Saint Adrian of Nicomedia

The tyrant, extremely surprised by this news, sent for him at that very hour: and as soon as he saw him, he said to him: 'What madness is this I hear of you, Adrian? Do you wish to perish miserably like these foolish Christians? Ask my pardon for your fault, and confess, in the presence of all who are here, that you did not know what you were doing when you ordered the officers to write your name among those of the enemies of our gods.' — 'I have committed no madness, O Emperor!' replied Adrian, 'but I have returned from the madness I was in of worshipping idols that deserve only our execution; it is not to you, but to the true God, that I must ask pardon for all the crimes I have committed against Him, and for the idolatry in which I have lived until now.' Maximian could not hear this generous confession without the utmost impatience. He sent him off in chains to prison, there to await his orders in the company of the other martyrs.

A servant of the new Confessor went in haste to warn Natalie of his imprisonment. She thought she would die of grief at first; but when she learned that it was not for having done anything against the service of the prince that he had been arrested, but for having confessed Jesus Christ, her grief turned into a joy that cannot be expressed. She ran immediately to his dungeon and went to throw herself at his feet, which she now looked upon only as the feet of a martyr. 'How happy you are, Adrian,' she said to him, while kissing the chains with which he was bound; 'you have found today a treasure that your parents did not leave you; you possess in your youth immense riches that you might perhaps not have acquired in your old age. You have Jesus Christ in your heart, do not lose Him through cowardice: it is He who will reward you for all the pains you will endure here for the glory of His name. You have already triumphed over hell by your confession, it only remains for you to receive the crown that is prepared for you in heaven; do not fear the torments of men, they will last only a moment and they will be rewarded by eternal delights; remain firm on the cross that you have embraced; let not the sight of the honors you might hope for in this world, nor the love of your parents who will solicit you, nor the desire for the goods of the earth that will tempt you, be capable of separating you from Jesus Christ. All these things are perishable, and you would only have the enjoyment of them during your life, which will pass in an instant. Ah! would you, for such fragile advantages, lose a good that will never end and of which no one will be able to ravish your possession? Do not listen to the flatteries of your friends, who will do their utmost to steal your faith from you; detest their vain caresses and despise the pernicious advice they will want to give you. Look at these generous confessors who are with you, imitate their patience and have no less firmness than they to sustain the fury of the tyrant and the violence of the torments to which you are about to be exposed.'

Then, prostrating herself at the feet of the other martyrs, she said to them while kissing their irons: 'I conjure you, servants of God, to confirm in the faith this faithful one whom you have won for Jesus Christ. Exhort him to perseverance, remind him often of the glory that will follow his martyrdom. He is the fruit of your torments, you are his fathers in the spirit, do not suffer his parents according to the flesh to snatch him from you; animate his courage by your pious exhortations, and make him invincible like you, so that he may triumph over all the enemies of his salvation.' When she took leave of this illustrious company, she made Adrian promise to have her warned of everything that would happen, so that she could be present at all the torments he would be made to endure.

A few days later, they were notified that they would soon have to appear before the emperor's tribunal. Adrien wished to inform his wife, according to the promise he had made to her; and, having won over the jailer, he obtained permission from him, on his word of honor, to go and visit his house. As he was on his way, one of his friends, who recognized him, ran ahead of him and, believing he was bringing very pleasant news to Natalie, went promptly to tell her that her husband was at liberty, and that she would soon have the consolation of seeing him at home. Indeed, she caught sight of him almost at the same time; but, imagining that he had obtained his release only to the detriment of his faith, she closed the door on him, saying: "Withdraw from here, you perfidious man! Is this how you have deceived the true God, and that after having confessed Him you have abandoned Him? I do not wish to listen to a man who has used his tongue to deny his Creator. What faith shall I add to words that have served to renounce Jesus Christ? Ah! unhappy Adrien, why did you not finish the good work you had so generously begun? Who has broken the sacred bonds that held you attached to the other holy martyrs? Who has seduced you to separate you from the company of the angels? You have taken flight, and you had not yet fought; you have surrendered your arms before having seen the enemies. Where are the wounds you have received? I see no wound on your body; it is neither pierced by arrows, nor bruised by torture. I am not surprised by your cowardice; your parents raised you in idolatry, and, by their abominations, they have rendered you unworthy of being a victim immolated to Jesus Christ. How unfortunate I am to have married an idolater! Alas! I believed, a few hours ago, that I was the wife of a martyr; but I now see myself as the wife of a traitor to his God, of an apostate and a blasphemer. My joy was short, and the pain I have from your perfidy will last a long time."

After these reproaches, which enchanted him and strengthened his faith, Adrien explained to her how he had left prison for an instant, and announced to her the news of his coming martyrdom. Natalie, beside herself with joy, accompanied him to his prison. On the way, he asked her what she would do with the great wealth he was leaving her. "Banish these earthly thoughts from your mind," she said with her usual zeal; "think only of the grace you are about to receive; the riches you leave in my hands are but amusements of short duration; soon you will possess eternal ones that men will not be able to take from you. Be unshakable in your resolution, and may the violence of the torments not make you lose the fear of the judgments of God, who will be the witness and the judge of all that you will do."

As soon as they arrived at the prison, Natalie prostrated herself at the feet of the holy martyrs, kissed their chains, cleaned and dressed their wounds; then, having had the finest linen from her house brought to her, she wrapped them with admirable piety. Several ladies of noble condition imitated her in these pious duties, and she continued them for seven days that she remained with these generous confessors, while awaiting the martyrdom of her husband. At the end of this time, the emperor called them before his tribunal, where they were all led bound with the same chain. But their weakness was so great because of the previous tortures that they could hardly stand, and it was necessary to carry them. Adrian followed them with his hands tied behind his back. The tyrant did not deem it appropriate to put them to the question, because they were no longer in a state to endure it, due to the wounds they had already received; they were more like frightful skeletons than men composed of flesh and bone; he had them kept so that their torments would be prolonged with their lives. As for Adrian, who was young and had yet suffered nothing but imprisonment, he had him beaten with heavy blows of a stick: the executioners carried out this order with such cruelty that the martyr's entrails could be seen.

During this execution, all the other martyrs were in prayer, asking God for the grace of perseverance for Adrian, whose birth, youth, and delicacy always made them fear that he might yield; and the virtuous Natalie, for her part, constantly encouraged him to remain firm in the faith. All the martyrs were then led back to prison. Natalie, unable to contain the joy that filled her heart that her husband had emerged glorious from the place of torment, placed her hand on his head and said to him: "How happy you are, Adrian, to have been found worthy to suffer in the company of the Saints! What satisfaction for you to have shed your blood in honor of Jesus Christ for the one He shed for you! Be at peace now while awaiting the crown He has prepared for you." Then, wiping the blood that was still flowing from his wounds, she applied it to herself out of devotion. The other confessors also praised Adrian's constancy and gave him the kiss of peace. "I am the fruit of your sufferings," he told them, "and it is you who have begotten me in the faith; continue to pray for me, so that the demon does not triumph over my weakness, which you see is already extreme for the little I have suffered." — "Trust in God," the holy martyrs replied; "Satan, with all his malice, will be able to do nothing against you; your patience will force him to retreat into hell. We had some fear when you were only a man, but now that you are raised above nature, we no longer fear anything from your enemies; do not fear, therefore, Jesus Christ will ensure your victory."

During these divine conversations, the deaconesses and other pious ladies dressed their wounds. But their charity was soon thwarted by the cruelty of the tyrant, who forbade them from entering the prison. Natalie, who was the most zealous of all, and who could not resolve to abandon her husband and so many illustrious servants of God, cut her hair and put on men's clothing, so as to be able to visit them and give them the assistance they needed. As soon as the other ladies knew of it, they followed her example; and thus the martyrs, despite the harshness of the emperor, were perfectly succored in their miseries. But this pious industry was not necessary for long; for Maximian, fearing that they might die in irons without having experienced the final efforts of his rage, condemned them to have their legs and arms cut off. Adrian and his companions expired in the pains of this torment, on March 4, around the year 306.

He is depicted with his hands and feet cut off, and this torture led to his being chosen as the patron saint of executioners. A lion is sometimes placed near him to symbolize magnanimity. As jailers also took him as their patron, he is here and there depicted with keys, as an allusion to this patronage. In the church of Cany, in the arrondissement of Yvetot (Seine-Inférieure), one can see an image of Saint Adrian, sculpted in the 17th century and dressed as a Roman warrior.

## CULT AND RELICS.

The faithful removed the holy bodies and had them trans ported Byzance City where the saint exercised his ministry and patriarchate. to Byzantium, today Constantinople, to protect them from the profanations of the tyrants. Subsequently, these precious relics were brought bac Rome Birthplace of Maximian. k to Rome: this is what gave the Greeks reason to mark the memory of Saint Adrian on August 26, the day of the first translation; and, for the same reason, the Roman Church, in its breviary and its martyrology, mentions him on September 8, because it was on this day that his body was transferred from Constantinople to Rome. They were later taken to Flanders.

In the year 1110, a large part of his relics, which had been brought to Raulincourt, were transferred t o Grammo Grammont Town in Flanders possessing the saint's relics. nt, a city in Flanders, in the Abbey of Saint-Pierre which took the name of Saint-Adrian, according to the remark of the learned Aubert de Miro, in his *Recueil des Saints de Flandre*. He is ordinarily invoked, along with Saint Sebastian and Saint Roch, against contagious diseases. One sees, in various places in Christendom, particularly in France, several churches and chapels consecrated in his honor. Christian princes still implore his help, in order to have him as a protector in their armies. We have seen a fine example of this in the life of Saint Henry, emperor: he wished to use the swor d of this holy Martyr, wh l'épée de ce saint Martyr Relic used by Emperor Henry for combat. ich is kept in the city of Walbeck, in Germany, when he was obliged to fight the enemies of religion and of his State.

Acta Sanctorum; les Églises de l'Arrondissement d'Yvetot, by the Abbé Cochat.

## OUR LADY OF GOOD HOPE, IN DIJON

The church of Notre-Dame in Di Dijon City where the relics were temporarily hidden and disputed. jon is, in the eyes of the artist, a masterpiece of architecture. Nothing is more elegant than its peristyle, once populated with statues, decorated with emblems and inscriptions, painted and gilded; nothing is bolder than its aerial vault "which supports itself and seems to disdain any other support." One would say it is suspended from the hands of angels. Nothing is more graceful than its tapered columns that carve out the galleries of the choir, the great nave, and the portal, or soar in bundles up to the vault, and there curve into delicate ribs. It is a jewel. In the eyes of the Christian, it is even more; it is a monument to the piety of our fathers and their devotion to the miraculous image of the Black Virgin, Our Lady of Good Hope.

This image, venerated from the 10th century under the title of Our Lady of Good Arrival (Notre-Dame de Bon-Apport), in the chapel of Notre-Dame du Marché (de Foro), outside the walls of Dijon, attracted so many pilgrims that the canons of Saint-Étienne performed a pious work by building a hospice to house them. In 1252, whether because this sanctuary had become too narrow to contain the crowd or because it threatened to fall into ruin, the people of Dijon erected the current church of Notre-Dame to replace it, and arranged within it, to receive the holy image, a vaulted chapel, without windows, twenty feet high and crowned with a circular gallery. This chapel was immediately the most frequented: the people followed their Queen there, pressed themselves at the feet of her throne of graces, and covered the walls with ex-votos, testimonies more numerous each day of their gratitude and the goodness of Mary. These were lamps of vermilion and silver, which burned night and day; torches, symbols of an ardent devotion; paintings that recalled the graces obtained; hands, arms in silver or wax, countless crutches... From the columns that supported the vault, as from the tower of David, hung shields, coats of arms, swords, weapons of every kind, and banners consecrated to the Holy Virgin by heroes and dukes of Burgundy, like trophies erected to her by gratitude.

One of the p Philippe Pot Grand Chamberlain of Burgundy saved from a lion. aintings represented Philippe Pot, Lord of La Roche-Nolay, Grand Chamberlain of Burgundy and Knight of the Golden Fleece, kneeling before Our Lady of Good Hope with his motto "Tant L vaut," in memory of a marvelous grace for which he believed himself indebted to Our Lady. Driven by religious zeal and the love of glory so natural to noble hearts, he had gone to the aid of Constantinople, besieged by the Turks. Betrayed by fortune, he fell into the hands of the Janissaries, who brought him to Mehmed II and told him how valiantly this gentleman had fought. The Sultan admired his noble air, his courage, and his pride, and tried to attract him to his service. Philippe, as a true Christian knight, resisted the promises and threats, the considerations and the mistreatment. Mehmed, annoyed, said to him: "If you can defeat the enemy I set against you, I will send you back to your homeland." Philippe, full of joy, invokes Our Lady of Good Hope, whose image he carries on him, and awaits the combat. The day having arrived, he is brought into a kind of circus, in the presence of the Sultan surrounded by his court; he is given a scimitar, and a furious and starving lion is released against him. At the sight of this adversary, the Christian hero raises his gaze toward heaven, invokes the Holy Virgin, and cries out: "Tant L vaut." The lion roars and lunges, but with one stroke of the scimitar he cuts off its two front feet, with another stroke he removes its tongue, and pierces it through the heart while repeating his cry of victory: "Tant L vaut!"... Mehmed kept his word and sent him back free.

Another tapestry painting that now adorns the City Hall attests to the protection with which the Blessed Virgin surrounded Dijon in 1513. Besieged by forty thousand Swiss, the city had sent a cry of distress to Louis XII; but the king, obliged to defend his northern borders against the Emperor and the King of England, and to watch over Guyenne threatened by the Spanish, could only send six thousand men under the leadership of La Trémouille. The place was not in a state of defense and, despite prodigies of valor, it was about to succumb. La Trémouille asked to capitulate; the conditions offered to him were unacceptable... In this distress, the entire population ran to Notre-Dame, took down the miraculous image, and carried it in procession on the ramparts, and the next day, September 13, the day of the general assault, peace was concluded and the siege was lifted! In the enthusiasm of gratitude, all the bodies of the city requested that a solemn procession of thanksgiving be made that very day, and every year on the same day.

This event led to the re-establishment of the confraternity erected in honor of Notre-Dame. Restored to the piety of the faithful after the Revolution, it flourishes today as fervently as at its inception. It also gave a marvelous impetus to the cult of Mary throughout the duchy: in 1603, the inhabitants of Flavigny, distressed by a drought that was devouring the harvests and the vines, came in procession to Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir, and their crops were saved. A few days later, it was those of Saint-Seine, led by their pastor and the monks of the abbey. In 1693, the province was threatened by the opposite scourge: torrential rains were drowning the fields and preventing the seeds from sprouting, all the countryside was in despair, domestic animals were dying, and famine threatened. On May 27, the miraculous image of the Black Virgin was taken down and carried in procession to the Ursuline church: as in the days that followed the flood, the rainbow appeared immediately and the sun came to ripen the wheat and the grapes. A solemn mass of thanksgiving was celebrated on June 4 in all the parishes of the city, and the novena was closed by a general procession whose magnificence and spirit cannot be described.

The devotion and gratitude of our ancestors toward "their holy patroness and mistress" were constantly manifested by rich offerings and pious foundations. Philip the Bold, after the Battle of Roosebeke, gave the famous clock by the Fleming Jacques Marc. Philip the Good founded, in 1402, the singing of the Salve Regina: every day, at nightfall, the bells of Notre-Dame called the faithful; the priests surrounded the altar of the Black Virgin and sang the sacred antiphon, following the example of the sons of Saint Bernard and Saint Dominic. The Sovereign Pontiff Pius II, eager to encourage this devotion, granted fifty days of indulgence to all those who at Pie II Contemporary pope who praised the virtues of Joan. tended the singing of the Salve on ordinary days, and one hundred and fifty on the principal feasts of the year.

The lords, priests, faithful, corporations, and religious followed the example of their noble dukes, and there was a holy emulation in all the Orders of the city. Sometimes Notre-Dame received a silver statue weighing one hundred and twenty marks, sometimes silver crosses supported by cherubim and adorned with precious stones, lamps, crowns, gold-enameled hearts, bas-reliefs, or paintings. One of the most popular foundations was that of the Litanies of the Blessed Virgin, which were sung every Saturday after Vespers.

At the end of the 16th century, it was imagined that the chapel of Notre-Dame, where darkness was deliberately maintained to aid recollection, had a bad effect and detracted from the harmonious unity of the church, and it was demolished; it was then that the monuments of piety that the centuries had gathered and respected were scattered here and there.

During the Revolution, the portal was hammered with infernal art and its statues broken. If the Black Virgin escaped the sacrilegious hands, it was thanks to the stratagem of a pious woman who asked for it in order to warm herself, she said, during the winter. Upon the restoration of worship, she returned it to the church.

Notre-Dame de Bon-Espoir, replaced on her throne in the transept of her church, preserved Dijon from the cholera invasion in 1832 and 1854; and every day, surrounded by a fervent court, she blesses the children as she blesses the mothers, she smiles upon the projects of youth, soothes agitated hearts, and shows everyone the immortal crown due to perseverance.

Taken from Les Saints de Dijon, by Abbé Duplus.