Saint Siricius of Rome

Saint Siricius also ordered that baptism, unless there was necessity, could only be administered at Easter and Pentecost. He condemned the Manichaeans, those obstinate followers of Mane s, a Manès Founder of Manichaeism, Persian slave. Persian slave, who had spread his errors in 273. They maintained, among other delusions, that the body of Jesus Christ was fantastic; that there were two principles, one good and one evil, and that from the latter came the ancient law. They did not admit obedience to princes, and found it dangerous. According to Manes, all the prophets were damned. The absurd dogma of metempsychosis; the prohibition against killing any animal whatsoever, and the absolute abstinence from any kind of meat, formed the other points of his religion; he dogmatized publicly, and he sent his doctrine to be preached, first in the vastest provinces of Persia, then in India and Egypt, and to China, by twelve disciples, following the example of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, among whom are cited Thomas, Hermas, and Buldas.

Saint Siricius also condemned the Priscillianists, followers of Priscillian, bishop of Avila. The latter followed some errors of the Manichaeans, and added to them that men were subject to fatal stars. Jovinian, a monk of Milan, was also condemned. He denied the virginity of the holy Mother of God.

Some authors attack the sanctity of Siricius, because he allegedly did not promptly repel the venom of the errors that Rufinus, a monk of Aquileia, kept hidden for a long time, and which were discovered by Saint Marcella, a Roman lady, and by Pammachius, a senat or of Rome Benoît XIV Pope who beatified Jerome Emiliani. . Benedict XIV excuses the pontiff, especially in a letter to John V, King of Portugal. Moreover, the same Benedict XIV ordered that the name of Saint Siricius be placed in the Roman Martyrology. Baronius, previously, had accused him of having shown himself cold in his relations with Saint Jerome, and of not having continued to him the confidence that Damasus had shown him; these circumstances did not influence the decision of Benedict XIV, which today has the force of law. What struck this learned Catholic legislator of the 18th century is that the works of Siricius manifest great courage. In his letters, the pontifical authority shines with all its dignity. One recognizes there the Prince of the Church, *the lieutenant of God*, since he commands that his decrees be published in all the provinces, and that the ecclesiastical primates see to the execution of the provisions, under penalty of immediate deposition; the pontiff expressly declares therein that whoever refuses to observe these injunctions will be cut off from the communion of the faithful and liable to the punishments of hell.

Saint Siricius, in five ordinations, in December, created thirty-two bishops, twenty-seven or thirty-one priests, sixteen or nineteen deacons. He was the first who had himself c alle pape Pope from 384 to 398, the first to officially use the title of pope. d *pope*.

Siricius governed the Church for fourteen years. He died at the age of seventy-four, in 398, and was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla, on the Via Salaria, and from there transported by Paschal I to the church of Saint Praxedes.

The birth of Maurin was a signal favor from heaven; it occurred, in fact, after eighteen years of prayer, and when his parents had lost all hope of offspring. His father, Eutychius, and his mother, Alabanus, were no less distinguished by their piety than by their nobility; they gave their child the most Christian education, and the young Maurin distinguished himself no less by a brilliant intelligence than by a tender piety. But it was necessary, above all, to preserve him from contact with heresy, and Agen, like most of the other Churches of Aquitaine, had been without a pastor since the decree issued against the episcopal sees by the impious Exaric. Maurin was then sent to Germanus, Bishop of Capua, whose fame proclaimed his holiness and doctrine far and wide. The young Christian made such progress under his new master that Germanus gave him baptism and the order of the diaconate. After keeping him by his side for seven years, he sent him back to his parents, in the hope that he could henceforth struggle advantageously against the error that was devastating his homeland. No w, the city of Le ville de Lectoure Site of the martyrdom of Saint Clair. ctoure, then governed by Waldaun, one of the most fanatical ministers of Alaric, was a prey to the ravages of heresy; the governor carefully kept all preachers of the Catholic faith away from it. It is there that Maurin, bubbling with zeal, flies with intrepidity; he traverses the city, preaching the Gospel at crossroads, in the streets, and in public squares. Irritated by such audacity, Waldaun has him seized and condemns him to torture if he does not renounce his faith. He is tied to a post, and three readers direct a hail of arrows against him. Armed with prayer, Maurin is invincible, and the arrows break at first against his chest. Soon the wrath of God has blown; it turns the darts against the executioners and wounds them mortally. Present at this spectacle, the governor is inflamed and has the Saint thrown into a prison. He alone has not understood this prodigy; but the crowd, less impious, has recognized the power of Maurin. It rushes in his footsteps and deposits the three miraculously wounded readers on the threshold of the prison; the Saint begins to pray and the readers are healed. Then descends from heaven an angel sent by God, whose brilliant light dissipates the darkness of the prison; Waldaun closes his eyes to this new prodigy; he has Maurin chained upon a funeral pyre; but the flames that devour it respect the body of the Saint. However, the iron, more powerful than the flames, is to end his torment. The governor makes a sign, and the head of the confessor falls under the executioner's axe. His mutilated body receives it in its hands and carries it to the Militane fountain.

On the border of the Agenais and the Quercy, between Puymirul (Lot-et-Garonne) and Bourg-de-Visa (Tarn-et-Garonne), in the middle of the ruins of the ancient abbey of Saint-Maurin, two columns are still standing, crowned with historiated capitals. On the first, one sees an angel with wide draperies, spreading his wings, holding the Saint with one hand and pointing to the sky with the other to encourage him in his martyrdom. Standing beside him, one sees the mutilated body of Saint Maurin, carrying his head in his two arms; at his feet, a Christian woman is on her knees, holding out her hands to receive the venerated head. On the other capital, it is the old man Eutychius leaning on his staff and receiving death at the hand of the executioner, who cuts off his head: God sends him an angel who supports him in this supreme moment.

Didier Didier Bishop of Cahors in the 7th century, former treasurer to the Merovingian kings. , son of Salvius and Archéoéfrède, was born in Obrègne, a city located on the borders of Aquitaine and Narbonensis. He was raised with his two brothers, Rustique and Siagrius, at the court of Clotaire II. Rustique, having embraced the ecclesiastical state, was made deacon of the Church of Rodez, then abbot or master of the king's chapel, and finally bishop of Cahors. Siagrius was count of Albi and chief magistrate of Marseille.

Didier made great progress in letters and acquired much fame for his eloquence. He was made treasurer of the savings or keeper of the royal treasury, and he fulfilled this office with great capacity and admirable selflessness. He lived at court like the most exemplary religious. He was increasingly animated toward virtue by the advice and examples of several holy figures who were then at court, such as Saint Arnoux, Saint Ouen, and Saint Eloi. He felt strengthened by the instructions contained in the letters that the pious Archénéfride, his mother, wrote to him.

King Dagobert had, like Clota ire his father, Le roi Dagobert King of the Franks petitioned by Sulpicius to annul a tax. great confidence in Didier; he even showered him with new honors. He gave him as successor to his brother Siagrius, whom death had taken, on the condition, however, that he would continue to remain at court. Shortly after, Rustique, Didier's other brother, was assassinated by some scoundrels from Cahors. Such an attack was punished as it deserved to be. When it was known in Cahors that the king would see with pleasure Didier succeed Rustique, the clergy and the people hastened to ask for him as their pastor.

Here is the remarkable patent given by the king on this occasion: "Dagobert, King of the Franks, to the bishops, the dukes, and all the people of the Gauls. We must take care that our choice be pleasing to God and to men; and, since the Lord has entrusted us with the government of kingdoms, we must only grant dignities to those who are commendable for the wisdom of their conduct, for the probity of their morals, and for the nobility of their extraction. This is why, having recognized that Didier, our treasurer, has distinguished himself by his piety since his youth, as a true soldier of Jesus Christ under the livery of the world; and that the sweet odor of his angelic virtues, and the truly priestly conduct he has maintained, has spread even to distant provinces, we grant the suffrages of the citizens and abbots of Cahors that he be their bishop. We be lieve Cahors Episcopal see of the saint. that it is the choice and the will of God that we follow, since we do violence to ourselves by depriving ourselves of an officer so necessary. But, whatever it may cost us, we must provide the churches with pastors who lead, according to God, the peoples we entrust to their care. This is why, following the request of the citizens and our own will which agrees with theirs, we will and order that Didier be consecrated Bishop of Cahors, so that he may pray for us and for all the Orders of the Church; and we hope that, by the merit of the prayers of such a holy pontiff, God will prolong our life." This act is from the month of April 629.

Invested with the episcopal dignity, he shone, even more than he had done until then, with the brilliance of all virtues. He built several churches inside and outside the city, as well as several monasteries under the Rule of Saint Columbanus and Saint Benedict. But, as he himself said, it was nothing to build houses for Jesus Christ if one did not save the souls which are the true temples of God. This is why he very assiduously nourished his people with the bread of souls, which is the word of God. He had bound himself to Saint Eligius, Saint Ouen, Saint Radulphe, and Saint Paul with a close friendship that he maintain ed through saint Eloi Contemporary bishop and friend of Aubert. letters that breathe a heavenly piety. Here is what he writes, for example, to Saint Paul, Bishop of Verdun: "You have undoubtedly heard of the monastery that I have undertaken to found, and of the basilica that I have just completed by the grace of God. This is why I pray and invite your apostolic dignity to kindly attend the dedication of this church; and, when we have seen each other at this solemnity, I desire that we may, for a few days, speak familiarly of this eternal and desirable life for which we once sighed together. I will endeavor to obtain the assistance of several bishops, whose examples and exhortations will be useful to us, and whose company will be very agreeable."

His advanced age and infirmities warning him that he was approaching his end, he made his will, and bequeathed all his goods to his church, on the condition of providing for the subsistence of the poor whom he had fed. He died in 634, in the territory of Albi, at the age of seventy-five, as he was returning from the land where he had been born. His body was brought back to Cahors, and buried in the church of Saint-Amand. A woman, tormented by an evil spirit, having followed the body during the translation, was healed at the place named Milliarque. Several miracles occurred at his tomb. Subsequently, his relics were transferred to the great church: they remained there until the end of the 16th century, when they were completely destroyed by the Calvinists Calvinistes Religious group that destroyed the saint's relics in 1567. .

Propre de Cahors and Godescard.