Saint Dorothy of Caesarea

At these wor ds, Sap Saprice Governor of Armenia and Cappadocia under Diocletian. ricius, transported with rage, turns to the executioners and says to them: "Stretch her on the rack: when she sees herself in the midst of torments, perhaps then she will consent to worship our immortal gods." The servant of God having been placed upon it, full of courage and intrepidity, says to the judge without being questioned: "Why do you keep me waiting? Do what you have to do, so that I may see the one for whose love I fear neither death nor torments." — "Who then is this one you desire?" — "Christ, Son of God."

— "And where is this Christ?" — "As all-powerful he is everywhere; as man (since weak human reason only takes account of what is contained in a place) we say that the Son of God has ascended into heaven, that he is seated at the right hand of God his all-powerful Father; but as God, he has but one divinity with his Father and the Holy Spirit. It is he who invites us to the garden of his delights, where at all times the trees are adorned with fruit, the lilies always white, the roses always in their freshness, the fields and the mountains always verdant, the hills always shaded, the fountains always gushing, the waters always delicious, and the souls of the Saints intoxicated with an immortal joy in Christ. If you believe me, Sapricius, you will seek true freedom, and you will work to merit entry into the garden of God's delights."

— "Leave me these follies and sacrifice: take a husband, and spend happy days; otherwise you will perish as your fathers perished because of their folly." — "No, I will not sacrifice to demons; I am a Christian; I do not want a husband, I am the bride of Christ; and I firmly believe that he will introduce me into his paradise, and will make me rest upon his nuptial bed."

Sapricius then had her placed in the hands of two sisters named Chri sta and Ca Chrétienne A young Christian slave who became the apostle of Iberia. llis ta, who Calliste Apostate sister reconverted by Dorotheus and martyred. had recently apostatized, and he entrusted her to them, saying: "You have abandoned the folly and superstition of the Christians; you have sacrificed to our invincible gods: therefore I have rewarded you: but greater honors are reserved for you, if you can turn this Christian from her foolish resolution." These unfortunate women, having received our Saint into their house, said to her: "Acquiesce then to the desires of the judge, and deliver yourself from pains and torments, as we have done. It is much better for you to act in such a way as not to consume your life in the midst of tortures, not to die before your time." Dorothea replied to them: "Oh! if only you would listen to me and repent of having sacrificed to idols! For God is good, and His mercy is abundant for those who convert to Him with all their heart." Christa and Callista said to her: "We have abandoned Jesus Christ once; how could it be that we return to Him?" Dorothea said: "It is a greater sin to despair of the Lord's mercy than to sacrifice to powerless idols. Do not lose confidence in this physician, so charitable, so experienced, who can heal all your wounds. There is none whose healing does not belong to Him; for He is called Savior only because He saves, Redeemer only because He redeems, Liberator only because He never ceases to deliver us. As for you, devote yourselves then with all your heart to penance, and without a doubt you will obtain the pardon of your faults."

These two unfortunate women then threw themselves at her feet, which they watered with their tears; they conjured her to pray for them, so that, by her help, they might worthily satisfy God and merit divine mercy. Our Saint, bursting into tears, then addressed these words to the Lord: "O God who have said: I do not desire the death of the sinner, but rather that he convert and live; Lord Jesus Christ, who have said that the Angels of heaven rejoiced more to see one sinner do penance than ninety-nine just men persevere in justice, signal your goodness toward these souls that the demon has striven to snatch from you, call these sheep back to the fold, and may their example bring back all those who had strayed from you."

While she was making this prayer and others like it, the governor sent for her with the two sisters, and had them brought to his palace. Taking them aside, he began by asking them if they had shaken the constancy of Dorothea. But they answered him in unison: "We have sinned, we have acted wrongly; for the fear of the pains and sorrows of an instant made us sacrifice to powerless idols; we have therefore begged her to impose penance upon us, so that we might be able to obtain the mercy of Christ." Then Sapricius tore his garments, and in his fury he ordered the two sisters to be tied back to back, and to be thrown into a burning cauldron, if they would not sacrifice immediately. The two sisters cried out: "Lord Jesus Christ, accept our penance, and grant us your pardon." As they persevered in this prayer and in the confession of their faith, they were thrown into the cauldron, where they were burned before the eyes of Dorothea. The virgin, transported with joy in seeing the courage they displayed in death, said to them: "Go before me, my sisters; you can be certain that your sin has been remitted, and know that the palm you had lost has been restored to you: He comes to meet you and holds out His arms to you, that Father who rejoices when He finds the son He had lost."

Then Sapricius had Dorothy stretched on the rack again. When she was placed upon it, such great joy appeared on all her features that it was easy to see she had reached the fulfillment of all her desires. Sapricius said to her: "Why show such feigned joy and simulate gladness in the midst of torments?" Dorothy replied: "Never in all my life have I been as happy as I am today; for those souls that the devil had snatched from God through your means, Christ has recovered through my intercession. On this day there is rejoicing in the heavens; concerning them the Angels are in joy, the Archangels in jubilation; and all the Apostles, the Martyrs, and the Prophets thrill with gladness at it. Make haste, therefore, Sapricius, and accomplish your work as quickly as possible, so that I may join this concert of the Saints, and rejoice with them as I have wept with them on earth." Then Sapricius had lighted torches applied to her sides. During this torture, Dorothy, turning toward the judge her face, which was increasingly illuminated with a heavenly joy, and mocking his fury, said to him: "Wretch, you are defeated, you and your idols!"

Sapricius then had her taken down from the rack, and ordered her to be slapped for a long time, saying: "Let this face that insults me be struck." After she had been long and cruelly struck, Sapricius, seeing that she still testified to her joy and that the executioners could do no more from fatigue, dictated his sentence thus: "We order that Dorothy, a young girl full of pride, who has r efused t Dorothée Virgin and martyr in Cappadocia. o preserve her life by sacrificing, and who absolutely wishes to die for I know not what man they call Christ, be struck by the sword." At these words, Dorothy cried out: "I give you thanks, celestial lover of souls, that you call me to your paradise, and invite me to your nuptial bed."

As she was leaving the governor's praetorium, a lawyer named Theophi lus said Théophile Lawyer and prosecutor converted by a miracle of Dorothea. to her mockingly: "Come now, bride of Christ, send me some fruits or roses from your spouse's garden." Dorothy replied: "Very willingly, I shall do so." At the moment she was about to receive the blow of death, she asked the executioner to allow her a few moments to pray. When she had finished her prayer, a child suddenly appeared, carrying in a cloth three fruits of the greatest beauty and three roses. She said to this child: "Carry these, I pray you, to Theophilus, and tell him on my behalf: 'Here is what you asked me to send you from the garden of my spouse'." Immediately she was struck by the sword, and with the palm of martyrdom she went to join Christ.

At that moment Theophilus, the judge's prosecutor, was laughing as he recounted Dorothy's promise to his companions. He was still speaking, turning the virgin's promise into a joke, when suddenly the child appeared before him, carrying in a cloth the three beautiful fruits and the blooming roses. He said to Theophilus: "Here is what, at your request, Dorothy, most holy virgin, had promised you; she sends them to you from the garden of her spouse."

Theophilus, upon rec eiving th Théophile Lawyer and prosecutor converted by a miracle of Dorothea. is gift, cried out: "Christ is the true God, and there is no lie in him." The other lawyers said to him: "Are you mad, Theophilus, or are you joking?" — "I am not mad, and I am not mocking; but it is in a reasonable manner that I believe Jesus Christ is the true God." — "What motive then led you to the exclamation you have just made?" — "Tell me, in what month are we?" — "In February." — "A glacial cold reigns throughout Cappadocia, and all the trees are devoid even of their leav es; from Cappadoce Region of origin of the bishopric of Theodoret. where do you think these roses and these beautiful fruits with the foliage that accompanies them come?" — "Not even in the season of flowers have we seen the like." Theophilus replied to them: "I myself, whom you see, addressed Dorothy in derision at the moment she was walking to her execution. As she seemed to me mad to speak of her spouse Christ, and of the Paradise to which she was going, I insulted what seemed to me her madness, and I said to her: When you have arrived at the garden of your spouse, send me some roses and fruits. She answered me: I will certainly do so. Scarcely had she suffered death for the name of Christ, when suddenly here comes to me a child of marvelous beauty, but small in stature; he seemed to me, in fact, to be no more than four years old; I would hardly have believed him capable of speaking. This child touched my side, I turned to see him; then he drew me aside, and spoke to me in such graceful language that in his presence I seemed to be nothing more than a peasant. He presented me with this cloth with these fruits and these roses, and he said to me: Dorothy, most holy virgin, sends you these gifts from the garden of her spouse, as she had promised you at your request. Upon receiving this gift, I cried out with emotion, and the child disappeared: I do not doubt that he is an Angel of God." After saying these words, Theophilus cried out: "Happy are those who believe in Christ and who suffer for his name! He is the true God: and whoever puts his trust in him possesses true wisdom."

As he was saying these words and others like them, some went to find the governor and said to him: "Your prosecutor Theophilus, who until now spoke against the Christians and pursued them to death, is now crying out before the palace gates, praising and blessing the name of I know not what Jesus Christ, and many believe in his words." Immediately the governor had him brought in. As soon as he was introduced, he said to him: "What speeches are you making outside?" — "I was happily praising the Christ whom until today I had unhappily blasphemed." — "I admire that a man of your prudence would even want to pronounce that name, you who until now have persecuted those who confess it." — "This conduct shows that it is the true God who has converted me from error to the right path, and has made me recognize that he himself is the true God."

— "Men, usually, advance in wisdom with the years; but you, you have suddenly become senseless, when you call him God whom the Christians themselves teach you was crucified by the Jews." — "I have indeed heard it said that Jesus was crucified, and in my error, I did not think he was God; every day I blasphemed his name: now I repent of my past crimes and my blasphemies, and I confess his divinity." — "Where then and when did you become a Christian, you who until now have sacrificed?" — "From the moment I confessed Christ and believed in him, I felt myself a Christian. Thus, believing with all my heart in Christ, Son of God, I preach his true name, his holy name, his immaculate name, his name which is neither a lie nor an imposture as are the idols."

— "Does imposture then reign in our gods?" — "How could imposture not reign in these simulacra that man has manufactured with wood, that he has cast in metal, that he has filed with steel, whose bases he has strengthened with lead, which owls touch familiarly, which spiders cover with their webs, and whose interior is often filled with rats and mice? I am willing to be a liar, if what I say is devoid of foundation. But since I do not lie, it is just that you recognize the truth, and that you turn your heart away from falsehood. It is fitting that you, who are established to judge those who commit imposture, separate yourself from the lie, and that you seek the truth which is in Christ." — "Are our gods then not living gods?" — "The idols are without intelligence; but the intelligence of God is invisible. Your gods need to be guarded; ours guards all beings. If it is not so, it is by reason that you must convince me; if you have only your power against me, it remains constant that I prevail, at least by reason."

— "I see, unhappy Theophilus, that you want to die a sad death." — "On the contrary, I desire to obtain a happy life." — "Know then that if you persist in your madness, I will first make you suffer various tortures, and then I will condemn you to a cruel death." — "That is my desire."

— "You must have pity on your person, your house, your patrimony, your sons, your parents, and not deliver yourself rashly to a public death, which is only for fools, scoundrels, and the imprudent." — "It is the height of wisdom to know how to master all one's affections in this way, and to fear nothing from all the tortures. No, it is not an unreasonable rashness, but rather a serious reflection that makes me persevere in my resolutions; for I prefer eternity to time, I prefer that which must always subsist to that which only passes." — "You choose torments rather than rest, you desire death rather than life." — "I fear torments, and I hold death in horror; I fear torments that never end; I hold in horror a death that consists of eternal pains. The tortures that you can make me endure will end after a few moments; but those which are destined for the worshippers of idols will torment them much more cruelly, immediately after their death, and they will never cease."

— "Let Theophilus, this fine talker, be stretched on the rack: perhaps the violence of the tortures will dry up his vain eloquence." As soon as the martyr was suspended on the rack, he cried out: "Here I am truly a Christian, for I am suspended on the cross (indeed, the rack has some resemblance in form to the cross); O Christ," the martyr said again, "I give you thanks that you have permitted me to be attached to the instrument of your death." — "Unhappy man, have pity on your flesh." — "Unhappy man, have pity on your soul. As for me, I do not want to spare the flesh of my body in time, so that God may spare my soul in eternity." The governor, transported with rage, had his sides torn with iron claws, and his flanks burned with flaming torches. In the midst of these tortures, Theophilus said nothing other than: "I confess you, O Christ, Son of God; deign to admit me to the number of your Saints"; and he showed on his face an intrepid courage, to the point that one would have said it was not he who was being tormented.

However, the executioners themselves grew weary, and the impious governor dictated the sentence thus: "Let Theophilus, who until now has sacrificed to the immortal gods, and who, after having adored them, has abjured their cult to join the sect of the Christians, have his head cut off: we order it." Theophilus said: "O Christ, I give you thanks!" and he walked full of joy to the crown of the eternal vocation. A worker of the eleventh hour, he deserved a reward equal to that which was given to the workers of the first.

Saint Dorothy has been depicted seated at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, who holds the Child Jesus. In one hand, she holds a daisy branch; in the other, the handle of a basket woven from rushes containing flowers and fruits. Her head is crowned with roses. At other times, the basket of flowers is placed in the hand of the angel tasked with bringing them to Theophilus, and in such cases, the celestial messenger stands beside the Saint. The brush of Rubens has been applied to this illustrious virgin. Saint Dorothy is, in certain countries, the patron saint of brewers, young married couples, and florists.

## RELICS OF SAINT DOROTHEA.

The skull and some other parts of the bones of this Saint are gathered in a reliquary belonging to one of the churches of Breslau; it is probably the presence of these relics that has made the name of Dorothea so popular in Germany. It is lavished there, but has lost none of its poetry. The greatest geniuses of that land have immortalized her in their verses.

But it is Rome that has th e go Rome Birthplace of Maximian. od fortune to possess the greater part of the relics of this graceful Saint in the church dedicated to her: there, every year, on February 6, the day of her feast, apples are blessed in memory of the miracle to which Saint Theophilus owed his conversion.

There are also fragments of the relics of Saint Dorothea in Bologna, in Lisbon, in Prague, in Sirk. Finally, there were also some in Arles Arles Ecclesiastical metropolis of the province to which Constantine belonged. , in Provence, in the church of Saint-Hono Saint-Honorat Founder of Lérins and Archbishop of Arles, disciple of Caprasius. rat outside the Walls.

We were written from this last city on August 3, 1858:

« The church of Saint-Honorat, commonly called Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, situated outside the walls of our city, and at the time of the Revolution still occupied by the Minims Fathers, was then devastated, as well as the adjoining convent, of which only a small part remains. This church, whose ruins are remarkable in terms of antiquity and by their location in the middle of an ancient cemetery, pagan at first, then Christian, has not yet been returned to worship; it is, however, visited every day by a large number of travelers, and especially by lovers of archaeology. We have, in Arles, no relic of Saint Honorat. These relics cannot be found at Lérins either, whose famous monastery has been, for many years, bought by a Protestant... We no longer have any relic of Saint Dorothea. »

The church of the Trinity, today the cathedral of Laval, possesses a beautiful relic of Saint Honorat of Arles.

The acts that have just been read were textually borrowed from the Bollandists Bollandistes A society of Jesuit scholars who publish the Acta Sanctorum. . Saint Dorothy is named by Slide, Ussard, Ado, and others. Slide adds Christiana and Callista. A hymn from the Toledo breviary celebrates the glory of Dorothy and her companions. Ado gives her Acts at length in the book *De l'éloge de la virginité*. Thomas à Kempi s composed her Thomas à Kempis Spiritual author and Augustinian monk, famous for The Imitation of Christ. panegyric.