Finally, when, much time having passed, B the duration not only did not break their alacrity, but rather excited their zeal and ardor, and made many imitators, he ordered at length that they be led in the middle of the night to the pit. They were led therefore in the midst of darkness with torches, and they were beheaded. But the heads being severed were then more terrible to the devil than when they were still giving voice: just as the head of John did not inspire as much fear when it spoke as when it was brought mute upon a platter. For the blood of the saints also has its own voice, which is not heard through the ears, but invades the conscience of those who slay them. After that blessed slaughter, certain men, even with danger to their own safety, snatched those best athletes, being themselves living martyrs, that they might care for their remains decently. For although they were not being killed, they nevertheless desired to die; and in that manner they set out to snatch the bodies. Those who were then present, and to whom it was granted to see those bodies recently slain, say that those lying together before burial, a certain grace resplendent shone from their eyes and countenance, such as Luke says was in Stephen about to answer the Jews (Acts VI, 15); nor is there any one who did not stand by them with a certain pious horror: to such a degree did that aspect affect all. Indeed, all cried out in their praise, that which was said by David: "In their life they were not C separated, and in death they are not divided" (II Reg. I, 25). For together they confessed, together they inhabited the prison, together they were led to the pit, together they were punished by the sword, and one casket holds the bodies of both: and one tabernacle will also receive them in the heavens, when they are to resume them with greater glory. It would not be unworthy to call them columns, and crags, and towers, and luminaries, and bulls together. For just as columns sustain the Church, so they sustain it; as towers they fortify it; and as crags they repel all ambushes, bringing much tranquility to those who are within; as luminaries they have dissipated the darkness of impiety; and as bulls, ready in soul and body and with the same alacrity, they drew the sweet yoke of Christ. Therefore let us visit them often, let us touch the casket, and with great faith let us embrace their relics, that thence we may obtain some blessing. For just as soldiers, showing the king the wounds which they have received in battles, speak with confidence: so also they, carrying their severed heads in their hands, and bringing them into the midst, can obtain whatever they wish from the King of heaven. With great faith, therefore, and with great alacrity, let us D(this is the first page of the chain)
Let us come, therefore, with great faith and eagerness, so that from the sight of these holy tombs and the consideration of their struggles, obtaining from every side many and great treasures, we may be able to spend the present life according to the will of God, and with much merchandise sail into that harbor, and attain the kingdom of heaven, by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor and worship, for ever and ever. Amen.
ADMONITION.
He names Pelagia, or Sophronia, but Vives, taking the example of each from Ambrose, has illustrated the narrative of Augustine: who, however, believes that they did this commanded by God, not deceived by human judgment, just as it is not allowed to believe otherwise regarding Samson: yet no one ought to bring voluntary death upon himself, as if fleeing temporal afflictions, lest he fall into eternal ones. And indeed, in this homily, Chrysostom says only this, that Pelagia, having entered, changed her garments. And below he narrates that many having been thrown from a high roof suffered no evil. But in homily 1, which is in tom. 3 apud Surium, it is told in clear words as follows: *She ran to the top of that roof; and from there gave herself over to be cast down.* And the same is reported of it in the Acts of Lucian, written by John of Nicomedia, apud Surium, tom. 1. And in this way it can be understood that Ambrose believed Pelagia had preserved her virginity intact when she threw herself from the roof: and it may happen that they were not other sisters, but Bernice and Prosodce, whose similar end the same Chrysostom sets forth below. And in the Roman Martyrology on the 19th of October, Beronicus, Pelagia and other martyrs of Antioch are said to have suffered, but in the same place the feast of another Pelagia, a penitent, is assigned to the eighth day of October, whose homeland was likewise Antioch, but she died in Jerusalem in the times of Theodosius the Younger, as Nicephorus mentions (lib. 4, c. 40).
Regarding the time of the martyrdom of St. Pelagia, it is not certain: some wish her to have suffered under Diocletian, others under Maximian. See what is said on this matter by the continuators of Bollandus on the 9th of June, p. 159.
We reject the interpretation of some uncertain person, as being neither accurate nor composed with fidelity to the Greek original, and we have prepared a new one.
We subjoin the same shorter homily on St. Pelagia, according to Metaphrastes, as it is read in Latin apud Surium, the Greek being deficient. It bears the name of Chrysostom, and not without cause, it seems. For in nothing does it abhor the style and manner of preaching of Chrysostom. That it is shorter than his homilies usually are can only cause some doubt. But other homilies of the same brevity occur, which we ought not on that account to adjudge away from Chrysostom.