Saint Gregory of Spoleto

There was at that time a very impious man named Flaccus, whom the Emperor Maximian had deputed to revive the worship of all the false gods. When he arrived in the city of Spoleto, he set up his tribunal and sent public criers to announce, at every crossroads in the city, that all citizens were to gather at the Forum in his presence. The whole people having assembled, Flaccus said to Tircan: 'Does this whole crowd honor our gods?' Tircan replied: 'All those whom your piety sees here adore the gods Jupiter, Minerva, and Asclepius, immortal gods, who show themselves favorable to the whole world.' Flaccus was filled with joy upon hearing these words; then he gave the order to dissolve the assembly.

There was then in the city of Spoleto a man by the name of Gregory, who, day and night, applied Grégoire Priest and martyr in Spoleto under Diocletian. himself to fasting and prayer. By his prayers he restored health to a great number of the infirm, he cast out unclean spirits, healed those whom sickness kept to their beds, purified lepers, restored sight to the blind, and converted the hearts of many pagans to the Lord Jesus Christ: his zeal also led him to tear down the temples of the idols and their simulacra. Tircan, having learned all these things, was outraged with anger, and he went to make his report to Flaccus. 'There is in the city,' he told him, 'a man named Gregory, who, not content with despising the gods, seduces spirits and pays no heed to your orders.' Flaccus, at this news, was seized by the demon of anger, and immediately he gave the order to forty soldiers to bring him the blessed Gregory in chains. The satellites, complying with the injunction of their master, soon presented to him the captive they had sought.

Flaccus, having sat on his tribunal with Tircan, and looking fixedly at the blessed Gregory, spoke to him in these terms: "Are you Gr egory of Spoleto?" Grégoire de Spolète Priest and martyr in Spoleto under Diocletian. Gregory replied: "I am." — "Is it true that you despise the gods, and that you take no account of the orders of the princes?" — "If you wish to know the truth, I will tell you that since my childhood I have never abandoned my God, who formed me from the clay of the earth." — "And who is that God?" — "It is He who made man in His image and likeness: it is the strong God, the immortal God, who renders to each according to his works." — "Not so many words; but do what I command you." — "I know what your orders are; as for me, I do what I must do."

"If therefore you act thus for your salvation, enter into this august temple, and sacrifice to our great gods Jupiter, Minerva, and the venerable Aesculapius: by this you will deserve to receive great goods from our invincible princes, and you will be our friend." — "I do not envy your friendship at all; I therefore do not sacrifice to demons, but to my God Jesus Christ." — "What madness possesses you, miserable Gregory? Know well that you will thus draw upon your head the most severe penalties." — "I have never been afflicted with madness: it is you rather, who do not recognize your Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ; for it is manifest that Jupiter, Minerva, and Aesculapius of whom you speak are demons."

Flaccus then said: "Break his jaws by slapping him," and saying to him: "Cease your blasphemies against the gods, and be no longer obstinate." Gregory replied: "I have never been obstinate: you others, you are the ministers of Satan, since you do his will." Tircan said to him: "Gregory, I urge you to sacrifice before your body is torn to pieces." Gregory retorted to him: "It is more advantageous for me that my body be lost than my soul: do what you will." Flaccus and Tircan said to him: "Come, sacrifice to the gods, before we come to the torments." Gregory replied: "I have already told you, and I repeat it: I do not sacrifice to your demons, but to my Lord Jesus Christ, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that they contain." Flaccus then said: "Bring knotted sticks, and break his back, saying to him: This is what those deserve who do not recognize the gods and despise the princes." Gregory said to the president: "I want you to know, Flaccus, that for the tortures you exercise upon my body, I will receive a double reward in heaven." Flaccus said to the executioners: "Turn him on his back, and strike him on the belly with your sticks." Gregory, then lifting his eyes to heaven, prayed thus: "Have pity on your servant, O God, you the Holy One of Israel; deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy." Flaccus and Tircan said to him: "Have pity on yourself before you die: it is a friend's advice that we give you." Gregory replied: "Withdraw from me, minister of Satan; go make your oblations. The Lord Jesus Christ assists me to strengthen me in the midst of my wounds." Flaccus said to him: "It is therefore still one of your follies, wretch, which does not allow you to prolong your existence." Gregory replied: "Put, if you wish, my whole body in pieces; the Lord protects my soul and vivifies it."

Flaccus, despairing of overcoming his constancy, then said to the executioners: "Bind his feet and hands, stretch him upon the burning gridiron, and place wood underneath." The ministers did as they had been commanded and prepared the fire. The blessed Gregory cried out from the midst of the brazier, and said to the Lord: "Lord Jesus Christ, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God of our fathers, who do not reject the prayers of your servants, who entered, with the three children, into the furnace, help me, your servant, in the midst of the tribulations that I am enduring at this moment." As he was still speaking, a great earthquake resounded in the city of Spoleto, and an entire regio ville de Spolète Episcopal city and site of the martyrdom of Sabinus. n of the city collapsed, covering with its ruins more than four hundred and fifty people, all pagans and devoted to the worship of idols. At this sight, Flaccus roared like a lion, and yielding to terror, he fled. But Tircan said to the satellites: "Bring iron chains to bind him, lock him in prison, and have him carefully guarded by the soldiers." The blessed Gregory having entered the prison, the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: "Peace be with you, Gregory! Fear nothing." At the same instant his chains broke, and he was surrounded by the brightness of the Lord. At this sight, he threw himself to the ground and addressed this prayer to the Lord: "I give you thanks, Lord Jesus Christ, who have sent your holy Angel to strengthen my soul: I praise you with all my heart and I will glorify your name eternally, because you have had mercy on me; yes, you are the only God." The Angel said to him: "Courage, good and faithful servant; since you have been faithful in small things, I will set you over greater ones: enter into the joy of your master." And saying these words, he disappeared from his sight. The blessed Gregory, rising immediately, began to praise and bless God.

The following day, Flaccus Flaccus Roman patrician and persecutor. ordered his tribunal to be set up in the middle of the Forum and the blessed Gregory to be brought before him. When he had arrived, Flaccus said to him: "Now then, leave your madness, and come sacrifice to our great gods, whom you have denied until now." Gregory replied: "Never have I sacrificed to demons, nor will I sacrifice, except to my Lord, who has deigned to bring me to this crown of justice." Flaccus then said: "Bring the iron combs, and strike his knees with them with all your might, so that at least by this means we may cure him of his folly." Gregory answered him: "See, however, what you are, you who serve demons and adore idols made by the hands of men. For if you knew your creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, you would adore Him, before whom all the Angels tremble." — "I, serve demons, you scoundrel!" — "It is clear that you are blinded by them." — "Bring the burning lamps, and burn his sides, saying to him: Do not be arrogant." — "Even if you were to make my whole body one single wound, near me is my physician, the Lord Jesus Christ, who heals and strengthens me, so that all these evils you seem to make me endure, I regard as nothing." — "Approach, cursed one, and try to win the favor of the immortal gods before I deliver you to death." — "Cursed are all those who trust in idols!" Flaccus, hearing these words, flared up like a furnace and cried out: "Call Tircan quickly!" — "Here I am," replied the latter. And immediately the impious Flaccus gave the order to drag the blessed Gregory to the middle of the amphitheater and to behead him.

Gregory, having arrived at the amphitheater, made this prayer to the Lord: "Blessed be You, Lord, my God and my King, my help and my deliverer, who have deigned, on this day, to call me from this world to come to You!" And lifting his eyes to heaven, he heard a great voice saying to him: "Behold, you are about to be crowned, O Gregory! You are inscribed in the number of my Saints: come to me, blessed of the Lord! Your dwelling in heaven is prepared." The Angel was still speaking when the satellite Aquilin severed the head of the martyr. Tircan commanded that the wild beasts be released, so tha t they Aquilin Satellite or soldier who beheaded the saint. might devour his body; but these furious animals lowered their heads before these precious remains, as if they had adored them. The crowd, witness to this prodigy, cried out in a loud voice: "Great indeed is the God of the Christians!" and a good number of them believed in the Lord. That same day Flaccus, struck by an Angel, expired while vomiting his entrails through his mouth.

However, the body of the blessed Gregory lay stretched out in the middle of the amphitheater. A Christian woman, named Abondantia, went to f ind Fl Tircan Local officer or notable who assisted Flaccus in the persecution. accus to ask him for permission to remove the body of the holy martyr. Flaccus said to her: "Give me thirty-five gold pieces, and take him." Abondantia replied: "I will gladly give the sum you ask; only I pray you to deliver the body to me without delay." Flaccus said to her: "Bring me what I have told you, and take the body." This woman, having counted out the thirty-five gold pieces to him, had the body removed, full of joy, blessing God, and saying: "Blessed be the Lord, who has not disdained my prayer nor removed his mercy from me!" She then covered the holy body with balm, nard, and precious aromatics, and buried it near the stone bridge, on the bank of the stream called Sanguinaire, not far from the city walls, on ruisseau qu'on nomme Sanguinaire Burial place of the saint near Spoleto. the 9th of the Kalends of January, singing hymns and canticles, and saying: "The Lord is wonderful in his Saints: the God of Israel will himself give virtue and strength to his people; blessed be God! The Lord is just in his words and holy in all his works: it is he who gives pious desires and who blesses the years of the just."

Excerpt from the Acts of the Actes des Martyrs Textual source regarding the life of the saint. Martyrs, translated and published by t he Reverend Benedictine Fathers of the C Bénédictins de la Congrégation de France Religious order that published the translation of the Acts. ongregation of France.