Bithynia. Asia citerior. Auctore Henrico Kiepert Berolinensi. Geographische Verlagshandlung Dietrich Reimer (Ernst Vohsen) Berlin, Wilhemlstr. 29. (1903)
Saint Patrice
(4ème s.)
Évêque de Prousse, martyr avec plusieurs chrétiens. Ils furent décapités en chantant une ultime prière d'action de grâces.
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/7021/Saint-Patrice.html
Saint Patritius of Prusa
Also known as
- Patricius
- Patrick
Profile
Bishop. Martyr. No other information has survived.
- Prusa, Bithynia (in the
northwest of modern Turkey)
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-patritius-of-prusa/
Book of Saints – Patritius, Acatius, Menander and Polyaenus
Article
(Saints) Martyrs (April 28) (Date uncertain) A group of Martyrs of Prusa (Broussa) in
Bithynia in Asia Minor. They probably suffered in the second century, but no
reliable account of them exists.
MLA Citation
- Monks of Ramsgate.
“Patritius, Acatius, Menander and Polyaenus”. Book
of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 19 August 2016. Web. 21
December 2020.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-patritius-acatius-menander-and-polyaenus/>
SOURCE
: https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-patritius-acatius-menander-and-polyaenus/
St. Patricius, Bishop of Prusa, in Bithynia, Martyr
From his authentic acts in Ruinart. In the Chronicon
of George Hamartolus, of which a MS. copy is extant in the Coislinian library
at S. Germain-des-Prez in Paris, (Cod. 305,) is inserted fol. 200. Patricii
Episcopi Prusæ responsio ad Judicem. See the acts of this holy martyr most
accurately given by Mazochio, with five learned disquisitions on his see, age,
&c., in the commentary which he published in Marmor Neapolitanum, seu Vetus
Kalendarium SS. Neapolit. Ecclesiæ, t. 2, p. 301, ad 19 Maii.
THERE were anciently in Bithynia, three cities known
by the name of Prusa; that whereof St. Patricius was bishop, was famous for its
hot baths, near which stood a temple, wherein sacrifices were offered to
Esculapius and to Health: the latter being adored as a goddess by the Romans,
had a temple in Rome itself, as is mentioned by Livy. 1 His acts give the following account of his martyrdom.
Julius, proconsul of Bithynia, being at Prusa, after bathing in the hot baths
and sacrificing to Esculapius and Health, found himself fresh, vigorous, and in
good health, for which he imagined himself indebted to those divinities. With a
view, therefore, to make a grateful return to these imaginary deities, he was
determined to oblige Patricius to offer sacrifice to them. Wherefore, being
seated on his tribunal, and having caused Patricius to be brought before him,
he said to him: “You, who being led away by silly tales, are weak enough to invoke
Christ, deny if you can the power of our gods, and their providential care over
us, in granting us these mineral waters, endued by them with salutary virtues.
I therefore insist on your sacrificing to Esculapius, as you hope to avoid
being severely tormented for your non-compliance.” Patricius.—“How many wicked
things are contained in the few words you have been uttering!” Proconsul.—“What
wickedness can you discover in my discourse, who have advanced nothing in it
but what is plain matter of fact? Are not the daily cures, wrought by these
waters, clear and manifest? Don’t we see and experience them?” Patricius did
not deny the salutary virtues of the waters, nor the cures wrought by them upon
human bodies, but endeavoured to convince the governor, and a numerous
audience, that these waters, and all other things, had received their being and
perfections from the one only true God, and his Son Jesus Christ. 2 And while he was endeavouring to account for their
heat and ebullition, from secondary causes, he was interrupted by the
proconsul’s crying out: “You pretend then that Christ made these waters, and
gave them their virtue?” Patricius.—“Yes; without all doubt he did.”
Proconsul.—“If I throw you into these waters to punish you for your contempt of
the gods, do you imagine your Christ, whom you suppose the maker of them, will
preserve your life in the midst of them?” Patricius.—“I do not contemn your
gods, for no one can contemn what does not exist: I would have you convinced
that Jesus Christ can preserve my life, when I am thrown into these waters, as
easily as he can permit them to take it away: and that whatever relates to me,
or is to befal me, is perfectly known to him, as he is present every where; for
not a bird falls to the ground, nor a hair from our heads, but by his good will
and pleasure. This I would have all look upon as an oracle of truth itself; and
that an eternal punishment in hell awaits all such as, like you, adore idols.”
These words so enraged the proconsul, that he commanded the holy bishop to be
immediately stripped and cast into the scalding water. While they were throwing
him in, he prayed thus: “Lord Jesus Christ, assist thy servant.” Several of the
guards were scalded by the dashing of the water. But it had no such effect upon
the martyr, who, like the three children in the Babylonian furnace, continued
in it a considerable time without hurt, being affected no more by it than if it
had been an agreeable temperate bath. The enraged proconsul ordered him
thereupon to be taken out and beheaded. The martyr, having recommended his soul
to God by a short prayer, knelt down, and had his head struck off pursuant to
the sentence. The faithful who were present at the execution carried off his
body, and gave it a decent interment near the high road. His martyrdom happened
on the 19th of May. Thus his acts. It does not appear in what persecution he
suffered. He is commemorated in the Greek Menæa on the 19th of May; in the
Menology published by Canisius on the 28th of April and on the 19th of May, and
in the Roman Martyrology on the 28th of April, probably the day of the
translation of his relics. Both the Greek and Roman calendars join SS. Acacius,
Menander, and Polyænus, who were beheaded with him for the faith. Le Quien 3 reckons St. Alexander, who is honoured with the title
of bishop of Prusa, and martyr on the 10th of June, in the Greek Menæa, the
first bishop of that city whose name has reached us, and St. Patricius the
second, George, who was present in the council of Nice, the third, and St.
Timothy the fourth, who was crowned with martyrdom under Julian the Apostate,
according to the several Greek calendars both in their Menæa, Menologies, and
Synaxeries, which mention him on the 10th of June. Some name Constantinople as
the chief place of his veneration. Perhaps he suffered in that city: at least
his relics were preserved there in a famous church which bore his name: on
which see Du Cange. 4
Note 2. The discourse
may be seen at length in his acts given in Ruinart, in which he ascribes the
heat of these and the like waters to subterraneous fires: and the martyr takes
occasion from thence to speak of hell and its never-ending torments. Some
philosophers, both ancient and modern, imagine a central fire in the bowels of
the earth: others more probably ascribe all subterraneous heat and fire to
fermenting or inflammable materials, which are found almost every where in some
degree, especially in great depths, in the earth. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
IV: April. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Patrick (Patricius), Acatius,
Menander & Polyenus MM (RM)
Date unknown (though it is recorded on May 19, this second feast celebrated by
the Greeks). The acta of Prusa's (Broussa in Bithynia) second bishop, Patrick,
are considered authentic. The names of the others have been added in the early
calendars. His acta say that Proconsul Julius of Bithynia, having come to Prusa
to bath in its famous hot springs and sacrifice to the Esculapius and to
Health, found himself refreshed and invigorated. He attributed his renewed
well-being to these divinities and gratefully wanted to make a return by
obliging Patrick to sacrifice to them.
He had the bishop brought
before him and said, "You, who being led away by silly tales, are weak
enough to invoke Christ, deny if you can the power of our gods, and their
providential care over us. In granting us these mineral waters, endued by them
with salutary virtues. I therefore insist on your sacrificing to Esculapius, as
you hope to avoid being severely tormented for your non-compliance."
Patrick: "How many
wicked things are contained in the few words you have bean uttering!"
Julius: "What
wickedness can you discover in my discourse, who have advanced nothing in it
but what is plain matter of fact? Are not the daily cures, wrought by these
waters, clear and manifest? Don't we see and experience them?"
Patricius did not deny the
salutary effects of the waters, nor the cures wrought by them, but endeavored
to convince the governor and the listeners that these waters, and all other
things, had received their being and perfection from the one only true God, and
his Son Jesus Christ. And while he was endeavoring to account for their heat
and ebullition, from secondary causes, he was interrupted by the proconsul's
crying out: "You pretend, then, that Christ made these waters, and gave
them their virtue?"
Patrick: "Yes; without
all doubt he did."
Julius: "If I throw
you into these waters to punish you for your contempt of the gods, do you
imagine your Christ, whom you suppose the maker of them, will preserve your
life in the midst of them?"
Patrick: "I do not
contemn your gods, for no one can contemn what does not exist: I would have you
convinced that Jesus Christ can preserve my life, when I am thrown into these
waters, as easily as he can permit them to take it away: and that whatever relates
to me, or is to befall me, is perfectly known to him, as he is present
everywhere; for not a bird falls to the ground, nor a hair from our heads, but
by his good will and pleasure. This I would have all look upon as an oracle of
truth itself; and that an eternal punishment in hell awaits all such as, like
you, adore idols."
Enraged at these words, the
proconsul commanded that Patrick be stripped and cast into the scalding water.
As they carried out the order, he prayed: "Lord Jesus Christ, assist Your
servant."
Several of the guards were
scalded by the dashing of the water, which left Patrick untouched--much like
the three children in the Babylonian furnace. Julius grew more angry that God
protected the saint. He next ordered that Patrick be decapitated. The martyr,
having recommended his soul to God by a short prayer, knelt down, and had his
head struck off pursuant to the sentence. The faithful that were present at the
execution carried off his body, and gave it a decent interment near the high
road. Some name Constantinople as the chief place of his veneration and suggest
that he suffered there and that his relics were preserved in a famous church
which bore his name. Both the Greek and Roman calendars join him with Saint
Acacius, Menander, and Polyaenus, who were also beheaded for the faith
(Benedictines).
Hieromartyr Patrick, Bishop of Prusa, and his
companions
Commemorated on May 19
Saint Patrick lived during the first century and was
bishop of the city of Prusa in Bythnia (Asia Minor). He openly and boldly
preached Christ the Savior, and denounced the error of the pagans. Therefore,
he and the priests, Acacius, Menander and Polyainus were arrested, and brought
to Julius, the prefect of the city for interrogation.
Julius was going to the hot springs for treatment, and
he ordered that the Christian bishop and the priests be brought along after
him, bound in iron chains. After he washed in the hot springs, Julius offered
sacrifice to his gods. He had Saint Patrick and the other prisoners brought
before him, ordering them to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods, threatening
punishment if they refused.
Saint Patrick replied, “I am a Christian and I worship
the one true God, Jesus Christ, Who has created the heavens and the earth, and
these warm springs for the benefit of all mankind.”
Julius had the saint thrown into the hot spring, and
with firm faith the martyr prayed, “Lord, Jesus Christ, help Your servant,” and
he remained unharmed.
In an impotent rage, Julius ordered Saint Patrick and
his three presbyters beheaded. They received their crowns of unfading glory
from Christ around the year 100.
Voir aussi : https://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints?contentid=60
https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2018/05/hieromartyr-patrick-of-prussa-bishop.html
