Saints Andronic, Tarachus et Probus
martyrs
célèbres en Orient (✝ v. 304)
De Cilicie à Tarse
puis à Mopsuete, ils furent conduits prisonniers. Sans égard pour son grand
âge, on brisa la mâchoire de Tarachus à coups de pierres. Probus ne connut
aucun interrogatoire, il fut immédiatement frappé à coups de nerfs de bœuf.
Andronic le plus jeune, fut suspendu à une potence et on lui incisa les jambes
avec des lames effilées. Quelques jours plus tard, devant leur persévérance à
confesser Jésus-Christ, Tarachus fut suspendu la tête en bas au-dessus d'une
épaisse fumée, Probus fut soumis aux fers rouges et l'on força Andronic à
manger des viandes offertes aux idoles. Enfin, ils furent jetés en pâture dans
l'arène. Les gladiateurs les achevèrent.
À Anazarbe en Cilicie, vers 304, les saints Tharace, Probus et
Andronic, martyrs, qui offrirent leur vie en confessant le Christ dans la
persécution de Dioclétien.
Martyrologe
romain
Ces
Saints Martyrs vécurent sous le règne de Dioclétien et le gouvernement de
Flavien (vers 304). Citoyen romain et soldat, Tarachus était déjà avancé en
âge. Sa patrie était Claudiopolis en Isaurie. Probus était citoyen de la ville
de Side en Pamphylie, et Andronique était issu d'une noble famille d'Ephèse.
Lorsqu'on eut découvert qu'ils étaient Chrétiens, on s'empara d'eux à
Pompéiopolis, en Cilicie, puis on les déféra au tribunal du gouverneur Numérien
Maxime, à Tarse, ensuite à Mopsueste, puis une troisième fois dans la ville
d'Anazarbe. Les menaces du juge restant sans effet devant l'attitude résolue de
Tarachus, il lui fit briser la machoire à coups de pierres, sans pitié pour son
âge. Quand on amena Probus, il dit à Maxime de ne pas perdre de temps en un
interrogatoire inutile et lui demanda de passer sans plus tarder à la torture.
Cruellement fouetté à coups de nerfs de boeuf, il répondit au juge, qui lui
demandait d'avoir pitié de lui-même: «Ce sang répandu est pour moi une huile et
un parfum, dont je m'oins avec joie pour de nouveaux combats!» Andronique, le
plus jeune, ayant lui aussi témoigné de son empressement à souffrir pour gagner
la vie éternelle, fut suspendu à une potence; on lui incisa les jambes avec des
lames effilées, puis on lui brûla les côtes en jetant ensuite du sel sur les
plaies.
Quelques jours plus tard, on les fit de nouveau comparaître. Tarachus fut suspendu la tête en-bas au-dessus d'un brasier dégageant une épaisse fumée. Après quoi on lui versa un âcre mélange de vinaigre, de sel et de moutarde dans les narines, avant de le jeter en prison. Comme Probus se moquait des idoles et de leurs adorateurs, il fut placé sur des fers rougis au feu, puis, après lui avoir arraché le cuir chevelu, on lui plaça des charbons ardents sur le crâne et on lui coupa la langue. Andronique à son tour fut mis à l'épreuve, mais ne cessa pas toutefois de se moquer de ses tortionnaires. Comme on lui introduisait de force dans la bouche des viandes et du vin offerts aux idoles, il tourna en dérision la stupidité du magistrat qui croyait l'avoir vaincu, en déclarant que pour les Chrétiens seule l'apostasie volontaire est une souillure et une défaite.
Finalement, le lendemain du troisième interrogatoire, Maxime organisa des jeux de bêtes et de gladiateurs, en prévoyant l'exécution des trois Martyrs comme clou du spectacle. Incapables de marcher, à cause des supplices endurés auparavant, ils furent portés jusque dans l'arène et livrés aux bêtes féroces, qui avaient déjà fait plusieurs victimes ce jour là. Contrairement à toute attente, un ours redoutable vint lécher paisiblement les plaies d'Andronique, comme pour le consoler, et une lionne alla jouer avec Tarachus. Furieux devant ce spectacle qui déclenchait l'admiration de la foule, le gouverneur Maxime fit couper en morceaux les trois athlètes du Christ par ses gladiateurs, au milieu de l'amphithéâtre. La nuit venue, grâce à l'intervention de Dieu, de pieux chrétiens purent tromper les gardes et allèrent ensevelir les restes des trois Martyrs dans une caverne de la montagne.
Quelques jours plus tard, on les fit de nouveau comparaître. Tarachus fut suspendu la tête en-bas au-dessus d'un brasier dégageant une épaisse fumée. Après quoi on lui versa un âcre mélange de vinaigre, de sel et de moutarde dans les narines, avant de le jeter en prison. Comme Probus se moquait des idoles et de leurs adorateurs, il fut placé sur des fers rougis au feu, puis, après lui avoir arraché le cuir chevelu, on lui plaça des charbons ardents sur le crâne et on lui coupa la langue. Andronique à son tour fut mis à l'épreuve, mais ne cessa pas toutefois de se moquer de ses tortionnaires. Comme on lui introduisait de force dans la bouche des viandes et du vin offerts aux idoles, il tourna en dérision la stupidité du magistrat qui croyait l'avoir vaincu, en déclarant que pour les Chrétiens seule l'apostasie volontaire est une souillure et une défaite.
Finalement, le lendemain du troisième interrogatoire, Maxime organisa des jeux de bêtes et de gladiateurs, en prévoyant l'exécution des trois Martyrs comme clou du spectacle. Incapables de marcher, à cause des supplices endurés auparavant, ils furent portés jusque dans l'arène et livrés aux bêtes féroces, qui avaient déjà fait plusieurs victimes ce jour là. Contrairement à toute attente, un ours redoutable vint lécher paisiblement les plaies d'Andronique, comme pour le consoler, et une lionne alla jouer avec Tarachus. Furieux devant ce spectacle qui déclenchait l'admiration de la foule, le gouverneur Maxime fit couper en morceaux les trois athlètes du Christ par ses gladiateurs, au milieu de l'amphithéâtre. La nuit venue, grâce à l'intervention de Dieu, de pieux chrétiens purent tromper les gardes et allèrent ensevelir les restes des trois Martyrs dans une caverne de la montagne.
SOURCE :
http://www.religion-orthodoxe.eu/article-saints-martyrs-probus-tarachus-et-andronique-57991263.html
Saints Probus, Tarachus et
Andronicus, Menologion de Basil II // Οι άγιοι Πρόβος, Τάραχος και Ανδρόνικος. Από
το Μηνολόγιον του αυτοκράτορα Βασιλείου Β' (11ος αι.).
Sts. Tarachus, Probus, and
Andronicus
Martyrs of the Diocletian persecution (about 304). The
"Martyrologium Hieronymian."
contains the names of these three martyrs on four different days (the four days 8-11 October
evidently signify no more than
the date on a single day), with
the topographical identification: "In Tarso Cilicie", on 27 Sept.
(ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, 126), to which corresponds the expression, "In
Cilicia", given on the two days of 5 April, and 8-11 October. The
expression, "In Palestina", given under 13 May (ibid., 60), is either
an error or refers to a special shrine of the martyrs in Palestine. There are two accounts of the glorious
martyrdom of these three witnesses
by blood, the first account being held by Ruinart (Acta Martyrum,
ed. Ratisbon, 448 sq.) to be entirely authentic.
According to these Acts,
Tarachus, a native of Cladiopolis in Isauria,
Probus of Side in Pamphylia, and
Andronicus, who belonged to a prominent family of Ephesus,
were tried and horribly tortured three times in various cities at Tarsus, and at Anazarbus of Cilicia. They were then condemned to death by wild beasts, and when the animals
would not touch them in the amphitheatre they were put to death with the sword. Harnack, however, expressed doubts as to the genuineness
of the account (Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur, pt. II: Die
Chronologie, I, 479 sq., note 5), and Delehaye (Les lxgendes hagiographiques,
135 sq.) puts the martyrdom in the class of legends
of martyrs that he calls "historical romances".
At the same time, however, there can be no doubt as to the actual existence
of the three martyrs. Their feast is celebrated in the Latin Church on 11 October, and in the Greek Church on 12 October.
Kirsch, Johann Peter.
"Sts. Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus."
The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert
Appleton Company, 1912. 11 Oct. 2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14450c.htm>.
SS. Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, Martyrs
From their original presidial Acts in Ruinart, p. 419.
See Tillemont, t. 5, p. 285
A.D. 304.
THE HOLY name of God was glorified by the triumph of these martyrs in the persecution of Dioclesian, at Anazarbus in Cilicia, probably in the year 304, when the edicts against the Christians were made general, and extended to all the laity without exception. Their acts are a precious monument of ecclesiastical antiquity. The three first parts contain the triple examination which the saints underwent at Tarsus, Mopsuestia, and Anazarbus, three cities in Cilicia; and are an authentic copy of the pro-consular register, which certain Christians purchased of the public notaries for the sum of two hundred denarii, upwards of six pounds sterling. The last part was added by Marcian, Felix and Verus, three Christians who were present at their martyrdom, and afterwards stole the bodies from the guards, and interred them, resolving to spend the remainder of their lives near the place, and after their deaths, to be buried in the same vault with them.
The three martyrs were joined in the confession of the same faith, but differed in their age and countries. Tarachus was a Roman by extraction, though born in Isauria; he had served in the army, but had procured his discharge, for fear of being compelled to do something that was contrary to the duty of a Christian; he was at that time sixty-five years old. Probus, a native of Pamphilia, had resigned a considerable fortune, that he might be more at liberty to serve Christ. Andronicus was a young nobleman of one of the principal families of the city of Ephesus. Being apprehended at Pompeiopolis in Cilicia, they were presented to Numerian Maximus, governor of the province, upon his arrival in that city, and by his order were conducted to Tarsus, the metropolis, to wait his return. Maximus being arrived there, and seated on his tribunal, Demetrius, the centurion, brought them before him, saying, they were the persons who had been presented to him at Pompeiopolis, for professing the impious religion of the Christians, and disobeying the command of the emperors. Maximus addressed himself first to Tarachus, observing that he began with him because he was advanced in years, and then asked his name. Tarachus replied: “I am a Christian.” Maximus.—“Speak not of thy impiety; but tell me thy name.” Tarachus.—“I am a Christian.” Maximus.—“Strike him upon the mouth, and bid him not answer one thing for another.” Tarachus, after receiving a buffet on his jaws, said,—“I tell you my true name. If you would know that which my parents gave me, it is Tarachus; when I bore arms I went by the name of Victor.” Maximus.—“What is thy profession, and of what country art thou?” Tarachus.—“I am of a Roman family, and was born at Claudiopolis, in Isauria. I am by profession a soldier, but quitted the service upon the account of my religion.” Maximus.—“Thy impiety rendered thee unworthy to bear arms; but how didst thou procure thy discharge?” Tarachus.—“I asked it of my captain, Publio, and he gave it me.” Maximus.—“In consideration of thy grey hairs, I will procure thee the favour and friendship of the emperors, if thou wilt obey their orders. Draw near, and sacrifice to the gods, as the emperors themselves do all the world over.” Tarachus.—“They are deceived by the devil in so doing.” Maximus.—“Break his jaws for saying that the emperors are deceived.” Tarachus.—“I repeat it, as men, they are deluded.” Maximus.—“Sacrifice to our gods, and renounce thy folly.” Tarachus.—“I cannot renounce the law of God.” Maximus.—“Is there any law, wretch, but that which we obey?” Tarachus.—“There is; and you transgress it by adoring stocks and stones, the works of men’s hands?” Maximus.—“Strike him on the face, saying, abandon thy folly.” “What you call folly is the salvation of my soul, and I will never leave it.” Maximus.—“But I will make thee leave it, and force thee to be wise.” Tarachus.—“Do with my body what you please, it is entirely in your power.” Then Maximus said.—“Strip him and beat him with rods.” Tarachus, when beaten, said,—“You have now made me truly wise. I am strengthened by your blows, and my confidence in God and in Jesus Christ is increased.” Maximus.—“Wretch, how canst thou deny a plurality of gods, when, according to thy own confession, thou servest two gods. Didst thou not give the name of God to a certain person named Christ?” Tarachus.—“Right; for this is the Son of the living God; he is the hope of the Christians, and the author of salvation to such as suffer for his sake.” Maximus.—“Forbear this idle talk; draw near and sacrifice.” Tarachus.—“I am no idle talker; I am sixty-five years old; thus have I been brought up, and I cannot forsake the truth.” Demetrius the centurion said: “Poor man, I pity thee; be advised by me, sacrifice, and save thyself.” Tarachus.—“Away, thou minister of Satan, and keep thy advice for thy own use.” Maximus.—“Let him be loaded with large chains, and carried back to prison. Bring forth the next in years.”
Demetrius the centurion said: “He is here my lord.” Maximus.—“What is thy name?” Probus.—“My chief and most honourable name is Christian; but the name I go by in the world is Probus.” Maximus.—“Of what country art thou, and of what family?” Probus.—“My father was of Thrace: I am a plebeian, born at Sida in Pamphilia, and profess Christianity.” Maximus.—“That will do thee no service. Be advised by me, sacrifice to the gods, that thou mayest be honoured by the emperors, and enjoy my friendship.” Probus.—“I want nothing of that kind. Formerly I was possessed of a considerable estate; but I relinquished it to serve the living God through Jesus Christ.” Maximus.—“Take off his garments, gird him, 1 lay him at his full length, and lash him with ox’s sinews.” Demetrius the centurion said to him, whilst they were beating him: “Spare thyself, my friend; see how thy blood runs in streams on the ground.” Probus: “Do what you will with my body; your torments are sweet perfumes to me.” Maximus.—“Is this thy obstinate folly incurable? What canst thou hope for?” Probus.—“I am wiser than you are, because I do not worship devils.” Maximus.—“Turn him, and strike him on the belly.” Probus.—“Lord, assist thy servant.” Maximus.—“Ask him, at every stripe, where is thy helper?” Probus.—“He helps me, and will help me; for I take so little notice of your torments, that I do not obey you.” Maximus.—“Look, wretch, upon thy mangled body; the ground is covered with thy blood.” Probus.—“The more my body suffers for Jesus Christ, the more is my soul refreshed.” Maximus.—“Put fetters on his hands and feet, with his legs distended in the stocks to the fourth hole, and let nobody come to dress his wounds. Bring the third to the bar.”
Demetrius the centurion said: “Here he stands, my lord.” Maximus.—“What is thy name?” Andronicus.—“My true name is Christian, and the name by which I am commonly known among men, is Andronicus.” Maximus.—“What is your family?” Andronicus.—“My father is one of the first rank in Ephesus.” Maximus.—“Adore the gods, and obey the emperors, who are our fathers and masters.” Andronicus.—“The devil is your father whilst you do his works.” Maximus.—“Youth makes you insolent; I have torments ready.” Andronicus.—“I am prepared for whatever may happen.” Maximus.—“Strip him naked, gird him, and stretch him on the rack.” Demetrius the centurion said to the martyr: “Obey, my friend, before thy body is torn and mangled.” Andronicus.—“It is better for me to have my body tormented, than to lose my soul.” Maximus.—“Sacrifice before I put thee to the most cruel death.” Andronicus.—“I have never sacrificed to demons from my infancy, and I will not now begin.” Athanasius, the cornicularius, or clerk to the army, said to him: “I am old enough to be thy father, and therefore take the liberty to advise thee: obey the governor.” Andronicus.—“You give me admirable advice, indeed, to sacrifice to devils.” Maximus.—“Wretch, art thou insensible to torments? Thou dost not yet know what it is to suffer fire and razors. When thou hast felt them, thou wilt, perhaps, give over thy folly.” Andronicus.—“This folly is expedient for us who hope in Jesus Christ. Earthly wisdom leads to eternal death.” Maximus.—“Tear his limbs with the utmost violence.” Andronicus.—“I have done no evil; yet you torment me like a murderer. I contend for that piety which is due to the true God.” Maximus—“If thou hadst but the least sense of piety, thou wouldst adore the gods whom the emperors so religiously worship.” Andronicus.—“It is not piety, but impiety to abandon the true God, and to adore brass and marble.” Maximus.—“Execrable villain, are then the emperors guilty of impieties? Hoist him again, and gore his sides.” Andronicus.—“I am in your hands; do with my body what you please.” Maximus.—“Lay salt upon his wounds, and rub his sides with broken tiles.” Andronicus.—“Your torments have refreshed my body.” Maximus.—“I will cause thee to die gradually.” Andronicus.—“Your menaces do not terrify me; my courage is above all that your malice can invent.” Maximus.—“Put a heavy chain about his neck, and another upon his legs, and keep him in close prison.” Thus ended the first examination; the second was held at Mopsuestia.
Flavius Clemens Numerianus Maximus, governor of Cilicia, sitting on his tribunal, said to Demetrius the centurion: “Bring forth the impious wretches who follow the religion of the Christians.” Demetrius said: “Here they are, my lord.” Maximus said to Tarachus: “Old age is respected in many, on account of the good sense and prudence that generally attend it: wherefore, if you have made a proper use of the time allowed you for reflection, I presume your own discretion has wrought in you a change of sentiments; as a proof of which, it is required that you sacrifice to the gods, which cannot fail of recommending you to the esteem of your superiors.” Tarachus.—“I am a Christian, and I wish you and the emperors would leave your blindness, and embrace the truth which leads to life.” Maximus.—“Break his jaws with a stone, and bid him leave off his folly.” Tarachus.—“This folly is true wisdom.” Maximus.—“Now they have loosened all thy teeth, wretch, take pity on thyself, come to the altar, and sacrifice to the gods, to prevent severer treatment.” Tarachus.—“Though you cut my body into a thousand pieces, you will not be able to shake my resolution; because it is Christ who gives me strength to stand my ground.” Maximus.—“Wretch, accursed by the gods, I will find means to drive out thy folly. Bring in a pan of burning coals, and hold his hands in the fire till they are burned.” Tarachus.—“I fear not your temporal fire, which soon passes; but I dread eternal flames.” Maximus.—“See, thy hands are well baked; they are consumed by the fire; is it not time for thee to grow wise? Sacrifice.” Tarachus.—“If you have any other torments in store for me, employ them; I hope I shall be able to withstand all your attacks.” Maximus.—“Hang him by the feet, with his head over a great smoke.” Tarachus.—“After having proved an overmatch for your fire, I am not afraid of your smoke.” Maximus.—“Bring vinegar and salt, and force them up his nostrils.” Tarachus.—“Your vinegar is sweet to me, and your salt insipid.” Maximus.—“Put mustard into the vinegar, and thrust it up his nose.” Tarachus.—“Your ministers impose upon you: they have given me honey instead of mustard.” Maximus.—“Enough for the present; I will make it my business to invent fresh tortures to bring thee to thy senses; I will not be baffled.” Tarachus.—“You will find me prepared for the attack.” Maximus.—“Away with him to the dungeon. Bring in another.”
Demetrius the centurion said: “My lord, here is Probus.” Maximus.—“Well, Probus; hast thou considered the matter, and art thou disposed to sacrifice to the gods, after the example of the emperors?” Probus.—“I appear here again with fresh vigour. The torments I have endured have hardened my body; and my soul is strengthened in her courage, and proof against all you can inflict. I have a living God in heaven: him I serve and adore; and no other.” Maximus.—“What! Villain, are not ours living gods?” Probus.—“Can stones and wood, the workmanship of a statuary, be living gods? You know not what you do when you sacrifice to them.” Maximus.—“What insolence! At least sacrifice to the great god Jupiter. I will excuse you as to the rest.” Probus.—“Do not you blush to call him god who was guilty of adulteries, incests, and other most enormous crimes?” Maximus.—“Beat his mouth with a stone, and bid him not blaspheme.” Probus.—“Why this evil treatment? I have spoken no worse of Jupiter than they do who serve him. I utter no lie: I speak the truth, as you yourself well know.” Maximus.—“Heat bars of iron, and apply them to his feet.” Probus.—“This fire is without heat; at least I feel none.” Maximus.—“Hoist him on the rack, and let him be scourged with thongs of raw leather till his shoulders are flayed.” Probus.—“All this does me no harm; invent something new, and you will see the power of God who is in me and strengthens me.” Maximus.—“Shave his head, and lay burning coals upon it.” Probus.—“You have burned my head and my feet. You see, notwithstanding, that I still continue God’s servant and disregard your torments. He will save me: your gods can only destroy.” Maximus.—“Dost thou not see all those that worship them standing about my tribunal honoured by the gods and the emperors? They look upon thee and thy companions with contempt.” Probus.—“Believe me, unless they repent and serve the living God, they will all perish, because against the voice of their own conscience they adore idols.” Maximus.—“Beat his face, that he may learn to say the gods, and not God.” Probus.—“You unjustly destroy my mouth, and disfigure my face because I speak the truth.” Maximus.—“I will also cause thy blasphemous tongue to be plucked out to make thee comply.” Probus.—“Besides the tongue which serves me for utterance, I have an internal, an immortal tongue, which is out of your reach.” Maximus.—“Take him to prison. Let the third come in.”
Demetrius the centurion said: “He is here.” Maximus.—“Your companions, Andronicus, were at first obstinate: but gained nothing thereby but torments and disgrace: and have been at last compelled to obey. They shall receive considerable recompences. Therefore, to escape the like torments, sacrifice to the gods, and thou shalt be honoured accordingly. But if thou refusest, I swear by the immortal gods and by the invincible emperors, that thou shalt not escape out of my hands with thy life.” Andronicus.—“Why do you endeavour to deceive me with lies? They have not renounced the true God. And had that been so, you should never find me guilty of such an impiety. God, whom I adore, has clothed me with the arms of faith: and Jesus Christ, my Saviour, is my strength; so that I neither fear your power nor that of your masters, nor of your gods. For a trial, cause all your engines and instruments to be displayed before my eyes, and employed on my body.” Maximus.—“Bind him to the stakes, and scourge him with raw thongs.” Andronicus.—“
There is nothing new or extraordinary in this torment.” The clerk, Athanasius, said: “Thy whole body is but one wound from head to foot, and dost thou count this nothing?” Andronicus.—“They who love the living God, make very small account of all this.” Maximus.—“Rub his back with salt.” Andronicus.—“Give orders, I pray you, that they do not spare me, that being well seasoned I may be in no danger of putrefaction, and may be the better able to withstand your torments.” Maximus.—“Turn him, and beat him upon the belly, to open afresh his first wounds.” Andronicus.—“You saw when I was brought last before your tribunal, how I was perfectly cured of the wounds I received by the first day’s tortures: he that cured me then, can cure me a second time.” Maximus addressing himself to the guards of the prison: “Villains and traitors,” said he, “did I not strictly forbid you to suffer any one to see them or dress their wounds! Yet see here!” Pegasus, the jailer, said, “I swear by your greatness that no one has applied any thing whatever to his wounds, or had admittance to him; and he has been kept in chains in the most retired part of the prison on purpose. If you catch me in a lie I’ll forfeit my head.” Maximus.—“How comes it then that there is nothing to be seen of his wounds?” The jailer: “I swear by your high birth that I know not how they have been healed.” Andronicus.—“Senseless man, the physician that has healed me is no less powerful than he is tender and charitable. You know him not. He cures not by the application of medicines, but by his word alone. Though he dwells in heaven, he is present every where, but you know him not.” Maximus.—“Thy idle prating will do thee no service; sacrifice, or thou art a lost man.” Andronicus.—“I do not change my answers. I am not a child to be wheedled or frightened.” Maximus.—“Do not flatter thyself that thou shalt get the better of me.” Andronicus.—“Nor shall you ever make us yield to your threats.” Maximus.—“My authority shall not be baffled by thee.” Andronicus.—“Nor shall it ever be said that the cause of Jesus Christ is vanquished by your authority.” Maximus.—“Let me have several kinds of tortures in readiness against my next sitting. Put this man in prison loaded with chains, and let no one be admitted to visit them in the dungeon.” The third examination was held at Anazarbus. In it Tarachus answered first with his usual constancy, saying to all threats, that a speedy death would finish his victory and complete his happiness; and that long torments would procure him the greater recompence. When Maximus had caused him to be bound and stretched on the rack, he said: “I could allege the rescript of Dioclesian, which forbids judges to put military men to the rack. But I wave my privilege, lest you should suspect me of cowardice.” Maximus said: “Thou flatterest thyself with the hopes of having thy body embalmed by Christian women, and wrapt up in perfumes after thou art dead: but I will take care to dispose of thy remains.” Tarachus replied, “Do what you please with my body, not only whilst it is living, but also after my death.” Maximus ordered his lips, cheeks, and whole face to be slashed and cut. Tarachus said: “You have disfigured my face; but have added new beauty to my soul. I fear not any of your inventions, for I am clothed with the divine armour.” The tyrant ordered spits 2 to be heated and applied red hot to his arm-pits: then his ears to be cut off. At which, the martyr said: “My heart will not be less attentive to the word of God.” Maximus said: “Tear the skin off his head: then cover it with burning coals.” Tarachus replied: “Though you should order my whole body to be flayed you will not be able to separate me from my God.” Maximus.—“Apply the red hot spits once more to his arm-pits and sides.” Tarachus.—“O God of heaven, look down upon me, and be my judge.” The governor then sent him back to prison to be reserved for the public shows the day following, and called for the next.
Probus being brought forth, Maximus again exhorted him to sacrifice; but after many words ordered him to bound and hung up by the feet: then red hot spits to be applied to his sides and back. Probus said: “My body is in your power. May the Lord of heaven and earth vouchsafe to consider my patience, and the humility of my heart.” Maximus.—“The God whom thou implorest, has delivered thee into my hands.” Probus.—“He loves men.” Maximus.—“Open his mouth and pour in some of the wine which has been offered upon the altars, and thrust some of the sanctified meat into his mouth.” Probus.—“See, O Lord, the violence they offer me, and judge my cause.” Maximus.—“Now thou seest that after suffering a thousand torments rather than to sacrifice, thou hast nevertheless, partaken of a sacrifice.” Probus.—“You have done no great feat in making me taste these abominable offerings against my will.” Maximus.—“No matter: it is now done: promise now to do it voluntarily and thou shalt be released.” Probus.—“God forbid that I should yield; but know that if you should force into me all the abominable offerings of your whole altars, I should be no ways defiled: for God sees the violence which I suffer.” Maximus.—“Heat the spits again, and burn the calves of his legs with them.” Then he said to Probus.—“There is not a sound part in thy whole body, and still thou persistest in thy folly. Wretch, what canst thou hope for?” Probus.—“I have abandoned my body over to you that my soul may remain whole and sound.” Maximus.—“Make some sharp nails red hot, and pierce his hands with them.” Probus.—“O my Saviour, I return you most hearty thanks that you have been pleased to make me share in your own sufferings.” Maximus.—“The great number of thy torments make thee more foolish.” Probus.—“Would to God your soul was not blind, and in darkness.” Maximus.—“Now thou hast lost the use of all thy members, thou complainest of me for not having deprived thee of thy sight. Prick him in the eyes, but by little and little, till you have bored out the organs of his sight.” Probus.—“Behold I am now blind. Thou hast destroyed the eyes of my body; but canst not take away those of my soul.” Maximus.—“Thou continuest still to argue, but thou art condemned to eternal darkness.” Probus.—“Did you know the darkness in which your soul is plunged, you would see yourself much more miserable that I am.” Maximus.—“Thou hast no more use of thy body than a dead man; yet thou talkest still.” Probus.—“So long as any vital heat continues to animate the remains which you have left me of this body, I will never cease to speak of my God, to praise and to thank him.” Maximus.—“What! dost thou hope to survive these torments? Canst thou flatter thyself that I shall allow thee one moment’s respite?” Probus.—“I expect nothing from you but a cruel death; and I ask of God only the grace to persevere in the confession of his holy name to the end.” Maximus.—“I will leave thee to languish, as such an impious wretch deserves. Take him hence. Let the prisoners be closely guarded that none of their friends who would congratulate with them, may find access. I design them for the shows. Let Andronicus be brought in. He is the most resolute of the three.”
The answers and behaviour of the martyrs were usually very respectful towards their impious judges and the most unjust tyrants; and this is a duty, and the spirit of the gospel. Nevertheless, by an extraordinary impulse of the Holy Ghost, some on certain occasions, have deviated from this rule. St. Paul called his judge a whited wall, and threatened him with the anger of God. 3 In the same manner some martyrs have reproached their judges, of whom St. Austin says: 4 “They were patient in torments, faithful in their confession, constant lovers of truth in all their words. But they cast certain arrows of God against the impious, and provoked them to anger; but they wounded many to salvation.” In the answers of St. Andronicus we find many harsh expressions, injurious to the ministers of justice, which we must regard as just reproaches of their impiety, and darts employed by God to sting and awake them. The governor pressed Andronicus again to comply, adding, that his two companions had at length sacrificed to the gods, and to the emperors themselves. The martyr replied: “This is truly the part of an adorer of the god of lies: and by this imposture I know that the men are like the gods whom they serve. May God judge you, O worker of iniquity.” Maximus ordered rolls of paper to be made, and set on fire upon the belly of the martyr; then bodkins to be heated, and laid red hot between his fingers. Finding him still unshaken he said to him: “Do not expect to die at once. I will keep thee alive till the time of the shows, that thou mayest behold thy limbs devoured one after another by cruel beasts.” Andronicus answered: “You are more inhuman than the tigers, and more insatiable with blood than the most barbarous murderers.” Maximus.—“Open his mouth, and put some of the sanctified meat into it, and pour some of the wine into it which hath been offered to the gods.” Andronicus.—“Behold, O Lord, the violence which is offered me.” Maximus.—“What wilt thou do now? Thou hast tasted of the offerings taken from the altar. Thou art now initiated in the mysteries of the gods.” Andronicus.—“Know, tyrant, that the soul in not defiled when she suffers involuntarily what she condemns. God, who sees the secrets of hearts, knows that mine has not consented to this abomination.” Maximus.—“How long will this frenzy delude thy imagination? It will not deliver thee out of my hands.” Andronicus.—“God will deliver me when he pleases.” Maximus.—“This is a fresh extravagance: I will cause that tongue of thine to be cut out to put an end to thy prating.” Andronicus.—“I ask it as a favour that those lips and tongue with which you imagine I have concurred in partaking of the meats and wine offered to idols, may be cut off.” Maximus.—“Pluck out his teeth, and cut out his blasphemous tongue to the very root; burn them, and then scatter the ashes in the air, that none of his impious companions or of the women may be able to gather them up to keep as something precious or holy. 5 Let him be carried to his dungeon to serve for food to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre.”
The trial of the three martyrs being thus concluded, Maximus sent for Terentianus, the chiliarch or pontiff, and first magistrate of the community in Cilicia, who had the care of the public games and spectacles, and gave him orders to exhibit a public show the next day. In the morning, a prodigious multitude of people flocked to the amphitheatre, which was a mile distant from the town of Anazarbus. The governor came hither about noon. Many gladiators and others were slain in the combats of the gladiators and by the beasts, and their bodies were devoured by them, or lay slaughtered on the ground. We, say the authors of the acts, came, but stood on an adjoining mountain behind, looking over the walls of the amphitheatre, waiting the issue in great fear and alarms. The governor at length sent some of his guards to bring the Christians whom he had sentenced to the beasts. The martyrs were in so piteous a condition by their torments that far from being able to walk, they could not so much as stir their mangled bodies. But they were carried on the backs of porters, and thrown down in the pit of the amphitheatre below the seat of the governor. We advanced, say the authors, as near as we could on an eminence, behind, and concealed ourselves by piling stones before us as high as our breasts that we might not be known or observed. The sight of our brethren in so dismal a condition made us shed abundance of tears: even many of the infidel spectators could not contain theirs. For no sooner were the martyrs laid down, but an almost universal deep silence followed at the sight of such dismal objects, and the people began openly to murmur against the governor for his barbarous cruelty. Many even left the shows, and returned to the city: which provoked the governor, and he ordered more soldiers to guard all the avenues to stop any from departing, and to take notice of all who attempted it, that they might be afterwards called to their trial by him. At the same time, he commanded a great number of beasts to be let loose out of their dens into the pit. These fierce creatures rushed out, but all stopped near the doors of their lodges, and would not advance to hurt the martyrs. Maximus, in a fury, called for the keepers, and caused one hundred strokes with cudgels to be given them, making them responsible for the tameness of their lions and tigers, because they were less cruel than himself. He threatened even to crucify them unless they let out the most ravenous of their beasts. They turned out a great bear which that very day had killed three men. He walked up slowly towards the martyrs, and began to lick the wounds of Andronicus. That martyr leaned his head on the bear, and endeavoured to provoke him, but in vain. Maximus possessed himself no longer, but ordered the beast to be immediately killed. The bear received the strokes, and fell quietly before the feet of Andronicus. 6 Terentianus seeing the rage of the governor, and trembling for himself, immediately ordered a most furious lioness to be let out. At the sight of her, all the spectators turned pale, and her terrible roarings made the bravest men tremble on their safe seats. Yet when she came up to the saints, who lay stretched on the sand, she laid herself down at the feet of St. Tarachus, and licked them, quite forgetting her natural ferocity. Maximus, foaming with rage, commanded her to be pricked with goads. She then arose and raged about in a furious manner, roaring terribly, and affrighting all the spectators; who, seeing that she had broken down part of the door of her lodge, which the governor had ordered to be shut, cried out earnestly that she might be again driven into her lodge. The governor, therefore, called for the confectors or gladiators to despatch the martyrs with their swords; which they did. Maximus commanded the bodies to be intermixt with those of the gladiators who had been slain, and also to be guarded that night by six soldiers, lest the Christians should carry them off. The night was very dark, and a violent storm of thunder and rain dispersed the guards. The faithful distinguished the three bodies by a miraculous star or ray of light which streamed on each of them. They carried off the precious treasures on their backs, and hid them in a hollow cave in the neighbouring mountains, where the governor was not able, by any search he could make, to find them. He severely chastised the guards who had abandoned their station. Three fervent Christians, Marcian, Felix, and Verus, retired into this cave of the rock, being resolved to spend there all the remainder of their lives. The governor left Anazarbus three days after. The Christians of that city sent this relation to the Church of Iconium, desiring it might be communicated to the faithful of Pisidia and Pamphylia, for their edification. The three martyrs finished their glorious course on the 11th of October, on which day their names occur in the Roman and other martyrologies.
The heroism of the martyrs consists not only in the constancy and invincible courage with which they chose to suffer, rather than to sin against God, all the torments which the most inhuman tyrants were able to invent and inflict upon them one after another, but also in the patience, charity, meekness, and humility, with which they were animated under their sufferings. In our daily and hourly trials we have continual opportunities of exercising these virtues. If we fail even in small things, and shew ourselves strangers to the Christian spirit, can we assume, without blushing at ourselves, the sacred name of disciples of Christ?
Note 1. This manner of girding those that were punished seems to mean a covering their waist with a tunic, or something else, that they might not be exposed naked. See Fleury. l. 9, n. 1. [back]
Note 2. [Greek] in the Acts.—[Greek] verucula, ab [Greek] veru Lexic. Hederici.—Obeliscus (ex [Greek] veru, magis nomine quam re.) A great square stone, broad beneath and growing smaller and smaller towards the top.—Ains. Those made use of on this occasion were of the like figure, and of a size suitable to the purpose of torturing. Fleury calls them spits, from their form, though of stone. [back]
Note 3. Acts xxiii. 3. [back]
Note 4. In Ps. xxxix. n. 16, p. 23. [back]
Note 5. “Dentes ejus et linguam blasphemam tollite, et comburite, et ubique spargite, ut nemo de consortibus ejus impiis, aut de mulierculis aliqua colligat ut servet quasi pretiosum aliquid aut sanctum æstimet.”—p. 444. [back]
Note 6. See Orsi, diss. de Actis SS. Perpetuæ et Felic. c. 8. How the martyrs were impatient to suffer, see St. Chrys. serm. ap. Orsi, ib. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume X: October. The Lives of the Saints. 1866
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/10/111.html
Saint Tarachus and his Companions
Martyrs
(† 304)
During the persecution of Diocletian in the year
304, Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, differing in age and nationality but
united in the bonds of faith, were denounced as Christians to the governor of
Cilicia. They were arrested at Pompeiopolis, and conducted to Tarsus. The acts
of these glorious martyrs are one of the most precious monuments of Church
history. The interrogations, making up the first three parts of their acts,
were recorded in the proconsular registers, which the Christians bought for 200
denari from the public Notary. Line by line, we read the questions posed by the
governor of Cilicia named Maximus, and the answers of the martyrs. These are
followed by a narration of their death, written by three Christian
eyewitnesses, Mark, Felix and Verus, who buried their bodies.
Tarachus was a retired military officer of the
imperial armies, who had reached the age of sixty-five. Probus had abandoned a
fortune to serve Jesus Christ with greater liberty. Andronicus, the youngest,
was a member of one of the first families of Ephesus.
When Tarachus was told to sacrifice, he replied, I
cannot renounce the law of God. The governor of the province said, There is
only one law, the one we obey.
Tarachus: There is another, and you transgress it by
adoring your own handiwork, statues of wood or stone. He was struck on the
mouth and beaten with rods. Tarachus said while being struck: Now you are
making me truly wise; the blows you give me fortify me, they increase my
confidence in God and in Jesus Christ. He was chained and taken to prison.
Probus was no less courageous; while he was being
beaten the governor said to him, Look at your torn body, wretch, and the ground
covered with your blood!
Probus: The more my flesh suffers for Jesus Christ, the more my soul acquires
strength and vigor. He was placed in irons and no one was permitted to dress
his wounds.
When the turn of Andronicus came, Maximus said to
him: Adore the gods and obey the emperors, who are our fathers and masters.
Andronicus: The devil is your father, when you do his works.
Maximus: Young man, you are insolent; do you know that I have torments in
readiness?
Andronicus: I would rather see my body cut into pieces than
lose my soul.
Maximus: Wretch, we will see if you are insensible to torments. When you feel them,
you will perhaps renounce your folly.
Andronicus: This folly is advantageous for us who hope in
Jesus Christ. The wisdom of the world leads to eternal death. He was tortured
on the rack, and salt put on his wounds. He said: Your torments have procured
true refreshment for my body.
Maximus: I will have you perish by a slow death. And he had
him chained like the others and put in prison.
A short time later they were moved to another
city, where the same governor began the questioning over again. Tarachus had
his teeth broken, his hands burnt, and vinegar and salt poured into his
nostrils. He said: Your vinegar has only sweetness for me, and your salt seems
insipid to me. Probus, brought before him, told him, My soul is stronger than
ever. In heaven I have a living God whom I serve and adore; I know no other.
When told to sacrifice to Jupiter, he said, Can you give the name of god to one
soiled by adulteries, incests, and other enormous crimes? And when struck on
the mouth, he said, I have not injured truth, I only said of Jupiter what all
who adore him already know. He was burnt with hot coals on the head and feet.
Andronicus was led before Maximus and told that his companions had ceded under
torture. He answered: Why do you try to deceive me? My companions have not
renounced the cult of the true God, and even if they had, I would not
commit such an impiety. The God I adore has given me the arms of faith. Jesus
Christ, my Saviour, is my strength, in such wise that I do not dread your power
or that of your masters or that of your gods. You can test me with all the
tortures that the most refined cruelty suggests to you. He was again beaten and
salt was rubbed into his wounds. Maximus said to him: You will not despise my
authority with impunity.
Andronicus: It will not be said, either, that the cause of
Jesus Christ has succumbed under your authority.
A third interrogation and another series of
tortures followed at still another city. Tarachus was cruelly tortured; when
his ears were cut off he only said: My heart is no less attentive to the word
of God, and made other similar replies, as respectful as they were heroic.
Maximus said to Probus: The God you invoke has delivered you Himself into my
hands.
Probus: He loves men. Food offered to idols was forced into his mouth.
Probus: I have abandoned my body to your power in order to save my soul. When you
force me to eat what has been offered on your abominable altars, I am not
soiled; God is witness to the violence I suffer. He was blinded. He replied:
You have deprived me of the eyes of the body, but cannot take from me those of
the soul. If you knew your own blindness, you would find you were more
unfortunate than I am. The youngest confessor had his teeth pulled out, and was
told he would be devoured by the beasts in the amphitheater. He said: God will
deliver me when it so pleases Him.
Unable to walk because of their wounds, these
disciples of Christ were borne to the amphitheater. The wild animals, when
released, would not approach the martyrs; a bear who had killed three men that
day, came and licked the feet of the youngest martyr. The governor had the
beast killed. A furious lioness, even after being provoked, lay down at the
feet of Tarachus and licked them. Gladiators were told to kill the martyrs. The
Christians of the city sent this narration to the church of Iconium, telling
them to make it known to the faithful of the other cities of the region for
their edification.
Reflection: Such is true Christian devotion. Is ours the faith of
the Apostles who cried: Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from
the love that is in Christ Jesus? (Cf.
Romans 8:38-39)
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des
Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral:
Paris, 1882), Vol. 12; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a
compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other
sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
Andronicus, Tarachus
(Tharacus), and Probus MM (RM)
Died 304. These three martyrs were considerably different from one another,
except in their love for Jesus and willingness to put sell everything to
purchase the pearl of great price. Tarachus (c. 239- 304) was a Roman born at
Claudiopolis, Isauria. He became a soldier in the Roman army but left he army
when he became a Christian, because he feared he might be required to act
contrary to the law of God. When he was 65, Tarachus was arrested with Andronicus,
a patrician from one of the leading families of Ephesus, and Probus, a plebeian
born at Side in Pamphylia of a Thracian father who gave up a considerable
fortune to follow Christ, at Pompeiopolis in Cilicia during the persecutions of
Diocletian and Maximian.
They were tried
before Numerian Maximus, the governor, subjected to three interrogations (at
Tarsus, Mopsuestia, and Anazarbus), and cruelly tortured. They remained
steadfast in their faith and were ordered thrown to wild beasts in the arena
near Anazarbus in Cilicia; when the beasts did not harm them, gladiators killed
them by sword.
Their authentic acta
come from the proconsular register, which some Christians purchased from the
public notaries for 200 denarii. (Though this is disputed.) An epilogue was
added by three eyewitnesses of the martyrdom: Marcian, Felix, and Verus. These
same witnesses later retrieved the bodies from the guards, interred them, and
kept watch over them the rest of their lives. They also asked that they be
buried in the same vault as the martyrs.
The acta begin at
Tarsus with Maximus addressing himself to the elderly Tarachus and asking his
name.
Tarachus: I am
Christian.
Maximus: Speak not
of your impiety, but tell me your name.
Tarachus: I am a
Christian.
Maximus: Strike him
upon the mouth, and bid him not answer one thing for another.
Tarachus was
buffeted on his jaws.
Tarachus: I tell you
my true name. If you would know that which my parents gave me, it is Tarachus;
when I bore arms I went by the name of Victor.
Maximus: What is
your profession, and from what country do you come?
Tarachus: I am of a
Roman family, and was born at Claudiopolis, in Isauria. I am by profession a
soldier, but quit the service because of my religion.
Maximus: Your
impiety rendered you unworthy to bear arms; but how did you procure your
discharge?"
Tarachus: I asked it
of my captain, Publio, and he gave it to me.
Maximus: In
consideration of your gray hairs, I will procure you the favor and friendship
of the emperors, if you will obey their orders. Draw near, and sacrifice to the
gods, as the emperors themselves do all the world over.
Tarachus: They are
deceived by the devil in so doing.
Maximus: Break his
jaws for saying the emperors are deceived.
Tarachus: I repeat
it, as men they are deluded.
Maximus: Sacrifice
our gods, and renounce your folly.
Tarachus: I cannot
renounce the law of God.
Maximus: Is there
any law, wretch, but that which we obey?
Tarachus: There is,
and you transgress it by adoring stocks and stones, the works of men's hands.
Maximus: Strike him
on the face, saying, 'Abandon your folly.'
Tarachus: What you
call folly is the salvation of my soul, and I will never leave it.
Maximus: But I will
make you leave it, and force you to be wise.
Tarachus: Do with
my body what you please, it is entirely in your power.
Maximus: Strip him,
and beat him with rods.
And the old man was
beaten.
Tarachus: You have
now made me truly wise. I am strengthened by your blows, and my confidence in
God and in Jesus Christ is increased.
Maximus: Wretch,
how can you deny a plurality of gods, when, according to your own confession,
you serve two gods? Did you not give the name of God to a certain person, named
Christ?
Tarachus: Right;
for this is the Son of the living God; he is the hope of the Christians, and
the author of salvation to such as suffer for his sake.
Maximus: Forbear
this idle talk; draw near, and sacrifice.
Tarachus: I am no
idle talker; I am sixty-five years old; thus have I been brought up, and I
cannot forsake the truth.
Demetrius, the
centurion, said: "Poor man, I pity you; be advised by me, sacrifice; and
save yourself.
Tarachus:
"Away, you minister of Satan, and keep your advice for your own use.
Maximus: Let him be
loaded with large chains, and carried back to prison. Bring forth he next in
years.
Demetrius: He is
here, my lord.
Maximus: What is
your name?
Probus: MY chief
and most honorable name is Christian; but the name I go by in the world is
Probus.
Maximus: From what
country do you come, and of what family?
Probus: My father
was of Thrace: I am a plebeian, born a Sida, in Pamphylia, and profess
Christianity.
Maximus: That will
do you no service. Be advised by me, sacrifice the gods, that you may be
honored by the emperors, and enjoy my friendship.
Probus: I want
nothing of that kind. Formerly, I was possessed of a considerable estate; but I
relinquished it to serve the living God through Jesus Christ.
Maximus: Take off
his garments, gird him, lay him at his full length, and lash him with ox's
sinews.
Demetrius, the
centurion, said to him, while they were beating him: "Spare thyself, my
friend; see how your blood runs in streams on the ground."
Probus: Do what you
will with my body, your torments are sweet perfumes to me.
Maximus: Is this
your obstinate folly incurable? What can you hope for?
Probus: I am wiser
than you are, because I do not worship devils.
Maximus: Turn him,
and strike him on the belly.
Probus: My Lord,
assist your servant.
Maximus: Ask him,
at every stripe, Where is your helper?
Probus: He helps
me, and will help me; for I take so little notice of your torments, that I do
not obey you.
Maximus: Look,
wretch, upon your mangled body; the ground is covered with your blood.
Probus: The more my
body suffers for Jesus Christ, the more is my soul refreshed.
Maximus: Put
fetters on his hands and feet, with his legs distended in the stocks to the
fourth hole, and let nobody come to dress his wounds. Bring the third to the
bar.
Demetrius: Here he
stands, my lord.
Maximus: What is
your name?
Andronicus: My true
name is Christian, and the name by which I am commonly known among men, is
Andronicus.
Maximus: What is
your family?
Andronicus: My
father is one of the first rank in Ephesus.
Maximus: Adore the
gods, and obey the emperors, who are our fathers and masters.
Andronicus: The
devil is your father while you do his works.
Maximus: Youth
makes you insolent; I have torments ready.
Andronicus: I am
prepared for whatever may happen.
Maximus: Strip him
naked, gird him, and stretch him on the rack.
Demetrius: Obey, my
friend, before your body is torn and mangled.
Andronicus: It is
better for me to have my body tormented, than to lose my soul.
Maximus: Sacrifice
before I put you to the most cruel death.
Andronicus: I have
never sacrificed to demons from my infancy, and I will not now begin.
Athanasius, the
cornicularius, or clerk to the army, said to him: "I am old enough to be
your father, and therefore take the liberty to advise you: obey the
governor."
Andronicus: You
give me admirable advice, indeed, to sacrifice to devils.
Maximus: Wretch,
are you insensible to torments? You don't yet know what it is to suffer fire
and razors When you has felt them, you wilt perhaps, give over your folly.
Andronicus: This
folly is expedient for us who hope in Jesus Christ. Earthly wisdom leads to
eternal death.
Maximus: Tear his
limbs with the utmost violence.
Andronicus: I have
done no evil, like a murderer. I contend for that piety which is due.
Maximus: If you had
but the least sense of piety, you would sacrifice to the gods whom the emperors
so religiously worship.
Andronicus: That is
not piety, but impiety to abandon the true God, and worship marble.
Maximus: Execrable
villain, are then the emperors guilty of impieties? Hoist him again, and gore
his sides.
Andronicus: I am in
your hands; do with my body what you please.
Maximus: Lay salt
upon his wounds, and rub his sides with broken tiles.
Andronicus: Your
torments have refreshed my body.
Maximus: I will
cause you to die gradually.
Andronicus: Your
menaces do not terrify me; my courage is above all that your malice can invent.
Maximus: Put heavy
chain about his neck, and another upon his legs, and keep him in close prison.
Thus ended the
first examination; the second was held at Mopsuestia, where Flavius Clemens
Numerianus Maximus sat before his tribunal and issued a command to his
centurion Demetrius.
Maximus: Bring
forth the impious wretches who follow the religion of the Christians.
Demetrius: Here
they are, my lord.
Maximus: Old age is
respected in many, on account of the good sense and prudence that generally
attend it; wherefore, if you have made a proper use of the time allowed you for
reflection, I presume your own discretion has wrought in you a change of
sentiments; as a proof of which, it is required that you sacrifice to the gods,
which cannot fail of recommending you to the esteem of your superiors.
Tarachus: I am a
Christian, and I wish you and the emperors would leave your blindness, and
embrace the truth which leads to life.
Maximus: Break his
jaws with a stone, and bid him leave off his folly.
Tarachus: This
folly is true wisdom.
Maximus: Now they
have loosened all your teeth, wretch, take pity on yourself, come to the altar,
and sacrifice to the gods, to prevent severer treatment.
Tarachus: Though
you cut my body into a thousand pieces, you will not be able to shake my
resolution; because it is Christ who gives me strength to stand my ground.
Maximus: Wretch,
accursed by the gods, I will find means to drive out your folly. Bring in a pan
of burning coals, and hold his hands in the fire till they are burnt.
Tarachus: I fear
not your temporal fire, which soon passes; but I dread eternal flames.
Maximus: See, your
hands are well baked, they are consumed by the fire; is it not time for you to
grow wise? Sacrifice.
Tarachus: If you
have any other torments in store for me, employ them; I hope I shall be able to
withstand all your attacks.
Maximus: Hang him
by the feet, with his head over a great smoke.
Tarachus:
"After having proved an overmatch for your fire, I am not afraid of your
smoke.
Maximus: Bring
vinegar and salt, and force them up his nostrils.
Tarachus: Your
vinegar is sweet to me, and your salt insipid.
Maximus: Put
mustard into the vinegar, and thrust it up his nose.
Tarachus: Your
ministers impose upon you; they have given me honey instead of mustard.
Maximus: Enough for
the present; I will make it my business to invent fresh tortures to bring you
to your senses; I will not be baffled.
Tarachus: You will
find me prepared for the attack.
Maximus: Away with
him to the dungeon. Bring in another.
Demetrius: My lord,
here is Probus.
Maximus: Well,
Probus, have you considered the matter; and are you disposed to sacrifice to
the gods, after the example of the emperors?
Probus: I appear
here again with fresh vigor. The torments I have endured have hardened my body;
and my soul is strengthened in her courage, and proof against all you can
inflict. I have a living God in heaven: him I serve and adore, and no other.
Maximus: What!
villain, are not ours living gods?
Probus: Can stones
and wood, the workmanship of a statuary be living gods? You know not what you
do when you sacrifice to them.
Maximus: What
insolence! At least sacrifice to the great god Jupiter. I will excuse you as to
the rest.
Probus: Do not you
blush to call him god who was guilty of adulteries, incests, and other most
enormous crimes?
Maximus: Beat his
mouth with a stone, and bid him not blaspheme.
Probus: Why this
evil treatment? I have spoken no worse of Jupiter than they do who serve him. I
utter no lie; I speak the truth, as you yourself well know.
Maximus: Heat bars
of iron, and apply then to his foot.
Probus: This fire
is without heat; at least, I feel none.
Maximus: Hoist him
on the rack, and let him be scourged with thongs of raw leather till his
shoulders are flayed.
Probus: All this
does me no harm: invent something new, and you will see the power of God who is
in me and strengthens me.
Maximus: Shave his
head, and lay burning coals upon it.
Probus: You have
burnt my head and my feet. You see, notwithstanding, that I still continue
God's servant, and disregard your torments. He will save me; your gods can only
destroy.
Maximus: Do you not
see all those that worship them standing about my tribunal, honored by the gods
and the emperors? They look upon you and your companions with contempt.
Probus: Believe me,
unless they repent and serve the living God, they will all perish, because
against the voice of their own conscience they adore idols.
Maximus: Beat his
face, that he may learn to say the gods, and not God.
Probus: You
unjustly destroy my mouth, and disfigure my face because I speak the truth.
Maximus: I will
also cause your blasphemous tongue to be plucked out to make you comply.
Probus: Besides the
tongue which serves me for utterance, I have an internal, an immortal tongue,
which is out of your reach.
Maximus: Take him
to prison. Let the third come in.
Demetrius: He is
here.
Maximus: Your
companions, Andronicus, were at first obstinate; but gained nothing thereby but
torments and disgrace, and have been at last compelled to obey. They shall
receive considerable recompenses. Therefore, to escape the like torments,
sacrifice to the gods, and you shall be honored accordingly. But if you refuse,
I swear by the immortal gods, and by the invincible emperors that you shall not
escape out of my hands with your life.
Andronicus: Why do
you endeavor to deceive me with lies? They have not renounced the true God. And
had that been so, you should never find me guilty of such an impiety. God, whom
I adore, has clothed me with the arms of faith; and Jesus Christ, my Savior, is
my strength; so that I either fear your power, nor that of your masters, nor of
your gods. For a trial, cause all your engines and instruments to be displayed
before my eyes, and employed on my body.
Maximus: Bind him
to the stakes, and scourge him with raw thongs.
Andronicus: There
is nothing new or extraordinary in this torment.
Athanasius: Your
whole body is but one wound from head to foot, and cost you count this nothing?
Andronicus: They
who love the living God, make very small account of all this.
Maximus: Rub his
back with salt.
Andronicus: Give
orders, I pray you, that they do not spare me, that being well seasoned I may
be in no danger of putrefaction, and may be the better able to withstand your
torments.
Maximus: Turn him,
and beat him upon the belly, to open afresh his first wounds.
Andronicus: You saw
when I was brought last before your tribunal, how I was perfectly cured of the
wounds I received by the first day's tortures: he that cured me then, can cure
me a second time.
Maximus, addressing
himself to the guards of the prison: "Villains and traitors," said
he, "did I not strictly forbid you to suffer any one to see them, or dress
their wounds? Yet, see here!"
Pegasus, the
jailer, said, "I swear by your greatness that no one has applied anything
whatever to his wounds, or had admittance to him; and he has been kept in
chains in the most retired part of the prison on purpose. If you catch me in a
lie I'll forfeit my head."
Maximus: How comes
it, then, that there is nothing to be seen of his wounds?
Pegasus: I swear by
your high birth that I know not how they have been healed.
Andronicus:
Senseless man, the physician that has healed me is no less powerful than he is
tender and charitable. You know him not. He cures not by the application of
medicines, but by his word alone. Though he dwells in heaven, he is present
everywhere, but you know him not.
Maximus: Your idle
prattling will do you no service; sacrifice, or you art a lost man.
Andronicus: I do
not change my answers. I am not a child, to be wheedled or frightened.
Maximus: Do not
flatter yourself that you shall get the better of me.
Andronicus: Nor
shall you ever make us yield to your threats.
Maximus: My
authority shall not be baffled by you.
Andronicus: Nor
shall it ever be said that the cause of Jesus Christ is vanquished by your
authority.
Maximus: Let me
have several kinds of tortures in readiness against my next sitting. Put this
man in prison loaded with chains, and let no one be admitted to visit them in
the dungeon.
The third
examination was held at Anazarbus. In it Tarachus answered first with his usual
constancy, saying to all threats that a speedy death would finish his victory
and complete his happiness; and that long torments would procure him the
greater recompense. Then Maximus had him bound and stretched on the rack.
Tarachus: I could
allege the rescript of Diocletian, which forbids judges to put military men to
the rack. But waive my privilege, lest you should suspect me of cowardice.
Maximus: You
flatter yourself with the hopes of having your body embalmed by Christian
women, and wrapped up in perfumes after you art dead, but I will take care to
dispose of your remains.
Tarachus: Do what
you please with my body, not only while it is living, but also after my death.
Maximus ordered his
lips, cheeks, and whole face, to be slashed and cut.
Tarachus: You have
disfigured my face, but have added new beauty to my soul. I don't fear any of
your inventions, for I am clothed with the divine armor.
The tyrant ordered
spits to be heated and applied red hot to his armpits, then his ears to be cut
off.
Tarachus: My heart
will not be less attentive to the word of God.
Maximus: Tear the
skin off his head, then cover it with burning coals.
Tarachus: Though
you should order my whole body to be flayed, you will not be able to separate
me from my God.
Maximus: Apply the
red-hot spits once more to his armpits and sides.
Tarachus: O God of
heaven, look down upon me, and be my judge.
The governor then
sent him back to prison to be reserved for the public shows the day following,
and called for the next. Probus being brought forth, Maximus again exhorted him
to sacrifice; but after many words ordered him to be bound and hung up by the
feet: then red-hot spits to be applied to his sides and back.
Probus: My body is
in your power. May the Lord of heaven and earth vouchsafe to consider my
patience, and the humility of my heart.
Maximus: The God
whom you implore has delivered you into my hands.
Probus: He loves
men.
Maximus: Open his
mouth, and pour in some of the wine which has been offered upon the altars, and
thrust some of the sanctified meat into his mouth.
Probus: See, O
Lord, the violence they offer me, and judge my cause.
Maximus: Now you
see that after suffering a thousand torments rather than to sacrifice, you have
nevertheless partaken of a sacrifice.
Probus: You have
done no great feat in making me taste these abominable offerings against my
will.
Maximus: No matter;
it is now done: promise now to do it voluntarily and you shall be released.
Probus: God forbid
that I should yield; but know that if you should force into me all the
abominable offerings of your whole altars, I should be no ways defiled: for God
sees the violence which I suffer.
Maximus: Heat the
spits again, and burn the calves of his legs with them.
To Probus: There is
not a sound part in your whole body, and still you persistent in your folly.
Wretch, what can you hope for?
Probus: I have
handed my body over to you that my soul may remain whole and sound.
Maximus: Make some
sharp nails red hot, and pierce his hands with them.
Probus: O my
Savior, I return you most hearty thanks that you have been pleased to make me
share in your own sufferings.
Maximus: The great
number of your torments make you more foolish.
Probus: Would to
God your soul was not blind, and in darkness.
Maximus: Now that
you have lost the use of all your members, you complain to me for not having
deprived you of your sight. Prick him in the eyes, but by little and little,
till you have bored out the organs of his sight.
Probus: Behold I am
now blind. you have destroyed the eyes of my body, but cannot take away those
of my soul.
Maximus: You
continue still to argue, but you are condemned to eternal darkness.
Probus: If you knew
the darkness in which your soul is plunged, you would see yourself much more miserable
than I am.
Maximus: You have
no more use of your body than a dead man, yet you continue to talk.
Probus: So long as
any vital heat continues to animate the remains which you have left me of this
body, I will never cease to speak of my God, to praise and to thank him.
Maximus: What! Do
you hope to survive these torments? Can you flatter yourself that I shall allow
you one moment's respite?
Probus: I expect
nothing from you but a cruel death, and I ask of God only the grace to
persevere in the confession of his holy name to the end.
Maximus: I will
leave you to languish, as such an impious wretch deserves. Take him hence. Let
the prisoners be closely guarded that none of their friends who would
congratulate with them, may find access. I desire them for the shows. Let
Andronicus be brought in. He is the most resolute of the three.
The answers and
behavior of these saints were usually respectful towards their judges; this is
a duty, and the spirit of the Gospel. Nevertheless, by an extraordinary impulse
of the Holy Spirit, some on certain occasions have deviated from this rule,
e.g., Saint Paul called his judge a "whited wall" and threatened him
with the angel of God. Like him, Andronicus answers harshly. The governor
pressed Andronicus again to comply, adding, that his two companions had at
length sacrificed to the gods, and to the emperors themselves.
Andronicus: This is
truly the part of an adorer of the god of lies; and by this imposture I know
that the men are like the gods whom they serve. May God judge you, O worker of
iniquity.
Maximus ordered
rolls of paper to be made, and set on fire upon the belly of the martyr; then
bodkins to be heated, and laid red hot between his fingers. Even after all
this, Andronicus was still unshaken.
Maximus: Do not
expect to die at once. I will keep you alive till the time of the shows, that
you may see your limbs devoured one after another by cruel beasts.
Andronicus: You are
more inhuman than the tigers, and more insatiable with blood than the most
barbarous murderers.
Maximus: Open his
mouth, and put some of the sanctified meat into it, and pour some of the wine
into it which has been offered to the gods.
Andronicus: Behold,
O Lord, the violence which is offered me.
Maximus: What will
you do now? You have tasted the offerings taken from the altar. You are now
initiated in the mysteries of the gods.
Andronicus: Know,
tyrant, that the soul is not defiled when she suffers involuntarily what she
condemns. God, who sees the secrets of hearts, knows that mine has not
consented to this abomination.
Maximus: How long
will this frenzy delude your imagination? It will not deliver you out of my
hands.
Andronicus: God
will deliver me when he pleases.
Maximus: This is a
fresh extravagance: I will cause that your tongue to be cut out to put an end
to your prating.
Andronicus: I ask
it as a favor that those lips and tongue with which you imagine I have
concurred in partaking of the meats and wine offered to idols, may be cut off.
Maximus: Pluck out
his teeth, and cut out his blasphemous tongue to the very root; burn them, and
then scatter the ashes in the air, that none of his impious companions or of
the women may be able to gather them up to keep as something precious or holy.
Let him be carried to his dungeon to serve for food to the wild beasts in the
amphitheater.
Thus, the trial of
the three martyrs concluded. Maximus sent for the pontiff and the first
magistrate of Cilicia, and ordered that public games be produced the following
day. Crowds flocked to the amphitheater near the town of Anazarbus. The
governor arrived there about noon. The three eyewitnesses who wrote this
epilogue watched from the hillside, afraid to enter the amphitheater. The
governor had the tortured bodies of the three brought into the arena. Their
bodies were so mangled that they had to be carried in on the backs of porters
and thrown in the pit before the governor.
"We
advanced," say the authors, "as near as we could on an eminence
behind, and concealed ourselves by piling stones before us as high as our
breasts, that we might not be known or observed. The sight of our brethren in
so dismal a condition, made us shed abundance of tears: even many of the
infidel spectators could not contain themselves. For no sooner were the martyrs
laid down, but an almost universal deep silence followed at the sight of such
dismal objects, and the people began openly to murmur against the governor for
his barbarous cruelty.
"Many even
left the shows, and returned to the city: which provoked the governor, and he
ordered more soldiers to guard all the avenues to stop any from departing, and
to take notice of all who attempted it, that they might be afterwards called to
their trial by him. At the same time, he commanded a great number of beasts to
be let loose out of their dens into the pit. These fierce creatures rushed out,
but all stopped near the doors of their lodges, and would not advance to hurt
the martyrs.
"Maximus, in a
fury, called for the keepers, and caused one hundred strokes with cudgels to be
given them, making them responsible for the tameness of their lions and tigers,
because they were less cruel than himself. He threatened even to crucify them
unless they let out the most ravenous of their beasts.
"They turned
out a great bear which that very day had killed three men. He walked up slowly
towards the martyrs, and began to lick the wounds of Andronicus. That martyr
leaned his head on the bear, and endeavored to provoke him, but in vain.
Maximus possessed himself no longer, but ordered the beast to be immediately
killed. The bear received the strokes, and fell quietly before the feet of
Andronicus.
"The pontiff
Terentianus seeing the rage of the governor, and trembling for himself,
immediately ordered a most furious lioness to be let out. At the sight of her,
all the spectators turned pale, and her terrible roarings made the bravest men
tremble on their safe seats. Yet when she came up to the saints, who lay
stretched on the sand, she laid her self down at the feet of Saint Tarachus,
and licked them, quite forgetting her natural ferocity. Maximus, foaming with
rage, commanded her to be pricked with goads. She then arose, and raged about
in a furious manner, roaring terribly, and frightening all the spectators; who,
seeing that she had broke down part of the door of her lodge, which the
governor had ordered to be shut, cried out earnestly that she might be again
driven into her lodge.
"The governor,
therefore, called for the confectors or gladiators to dispatch the martyrs with
their swords; which they did. Maximus commanded the bodies to be intermixed
with those of the gladiators who had been slain, and also to be guarded that
night by six soldiers, lest the Christians should carry them off. The night was
very dark, and a violent storm of thunder and rain dispersed the guards. The
faithful distinguished the three bodies by a miraculous star or ray of light
which streamed on each of them. They carried off the precious treasures on
their backs, and hid them in a hollow cave in the neighboring mountains, where
the governor was not able, by any search he could make, to find them. He
severely chastised the guards." Thus, the three witnesses pledged to guard
the precious relics for the balance of their days (Benedictines, Delaney,
Husenbeth).
Martyr Probus, Tarachus and Andronicus at Tarsus, in Cilicia
Troparion & Kontakion
“When my body suffers,”
St Probus said to the idol worshippers, “then my soul is healed and
invigorated.” The tormentors refined their tortures, such as their rage could
invent, and then they tore the bodies of the saints apart. Christians secretly
took up the relics of the saints and buried them.
