Saint Donatian and Saint Rogatian

There was in Nantes a young man named Donat ian, of Donatien Martyr from Nantes whose basilica is linked to the miracle of the siege. illustrious birth, but even more commendable for his faith. This virtue, joined to a mature spirit, moderated in him the vivacity of youth, and, penetrated by the fear of God, he conducted himself like an old man at an age when reason has not always reached its maturity. God having granted him the grace to recognize the vanity of idols and to embrace the Catholic faith, he had received baptism; and, fortified by the holy mysteries, he loudly proclaimed the triumph of Jesus Christ and spread into the hearts of the Gentiles the divine seed that had so happily fructified within him.

Rogatian, his elder br Rogatien Martyr from Nantes, brother of Donatian. other, still an idolater, was won over to the Christian faith by Donatian, at a time when it was exposing one's life to the most evident peril to profess a religion proscribed by the orders of the sovereigns. But this consideration could not deter Rogatian from yielding to the victorious attractions of the truth: he devoted himself to death at the same time as to the service of Jesus Christ, and, to have the strength to sustain the dangerous combat to which he saw well that he was exposing himself, he ardently requested the sacrament of regeneration; but the flight and absence of the priest, whom the news of the persecution had driven from the country, were the cause th at Rogatian could only be baptisé que dans son sang Theological concept in which martyrdom serves as a substitute for the sacrament of water. baptized in his blood.

At this juncture, a commissioner of the emperors arrived in Nantes, provided with his ordinance, and was favorably received by the idolatrous multitude. One of the inhabitants spoke to him in this manner: "Equitable and moderate judge! You come very opportunely to bring back to the worship of the gods those who have strayed from it to attach themselves to a man whom the Jews put to death on a cross. The first among them upon whom you must exercise your severity is Donatien, who not only has withdrawn from the service he owes to the gods, but who, by his vain discourses, has also seduced his brother; so that both of them obstinately despise the immortal gods whom the invincible emperors adore and whom they wish to be adored throughout the universe. The very confession of the two brothers will convince you, when it pleases you to interrogate them, that they are not falsely accused."

The irritat ed commi Donatien Martyr from Nantes whose basilica is linked to the miracle of the siege. ssioner had Donatien brought before him, and began his inquiry thus: "I learn, Donatien, that not only do you refuse, through criminal disobedience, to adore Jupiter and Apollo, from whom we hold our life, but also that you dishonor them with injurious speeches, and that, through an extravagant pretension, you publish that one can only be saved by believing in the death of a man who was punished with the torment of the cross, to whose worship you try to engage everyone." Donatien replied: "You say nothing but the truth; I confess that I would wish everyone to serve him, for he alone deserves our adoration." The commissioner said: "Moderate yourself on that, and cease to preach this vain doctrine uselessly, otherwise I will soon make you find the end of your life." Donatien replied: "If death has anything terrible, it is not for me, it is for you, whom error and false prejudice engage in darkness and prevent from opening your eyes to the light of justice." The commissioner ordered that the Saint be chained and thrown into a prison, so that the violence of the torments might shake the Martyr and make him lose his faith, or at least that his punishment might divert those who would be spectators from believing in Jesus Christ.

Rogatien was brought to the commiss Rogatien Martyr from Nantes, brother of Donatian. ioner in the presence of the people, and the commissioner, wishing to win him over with gentleness, said to him: "I have been informed, Rogatien, that you wish to inconsiderately abandon the worship of the gods who have deigned to give you life and adorn your mind with wisdom and fine knowledge; I am ashamed for you to see that so many things that you know do not prevent you from consenting to lose your mind. Take care that, wishing to confess only one God, you do not incur, to your great regret, the anger of several others. But as you are not yet defiled by I know not what baptism, if obstinacy has not yet hardened your will, receive the goods and honors offered to you by the clemency of the emperors and the goodness of the gods." Rogatien replied: "I am not surprised that you place the clemency of the emperors before the goodness of the gods. Everything is perverted in your mind, although for the rest you have some reason to give the first rank to living beings, who are still better than gods of cast metal. But, both your gods and you are equally insensible: they, because they are of metal or stone, and you, because you deserve to resemble what you adore." The judge ordered that Rogatien be thrown into the same dungeon where he had put the one from whom he had received this doctrine, according to him, extravagant, so that the next day the executioner's sword might avenge both the gods and the emperors for the contempt and insults of one and the other.

Rogatian felt only one sorrow: that he had been overtaken by persecution before he had received baptism; but the faith he had in God made him hope that his brother's kiss would serve as the sacred bath. Donatian, informed of his brother's sorrow, offered this prayer to God: "Lord Jesus Christ, with whom desires have the same merit as works, when absolute inability prevents the effects of a will that is entirely devoted to You, grant Your servant Rogatian that his pure faith may serve as his baptism and hi s blood as his sacred anointing, if it sa foi pure lui tienne lieu de baptême Theological concept in which martyrdom serves as a substitute for the sacrament of water. happens tomorrow, through the judge's obstinacy, that the sword ends the course of our lives." Both of them spent the night strengthening one another with the hope of the immortal crown that was to be the reward for their confession.

The next day, the jud juge Officer tasked with enforcing the edicts of persecution in Nantes. ge ascended his tribunal, and having had the two brothers brought before him, laden with chains, he said to them: "The severity of which I must provide examples to the public henceforth prevents me from using terms of gentleness with you, since you despise the worship of the immortal gods through ignorance, or, which is even worse, you work to destroy it because you believe yourselves better instructed than we are." The Martyrs replied to him: "May your science, which is beneath stupid ignorance, be like your gods whom you worship in metals that have no feeling. We are ready to suffer for Jesus Christ everything that the executioner's rage is capable of inventing; we do not consider it losing life to give it for the One from whom we received it, and who will grant us another infinitely happier." The judge, transported with anger, ordered that the two brothers be tormented and dislocated on the rack, so that, if they did not change their resolution, they would have longer to suffer, and that afterwards they would be beheaded. The ministers of his fury, seeking to please him through an excess of cruelty, after having tormented the Martyrs, thrust a lance into their throats, which had not been ordered, and then cut off their heads. It was thus that Donatian, after having won his brother to Jesus Christ, had the consolation of seeing him respond worthily to the grace of his vocation; that Rogatian, baptized in his blood, did not show himself inferior to his brother, and that both won an illustrious victory, which united them to the blessed troop that never separates from the immortal Lamb, author and finisher of their beatitude. According to the most followed opinion, their martyrdom occurred in 287 or 288.