La cathédrale Saint-Théodorit d'Uzès est une ancienne cathédrale catholique située à Uzès dans le département du Gard, en France. Construite à partir de 1090, elle était le siège de l'ancien diocèse d'Uzès jusqu'à la Révolution.
Saint
Théodorit
Prêtre
et martyr à Antioche (+ 362)
Il fut arrêté durant la persécution de Julien l'Apostat parce qu'il refusait de livrer les vases sacrés de la basilique d'Antioche. Il connut d'atroces souffrances avant de rendre à Dieu sa vie en témoignage de sa fidélité. Il est le patron d'Uzès en raison des reliques qui y furent autrefois apportées.
À Antioche de Syrie, vers 362, saint
Théodoret, prêtre et martyr, qui fut, dit-on, arrêté par l’impie Julien, comte
d’Orient et, comme il persistait à confesser le Christ, fut conduit au martyre.
Martyrologe
romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/8715/Saint-Theodorit.html
La
cathédrale Saint-Théodorit d'Uzès (Gard)
Also known as
Theodore
Teodoreto
Theodoritus
22
October on some calendars
Profile
Priest in
Antioch (in modern Turkey) where he served as the treasurer of the diocese.
Effectively eliminated paganism in area of influence. Imprisoned, tortured and martyred in
the persecutions of Julian
the Apostate for refusing to surrender sacred vessels used in
the Mass.
beheaded in 362 in
Antioch, Syria (modern Antakya, Turkey)
his executioners claimed to have seen angels around
him
Additional Information
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of the Saints, by Father Alban
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of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
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Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA Citation
“Saint Theodoret of Antioch“. CatholicSaints.Info.
8 November 2021. Web. 15
January 2022. <http://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodoret-of-antioch/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodoret-of-antioch/
La
tour Fenestrelle (clocher) de la cathédrale Saint-Théodorit d’Uzès
Theodore (Theodoret) of
Antioch M (RM)
Died 362. An apostate
named Julian, uncle of Emperor Julian the Apostate, was appointed governor of
the province of which Antioch was the capital. He was a greedy man. Upon
learning about the gold and silver treasure of the Church, he determined to
have it for himself and, therefore, published an edict banishing the Christian
clergy of the city. Theodore, a priest who had zealously destroyed idols during
the reign of Constantine and who had built many churches and oratories over the
relics of martyrs, was the custodian of the sacred vessels of the Catholics (as
opposed to the Arians). He refused to abandon his flock and continued to
assemble the faithful for Mass. For this reason, Julian had Theodore
apprehended and bound.
Theodore was charged with
the destruction of idols and raising of Christian shrines, to which the saint
confessed. Then Theodore charged the governor with having abandoned the true
God after having known Him. Thereupon Theodore was beaten and tortured as
Julian mocked him and Theodore continued to exhort Julian to return to the love
of Jesus.
Julian next ordered that
Theodore should be racked. When the blood was streaming abundantly from
Theodore's wounds, Julian said, "I perceive you do not sufficiently feel
your torments." The saint replied, "I do not feel them, because God
is with me." When Julian set the saint aflame, Theodore raised his eyes to
heaven and prayed that God would glorify His name throughout all ages.
At those words, the executioners fell on their faces to the ground. Julian himself was afraid but he ordered them to bring their torches nearer. They excused themselves saying that they saw four angels clothed in white with Theodore. Julian ordered that they be immediately drowned. Theodore encouraged his former tormentors, then turned to Julian to preach the kerygma, which enraged the governor. He threatened to kill Theodore instantly, to which the saint responded that this was his desire and issued a prophesy against Julian. At that Julian ordered Theodore beheaded.
The governor then seized
the treasure of the Church with the approbation of his nephew. He took with him
his chief treasurer, Felix, and his private treasurer, Elpidius. They profaned
the sacred vessels in an outrageous manner but their impieties did not go
unpunished for long.
The next day he presented
the emperor with an inventory of the booty and the news of Theodore's death.
The emperor was displeased that any Christian should be put to death merely
because of his religion and complained that this would give the Galileans
reason to write against him and make a martyr of Theodore.
The governor was
confounded by such a response and was seized with fear. For forty days the
governor Julian languished with a disgusting affliction of his gastrointestinal
system that could not be relieved by the best physicians. Finally, he pressed
his wife to go and pray for him at the church and to seek the prayers of the
Christians. He begged the emperor to restore to the Christians the churches
that he had taken from them, but the emperor refused saying that his uncle had
betrayed the gods. While the governor suffered indescribable torments, Theodore
rested in the hands of God (Benedictines, Husenbeth).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/1023.shtml
Short
Lives of the Saints – Saint Theodoret, Martyr
Entry
The uncle of the famous
Julian the Apostate was a certain Count Julian, who also renounced the faith of
Christ in order to please his nephew. The reward of this iniquitous apostasy
was the installation of Count Julian as governor of the East. At that period,
the holy priest Theodoret was the trusty guardian of all the sacred vessels of
the Christians. Count Julian demanded the surrender of those precious
treasures; and when Theodoret firmly refused to betray his solemn trust, the
governor subjected the noble priest to the most atrocious tortures. Theodoret,
in the midst of his agony, continually exhorted the apostate to return to the
faith; but Julian remaining deaf to his counsels, the brave confessor, inspired
by God, prophesied his own death on the rack, and predicted the defeat of Julian
the Apostate by the Persians, and his despairing death, as well as that of
Count Julian, who really expired forty days after, like Antiochus, consumed by
worms.
Man is unjust, but God is
just; and finally justice
Triumphs.
– Henry W. Longfellow
Favorite Practice – To
resolve sooner to die than betray a sacred trust.
MLA
Citation
Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly.
“Saint Theodoret, Martyr”. Short
Lives of the Saints, 1910. CatholicSaints.Info.
22 April 2021. Web. 15 January 2022. <https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-theodoret-martyr/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/short-lives-of-the-saints-saint-theodoret-martyr/<
Pictorial Lives of the Saints – Saint Theodoret,
Martyr
About the year 361, Julian, uncle to the emperor of
that name, and like his nephew an apostate, was made Count of the East. He closed the Christian churches at
Antioch, and when Saint Theodoret assembled the Christians in private, he was
summoned before the tribunal of the count and most inhumanly tortured. His arms
and feet were fastened by ropes to pulleys, and stretched until his body
appeared nearly eight feet long, and the blood streamed from his sides. “O most
wretched man,” he said to his judge, “you know well that at the day of judgment
the crucified God whom you blaspheme will send you and the tyrant whom you
serve to hell.” Julian trembled at this awful prophecy, but he had the Saint
despatched quickly by the sword, and in a little while the judge himself was
arraigned before the judgment-seat of God.
Reflection
– Those who do not go down to hell in spirit are very likely to go there in
reality. Take care to meditate upon the four last things, and to live in holy
fear. You will learn to love God better by thinking how He punishes those who
do not love Him.
SOURCE
: https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-theodoret-martyr/
October 23
St. Theodoret, Priest and Martyr
From
his authentic acts mentioned by Sozomen, l. 5, c. 8, and by Theodoret, l. 3, c.
13, published by Mabillon, Vet. Analect. t. 4, p. 127, and by Ruinart, Act.
Sinc. p. 592. See Baillet, p. 355.
A.D.
362.
JULIAN, uncle
to the Emperor Julian, and likewise an apostate, was by his nephew made count
or governor of the East, of which district Antioch was the capital. Being
informed that in the treasury of the chief church of the Catholics there was a
great quantity of gold and silver plate, he was determined to seize it into his
own hands, and published an order by which he banished the clergy out of the
city. Theodoret, a zealous priest, who had been very active during the reign of
Constantius in destroying idols, and in building churches and oratories over
the relics of martyrs, and who was keeper of the sacred vessels (not of the
great church then in the hands of Euzoius and his Arians, 1 but of some other church of the
Catholics), refused to abandon his flock, and continued openly to hold sacred
assemblies with prayers and sacrifices. Count Julian commanded him to be
apprehended, and brought before him with his hands bound behind his back.
Julian charged him with having thrown down the statues of the gods, and built
churches in the foregoing reign. Theodoret owned he had built churches upon the
tombs of martyrs, and retorted upon the count, that after having known the true
God he had abandoned his worship. The count ordered him to be beaten on the
soles of his feet, then buffeted on his face, and afterwards tied to four
stakes, and stretched with cords and pullies by his legs and arms; which was
done with such violence that his body seemed extended to the length of eight
feet. The tyrant jeered him all the time; but the martyr exhorted him to
acknowledge the true God, and Jesus Christ his Son, by whom all things were
made. Julian ordered that he should be tormented on the rack, and, when the
blood was streaming abundantly from his wounds, said to him: “I perceive you do
not sufficiently feel your torments.” The martyr replied: “I do not feel them,
because God is with me.” Julian caused lighted matches to be applied to his
sides. The saint, whilst his flesh was burning, and the fat was melting in
drops, lifted up his eyes to heaven and prayed that God would glorify his name
throughout all ages. At these words, the executioners fell on their faces to
the ground. The count himself was at first affrighted; but, recovering himself,
he bid them again draw near the martyr with their torches. They excused
themselves, saying they saw four angels clothed in white with Theodoret. Julian
in a rage ordered them to be thrown into the water, and drowned. Theodoret said
to them: “Go before, my brethren: I will follow by vanquishing the enemy.” The
count asked him who that enemy was? “The devil,” said the martyr, “for whom you
fight. Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, is he who giveth victory.” He
then explained how God sent his Word into the world to clothe himself with
human flesh in the womb of a virgin, and that this God made man, suffered
freely, and by his sufferings, merited for us salvation. The count, in the
impotence of his rage, threatened to put him instantly to death. Theodoret
declared that was his desire, and said: “You, Julian, shall die in your bed
under the sharpest torments; and your master, who hopes to vanquish the
Persians, shall be himself vanquished: an unknown hand shall bereave him of
life: he shall return no more to the territories of the Romans.” The count
dictated a sentence by which he condemned the martyr to be beheaded; which he
underwent with joy, in the year 362. This saint is by some called Theodore; at
Uzez, in Languedoc, and at Apt, in Provence (of both which places he is titular
saint and principal patron), Theodoric; but his true name is Theodoret.
On
the day of the martyrdom of St. Theodoret, the count, according to an order he
had received from the emperor, went and seized the effects of the great church
of Antioch, having with him Felix, count of the largesses, or chief treasurer,
and Elpidius, count of the private patrimony, that is, intendant of the
demesnes, who were also apostates. Felix, as he was viewing the rich and
magnificent vessels which the Emperors Constantine and Constantius had given to
the church, impiously said: “Behold with what rich plate the son of Mary is
served.” Count Julian also profaned the sacred vessels in the most outrageous
manner, 2 and these apostates made them
the subject of their blasphemies and banter. Their impieties did not remain
long unpunished. Count Julian passed the following night with much disquiet,
and the next morning presented to the emperor an inventory of what he had
seized, and informed him of what he had done with relation to St. Theodoret.
Herein he had no other view than to please that prince. But the emperor told
him plainly, that he approved not his putting any Christian to death merely on
account of his religion, and complained that this would afford an occasion to
the Galileans to write against him, and to make a saint and a martyr of
Theodoret. The count, who little expected such a reception, remained greatly
confounded. The fear with which he was seized permitted him not to eat much at
the sacrifice, at which he assisted with the emperor, and he retired to his own
house much troubled in mind, so that he would take no nourishment. That evening
he felt a violent pain in his bowels, and fell into a grievous and unknown
disease. Some of the lower parts of his bowels being corrupted, he cast out his
excrements by his mouth, which had uttered so many blasphemies, and the
putrified parts bred such a quantity of worms that he could not be cleared of
them, nor could all the art of physicians give him any relief. They killed a
number of the choicest birds, which were sought at a great expense, and applied
them to the parts affected in order to draw out the worms; but they crawled the
deeper, and penetrated into the live flesh. They got into his stomach, and from
time to time came out of his mouth. Philostorgius says he remained forty days
without speech or sense. He then came to himself, and bore testimony of his own
impiety, for which he was thus severely punished, and pressed his wife to go
and pray for him at church, and to desire the prayers of the Christians. He
entreated the emperor to restore to the Christians the churches which he had
taken from them, and to cause them to be opened; but he could not obtain from
him even that favour, and received only this answer: “It was not I who shut
them up; and I will give no orders to have them set open.” The count sent him
word, that it was for his sake that he had quitted Christianity, and now
perished so miserably; but Julian, without shewing the least compassion, or
fearing himself the hand of God, sent him this answer: “You have not been
faithful to the gods; and it is for that you suffer such torments.” At length
the imposthumes, which spread very far, and worms which gnawed him continually,
reduced him to the utmost extremity. He threw them up without ceasing, the
three last days of his life, with a stench which he himself could not bear. His
nephew Julian lamented him as little when dead as he had pitied him living, and
continued to declare, that this calamity befel him because he had not been
faithful to the gods. 3 Felix and Elpidius came also to
miserable ends. The emperor himself, in Persia, when he was wounded in the side
by an arrow from an unknown hand, is related in the acts of St. Theodoret, to
have said, casting with his hand some of his blood towards heaven: “Even here,
O Galilæan, you pursue me. Satiate yourself with my blood, and glory that you
have vanquished me.” He was carried into a neighbouring village, where he
expired a few hours after, on the 26th of June, 363, as the author of these
acts tell us; who moreover says: “We were with him in the palace at Antioch,
and in Persia.” Theodoret and Sozomen agree with him. Philostorgius says that
Julian addressed the above-mentioned words to the sun, the god of the Persians,
and that he died blaspheming his own gods.
With
what inexpressible horrors is the sinner seized when he finds himself overtaken
by divine vengeance, or in the jaws of death! In his short-lived imaginary
prosperity, it is his study to forget himself: if herein he unhappily succeeds
so far as to arrive at a spiritual insensibility, his alarms will be the more
grievous when his soul shall be awakened from her lethargy, and the fooleries
which at present amuse her and divert her attention, shall have lost their
enchanting power. At least his rage, consternation, and despair will but be the
more intolerable for eternity. The servant of God finds in his God a solid
comfort in all events, reposing in him a confidence which nothing can shake,
and ever rejoicing in his holy will, to which with love and assurance he
commits himself in life and death. His omnipotence all things obey, and his
infinite goodness and most tender mercy are always open and ready to meet us:
his servant never calls to mind or names either of these, or any other
attribute of God, without feeling an inexpressible interior relish, and
sentiment of joy and love. In a filial fear, and sincere compunction for his
sins, he ceases not with sweet confidence to invoke his God, his Redeemer,
Friend, and Protector begging that he exert his omnipotence, (which is no where
so wonderfully manifested as in the pardon of sinners,) and that he display his
eternal and boundless mercy in bringing him to true repentance and salvation,
and that he ordain all things with regard to him according to his holy will,
and to the greater glory of his adorable name.
Note
1. Theodoret, l. 3, c. 8. Bolland. t. 6,
Man. in T. prælim. p. 9, n. 34. [back]
Note 2. See Tillem. Hist. Eccl. t. 7, p. 395.
Jortin’s remarks on Eccl. Hist. vol. 3, p. 277. [back
Note
3. See the Acts of SS. Bonosus, &c., Aug.
21, t. 8, p. 268. [back]
SOURCE : https://www.bartleby.com/210/10/231.html
Eglise
du village de Saint-Théodorit dans le Gard
San Teodoreto
di Antiochia Martire
Martirologio
Romano: Ad Antiochia in Siria, san Teodoreto, sacerdote e martire, che,
come si tramanda, fu arrestato dall’empio Giuliano, imperatore d’Oriente, per
aver perseverato nel professare la propria fede in Cristo e condotto, infine,
al martirio.
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/74840
Voir aussi : https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2016/11/holy-martyr-theodore-of-antioch.html