Saint Melchiade (311-314)
Né en
Afrique.
Ce fut
pendant son pontificat que l’empereur Constentin publia sion édit ordonnant que
la religion chrétienne puisse être pratiquée librement.
Saint
Melchiades commença la construction de la basilique Saint-Jean.
10/12 St Melchiade, pape et martyr
Déposition de St
Melchiade (Miltiade), au cimetière de Callixte, le 10 janvier 314 selon le
martyrologe hiéronymien, le 10 décembre selon le Liber Pontificalis.
On lui donne le titre de martyr, alors qu’il fut le pape de la paix
constantinienne. Fête à partir du XIIème siècle.
Dom
Guéranger, l’Année Liturgique
L’Église fait,
en ce même jour, la Commémoration du saint Pape Melchiade. Cet illustre
Pontife, que saint Augustin appelle le véritable enfant de la paix de
Jésus-Christ, le digne Père du peuple chrétien, monta sur le Saint-Siège en
311, pendant que le feu de la persécution était encore dans toute son
activité : c’est pourquoi il est honoré de la qualité de Martyr, comme
plusieurs de ses prédécesseurs qui, n’ayant pas, il est vrai, répandu leur sang
pour le nom de Jésus-Christ, ont cependant eu part à la gloire des Martyrs, à
cause des grandes traverses et persécutions qu’ils eurent à souffrir avec toute
l’Église de leur temps. Mais le Pontificat de saint Melchiade présente ceci de
remarquable, qu’ayant eu ses racines dans la tempête, il s’est épanoui dans la
paix. Dès l’année 312, Constantin rendit la liberté aux Églises ; et
Melchiade eut la gloire de voir s’ouvrir l’ère de la prospérité temporelle des
enfants de Dieu. Maintenant son nom brille au Cycle liturgique, et nous annonce
la Paix qui bientôt va descendre du ciel. Daignez donc, ô Père du peuple
chrétien, solliciter pour nous le Prince de la Paix, afin que, venant en nous,
il détruise toute agitation, calme toute résistance, et règne en maître sur nos
cœurs, sur nos esprits et sur nos sens. Demandez aussi la Paix pour la sainte
Église Romaine, dont vous fûtes l’époux, et qui a gardé votre mémoire
jusqu’aujourd’hui ; conduisez-la toujours du haut du ciel et écoutez les
vœux qu’elle vous adresse.
Bhx
Cardinal Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
III
id. ian. Miltiadis in Callisti, lit-on dans le Laterculus Philocalien au 10 janvier ;
c’est donc en vertu d’une étrange équivoque que les tardifs liturgistes romains
de la fin du moyen âge ont anticipé d’un mois la mémoire de saint Melchiade
confondant les ides de décembre avec celles de janvier. La commémoration
annuelle de ce célèbre Pontife — le premier qui, après trois siècles de
persécution, recueillit le fruit du sang des martyrs dans la paix triomphale de
Constantin — est entrée en effet dans le calendrier romain seulement vers le
XIIIe siècle.
Indépendamment
du Laterculus Philocalien, le pape Damase au IVe siècle avait
désigné lui aussi aux fidèles la tombe de Melchiade, parmi celles des saints
ensevelis dans la nécropole de Callixte sur la voie Appienne :
HIC • POSITVS •
LONGA • QVI • VIXIT • IN • PAGE • SACERDOS
Aussi le titre
de martyr attribué à Melchiade dans le Missel doit-il s’entendre en un sens
très large, car il peut se rapporter, tout au plus, aux premières années de son
ministère ecclésiastique, lorsque les édits impériaux de la dernière
persécution étaient encore en vigueur. Sous Pascal Ier, les cimetières romains
étant tombés dans l’abandon et dans l’oubli, le corps de saint Melchiade fut
transporté dans la basilique de Sainte-Praxède sur l’Esquilin, comme en fait
foi, aujourd’hui encore, le précieux catalogue marmoréen des Reliques
ensevelies dans cette église par ce Pontife.
Saint Melchiade
représente d’une certaine manière le Pontife de la paix et du triomphe de
l’Église, lui qui érigea sa glorieuse chaire dans la domus Faustae, dans
l’antique palais des Laterani et là, inaugura cette longue série de conciles
qui seront, à travers les siècles, le flambeau éclairant, pour la famille catholique,
le chemin du ciel. Aimons, nous aussi, la paix ; efforçons-nous d’être
évangéliquement pacifiques, et Dieu, pour nous récompenser des renoncements que
comporte cet effort, nous nourrira des fruits de sa paix.
Dom
Pius Parsch, le Guide dans l’année liturgique
Jour de
mort : le 10 décembre 314. Tombeau : primitivement dans le cimetière
Saint-Callixte et, actuellement, dans l’église Saint Silvestre delle Monache à
Rome. Son chef est dans la basilique de Saint-Sauveur à Rome. Sa vie : On
lit dans le Martyrologe : « A Rome, saint Melchiade. Il eut beaucoup
à souffrir pendant la persécution de Maximien ; lorsqu’enfin commença une
ère de paix pour l’Église, il s’endormit dans le Seigneur. » C’était un
Africain, et saint Augustin l’appelle « le véritable enfant de la paix de
Jésus-Christ ». Il gouverna l’Église de Dieu dans les derniers temps des
persécutions, de 311 à 314, et il eut le bonheur de voir commencer, pour
l’Église, une période de paix. En 312, Constantin donnait la liberté à
l’Église.
Pratique :
Les soldats du Christ souffrent et travaillent pour la paix extérieure et
intérieure, tant que la volonté de Dieu l’exige. La paix de l’Église est le
fruit des sacrifices des fidèles et de leurs pasteurs. La paix de l’Église,
après la mort de saint Melchiade amena rapidement une floraison magnifique de
la liturgie avec un flot de bénédictions et de paix.
La
Messe
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die
10 decembris
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Sancti Melchiadis
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Papæ et Mart.
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Commemoratio
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Missa Si díligis me, de
Communi Communi Summorum Pontificum.
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Oratio.
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Gregem tuum, Pastor ætérne, placátus
inténde : et, per beátum Mechíadem Mártyrem tuum atque Summum
Pontíficem, perpétua protectióne custódi ; quem totíus Ecclésiæ
præstitísti esse pastórem. Per Dóminum nostrum.
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Ante 1955 : Et fit
Commemoratio Octavæ Comnceptionis immaculatæ.
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Et fit Commemoratio Feriæ.
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Ante 1942
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Missa Státuit, de Communi
unius Martyris 1 loco.
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le
10 décembre
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Saint Melchiade
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Pape et Martyr
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Commémoraison
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Messe Si díligis me, du
Commun des Souverains Pontifes.
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Collecte C1
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Pasteur éternel de l’Eglise, regardez avec
bienveillance votre troupeau, protégez-le et gardez-le toujours. Nous vous le
demandons par le bienheureux Pape Melchiade, votre Martyr, que vous avez
placé comme berger à la tête de l’Eglise.
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Avant 1955 : Et on fait
Mémoire de l’Octave de l’Immaculée Conception.
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Et on fait mémoire de la Férie de l’Avent.
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Avant 1942
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Messe Státuit, du Commun
d’un Martyr 1.
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Pape Miltiade (saint)
32ème pape - Pape du 21 juillet 311 au 10 janvier 314
Fêté le 10 décembre
Saint Miltiade ou
Melchiade, pape et successeur de saint Eusèbe, fut élu le 21 juillet 311. Il était africain de naissance et fort
considéré pour ses vertus et ses talents. Maxence était toujours en possession
d'un plus grand pouvoir. Il avait, à la vérité, fait cesser les persécutions religieuses ; mais ses débauches, portées au plus haut
degré de violence contre toutes les personnes du sexe, remplissaient Rome de
terreur, et ses nombreuses victimes demandaient vengeance. Ces désordres
durèrent jusqu'à ce qu'il fût vaincu en 312 par Constantin, qui entra
triomphant dans Rome, y rétablit la paix, en érigeant, au milieu de la ville,
le trophée de la croix, qui avait été l'instrument de sa victoire et de
sa conversion au Christianisme. Miltiade présida en 313 le concile de Rome, contre le schisme des
donatistes (Voyez Donat), où Cécilien, accusé
par Donat des Cases-Noires, fut justifié et confirmé dans l'évêché de Carthage.
Miltiade mourut le 10 janvier 314, après deux ans et demie de pontificat. Saint Augustin en fait les plus grands éloges. Miltiade
eut pour successeur saint Sylvestre Ier. (Biographie universelle ancienne et moderne - Tome 28 - Page 321)
Pope
St. Miltiades
The year of his birth is
not known; he was elected pope in either 310 or 311; died 10 or 11 January,
314. After the banishment of Pope Eusebius, the Roman See was vacant
for some time, probably because
of the complications which has arisen on account of the apostates (lapsi), and which were not cleared up by the banishment of Eusebius and Heraclius.
On 2 July, 310 or 311, Miltiadea (the name is also written Melchiades),
a native of Africa, was elevated to the papacy. There is some uncertainty as to the exact
year, as the "Liberian Catalogue of the Popes" (Duchesne, "Liber Pontificalis", I, 9) gives 2 July, 311, as the date of the consecration of the new pope (ex die VI non. iul. a cons. Maximiliano VIII
solo, quod fuit mense septembri Volusiano
et Rufino); but in contradiction to this the death of the pope is said to have occurred on 2 January, 314,
and the duration of the pontificate is given as three years, six months and
eight days; possibly owing to the mistake of a copyist, we ought to read
"ann. II" instead of "ann. III"; and therefore the year of
his elevation to the papacy was most probably 311. About this
time (311 or 310), an edict of toleration
signed by the Emperors Galerius,
Licinius, and Constantine, put
an end to the great persecution of the Christians, and they were permitted to live as such, and
also to reconstruct their places of religious
worship (Eusebius, Church History VIII.17; Lactantius,
How the Persecutors Died 34). Only in those countries of the Orient
which were under the sway of Maximinus
Daia did the Christians continue to be persecuted. The emperor now gave Pope Miltiades in Rome the right to receive back, through the prefect
of the city, all ecclesiastical buildings and possessions
which had been confiscated during the persecutions.
The two Roman deacons, Strato
and Cassianus, were ordered by the pope to discuss this matter
with the prefect, and to take
over the church properties (Augustinus, "Breviculus
collationis cum Donatistis", iii, 34); it thus became possible to
reorganize thoroughly the ecclesiastical administration and the religious life of the Christians in Rome.
Miltiades caused
the remains of his predecessor, Eusebius, to be brought back from Sicily to Rome, and had them interred in a crypt in the Catacombs of St. Callistus.
In the following year the pope witnessed
the final triumph of the Cross,
through the defeat of Maxentius, and the entry into Rome of the Emperor Constantine (now converted to Christianity), after the victory at the Milvian
Bridge (27 October, 312). Later the emperor presented the Roman Church with the Lateran Palace, which then became the
residence of the pope, and consequently also the seat of
the seat of the central administration of the Roman Church. The basilica
which adjoined the palace or was afterwards built there became the principal church
of Rome. In 313 the Donatists came to Constantine
with a request to nominate bishops from Gaul
as judges in the controversy of
the African episcopate
regarding the consecration in Carthage
of the two bishops, Cæcilian
and Majorinus. Constantine wrote
about this to Miltiades, and also to Marcus,
requesting the pope with three bishops from Gaul
to give a hearing in Rome, to Cæcilian
and his opponent, and to decide the case. On 2 October, 313, there assembled in
the Lateran Palace, under the presidency of Miltiades, a synod
of eighteen bishops from Gaul
and Italy, which, after thoroughly considering the Donatist controversy for three days, decided in favor
of Cæcilian, whose election
and consecration as Bishop of Carthage was declared to be legitimate.
In the biography of Miltiades, in the "Liber Pontificalis", it is stated that at the time
Manichæans were found in Rome; this was quite possible as Manichæism began to be spread in the West
in the fourth century. The same source attributes
to this pope a decree which absolutely forbade the Christians to fast
on Sundays or on Thursdays, "because these days were
observed by the heathen as a holy
fast". This reason
is remarkable; it comes most likely from the author of the "Liber Pontificalis" who with this alleged decree traces back a Roman
custom of his own time to an
ordinance of Miltiades. The "Liber Pontificalis" is probably no less arbitrary in
crediting this pope with a decree to the effect that the Oblation
consecrated at the Solemn
Mass of the pope (by which is meant the Eucharistic
Bread) should be taken to the
different churches in Rome. Such a custom
actually existed in Rome (Duchesne, "Christian Worship,"
London, 1903, 185); but there is nothing definite to show that it was
introduced by Miltiades, as the "Liber Pontificalis" asserts.
After his death, on
10 or 11 January (the Liberian Catalogue" give it as III id. jan.; the
"Depositio Episcoporum" as IIII id. jan.), 314, Miltiades was laid to
rest in the Catacomb of St.
Callistus and he was venerated as a saint.
De Rossi regards as highly probably his [this] location
of this pope's burial-chamber
(Roma Sotterranea, II, 188 sq.). His feast
was celebrated in the fourth century, on 10 January, according to the
"Martyrologium Hieronymianum". In the present "Roman
Martyrology" it occurs on 10 December.
Sources
Liber Pontificalis, ed Duchesne, I, 168-196; Urbain Ein Martyrologium
der christl. Gemeinde zu
Rom (Leipzig, 1901), 118-119; Langen, Geschichte der römischen Kirche, I, 328
sqq.; Allard, Histoire des persécutions, V, 200, 203; Duchesne, Histoire
ancienne de l'Église, II, 96, 97, 110-112.
Kirsch, Johann Peter. "Pope St. Miltiades." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 10 Dec. 2016
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10318a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by M. Anne McCay.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur.
+John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
December
10
St. Melchiades, Pope
From Eus. l. 9, c. 9. St. Optat. l. 1. St. Aug. See
Tillemont
A.D. 314
MELCHIADES, or MILTIADES, succeeded Eusebius in the
see of Rome, being chosen on the 2d of July, 311, in the reign of Maxentius.
Constantine vanquished that tyrant on the 28th of October in 312, and soon
after issued edicts, by which he allowed Christians the free exercise of their
religion, and the liberty of building churches. To pacify the minds of the
pagans, who were uneasy at this innovation, when he arrived at Milan in the
beginning of the year 313, he, by a second edict, ensured to all religions
except heresies, liberty of conscience. Among the first laws which he enacted
in favour of Christians, he passed one to exempt the clergy from the burden of
civil offices. He obliged all his soldiers to repeat on Sundays a prayer
addressed to the one only God; and no idolater could scruple at such a
practice. He abolished the pagan festivals and mysteries in which lewdness had
a share. Unnatural impurity being almost unrestrained among the heathens, the
Romans, when luxury and debauchery were arrived at the highest pitch among
them, began to shun marriage, that they might be more at liberty to follow
their passions. Whereupon Augustus was obliged by laws to encourage and to
command all men to marry, inflicting heavy penalties on the disobedient. 1 The abuses being restrained by the Christian religion
more effectually than they could have been by human laws, Constantine, in
favour of celibacy, repealed the Poppæan law. This emperor also made a law to
punish adultery with death. 2 The good pope rejoiced exceedingly at the prosperity
of God’s house, and, by his zealous labours, very much extended its pale; but
he had the affliction to see it torn by an intestine division, in the Donatist
schism, which blazed with great fury in Africa. Mensurius, bishop of Carthage,
being falsely accused of having delivered up the sacred scriptures to be burnt
in the time of the persecution, Donatus, bishop of Cassa-nigra in Numidia, most
unreasonably separated himself from his communion, and continued his schism
when Cecilian had succeeded Mensurius in the see of Carthage, and was joined by
many jealous enemies of that good prelate, especially by the powerful lady
Lucilla, who was personally piqued against Cecilian whilst he was deacon of
that church. The chismatics appealed to Constantine, who was then in Gaul, and
entreated him to commission three Gaulish bishops, whom they specified, to
judge their cause against Cecilian. The emperor granted them these judges they
demanded, but ordered the aforesaid bishops to repair to Rome, by letter,
entreating Pope Melchiades to examine into the controversy, together with these
Gaulish bishops, and to decide it according to justice and equity. The emperor
left to the bishops the decision of this affair, because it regarded a bishop. 3 Pope Melchiades opened a council in the Lateran
palace on the 2d of October, 313, at which both Cecilian and Donatus of
Cassa-nigra were present; and the former was pronounced by the pope and his
council innocent of the whole charge that was brought against him. Donatus of
Cassa-nigra was the only person who was condemned on that occasion; the other
bishops who had adhered to him were allowed to keep their sees upon their
renouncing the schism. St. Austin, speaking of the moderation which the pope
used, calls him an excellent man, a true son of peace, and a true father of Christians.
Yet the Donatists, after his death, had recourse to their usual arms of slander
to asperse his character, and pretended that this pope had delivered the
scriptures into the hands of the persecutors; which St. Austin calls a
groundless and malicious calumny. St. Melchiades died on the 10th of January,
314, having sat two years, six months, and eight days, and was buried on the
Appian road, in the cemetery of Calixtus; is named in the Roman Martyrology,
and in those of Bede, Ado, Usuard, &c. In some calendars he is styled a
martyr, doubtless on account of his sufferings in preceding persecutions.
This holy pope saw a door opened by the peace of the
church to the conversion of many, and he rejoiced at the triumph of the cross
of Christ. But with worldly prosperity a worldly spirit too often broke into
the sanctuary itself; insomuch that the zealous pastor had sometimes reason to
complain, with Isaiah, “Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast
not increased my joy.” 4 Under the pressures of severe persecution, the true
spirit of our holy religion was maintained in many among its professors during
the first ages; yet, amidst the most holy examples, and under the influence of
the strongest motives and helps, avarice and ambition insinuated themselves
into the hearts of some, who, by the abuse of the greatest graces, became of
all others the most abandoned to wickedness; witness Judas the apostate in the
college of the apostles; also several amongst the disciples of the primitive
saints, as Simon Magus, Paul of Samosata, and others. But with temporal honours
and affluence, the love of the world, though most severely condemned by Christ,
as the capital enemy to his grace and holy love, and the source of all vicious
passions, crept into the hearts of many, to the utter extinction of the
Christian spirit in their souls. This, indeed, reigns, and always will reign,
in a great number of chosen souls, whose lives are often hidden from the world,
but in whom God will always provide for his honour faithful servants on earth,
who will praise him in spirit and truth. But so deplorable are the overflowings
of sensuality, avarice, and ambition, and such the lukewarmness and spiritual
insensibility which have taken root in the hearts of many Christians, that the
torrent of evil example and a worldly spirit ought to fill every one with
alarms, and oblige every one to hold fast, and be infinitely upon his guard
that he be not carried away by it. It is not the crowd that we are to follow,
but the gospel: and though temporal goods and prosperity are a blessing, they
ought extremely to rouse our attention, excite our watchfulness, and inspire us
with fear, being fraught with snares, and by the abuse which is frequently made
of them, the ruin of virtue.
Note 3. S.
Aug. ep. 105, p. 299, et ep. 43, p. 94, et in Brevic. Collat. die 3, c. 12, et
17. Eus. l. 10, c. 5. S. Optat. l. 1, p. 44. [back
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
XII: December. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
San Milziade (o Melchiade) Papa
m. 314
(Papa dal 02/07/311 al 11/01/314)
Africano (Papa dal in alcuni testi è detto anche Melchiade), fu testimone della
battaglia di Ponte Milvio, con la vittoria di Costantino su Massenzio. Era
l'anno 312.
Martirologio Romano: A Roma nel cimitero di Callisto sulla via Appia,
san Milziade, papa: originario dell’Africa, sperimentò la pace resa alla Chiesa
dall’imperatore Costantino e, sebbene fortemente osteggiato dai Donatisti, si
adoperò saggiamente per la riconciliazione.
La
revisione liturgica ne ha limitato la memoria ai soli calendari particolari,
perché certamente non fu Martire. Ma dato che nessun altro Santo lo ha
sostituito in questo giorno, possiamo ancora ricordare quel Papa sotto il quale
la Croce, fino allora segno di infamia, divenne simbolo di gloria e auspicio di
vittoria, sui labari imperiali di Costantino.
Non si tratta, come si può pensare, del Papa San Silvestro, sotto H cui lungo
pontificato fu coronato quello che si chiama " il trionfo del
Cristianesimo ", e l'Imperatore Costantino, prossimo alla morte, ricevette
il Battesimo. Lo straordinario passaggio dall'età delle persecuzioni a quella
della protezione, dall'atmosfera di sospetto a quella di rispetto verso i
Cristiani, avvenne sotto il Papa oggi festeggiato, San Milziade, o Melchiade.
Della sua vita non si sa quasi nulla, prima del pontificato. Era di origine
africana, e dovette trovarsi a Roma sul finire della sanguinosa persecuzione di
Diocleziano. Fu poi testimone dell'ambigua condotta nei confronti dei
cristiani, dell'Imperatore Massenzio, il quale, per sedare le discordie della
Chiesa romana, esiliò tanto il Papa Eusebio, quanto un antipapa, Eraclio,
esponente di un gruppo di apostati mal pentiti.
Eusebio morii poco dopo, nel 310. Il nuovo Papa, che fu Milziade, venne eletto
però solo un anno più tardi. In quell'anno era accaduto infatti un avvenimento
importante. Galerio aveva emesso un Editto di tolleranza religiosa, che venne
poi sottoscritto dagli " Augusti " Licinio e Costantino. Massenzio
non aveva firmato quell'Editto, ma seguì lo stesso, nei confronti dei
cristiani, la politica di benevolenza dei suoi avversari. Non volle
pregiudicarsi il favore dei sudditi, riell'imminenza della contesa politica.
Il neo-eletto Milziade, si valse di questa mutata politica per riorganizzare
energicamente la Chiesa. Per prima cosa riottenne i beni dei cristiani di Roma
confiscati durante le persecuzioni. Poi inviò i suoi Diaconi a riprendere
possesso dei luoghi di culto, cioè degli antichi tituli.
Dopo la battaglia di Ponte Milvio, sconfitto Massenzio, Costantino entrò in
Roma innalzando il segno della Croce. Il Papa, allora, sfruttò ancora meglio in
favore dei fedeli, le ottime disposizioni dell'Imperatore vittorioso.
Costantino infatti non si limitò a restituire i beni della Chiesa: stabilì che
l'erario contribuisse ai bisogni del culto. Non si contentò di reintegrare i
cristiani nelle modeste dimore dove avvenivano le riunioni sacre: volle che
fossero costruite nuove e grandiose basiliche. La prima ad essere iniziata fu
quella detta Lateranense, che è restata la Cattedrale di Roma; e nel Laterano,
in un palazzo di proprietà del fisco imperiale, Costantino ospitò il Santo
Vescovo di Roma.
Il pontificato di San Milziade o Melchiade fu breve. Col 314, le opere da lui
fervidamente iniziate vennero proseguite da San Silvestro. Ma tre anni di
governo della Chiesa bastarono a fargli meritare l'elogio di Sant'Agostino:
" Vero figlio della pace e vero padre per i cristiani ".
Stranamente però, questo " figlio della pace ", primo Papa dell'età
costantiniana del " trionfo del Cristianesimo ", ricevette il titolo
onorifico di Martire, forse per essere stato sepolto nelle Catacombe.
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