Portrait
demi-longueur du Martyr Saint Procope, probablement d'un artiste occidental.
Troisième quart du 13ième siècle. 50,6 x 39,7
Half-length
portrait of Saint Procopius of Scythopolis, probably by an occidental artist.
Third quarter of the 13th century. 50.6 x 39.7, Saint Catherine's Monastery,
Sinai (Egypt) / K. Weitzmann: "Die Ikone"
Halbfigurenbild
des Heiligen Prokopius von Skythopolis, vermutlich abendländischer Künstler.
Drittes Viertel des 13. Jahrhunderts. 50,6 x 39,7
Saint Procope d'Antioche
Martyr en
Palestine (+ 303)
Procope est né à
Jérusalem. Dès sa jeunesse, nous dit-on, il se consacra à Dieu, vivant de pain
et d'eau et méditant les Saintes Écritures. Il va se fixer à Scythopolis où il
s'agrège au clergé de la ville comme lecteur, interprète de syriaque et exorciste.
Arrive la persécution ordonnée contre les chrétiens par l'empereur romain
Dioclétien. Il refuse de sacrifier aux idoles. Bon bougre, le gouverneur, à la
place de l'encens, se contenterait de libations partagées avec Procope, en
l'honneur des quatre empereurs qui alors gouvernaient l'empire. Procope refuse
également en citant avec humour une parole du poète Homère: "Il n'est pas
bon qu'il y ait plusieurs chefs. Qu'il y ait donc un seul chef, un seul
roi." Et il ajouta: "le Christ." Il fut décapité.
À Césarée de Palestine,
saint Procope, martyr. Conduit de Scythopolis à Césarée, vers 303, sous
l’empereur Dioclétien, il y fut décapité sur l’ordre du juge Fabien, quand
celui-ci eut constaté la fermeté de sa première réponse.
Martyrologe romain
"Le premier des martyrs en Palestine fut Procope. Avant de faire l’expérience de la prison, immédiatement dès son arrivée, il fut amené au tribunal du gouverneur et reçut l’ordre de sacrifier aux soi-disant dieux. Il dit qu’il ne connaissait qu’un seul Dieu."
(Eusèbe de Césarée – Les martyrs de Palestine)
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/7590/Saint-Procope-d-Antioche.html
PASSION
DE SAINT PROCOPE, A CÉSARÉE DE PALESTINE, LE 7 JUILLET 303
La ville de Césarée
de Palestine reçut pendant la persécution un grand nombre de membres
appartenant à tous les rangs de la hiérarchie et amenés de tous les points de
la province. Parmi eux se trouvait le lecteur Procope, de l'Eglise de
Scythopolis, dont Eusèbe a dit quelques mots dans son livre sur les martyrs de
Palestine, et dont les actes complets faisaient partie du recueil original
d'Eusèbe. Ces actes sont certainement contemporains.
BOLL., Act. SS.,
8/VII, Julii II, 551-576. — RUINART, Acta sinc., p. 372 et suiv. — P.
ALLARD; Hist. des perséc., t. IV, p. 230 et suiv. [Cf. la bibliographie du
livre d'Eusèbe t Sur les martyrs de Palestine.]
LES
ACTES DU MARTYRE DE SAINT PROCOPE.
Procope fut le premier
des martyrs de Palestine. C'était un homme d'une grâce toute céleste. Dès sa
première enfance jusqu'au martyre il avait recherché toute sa vie la chasteté
et toutes les vertus. Son corps était tellement émacié qu'on l'eût cru sans vie
; mais son âme si vaillante sous l'action des paroles divines qu'on eût pensé
qu'elle soutenait seule la vie du corps. Il vivait de pain et d'eau, encore ne
mangeait-il que tous les deux ou trois jours, quelquefois même une fois par
semaine. Sa contemplation se prolongeait jour et nuit.
Toute son étude était
celle des Livres saints. En dehors de là il savait peu. Né à Jérusalem, il s'était
fixé à Scythopolis, où il remplissait l'office de lecteur, d'exorciste et de
traducteur officiel des Écritures, ce qu'il faisait en récitant au peuple en
langue vulgaire le passage des Livres saints lu en grec dans la liturgie.
Transféré avec ses collègues
de Scythopolis à Césarée, il fut pris à la porte de la ville et conduit
directement devant le gouverneur Flavien, qui lui commanda de sacrifier aux
dieux : « Il n'y a pas plusieurs dieux, mais un seul, créateur de toutes
choses. »
Le gouverneur, touché, se
contenta de la réponse et chercha autre chose; il demanda à Procope d'offrir de
l'encens aux empereurs.
« Écoute, dit Procope, ce
vers d'Homère :
Il n'est pas bon d'avoir
tant de maîtres
Qu'il y ait un seul
seigneur, un seul roi.
A ces paroles, le juge
crut voir quelque intention désobligeante pour les empereurs et prononça la
peine de mort. Ainsi Procope pénétra dans la gloire. On était au 7 du mois de
juillet, le jour des Nones, comme disent les Latins, de la première année de la
persécution.
Ce fut le premier martyre
à Césarée. Jésus-Christ règne. A Lui soit honneur et gloire dans tous les
siècles. Amen.
LES MARTYRS, TOME II :
LE TROISIÈME SIÈCLE – DIOCLÉTIEN. Recueil de pièces authentiques sur les
martre depuis les origines du christianisme jusqu'au XXe siècle. Traduites
et publiées par le B. P. DOM H. LECLERCQ, Moine bénédictin de Saint-Michel de
Farnborough. Imprimi potest FR. FERDINANDUS CABROL, Abbas Sancti Michaelis
Farnborough. Die 15 Martii 1903.
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/martyrs/martyrs0002.htm#_Toc90634935
Also
known as
Procopius of Scythopolis
Procopio…
Profile
Soldier in
the imperial Roman army. Martyred in
the persecutions of Diocletian for
having declared himself a Christian in
open court.
beheaded c.303 at
Caesarea, Palestine
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
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of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
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Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
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Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA
Citation
“Saint Procopius of
Ceasarea“. CatholicSaints.Info. 14 January 2022. Web. 23 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-procopius-of-ceasarea/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-procopius-of-ceasarea/
Article
(Saint) Martyr (July 8)
(4th
century) A Palestinian Christian,
a Lector or
Reader and Interpreter in the Church of Scythopolis. Arrested during
the persecution under Diocletian,
he was brought to Caesarea, where he boldly confessed the Faith before
his judges and was sentenced and executed (A.D. 303).
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Procopius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 July 2016. Web. 23 April 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-procopius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-procopius/
Procopius of Scythopolis
M (RM)
Born in Jerusalem; died
at Sycthopolis (Bethshan), July 7, 303. Saint Procopius was one of the first
victims of Emperor Diocletian's persecution of the Christians in Palestine. The
church historian Eusebius was bishop of Caesarea, where Procopius suffered, at
the time of the martyrdom. Eusebius left this simple account of Procopius's
martyrdom:
"The first of the
martyrs of Palestine was Procopius, a man filled with divine grace, who form
his childhood had devoted himself to chastity and the practice of all virtues.
He had mortified his flesh until his body seemed to be like that of one who was
dead, but his soul drew such strength from the word of God that the body itself
was refreshed by it. He lived on bread and water, and ate only every second or
third day, and sometimes prolonged his fast for a whole week.
"Meditation on the
divine work so filled his being that he remained absorbed in it day and night
without fatigue. Filled with gentleness and goodness, holding himself to be the
least of men, he edified all who heard him by his discourses. The word of God
was his only study, and of other matters he had but little knowledge.
"He was born at
Jerusalem, but had gone to live in Scythopolis, where he held three
ecclesiastical offices. He was reader and interpreter in the Syriac language,
and cured those possessed of evil spirits.
"Sent with his
companions from Scythopolis to Caesarea [Maritima], he had barely passed
through the city gates when he was brought before the governor; and even before
being put in chains and taken to the prison he was urged by the judge Flavian
to sacrifice to the gods. But in a loud voice Procopius said that there are not
several gods, but One only, the creator and author of all things.
"Finding nothing to
say in answer, the judge tried to persuade him at least to sacrifice to the
emperors, but the martyr of God scorned his pleas. 'Listen,' he said, 'to this
verse from Homer: It is not good to have several masters; let there be only one
ruler and one king.'
"At these words, as
though he had spoken threats against the emperors, the judge ordered him to be
executed. His head was cut off, and he passed happily to eternal life by the
shortest road. This was the first martyrdom that took place at Caesarea."
This simple, reliable
account was not enough to satisfy the legend makers. In later stories Procopius
is made a soldier, then an ascetic, then a Persian, and then a prince of
Alexandria--sometimes he was said to be all four of these at once. In each
case, his conversion was made to bear a remarkable resemblance to that of Saint
Paul.
When he was imprisoned in
these legends, he is supposed to have converted his guards. When brought before
the judges, he was said to have astounded them with a string of quotations from
Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Homer, and Socrates. When subjected to the most
horrible and fantastic tortures, he emerged unscathed. And when approached by
his would-be executioners, he is said to have paralyzed them on the spot. At
some point in the story, he is reputed to have slain no fewer than 6,000
barbarian invaders simply by confronting them with a wonder-working cross.
In the most popular of
these legends, Procopius was originally named Neanias. He was born at
Jerusalem, then made duke of Alexandria by Diocletian, who sent him to proceed
against the Christians there. On the way from Antioch Neanias experiences a
vision similar to that of Saint Paul on the road to Damascus, as a consequence
of which he declares himself a Christian.
He is taken in chains to
Caesarea, where the governor Oulcion has him tortured and imprisoned. He is
then baptized in a vision by Christ himself, and given the name Procopius.
Oulcion dies suddenly, and is succeeded by Flavian, with whom Procopius has
long arguments, interspersed with bouts of unbelievable torture. At last
Flavian pronounces sentence, and Procopius is executed. The narrative is
decorated with marvels throughout the tale: the miraculous cross mentioned
above; his mother, Theodosia, and 12 other noble ladies suddenly converted and
martyred; etc.
Notice that of Eusebius's
historical particulars only the names of some persons and places survives in
the legends. Even the hero himself is no longer a humble cleric but a young
heathen officer. The legends are sheer invention, and such was the confusion
engendered by them that some compilers of calendars produced three martyrs
named Procopius--the cleric, the officer, and the unexplained Saint Procopius
of Persia.
That the martyr described
by Eusebius was publicly venerated is proven by the existence of shrines in his
honor at Caesarea and Scythopolis from at least the 5th and 6th centuries.
Thank God that we have a contemporary account of what actually happened!
(Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley, Delehaye, Encyclopedia).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0708.shtml
St. Procopius, Martyr
HE was a native of
Jerusalem, but lived at Bethsan, otherwise called Scythopolis, where he was
reader in the church, and also performed the function of exorcist, in
dispossessing demoniacs, and that of interpreter of the Greek tongue into the
Syro-Chaldaic. 1 He
was a divine man, say his acts, and had always lived in the practice of great
austerity, and patience, and in perpetual chastity. He took no other sustenance
than bread and water, and usually abstained from all food two or three days
together. He was well skilled in the sciences of the Greeks, but much more in
that of the holy scriptures; the assiduous meditation on which nourished his
soul, and seemed also to give vigour and strength to his emaciated body. He was
admirable in all virtues, particularly in a heavenly meekness and humility.
Dioclesian’s bloody edicts against the Christians reached Palestine in April,
303, and Procopius was the first person who received the crown of martyrdom in
that country, in the aforesaid persecution. He was apprehended at Bethsan, and
led, with several others, bound to Cæsarea, our city, say the acts, and was hurried
straight before Paulinus, prefect of the province. 2 The
judge commanded the martyr to sacrifice to the gods. The servant of Christ
answered he never could do it; and this he declared with a firmness and
resolution that seemed to wound the heart of the prefect as if it had been
pierced with a dagger. The martyr added, there is no God but one, who is the
author and preserver of the world. The prefect then bade him sacrifice to the
four emperors, namely Dioclesian, Herculius, Galerius, and Constantius. This
the saint again refused to do, and had scarcely returned his answer than the
judge passed sentence upon him, and he was immediately led to execution and
beheaded. He is honoured by the Greeks with the title of The Great Martyr. See
his original Chaldaic Acts, published by Steph. Assemani, t. 2, p. 166, and a
less accurate old Latin translation, given by Ruinart, and by Henry Valois,
Not. in Euseb. l. 8. The author of these acts was Eusebius of Cæsarea, an
eye-witness.
Note 1. Grotius and
others demonstrate the Greek language to have been, in the first ages of Christianity,
common in Palestine; but this cannot be extended to all the country people, as
this passage and other proofs clearly show. Hence Eusebius wrote his Acts of
the Martyrs of Palestine in Syro-Chaldaic; but abridged the same in Greek, in
the eighth book of his Church History. [back]
Note 2. The old
Latin Acts write his name Flavian, and some Fabian, by mistaking the Syriac
name, which is written without vowels. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume VII: July. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/7/082.html
Greatmartyr Procopius of
Caesarea, in Palestine
Commemorated on July
8
The Holy Great Martyr
Procopius, in the world Neanius, a native of Jerusalem, lived and suffered
during the reign of the emperor Diocletian (284-305). His father, an eminent
Roman by the name of Christopher, was a Christian, but the mother of the saint,
Theodosia, remained a pagan. He was early deprived of his father, and the young
child was raised by his mother. Having received an excellent secular education,
he was introduced to Diocletian in the very first year of the emperor’s
accession to the throne, and he quickly advanced in government service. Towards
the year 303, when open persecution against Christians began, Neanius was sent
as a proconsul to Alexandria with orders to mercilessly persecute the Church of
God.
On the way to Egypt, near
the Syrian city of Apamea, Neanius had a vision of the Lord Jesus, similar to
the vision of Saul on the road to Damascus. A divine voice exclaimed, “Neanius,
why do you persecute Me?”
Neanius asked, “Who are
you, Lord?”
“I am the crucified
Jesus, the Son of God.”
At that moment a radiant
Cross appeared in the air. Neanius felt an inexpressible joy and spiritual
happiness in his heart and he was transformed from being a persecutor into a
zealous follower of Christ. From this point in time Neanius became favorably
disposed towards Christians and fought victoriously against the barbarians.
The words of the Savior
came true for the saint, “A man’s foes shall be those of his own household”
(Mt. 10:36). His mother, a pagan herself, went to the emperor to complain that
her son did not worship the ancestral gods. Neanius was summoned to the
procurator Judaeus Justus, where he was solemnly handed the decree of
Diocletian. Having read through the blasphemous directive, Neanius quietly tore
it up before the eyes of everyone. This was a crime, which the Romans regarded
as an “insult to authority.” Neanius was held under guard and in chains sent to
Caesarea of Palestine, where the Apostle Paul once languished. After terrible
torments, they threw the saint into a dank prison. That night, a light shone in
the prison, and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself baptized the suffering confessor,
and gave him the name Procopius.
Repeatedly they led St
Procopius to the courtroom, demanding that he renounce Christ, and they
subjected him to more tortures. The stolidity of the martyr and his fiery faith
brought down God’s abundant grace on those who witnessed the execution.
Inspired by the example
of Procopius, many of the holy martyr’s former guards and Roman soldiers went
beneath the executioner’s sword together with their tribunes Nikostrates and
Antiochus. Twelve Christian women received martyr’s crowns, after they came to
the gates of the Caesarea Praetorium.
Struck by the great faith
and courage of the Christians, and seeing the firmness of her son in bearing
terrible sufferings, Theodosia became repentant and stood in the line of
confessors and was executed. Finally the new procurator, Flavian, convinced of
the futility of the tortures, sentenced the holy Great Martyr Procopius to
beheading by the sword. By night Christians took up his much-tortured body, and
with tears and prayers, they committed it to the earth. This was the first
martyrdom at Caesarea (303).
SOURCE : http://oca.org/saints/lives/2015/07/08/101966-greatmartyr-procopius-of-caesarea-in-palestine
San Procopio di
Cesarea di Palestina Martire
Festa: 8 luglio
Aelia (Gerusalemme) - †
Cesarea di Palestina, 8 luglio 303
Procopio nativo di Aelia
(Gerusalemme) nato nel terzo secolo e morto l'8 luglio del 303.È il primo
cristiano deceduto per la sua fede in Palestina negli anni che seguirono il
decreto di persecuzione di Diocleziano del 303. Procopio fu condotto davanti al
tribunale del governatore dove gli fu chiesto di sacrificare agli dei, ma si
rifiutò, allora fu invitato a fare delle libagioni ai quattro imperatori, ma
ancora una volta egli rispose, citando un motto di Omero «Non è bene che vi sia
un governo di molti; uno sia il capo, uno il re». Fu una risposta poco gradita
ai suoi giudici, che lo uccisero. Procopio si era stabilito a Scitopoli, dove
espletava tre funzioni: lettore, interprete in lingua siriana ed esorcista. Fin
dall'adolescenza si era votato alla castità e alla pratica delle virtù, con
severi digiuni e dedito all'ascesi; se nelle scienze profane era di cultura
mediocre, era invece la Parola di Dio il suo unico argomento di studio. A
Scitopoli gli fu eretta una cappella nel vescovado; a Cesarea di Palestina,
luogo del suo martirio, venne eretta in suo onore una chiesa. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Procopio
= che promuove, dal greco
Emblema: Palma
Martirologio
Romano: A Cesarea in Palestina, san Procopio, martire, che condotto qui
sotto l’imperatore Diocleziano dalla città di Scitopoli, alla prima audacia
nelle risposte, fu messo a morte dal giudice Fabiano.
Lo storico Eusebio di Cesarea, nella sua opera “I martiri della Palestina” ci dà un’informazione di primaria importanza, riguardo i cristiani morti per la loro fede, negli anni che seguirono il decreto di persecuzione di Diocleziano del 303, subito attuato in Palestina.
Eusebio cita Procopio come il primo dei martiri della Palestina, ma con poche notizie; egli fu condotto davanti al tribunale del governatore dove gli fu chiesto di sacrificare agli dei, ma Procopio si rifiutò, allora fu invitato a fare delle libagioni ai quattro imperatori, ma ancora una volta egli rispose, citando un motto di Omero “Non è bene che vi sia un governo di molti; uno sia il capo, uno il re”.
Giacché fu una risposta che non garbò ai suoi giudici, ebbe subito troncata la testa. Il giorno del martirio è stato variamente interpretato, ma poi è prevalsa la versione dei calendari bizantini che dicono l’8 luglio, l’anno comunque è il 303.
Da una traduzione siriana e latina, di una narrazione più lunga, di cui si conservano frammenti in greco, si può aggiungere a quanto già detto, che Procopio, nativo di Aelia (Gerusalemme), si era stabilito a Scitopoli, dove espletava tre funzioni: lettore, interprete in lingua siriana ed esorcista.
Fin dall’adolescenza si era votato alla castità ed alla pratica delle virtù, con severi digiuni e dedito all’ascesi; se nelle scienze profane era di cultura mediocre, era invece la Parola di Dio suo solo argomento di studio.
Il racconto prosegue con Procopio condotto con altri compagni a Cesarea di Palestina, alla presenza del governatore Firmiliano e del giudice Flaviano e da qui si ricollega a quanto già detto più sopra.
La figura di s. Procopio martire costituisce un ‘caso’ a sé nella metodologia agiografica antica, infatti ben tre ‘leggende’ successive elaborano la sua figura e il suo martirio, intessendola di elementi fantastici e leggendari; che a loro volta sono passati in diverse omelie o panegirici in onore del martire; influenzando anche Calendari, Martirologi e Sinassari bizantini.
Dalla prima ‘leggenda’ cito solo l’episodio che vede il carnefice Archelao, che alzata la mano per giustiziarlo rimane paralizzato e muore, poi il successivo episodio che vede Procopio, a cui è stato posto del carbone ardente e dell’incenso nel palmo della mano, per farglielo deporre sull’altare degli dei, che rimane immobile nonostante le bruciature.
Nella seconda ‘leggenda’, Procopio si chiama Neanias e si converte a seguito di una visione della Croce; il nome Procopio ricompare quando essendo in carcere gli compare Gesù che lo battezza, cambiandogli il nome; per il resto questa antica ‘leggenda’ riporta frammisti, episodi della conversione di s. Paolo, della vittoria con il segno della Croce di Costantino e altri prestiti leggendari, poi attribuiti a s. Procopio.
La popolarità del martire fu grande nella Chiesa bizantina e in tutta l’antichità; anche se qualche volta viene riportato per errore come di Cesarea di Cappadocia invece che di Palestina.
In Occidente il primo ad introdurlo nel suo ‘Martirologio’ fu Beda all’8 luglio e da lì poi passò alla stessa data nel ‘Martirologio Romano’.
A Scitopoli, sua città d’origine e luogo del suo ministero, gli fu eretta una cappella nel vescovado; a Cesarea di Palestina, luogo del suo martirio, venne eretta in suo onore una chiesa, ricostruita nel 484 dall’imperatore Zenone; mentre ad Antiochia vennero deposte le sue reliquie nella chiesa di S. Michele; a Costantinopoli infine, vi erano ben quattro chiese in suo onore.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
