Saint Venantius of Camerino

As he was making many conversions, he was soon reported to Antioch us, gover Antiochus Prefect of the East, a cruel judge responsible for the execution of saints. nor of Camerino, by the empero r Decius, a cruel l'empereur Décius Roman emperor who initiated a rigorous persecution of Christians. persecutor of Christians. Having learned that this prefect had given orders to arrest him, he anticipated him; and, having presented himself before him at the city gate, he said to him with truly apostolic firmness: "The gods you worship, Antiochus, are but inventions of the devil. They were men or women, and their lives were filled with all kinds of crimes; are these defects not incompatible with true divinity? Recognize, therefore, one only God, Creator of heaven and earth, whose only Son became man, and died on the cross to deliver us from the tyranny of sin."

The governor's fury prevented the generous confessor of Jesus Christ from saying more: unable to suffer the contempt he showed for his gods, he had him seized by his soldiers and commanded them to make him endure every imaginable torture; which was done in the most cruel manner.

Indeed, these barbarians tied the young Venantius to a post and whipped him with such inhumanity that he would have expired in the severity of this torment, had an angel, descended from heaven, not broken his chains and driven away his executioners. But these wretches, instead of being moved by this marvel, returned to the charge and, tying him feet up and head down, burned his body with flaming torches; they also opened his mouth and did what they could to suffocate him with smoke. Venantius suffered these tortures with such constancy that many converted to the faith, among others Anastasius the Cornicularius: having caug ht sight of an angel, dr Anastase le Corniculaire Officer converted by the miracles of Saint Venantius. essed in a white robe, who untied the Saint a second time, he believed in Jesus Christ and was baptized with all his family by the blessed Porphyrius, priest, and later shed his blood bienheureux Porphyre A priest who baptized converts and suffered martyrdom. for the faith.

Antiochus believed Venantius to be already dead: he was extremely surprised to learn the manner in which he had been delivered, and, still hoping to sway him because of his age, he had him brought into his presence and tried to win him over with gentleness and promises; but, seeing that the heart of the holy young man was unmoved, he had him thrown into a dark prison, where, some time later, he sent a soldier named At talus Attale A soldier sent to attempt to seduce Venantius through ruse. to seduce him through artifice: Attalus was to pretend that he himself had once been a Christian, but that, having recognized the folly of the Christians, who deprive themselves of the pleasures of life for a vain hope of future goods, he had renounced their religion to embrace the worship of the gods. The Saint, discovering the trap that the demon was setting for him, despised the remonstrances of this impious man and remained firm in the faith. Then, the tyrant, more irritated than ever, commanded that Venantius be brought before him; and, having had his teeth cruelly broken and his gums torn in his presence, he had him thrown in that state into a sewer, believing he would be suffocated there; but he did not remain there long, for an angel immediately pulled him out to prepare him for greater battles and a more glorious triumph. The prefect, being informed of this, sent him to the city magistrate to receive his condemnation. This judge spoke to him with much vehemence and fury; but, as the servant of God continued to proclaim the vanity of the idols and the truth of our holy religion which this judge did not want to recognize, he fell from his seat and expired, saying: "The God of Venantius is the true God, you must worship Him and destroy our false divinities."

This accident having been reported to Antiochus, he commanded that the Saint be immediately exposed to the lions to be torn apart by them. These cruel animals ran to him at once; but, instead of devouring him, they lay at his feet like lambs and left him the freedom to preach the faith of Jesus Christ to the people once more. The executioners were therefore forced to bring him back to prison.

The next day, Porphyrius, that holy priest of whom we have spoken, came to find the governor and told him of a vision he had had the previous night, in which all those who had been baptized by Saint Venantius had appeared to him all radiant with light; and he, on the contrary, surrounded by very thick darkness. Antiochus, transported with rage, immediately had his head cut off, and commanded that Venantius be dragged for the rest of the day over briars and thorns; which was executed with such cruelty that he remained half-dead. However, having been miraculously healed, he presented himself the very next day before the tyrant. The latter immediately had him thrown from the top of a rock; but this torture had no more success than the others, and the Saint received no harm from his fall; the governor, more furious than ever, had him dragged a thousand paces outside the city, on paths strewn with stones and pebbles. The executioners had become so overheated in this task that they could bear their thirst no longer. Then Venantius, animated by that heavenly love which makes one cherish one's greatest enemies, having pity on them, began to pray, and, making the sign of the cross on a stone, he caused a spring of living water to flow from it, source d'eau vive Miraculous spring that gushed from a stone to quench the thirst of the executioners. which served to refresh them. This stone, upon which, in memory of the miracle, the knees of the Saint remained imprinted, can still be seen today in Camerino, in a church dedicated under his name. Several people were converted at the sight of this wonder, and, persisting in the confession of Jesus Christ, were condemned to be beheaded. Venantius accompanied them in this martyrdom, and gloriously finished his struggles, giving the last drop of his blood for Jesus Christ.

The death of so many innocents was followed by earthquakes and thunder so dreadful that Antiochus, terrified, was forced to flee; but he could not avoid divine vengeance: a few days later, he died miserably in punishment for his cruelty. The body of Saint Venantius and those of his companions were taken away by the Christians, who took care to bury them honorably, and they rest in the church of which we have just spoken.

Since Saint Venantius died at fifteen, there is every reason to believe that the military equipment and the flag, with which the inhabitants of Camerino like to represent their Patron, designate a soldier of Jesus Christ rather than a soldier of the emperors, unless Saint Venantius was a child of the regiment, as they say. One could also say, to explain these attributes, "that, in the Middle Ages, the patrons of cities were considered as knights."

On the coins and medals that Camerino had struck in honor of its Patron, the Saint holds, in the hand opposite to the one carrying the standard, a relief map of the city he protects. The fountain, which he caused to spring forth, can also serve to characterize Saint Venantius.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates Saint Venantius on May 18, the day his feast is celebrated by a decree of Cl ement X, Clément X Pope who extended the cult of Saint Gonsalo to the entire Dominican Order. with a proper office. It is from there that we have drawn this Life; and this office must undoubtedly be considered authentic, however extraordinary the wonders we have reported therein may be. Cardinal Baronius admits, it Le cardinal Baronius Disciple of Philip, historian and cardinal, author of the Annales ecclesiastici. is true, in his *Remarks*, that the Acts of this holy Martyr, which he saw in Camerino, are filled with apocryphal matters; but the Church has removed the falsehoods from them, and has given us only what it judged to be in conformity with the truth. We have borrowed the *Characteristic* from F r. Cahier P. Cahier Author of the work 'Caractéristiques des Saints'. .