Subj : =?UTF-8?Q?February_25th_=E2=80=93_SS=2E_Victorinus_and_his_Companions?= To : All From : rich Date : Sun Feb 24 2019 08:01:12 From: rich February 25th =E2=80=93 SS. Victorinus and his Companions, Martyrs d. 284 VICTORINUS, Victor, Nicephorus, Claudian, Dioscorus, Serapion and Papias were citizens of Corinth who had made a good confession of their faith in their own country before Tertius the proconsul in 249, at the beginning of the reign of Decius. After being tortured, they passed into Egypt, but whether they were banished thither or went into voluntary banishment is not stated. They completed their martyrdom at Diospolis, the capital of the Thebaid, under the governor Sabinus in the reign of Numerian. After the governor had tried the constancy of the martyrs with the rack and scourge, he caused Victorinus to be thrown into a great marble mortar. The executioners began by pounding his feet and legs, saying to him at every stroke,=C2 "Spare yourself, wretch. It depends upon you to escape this death, if you will only renounce your new God." But as he continued constant, the governor became impatient and ordered that his head should be battered to pieces. When Victor was threatened with the same death, his only wish was that his execution should be hastened, and pointing to the mortar he said, =E2=80=9CSalvation and happiness await me there!=E2=80=9D He was i= mmediately cast into it and pounded to death. Nicephorus, the third martyr, leaped of his own accord into this engine of destruction. The judge, angry at his boldness, commanded several executioners to beat him at the same time. Sabinus caused Claudian, the fourth martyr, to be hacked to pieces. He expired after his feet, hands, arms, legs and thighs had been cut off. The governor, pointing to his mangled limbs and scattered bones, said to the other three, =E2=80=9CIt rests with you to avoid this punishmen= t: I do not compel you to suffer.=E2=80=9D They answered with one voice, =E2= =80=9CWe would rather ask thee to inflict on us any still more excruciating torment that thou canst devise. We will never violate the fidelity we owe to God or deny Jesus Christ our Saviour, for He is our God from whom we have our being and to whom alone we aspire.=E2=80=9D The tyrant the= n commanded that Dioscorus should be burnt alive and Serapion hung up by the heels and then beheaded. Papias was cast into the sea with a stone attached to his neck and drowned. This happened on February 25, the day allotted to these saints in the Western martyrologies, but the Greeks honour them on January 21, said to be the date of their confession at Corinth. The Syriac text of the acts of these martyrs was published for the first time by Stephen E. Assemani in the 18th century with a Latin translation. In modern times the Syriac has been re-edited from fresh manuscript sources by Paul Bedjan. A French translation of the same acts, by F. Lagrange, was printed in 1852. The substance of the account is probably reliable, though we may suspect a certain amount of embroidery in the details. Saint Quote: "To change your mind from good to bad is the height of=C2 absurdity. True goodness changes from evil to righteousness." --Saint Polycarp Bible Quote: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.=C2 (Rom. 12:21) <><><><> Whoever humbleth himself shall be exalted. -Lk. 14:11 "Here is one of the best means to acquire humility: fix well in mind this maxim: One is as much as he is in the sight of God, and no more" --Thomas a Kempis St. Francis made a beginning of sanctity by trampling underfoot human respect; for he had thoroughly penetrated the truth of this holy maxim which he often revolved in his mind. ("A Year with the Saints". February - Humility) Bible Quote: The fear of the Lord is the lesson of wisdom: and humility goeth before glory.=C2 (Proverbs 15:33) --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .