Victor the Soldier and Corona
Acta Sanctorum, May 14
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https://actasanctorum.org/may/day-14/victor-the-soldier-and-corona.html
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ON SS. VICTOR THE SOLDIER AND CORONA

MARTYRS IN EGYPT.

ABOUT THE YEAR CLXXVII

[Preface]

Victor the Soldier, Martyr in Egypt (S.)

Corona the Matron, Martyr in Egypt (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR G.H.

[1] So noble a pair of Martyrs were SS. Victor
and Corona, that they must of necessity be multiplied,
on account of the many Churches which
contend over their various Acts, patronage, and the sacred
Relics of their bodies. We gave some
specimen of this matter on the XX day of February,
where we reported SS. Victor and Corona Martyrs,
but whom we could attribute to no certain place, every decision
having been deferred to this XIV of May. Would that we could now
furnish it with some satisfaction
of the litigating parties! Furthermore this one thing we assert to each,
[The Latin Acts from MSS.] that we, carried away by no favor of parties,
labor for the unearthing of truth alone. Out of the various
martyrdom Acts which we have collected, we judge the more certain
to be, first, those which we obtained from the Roman MSS., preserved in
the Vallicellan library of the Fathers of the Congregation of the Oratory
of S. Philip Neri, and sent to us by Cardinal Caraffa: then
those which we ourselves had described from the most ancient parchments
of Trier, of the Imperial monastery of S. Maximinus, then
those which we found in the Utrecht MS. codex of the Church of S. Salvator.
We know that all these are also extant in the MSS. of Lætia
in Hainaut and other Ardennian ones of the monastery of S.
Hubert, but which we did not wish to have described for us, since the other
three exemplars seemed to suffice, especially because we had noted
that these had been contracted from the larger
Acts. But we give fuller than all from the second volume of the Acts
edited by Boninus Mombritius about two hundred years ago, and these
we compare with the said other MSS. Greek versions were also found
at the monastery of Grottaferrata in the Tusculan territory, [The Greek versions are less approved.]
and rendered into Latin by William Sirleto, and edited under
the name of Simeon Metaphrastes in Lipomanus, volume 7,
part 2, and Surius on this XIV of May, and so they are cited by
Baronius in the Notes to the Roman Martyrology. But
because these were translated from the Latin by some younger writer and a monk
of the said monastery, we judged that they should plainly be omitted,
since they can be read in the said authors. And we wish that one consult
what we said on the III day of April, concerning similar Acts found at
Grottaferrata, in § 2 to the Acts of SS. Agape,
Chionia, and Irene.

[2] [The memory in the Fasti of S. Jerome,] The sacred memory of these two Martyrs on this
XIV of May is inscribed in the ancient copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology
in the first place, in these words: In Syria, of Victor
the soldier and of Corona, who suffered together. The Venerable
Bede in his genuine Martyrology, edited by us before the 2nd volume
of the Acts of March, from the said Martyrology prefixed these
words: In Syria; the remaining words he took almost entirely from the ancient Acts, which
we have promised to give from Mombritius, and in this
manner he has rendered them to us more certain, as to the great antiquity
necessarily to be attributed to them under such a witness. Wherefore
receive that elogium here, that you may be able to compare it with the said Acts:
On the same day, in Syria, the birthday of Victor and Corona under
Antoninus the Emperor, [of Bede,] Sebastian being Duke of Alexandria.
Now Victor was a soldier from Cilicia, whose fingers Sebastian
ordered to be broken in his confession of the faith and torn
from the skin. Then he ordered him to be cast into a furnace of fire,
where, remaining for three days, he was not harmed. Then,
ordered to drink poison, he did not die: but rather
converted the poisoner to the faith. Then it was ordered
that the sinews of his body be removed: then boiling oil
to be poured upon his private parts. After these things he ordered burning
lamps to be applied to the sides of him hung up. After this
vinegar and lime to be mixed together and given him in his mouth: then his eyes to be put out: then for three days he was ordered to be hung by the head;
while he still breathed, he ordered him to be flayed.
Then Corona, since she was the wife of a certain soldier,
began to call B. Victor blessed for the glory of his martyrdom.
While she was doing this she saw two crowns fallen from heaven,
one sent to Victor and the other to herself. And when she
also protested this in the hearing of all, she was seized by the
Judge, and it was ordered that two palm trees be bent
toward each other, and that Corona be bound with hempen ropes
on each hand and each foot, and the trees thus be let go.
While this was being done, Corona was divided into two
parts: now she was sixteen years old. Then likewise
Victor, beheaded, also merited the triumph of perennial
victory. Thus Bede, [of Rabanus, Ado, Usuard, etc.] which things almost the same
have Rabanus, Ado, and Notker, and from thence Usuard excerpted
some, but with the phrase little changed they are read in
today's Roman Martyrology. There agree the author of the Martyrology
printed under the name of Bede, Bellinus, Grevenus,
Maurolycus, Molanus, Canisius, Galesinius, and others in
Martyrologies written by hand and printed in type. Peter de
Natalibus, in book 4 chapter 168, asserts that the elogium which he edited belongs to
Ado in his Martyrology, taken from B. Jerome.
But a greater encomium from their deeds, which we said
were given here, Vincent of Beauvais edited in book 10 of the Speculum
Historiale, chapter 107, [of Vincent of Beauvais,] and almost the words of this man
S. Antoninus transcribed in the first part of his Histories or Chronicles,
title 7, chapter 6, § 9, except that in this latter S. Victor is said
to be from Sicily in both Lyons editions of the year MDXXVII
and MDLXXXVI; whereas in Vincent, in the Venetian edition
of the year MDXCI and the Douai one of the year MDCXXIV, is read S. Victor
the soldier from Cilicia, as it is held in all the Latin Acts and the cited Martyrologies.

[3] In the Greek Acts, adorned by a monk of Grottaferrata,
S. Victor the soldier is said to be Italian by birth, but these things
could seem wrongly transferred from Sebastian the Duke to Victor.
For on the XI day of November, on which the Greeks venerate them,
in the Menologium of Basil the Emperor these things are read: Victor,
under Antoninus the Emperor and Sebastian the Duke in Italy, [in the Menologium of Basil]
was apprehended, and since he could not be brought
to deny Christ, the joints of his limbs being first dislocated,
he was cast into a furnace: then a deadly drug, which
had been offered to him by a magician, being drained,
and affected by no harm at all, he converted the magician to Christ.
But his eyes being torn out, he was beheaded. But holy
Stephanis, or Corona, having beheld those torments, and
having proclaimed the highest felicity of the saint, was apprehended,
and bound to two palm trees, which had been twisted
together by an immense straining of forces, and the bonds being
suddenly cut, she was torn apart into two
parts. Thus far there, which things are reported somewhat more fully from the Acts themselves
in the printed Menaea and in Maximus the Bishop of Cythera; [and the Menaea.]
but Sebastian is there said to be Duke in Italy, and
S. Victor not beheaded, but stripped of his skin to have rendered
his spirit to God. But S. Corona or Stephanis, having left
her husband, to have been in widowhood: which things please less. Therefore
Sebastian could have been an Italian, and Duke of Egypt
appointed by Antoninus, at which time there was at Alexandria
a certain Christian man from Cilicia, Victor the soldier. For,
as is said in the Notitia of the Dignities of the Roman Empire, section 1,
there were two Dukes through Egypt, of Libya and of the Thebaid: and below in the Acts toward the end S. Victor is said to have suffered
with S. Corona, on the eighth of the Kalends of May at the ninth hour,
under the Emperor Antoninus, the most impious Duke
Sebastian acting in the Thebaid of Egypt, against the city which
is called Lycos, by others Lycopolis, a city there formerly Episcopal
in the province of the first Thebaid under the metropolis of Antinoë.

[4] But that they are said to have suffered on the VIII Kalends of May, suggests
a way of loosening a knot difficult to disentangle, [Whether one pair suffered in Egypt, another in Syria,] namely
how those who on this day, the XIV of May, are reported
in the copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology to have suffered in Syria,
are other than these who, on the said VIII Kalends of May, are reported
in the same to have suffered at Alexandria—Corona, Victor with other companions; and Corona, who is everywhere celebrated as a Virgin, is reported without such
a title in the most ancient transcript of Echternach. Concerning whom,
on the day before, or the IX Kalends of May, in the Martyrology of Florus together with
the genuine Martyrology of Bede edited by us, these things are read:
In Egypt the passion of SS. Victor and Corona under the Prince
Antoninus, of whom Victor, after the tearing out of his
sinews and the pouring of fervent oil upon his private
members, and after the wrenching out of his eyes, was hung
downward, flayed, and thus beheaded.
But Corona was divided by two trees.
Thus far there. Whether therefore some Martyrs are to be said to have suffered in
Syria, others in Egypt, who nevertheless were by the above-mentioned Martyrologies fused into one and the same pair of Martyrs,
we leave to the judgment of others. In the Greek Acts they are said to have suffered on the fourteenth day of the month of December,
in the city of Dermascus. But in regard to this they followed the Greeks, and named Damascus as the arena of the Martyrdom, Baronius
in the Annals at the year CLIV, Ferrarius in the Catalogue
of the Saints of Italy, and in the Topography to the Roman
Martyrology. [and a third elsewhere,] But just as in the assigning of the XIV day there was an error,
so the city of Damascus could have been added at the discretion of the author.
Different from these is a third pair of Martyrs, reported by us
on the XX day of February, but, as we said, attributed to no
place, and to each is assigned a sacred memory in the most ancient
copies of the Hieronymian Martyrology and other
ancient Fasti. Furthermore the diverse bodies of Saints of this name favor their
multiplicity, which in various
Churches from the most ancient times are preserved with the highest
veneration, as we shall report below after the Acts themselves. Indeed Martyrs,
called by the name of Victor, in the four prior months
elucidated by us, [or even more.] are easily found to be sixty, and
in this month of May very many Victors are celebrated.
Why should not from time to time, even to some, whom the name of a woman
suffering at the same time concealed, the appellation of Corona have pleased?

THE ACTS OF THE MARTYRDOM

edited by Mombritius and collated with several MSS.

Victor the Soldier, Martyr in Egypt (S.)

Corona the Matron, Martyr in Egypt (S.)

BHL Number: 8559

FROM THE MSS.

CHAPTER I.

The profession of faith. The breaking of the fingers. The casting into
the burning furnace without injury.

[1] In those days, a persecution being made against the Christians
by the Emperor Antoninus, in the times of
Sebastian Duke of Egypt, there was at Alexandria a certain
Christian man from Cilicia, by name Victor, a soldier,
fearing God from infancy: to whom the Duke said: Victor,
letters have come to me from Antoninus, commanding that
the Christians sacrifice: [S. Victor, invited to sacrifice, asserts himself a Christian:] but those who refuse to sacrifice
to the gods shall be in great condemnation. Therefore, Victor,
sacrifice, lest your soul be endangered. Victor said:
For I am a soldier of the great immortal King Jesus
Christ: for the kingdom of this Antoninus is unstable and
perishable: but the kingdom of my Lord Jesus
Christ is ever stable and incorruptible, and
has no end. Sebastian the Duke said: And you, belonging to
our King, obey him and sacrifice
to the gods. Victor said: I indeed served him, and
I obeyed him: but because in my heart I worship my
God, therefore the devil shall not conquer me.
This alone know, that over my flesh you have
power, but to destroy my soul you have not.
God alone it is who has power to mortify
and to vivify the body and the soul; to Him glory and
honor, praise and dominion forever and ever. Sebastian
the Duke said: I see that you have great wisdom
in speech. Victor said: This wisdom
is not mine: but the Lord gave it to me. [prepared to endure any torments,] Sebastian
the Duke said: Deliver yourself from evil torments. Victor
said: I for this gladly am tortured, and
am the more strengthened: because God has deigned to bring me to
this, that for the testimony of Him I might be able
to be tortured, and to come into the hope of the eternal King. Sebastian
said: Are you a lector or a Deacon, who have such
eloquence in speech? Victor said: I was not
worthy to have such grace, but the grace of Christ
brought me to this. He it is who gives to the upright in heart,
and to those who keep His commandments, wisdom and
prudence out of His riches. As therefore the farmer,
if he tills his field well, when the rain comes
brings it to its fruits; so also the wisdom of God
raises up all who hope in Him, and does not permit
the enemy to come upon them; but rather brings
them fruitful to God. Sebastian the Duke said:
Is therefore now your thought rather to die than to live?
Victor said: This is not death, but eternal life,
if I shall persevere in this, enduring your
torments. Sebastian the Duke said: This counsel
therefore you have held? Victor said: Even so.

[2] Then Sebastian ordered his fingers to be broken,
until they came out from his skin. Then S. Victor
said: I give thanks to my God, because His grace has drawn near
to me through my Lord Jesus
Christ. Sebastian the Duke said: [enduring the breaking of his fingers, he is the more strengthened.] Acquiesce and
sacrifice to my gods, that you may not die badly. S. Victor
says to him: This I shall never do, that to stones
and graven images, to which you yourself are like, I should
sacrifice. But I sacrifice to the living God, who made
heaven and earth, the sea and all things which are in them:
to Him alone shall my soul serve: for to you I never consent.
Then Sebastian, filled with fury, ordered him
to be cast into prison.

[3] But on the next day he ordered S. Victor to be presented to him:
to whom also he said: Why do you not accept your provisions?
S. Victor answered: Because by force and unjustly
it is exacted, therefore I will not accept nor eat.
For I have my spiritual food, and I shall not
hunger forever. [unharmed in the furnace of fire] Then the Duke, filled with anger,
ordered him to be cast into a furnace exceedingly burning, that
the fire might consume him. Then they, taking him,
brought him to the place of the furnace. And looking up, S. Victor
to heaven said: God of our fathers, hear
me a sinner: because for Your sake I suffer these things: and
grant me to remain whole in Your sight:
preserve me from the fire which they have prepared for me: that
those who have not known You may know that You are God. And
signing himself with the sign of Christ he entered into the furnace: and he was
glorifying the name of the Lord in the furnace of fire, saying:
I give thanks to You, God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, because as You visited Ananias, Azarias,
and Misael by sending the Holy Spirit, and freed
them from the furnace of fire; so You have done also to me a sinner, and
have not forsaken me hoping in You. But after three
days the Governor ordered the furnace to be opened, [after three days he is found.] that they might collect
his bones: and a multitude of soldiers gathered, and
they heard him chanting praises to God in the furnace
and giving thanks. But the soldiers, opening the furnace,
saw him unharmed, and said to him:
Come forth, the Duke calls you. But when S.
Victor had come to the Governor, the Governor said to him: How
have your magic arts thus prevailed, that the fire did not harm you?
Tell me, in what manner by your sorceries you extinguished
the fire? To whom he: I give thanks to my God, because
I am not a magician, as you say, but a Christian
I am.

ANNOTATIONS.


CHAPTER II.

The preservation from poison twice taken. The constancy of mind in the cuttings, the burning, and the flaying.

[4] [Poison twice taken, he remains unharmed,] Then he ordered a deadly poison to be prepared,
and to be given in meats by a sorcerer, that he might eat of
them. S. Victor said: I would not dare to touch the meats,
unless trusting in the power of my Lord Jesus Christ:
and therefore, that I may show you that I can dissolve all
your sorceries, I both take of these meats,
and praying I eat. And taking it he ate, and felt nothing
evil. Then the sorcerer brought him other worse poisons
and said: Eat now also: and if you shall eat,
and shall have suffered nothing evil, I will abandon
all my sorceries, and will believe in the God
whom you worship. And B. Victor ate, and did
not die. The sorcerer said to him: Hail to you, Victor:
for you have conquered and have proved stronger than I, and have saved my soul
perishing from hell, that henceforth I may live.
For as a bronze statue grows old, [he instructs the converted sorcerer.] and at the last
is wiped clean and renewed; so also man grown old
in his sorceries God has converted through you, and
has saved in His grace. And straightway that sorcerer burned
all his books, and renounced all
his substance. And S. Victor taught him concerning all
things that pertain to the faith, and sealed him in
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[5] After these things Sebastian ordered that they bring back before
his sight S. Victor, to whom also he said: Victor,
sacrifice to the gods, and be wise. S. Victor said:
I have ever been wise. Sebastian said: But now
you have become a fool. To this he: The foolishness of this
world God has chosen, that He may make void your wisdom.
Then Sebastian said: [Constant in the faith,] Where is it written? S. Victor
said: B. Paul the Apostle said these things. Sebastian
answered: Then is Paul God? S. Victor
said: Paul is not God: but he is an Apostle of God.
As a wise architect in the temple of God laid a
foundation, which is built up in the completion of a fitting
edifice meeting in Christ the corner-stone. Whence also he received
wisdom from God with the fullness of the Scriptures,
that he might show the way of salvation to those who wish to be
saved. To whom Sebastian said: Refrain from that foolishness, and
sacrifice to the gods: for these words are not useful to you. And
Victor: I am not a fool, but I seek wisdom:
for all are fools who listen to you and sacrifice
to the gods, who themselves know not the true God: and as
their father the devil, who from the beginning did not acknowledge
the truth; so these are blinded in heart, and
have not known the knowledge of the faith. Then the Duke, moved,
ordered all his sinews to be cut off from his body. [unmoved in the cutting off of his sinews] S. Victor
said: I in the name of my Lord Jesus Christ do not
fear your torments. For a time do what you do,
do not cease: but these torments cause me no pain.
For as from the foot a thorn is removed, and after
it all pain departs, and after these things comes rest; so
also I, my sinews being cut off from my body, have rested exceedingly
for the faith of Christ the omnipotent God. Again
the Duke ordered boiling oil to be poured upon his private parts. S.
Victor said: O wretch, why are you not ashamed, [and with the pouring of oil,] and do you not see
how great is the power of my Lord Jesus Christ? For
that burning which you prepare for me rather affords me
refreshment; but for you it prepares an eternal punishment.
O your unhappy madness! You do not recognize, that to me the boiling oil is as water,
which is given to a thirsty traveler, and he drinks that he may be refreshed; so
also I am refreshed for the name of my Lord
Jesus Christ.

[6] [hung on the rack, and burned with lamps,] Then the Governor, angered, said: Let him be hung on the rack.
And when he had been hung up, he ordered burning
lamps to be applied to his sides, and under the voice of a herald
to cry out, and to say to him: Sacrifice to the gods, as by the Emperor
it has been commanded. Then said Victor: Do not fail,
wretch, with various torments; hypocrite, partaker
with demons, do you think me to be terrified by these punishments?
I do not fear your threats, because I have my Lord
Jesus Christ, who strengthens me. And I will not
hesitate to suffer punishments, awaiting those more desirable
goods which have been promised to those who seek Him. And I bless
You, Lord Jesus Christ, because trusting in You,
I feel nothing of those things which the ministers of the devil have inflicted upon me.
And so the impious Governor ordered, [and is made to drink vinegar mixed with lime:] vinegar and lime
to be mixed together, and to be put into his mouth, and Sebastian
added: Sacrifice: for I am much confounded in you.
Saint Victor answered: Not your will
do I do, but that of my God, that I may offer myself to Him a chaste
sacrifice: since He has in His power
my body and my soul. But the Governor, angered,
ordered his eyes to be torn out by the executioners. Then S. Victor
said to the Governor: Senseless one, do you hope to alienate me by these
punishments from the love of my God and Savior Jesus Christ?
But you cannot, because I have my strengthener
and Savior, the same Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of the living God. If you have blinded the eyes of this
body, by the inner light I shall see more with the eyes of the soul.

[7] [hung head downward,] Sebastian the Duke said: You compel me to lay upon you many worse
torments. And he: I give thanks, he said,
to my God, and however you wish, torture, sparing me
nothing. I am prepared to bear all things, God
giving strength. Then the Duke ordered him to be hung
head downward for three days: [b] until
his cartilages should draw blood to the ground. But the soldiers,
as they had been ordered, left him hanging for three days:
and after three days the soldiers came to see
whether he were dead, or were still living. [he enlightens the blinded ministers:] And when they saw
him alive, they were straightway made blind. Then
S. Victor said: In the name of my Lord Jesus Christ,
for whose love I am thus hung up, let your
eyes be opened. And straightway their eyes were opened. And
returning to Sebastian the Duke, they reported all to him. [c]

[8] [ordered to be flayed] Again Sebastian ordered him to be flayed.
Victor the Martyr said: Even if you take from me the skin of my flesh and
the garment of my bones, the garment of my soul you
cannot take away, because I am clothed with faith and the love of my God.
When therefore he was being flayed, and was placed
in pain, with his eyes lifted up he thus poured forth prayers to the Lord,
saying: Lord God omnipotent, my soul
is placed in its departure, confirm me, and hear me, [he implores the help of God:] and
have mercy on me: and let Your mercy come upon me, as
upon all who have pleased You. Lord God, receive
me, and forsake me not: neither despise
me, my God: and cast me not from Your face, and
desert me not in the time of my pain. And now I give thanks
to You, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God: be present
as a help to me Your servant, and aid me from these
pains. Permit me not to be conquered by this most profane
judge: for You know that for Your name's
sake I suffer all these things.

ANNOTATIONS.




CHAPTER III.

The Martyrdom of SS. Corona and Victor.

[9] [S. Corona strengthens Victor with examples of the old law:] Then a certain woman, the wife of a certain soldier,
by name Corona, who was about sixteen years
of age, cried out, saying: Blessed
are you, Victor, and blessed are your works.
Your sacrifice has been received, in the manner of the sacrifice of Abel:
since you have offered yourself to God in sincerity of mind, and
God has received you: in the manner of Enoch the just, you have been translated,
that you might not taste the death of this world, until
the time of the promise should come. You have been justified
like Noah, perfect in his generation; and as he,
so also you in all things are perfect and just. You have believed
God like Abraham, who offered his son
Isaac. You have endured persecutions like Jacob, whom
Esau and Laban were persecuting. You have become like Joseph,
who governed the inhabitants of the land of Egypt in the time
of famine. You have persevered in the endurance of most steadfast Job,
who bore many persecutions, until he conquered
the assaults of the enemy. They have been zealous against you like Isaiah,
who was cut through the middle. God has received your sacrifice,
like that of the Prophet Samuel. You have become an odor
of sweetness, like Eleazar in his priesthood. God has received
you like Daniel. The fire did not touch you
like the three holy children, Ananias, Azarias, and
Misael in the burning which Nebuchadnezzar the King brought upon
them, because they offered sacrifice to God.
You have hoped in the Lord like David. You have received the wisdom
of Solomon, until you conquered all the wrestlings
and the circumvention of the devil. And when this
woman had spoken these things, she added, saying: Behold, I see
two crowns borne down from heaven by the hands of ten Angels:
to you shall be given the greater, but to me the shorter. [a]
Although frail, I do not fear the threats of the Duke; the kingdom of Christ,
as one strong, I shall inherit.

[10] And when the Duke had heard her saying all these things,
moved, he ordered her to be brought to him, and said:
How many years old are you? To whom Corona said: I am sixteen
years old. Sebastian again said: When
were you married? To whom Corona: A year and four
months ago. And he: Therefore, he said, come forth and sacrifice to the gods.
Corona answered: I am called Corona [Crown], [constant in the faith] and do you persuade
me to lose my crown? To this Sebastian:
Why do you so quickly strip yourself of adornment? Corona said:
This I have considered with myself, to do away with temporal
adornments by the glittering of the body, that I may be able to come
to meet Him in whom I believe, Jesus Christ the immortal
spouse. For an earthly spouse is temporal and
mortal; but Jesus Christ is more indulgent toward
the penitent, who is never dissolved. Sebastian
the Duke said: Sacrifice to the gods. Corona answered: For this reason
I do not sacrifice, that I may receive a crown from God. Then
the Duke ordered two palm [b] trees to be bent down by the soldiers,
and B. Corona to be bound with hempen ropes
on each side by her hands and feet: and he ordered the soldiers
suddenly to let go and divide. And when this was done, [bound to the trees she is rent asunder.]
she was divided into two parts: and thus most wise
and good Corona consummated her contest,
faithfully fulfilling her martyrdom in the Lord.

[11] Then S. Victor said: I give thanks to my
God, who has given me this constancy of my
nobility unto the end. For he hastened his
step, now soon to be crowned with victory: and stretching
out his hands to heaven, he said: I give You thanks, [S. Victor is beheaded.]
Lord Jesus Christ: because my strength has been consoled,
and You have not permitted my soul to perish: but
have given me the grace of Your name. And now, Lord,
receive my spirit in peace. And when he said these
things, the executioner struck him. And after S. Victor was
beheaded, there went out from him blood and milk.
But the peoples standing around all wondered at his
sufferings unto the end: and many were increased
in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. S.
Victor the Martyr and B. Corona suffered on the eighth of the Kalends
of May, at the ninth hour, under the Emperor Antoninus,
the most impious Duke Sebastian [c] acting in the Thebaid
of Egypt, against the city which is called Lycos, blessing
God and our Lord Jesus
Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and
reigns forever and ever. Amen.

ANNOTATIONS.




ANALECTA

Concerning the cult and Relics of these Martyrs
in very many places.

Victor the Soldier, Martyr in Egypt (S.)

Corona the Matron, Martyr in Egypt (S.)

BY THE AUTHOR G. H.

[1] John Baldus, Canon Penitentiary of the Church
of Osimo in Picenum, edited the Lives of the Illustrious
Martyrs Victor and Corona, [The bodies of SS. Victor and Corona are said to be first at Osimo,] and of S. Leopardus the Bishop
and of other Saints laid to rest in the Church of Osimo,
which he inscribed to Augustine Galaminus, Cardinal
of Ara Coeli and Bishop of Osimo, created in the year MDCXX.
This author sets forth the said Lives of Victor and Corona in Italian
through XI chapters, and to them subjoins the Martyrdom of B.
Philip: and in them he treats of the translation of these bodies to the Church
of Osimo, chiefly from the monuments of the Bishops
of Osimo, collected by Gaspar Zachius, a man
most cultivated in Greek and Latin letters, who, Secretary
to Cardinal Bessarion, and familiar to Pope Pius II, by the latter was declared Bishop in the year MCCCCLX. But in this author's
words, in the Life of B. Philip, Baldus thus writes concerning Gentilis
the Bishop: The bodies of the eminent Martyrs Victor, Corona,
and Philip, brought from Alexandria of Egypt to Numana,
and then to Castel Ficardo, he led from that place to Osimo:
and at greater length in chapter 10 of the
Life of SS. Victor and Corona, in the words of the same Zachius, the same
matter is thus set forth: In the year of Christian salvation MCXCV, [formerly translated from Alexandria to Numana, thence to Ficardo, and to Osimo.]
in the time of Celestine III, there presided over the Church of Osimo
Gentilis the Bishop, a magnanimous man. He the Church, formerly humble and short, raised up, and made it almost
twice as long: constructing the Holy of Holies with magnificent
work, in it he placed the Episcopal seat
of marble: and the high altar dedicated to the Mother of the Savior
he erected, and beneath it assigned a place to the Relics
of the Saints. He also brought the bodies of the eminent Martyrs
Victor and Corona and Philip, conveyed from Alexandria
of Egypt to Castel Ficardo,
from that place to Osimo, which beneath the confession
in a marble chest, set near the wall to the south,
are honorably enclosed. Thus far there, which things, with the phrase
changed, are read in Ughelli, volume 1 of Italia Sacra, in the Bishops
of Osimo, and their bodies are said to have been
brought from Alexandria of Egypt to the city of Numana,
which is commonly called Humana, formerly Episcopal on the Adriatic Sea,
overthrown by the Goths, between which and Osimo is
Castel Ficardo. Louis Jacobillus, in volume 1 on
the Saints of Umbria, on this XIV of May asserts that in the city of Humana
a temple was erected to S. Victor, and that the translation
to the city of Osimo is commemorated on the XVIII day of September,
on which day also we shall say below that his memory is venerated elsewhere.

[2] Another place, famous for the cult and relics of these Martyrs,
is Utriculum, or Otriculum, a city of Umbria
near the Tiber in the diocese of Narni. It formerly had its own Bishops
in the ancient city, now destroyed, about
a thousand paces distant from the present one: where a Cathedral church
is said to have been dedicated to S. Victor the Martyr, [secondly at Otriculi] and in it S. Fulgentius
the Bishop (concerning whom there is treatment on May XXII) about the year
DXL is said to have found the body of S. Victor, and to have constructed
an altar over it, Jacobillus relates, on account of an ancient charter,
brought from the ancient Church into the present Collegiate one,
inscribed with these letters: With God's help, Fulgentius
the Bishop, having found the body of the blessed Martyr Victor,
in Christ's name constructed an altar over it. [translated at various times,] But
in another parchment charter these things are read: From the temple of the Divine
Victor on the Tiber, in the year of the Lord MCCCXVI, the bodies of the holy
Martyrs Fulgentius, Elozymus, Nectarius,
Leopardus, and Corona, translated, rest beneath this altar;
where in marble this inscription is held:
Here rest SS. Fulgentius, Lozymus, Nectarius,
Leopardus, and Corona, Martyrs of Christ. But
the body of S. Victor the Martyr, as Jacobillus there relates,
was in the year MCCCLI on the V day of November, then a Sunday,
from the Church on the Tiber dedicated to him, translated to the Collegiate
Church of Otriculi sacred to the Virgin Mother of God, and beneath
the high altar with the bodies of the other Saints deposited.
His head is preserved separately there, and on his
birthday is carried in a solemn procession through the territory of Otriculi.
Moreover among the other Relics of this Church there is held
in veneration a part of his finger. Images also of SS.
Victor and Corona, and the mysteries of their martyrdom, are seen
in the same Church; and their feast from the most ancient times
is celebrated in the town and territory of Otriculi, concerning
which these things are read in the Martyrology of the said Church: [and celebrated with solemn memory until now.] On the
XIV day of May. Of the Holy Martyrs Victor and Corona,
Protectors of Otriculi, a feast of precept.
On the XXX of May, the Dedication of the altars of SS. Victor and Corona.
On the third Sunday of May, the Translation of the bodies
of the holy Martyrs Fulgentius Bishop of Otriculi,
of Corona, etc., Protectors of Otriculi, made in the year
MCCCXVI from the Church of S. Victor to the Church of S. Mary
within Otriculi. On the XIV of July, the Dedication of the Church of S.
Victor the Martyr. On the fifth day, or on the first Sunday
of November, the Translation of the Body of S. Victor,
made in the year MCCCLI by R.F.F. Augustine Bishop
of Narni in the Church of S. Mary of Otriculi.

[3] Thus far there, which things please more than certain Acts
furnished by Jacobillus, and described by him from an Otriculi MS.;
in which S. Victor the soldier is said to have come from the province
of Cilicia into the city of Otriculi, [Did they suffer at Otriculi?] to have strengthened
forty-six Martyrs amid torments, and
after the completion of their martyrdom to have hidden their bodies,
and to have carried them on his own shoulders, and to have buried them in a crypt
near the city; and therefore to have been seized and led
to Sebastian the Duke, and then the rest is appended
from the Acts already given. But those things, necessarily said
of another Martyr, and perhaps also a Victor, were accommodated to these
Acts. We have from the Utrecht MS. of S. Salvator a
Sermon on the Martyrdom and translation of SS.
Victor and Corona from Otriculi to Aachen: in which
these are reported to have been found at Otriculi by Cyrinus Governor of Italy,
and tortured with various torments and slain, and
finally buried in the ancient city. Where Lozinius a boy
is narrated to have been raised from death, another, dumb and blind, seized by a demon, and a leper and a lame man cured. But
Otriculi having been devastated, they had unlocked the bodies of these Saints
buried in a mean place, [and the bodies brought to Aachen by the Emperor Otho?] which Otho the Emperor,
crowned at Rome, had carried to Aachen: where
in the chapel of S. Mary built by Charlemagne, each one
beneath the altars they were deposited, and there, by the grace of God
assenting, many miracles of healing were performed.
Which things again seem to have been said of other Martyrs.

[4] The third place, famous for the Relics and cult of these Saints,
is the Episcopal city of Feltre, in the March of Treviso, on the confines
of the territories of Trent and Venice, situated above the
high mountains of the Carni. There, says Octavius
Cajetanus, the bodies of the Saints Victor and Corona
were deposited in a temple, which to S. Victor outside Feltre,
about two miles distant, [Thirdly at Feltre] was constructed
and dedicated, where their birthday is venerated on the day before
the Ides of May: but the festal day of the translation is kept
on the XIV Kalends of October with a great concourse of people flowing in,
at which time the illustrious merits of the Holy Martyrs
are shown by frequent miracles from God. [in a chapel which, built in 1096,] Nor
only in the City of Feltre, but through the whole Diocese is that
translation celebrated. The chapel, in which the bodies of the Saints
Victor and Corona were first deposited in the ground, John of Vidor,
illustrious in fame, in the year
after the birth of Christ MXCVI adorned: which by his son
Arbo, the same being Bishop of Feltre, within five
years was dedicated. Thence raised into a chest;
which was opened, when Charles, the Fourth Emperor
of this name, was held by the desire of seeing them. At last
in the year MCCCCXLVIII, enclosed in a leaden coffin,
they were placed in magnificent marble. We subjoin the inscriptions
which testify to the things said before.

[5] The first inscription, in the Chapel of the holy Martyrs Victor
and Corona, on the back. From the beginning of the public redemption,
in the year MXCVI, in which there was a fall of stars, and also
a movement of Christians against the Pagans, John of Vidor,
as mighty in heart and arms as in riches and glory,
the honor of his country, worn out with old age, founder
of the hall, on the XVI day of September, by his son Arbo
the Pontiff, was commended to the Most Blessed Martyrs Victor and Corona.
The second inscription, on the back of the chest of the holy
Martyrs. In the year MCI from the Incarnation of the Word,
on the II Ides of May, [and consecrated in the year 1101] the Emperor Henry Caesar III, this
Sanctuary was dedicated to God of heaven Himself, and to the Blessed
Mary ever Virgin, and here are contained the relics
of the Apostles Peter and Paul, of Philip, James, Stephen
the Protomartyr, Stephen Pope and Martyr,
Marcellinus and Peter, and of the holy Soldiers of Christ
Maurice, Marcellinus, George, and Christopher, and
of the Blessed Martyrs Victor and Corona, whose
bodies here below rest in Christ Jesus, Arbo,
the unworthy Pontiff, dictating. The third inscription.
In the year of the Lord MCCCLV, the XXVI of May. [where in the year 1355 placed again in a tomb,] Charles
the Emperor reigning, the Prelate James, Bishop of Feltre
and Belluno, presiding, the bodies of the illustrious
Martyrs Victor and Corona were placed again in this
tomb, and seen by the said Emperor. The fourth
inscription, around the chest of the holy Martyrs. [and in 1448 enclosed in another tomb.] In the year
MCCCCXLVIII in the month of March, in the III Indiction, the bodies
of the holy Martyrs Victor and Corona we have religiously
raised hither from the earth, which are enclosed in lead
and double marble, the most Illustrious Senate of Venice
ruling, the Prelate Henry Scarrampo of
Asti, the Praetor Louis Fuscarenus, an interpreter
of both Laws.

[6] Thus far those inscriptions, of which the first and second
are printed in Ughelli, volume 5 of Italia Sacra, in the Bishops
of Feltre, and the eighth of these, Arbo son of John of Vidor:
but all are held in Octavius Cajetanus,
volume 1 on the Lives of the Sicilian Saints, in the Animadversions
on the martyrdom of SS. Victor and Corona;
whom he attempts to claim for Sicily, relying on certain
Acts preserved in an MS. codex at Feltre at the monastery of S. Jerome,
[That they suffered in Sicily and thence the bodies were brought,] which he himself edited, but with the diction a little changed.
That history is the same which we edited above, but
out of someone's mere good pleasure, at the beginning and end some things
are twisted into another sense. This then is the exordium:
The Emperors M. Aurelius and L. Verus reigning, Victor a Christian soldier
was acting in Sicily, at which time Sebastian
presided over the island. He, having received the mandate of the Emperors
against the Christians, orders Victor to be set
before the tribunal, etc. But toward the end these things are held: B.
Victor's body was brought from Sicily into the city of Feltre
by his own people. For confirmation Cajetanus adds some
authors, namely S. Antoninus, who described his elogium
from Vincent of Beauvais: but where this latter has Cilicia,
by the error of the copyists it seems to have been written Sicilia.
Then Peter de Natalibus, who, as we said above,
in book 4 chapter 168 gave the elogium of these Martyrs from Ado,
asserting they suffered in Syria on the day before the Ides of May, then in book 8
chapter 89 sets forth the same elogium more at length, and says they suffered
in Sicily on the XIV Kalends of October: from which it is clear that this Author
thrust forth diverse things about the same persons, as he found them in diverse writings,
without any examination: would that he had done so in these alone!
Here the Greek word Stephana deceived him, which he did not
think to be called in Latin Corona, as also Galesinus, while
he follows Peter de Natalibus. [it is asserted on plainly slight authority.] More accurate were Grevenus
in the additions to Usuard, and Canisius in the German Martyrology,
asserting that Stephana is called in Latin Corona,
and is venerated on the XIV day of May: on which day also the people of Feltre
celebrate their birthday, and the feast
of the translation on the XVIII day of September.

[7] To the foregoing Cajetanus adds James of Genoa,
whose Legend of the Saints or Lombard History,
with the adjoined Legends, we have printed at Cologne in the year
MCCCCLXXXV, and at Strasbourg in the year MCCCCXCVI, as also another
supplement printed at Milan in the year MCCCCXCIV,
but everywhere without mention of these Martyrs. Cajetanus
perhaps had some later edition, into which some
interpolator inserted the elogium of these Martyrs,
which however, whether it be so or not, matters little; since not even
the Genoese Legend itself is of any authority. Finally
there are alleged Menerbius the Camaldolese Abbot and M.
Marulus; as though these asserted that they suffered at Messina in Sicily:
of these I have not seen Manerbius. Marulus, in book 5 chapter 6 cited,
treats of S. Stephana and Victor, but without mention
of Messina, having nevertheless imitated Peter de Natalibus in Sicily writes that they suffered. Finally Philip Ferrarius is alleged:
but he in the general Catalogue, on the XVIII of September, reports
SS. Victor and Corona Martyrs and Patrons of Feltre,
and in the notes asserts they suffered in Syria, not in
Sicily, as is read in Galesinius: and the same he asserts
in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy on the XIV of May. These things it pleased
to set forth, on account of Cajetanus, asserting that several
commemorate at Messina in Sicily a Victor and Corona
slain for the faith, rather than in Egypt or Syria;
that it may be clear what sort these are. We have the proper Offices of Sicily and
chiefly of the Church of Messina, printed at Messina in the year MDCXXIV,
but without any mention of SS. Victor and Corona
Martyrs.

[8] Therefore these being set aside, we admit the Inscriptions themselves above
reported, and those which are held in the third are
confirmed from the deeds of Charles IV the Emperor, who, as the Cortusii authors,
his contemporaries, narrate in book II chapter 1, in the year MCCCLIV, Indiction
VII, on the XIV day of October, rode from Bohemia to Udine: [The head of S. Victor given to Charles IV the Emperor.]
who, passing through Sacile, Conegliano, Feltre,
on the first day of November entered Bassano. In his
retinue was the Patriarch of Aquileia, his brother:
whose diploma concerning the Head of S. Victor then given to Charles the Emperor,
which is preserved in the archive of the Church of Prague,
described from the autograph, Fr. Theodore Moretus of the Society
of Jesus sent us from Prague in the year MDCLIV, he being then
Rector of the college of Glatovia, in these words. In the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The glorious God is glorified in the veneration of His
Saints, when the Relics
of those, the hairs of whose head He promised should not perish,
are cultivated by the faithful of Christ with worthy devotion,
and especially by those whom, by the highest providence,
He has girded with the sword of justice for the protection of His Church
and the governance of the commonwealth, and
for the strengthening of the Catholic faith has clothed with the breastplate of providence
and temperance, and with the comeliness of faith, hope, and
charity, has surrounded with the shield of fortitude.
Be it known therefore, We, Nicholas, by the grace of God Patriarch
of the holy See of Aquileia, wish to be known to all,
that when the Most Serene and Most Victorious
our Lord, the Lord Charles, by the grace of
God King of the Romans ever Augustus and King of Bohemia,
came to the city of Feltre, the same Prince,
most illustrious, most devout, kindled with zeal, humbly visited
the holy Church of Victor the Martyr, situated outside
the walls of the same city not far off on the hills,
in which the same Martyr shines with famous miracles.
Where the Prince himself, the most sacred Relics
of the said Martyr being found, although by the fullness of his power
it was lawful for him without contradiction
of anyone to take them, humbly besought that the Head of the said Martyr
Victor, in fact and in name, be given to him;
not that this light be darkened under a bushel,
but that, the flame of so great a brilliance and light being spread by the pious King,
the same Martyr be venerated also among foreign
nations. And since a Head of this kind,
besought with such great prayers and bought with the price
of devotion, could not nor ought to be deservedly denied to the Ruler
of the World, with the unanimous consent and assent
of the beloved sons in Christ, the Dean and Chapter
of the Church of Feltre, subject to us by Metropolitan right, and through the same Dean and Chapter, the Episcopal
See being then vacant, with the applause of the whole people
of the same city, it was delivered to the aforesaid Prince.
And that this may the more truly be believed by all,
and not denied by rivals, we have ordered these our letters by Metropolitan
authority to be made in testimony of the premises,
and to be strengthened with the protection of our pendant seal.
Given in our land of Sacile of the Aquileian
Diocese, on the first day of the month of November in the year
of the Lord's Nativity one thousand three hundred
fifty-four, in the seventh Indiction. Thus far
the diploma.

[9] Then, appointed on the XI Kalends of December Bishop
of Feltre and Belluno, was James de Bruna, who in the next
year MCCCLV, on the XXVI day of May, placed again in a new tomb
the sacred bodies of SS. Victor and Corona, before, toward the end
of October of the preceding year, seen by the said Charles. But he,
having set out thence to Rome, with his wife, was crowned Emperor
with a golden crown on the V day of April, on the feast of the Resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ; and thence, about to return into Bohemia,
was at Pisa on the XXVI day of May, and in the month of June, making his passage
through Lombardy, entered the valley of the Valcamonica,
and thus through Germany returned to Prague, as these things are indicated
in the Cortusii. [and at Prague deposited with his arm-bones] Thomas of Czechorod, Dean of Prague
and Bishop of Samadria in Hungary, in the Diary
of the Relics of the Metropolitan Church of S. Vitus at Prague, on
this XIV of May, has these things: The head of S. Victor the Martyr,
brought by Charles from Feltre out of Italy in the year MCCCLV, [and with the Relics of S. Corona.]
in which he returned. He adds also an arm, and: On the same day, of S.
Corona the Martyr, who was the companion of his passion,
and is called by another name Stephana: whose Relics,
as also those of S. Victor, are placed in the tomb of the Divine Vitus.
In the MS. Martyrology of the said Church of Prague, on this
XIV of May, these things are read: In Syria, of the holy Martyrs
Victor the soldier, whose head and arm Charles
the King gave to the Church of Prague, and of Corona,
formerly called Stephana, under Antoninus the Emperor…
whose bodies are in the tomb of S. Vitus.

[10] Nor is this the end of those who glory in the possession
of these Martyrs, each rather arrogating a right to himself. Among
these also is, in the cemetery of Calepodius on the Aurelian Way, the famous
Church of S. Pancras, as we said on May XII at his Acts.
Beneath the altar of this Church, [The same bodies are said to be at Rome.] set in the left nave, formerly
were deposited the bodies of SS. Victor and Corona the Martyrs,
the ancient tradition there is: but in the year MDLXX,
when that altar had been translated from the left nave
by command of Pius V the Supreme Pontiff, by Ptolemy Gallio the Cardinal
they were at the same time translated, and again beneath it placed again.
Octavius Pancirolius, in the Hidden Treasure of the city of Rome,
region 8, church 6, judges that in the third year after their
martyrdom they were translated hither, because S. Victor is read in the Greek
Acts to have foretold similar things concerning the translation of his own body.
Concerning the same sacred bodies preserved there treats
also Pompeius Ugonius in the History of the Roman Stations,
chapter 54.

[11] Finally Philip of Bergamo, in book 6 of the Supplement
of Chronicles, treating of the city of Rimini, writes these things: Adorned
moreover is this very city by S. Gaudentius its own Bishop
and by S. Victor the Martyr and holy Corona
the Virgin and Martyr, [and at Rimini.] namely by their patronage and relics.
S. Gaudentius is venerated on the XIV day of October, to whose honor
a temple, in which his sacred body was deposited,
with an illustrious Abbey erected near the city, is extant, and several
relics of Saints are honorably preserved in it: concerning which
a little book is extant, written by command of Joachim the Abbot, and to us
transmitted by Fr. Francis Via, Rector of the College of Rimini of the Society
of Jesus, to be edited with the Life of S. Gaudentius: but
Ferdinand Ughelli forestalled us in volume 2 of Italia Sacra,
when, treating of S. Gaudentius among the Bishops of Rimini,
he inserted the same little book into it. Therein are indicated the Stations
of the Church of S. Gaudentius, where the fifth station is in the chapel
of S. Corona, and in it a stone altar with a sepulcher
likewise of stone; in which is the body of S. Corona the Virgin…
The eighth station is in the chapel of the holy Martyrs
Valentinus and Victor, where there is a stone altar,
and next to it behind is a stone sepulcher: in
which are the bodies of the aforesaid Martyrs Valentinus
and Victor, which were there wonderfully found
with the body of S. Gaudentius, and there placed again in a marble
sepulcher, with the greatest honor and with hymns and
spiritual canticles. Thus far there. Among the Patrons
of Rimini is S. Julian the Martyr: whose Acts,
to be edited on the XXII day of June, the said Francis
Via transmitted: to which Acts this title is held: There are other bodies
of the Saints of Rimini here to be noted, and in the first
place are reported those of S. Victor the Martyr and S. Corona
the Virgin and Martyr, and the Supplement of the man of Bergamo
indicated above is cited. Meanwhile no mention of their cult
is held in the Calendar of the Church of Rimini, accustomed to be printed yearly,
nor in Ferrarius among the Saints
of Rimini. But his cult could have persevered in the monastery of S. Gaudentius.
Wherefore, since the birthday is unknown,
it pleased to suggest these things here.

[12] Some MS. codex on the Lives of the Saints was formerly
with Leo Allatius, [The cult among the Sienese, the Dijon people, and the Compostelans,] in which among other things was noted,
The Passion of S. Victor and Corona, Patrons of the Church
of Siena. But the Acts of the Martyrdom themselves seemed the same
as those which we indicated above to be held in various MSS. At Dijon
also in Burgundy the feast of SS. Victor and Corona
under the rite of a greater double on this XIV of May is celebrated
in the collegiate Church of S. Stephen, and the Lessons of the second
Nocturn are taken from the Acts of the martyrdom edited by Lipomanus
and Surius. But what cause in these and other Churches,
which we do not care to investigate all, has promoted the patronage
or cult of these, we do not know. Both are venerated
under a double rite in the Church and diocese of Compostela, because
the Head of some S. Victor is preserved in that Church.
In the Picentine and Amalfitan Duchy, Scala, an ancient city
and formerly ample, [among the people of Scala, S. Stephania,] as appears from its ruins, on the shore of the sea
is situated, which, nearest to Amalfi, is distant from Ravello by only one mile.
There is there a Church of S. Stephania, from which
two bones of S. Sabina with other Relics were formerly translated
to the Cathedral Church of S. Lawrence. But Constantine,
of the Afflitto family, Bishop of Scala, in the year
MCCXIV dedicated the altar of the Church of S. Michael, near the Church
of S. Stephania of the right of patronage of his own family. These things
at greater length are read in Ughelli, volume 7 of Italia Sacra, in the
Bishops of Scala: but Ferrarius in the general Catalogue,
on the XVIII day of September, asserts [whom Ferrarius believes to be S. Corona.] that S. Stephania the Virgin
and Martyr is venerated in the city of Scala, and a Parish Church
dedicated to her: and judges her to be the same
as S. Corona; who on the said XVIII day of September,
as we said above, is venerated with S. Victor in several Churches.
Concerning her then more accurately is to be treated,
especially if some ancient monuments are supplied.
