Saint Priscus (Prix) and his companions

“However, a great number of Christians from different cities, obeying the precept of the Lord, who said: ‘When they persecute you in one city, flee to another,’ abandoned their own homes and came to seek asylum in the country of Auxerre, no doubt because of the thick forests that covered almost its entire extent. Alexander was soon informed of this. This cruel man, whom a thirst for murder rendered furious, set out in pursuit of the martyrs of the Lord. Arriving at the place called Cociacus, he found there a man of distinguished birth, surrounded by a numerous multitude, of whom he was the leader. His name was Priscus, and he had left, wit h all h Prisque Citizen of Besançon and 3rd-century martyr of Auxerre. is retinue, the city of Besançon to come to these places. He was then singing hymns with the many companions of his faith.

“Alexander rushes with rage into the midst of the crowd and cries out: ‘What criminal plot gathers you in these places, or what cult do you come here to profess? Let me be answered without delay.’ — ‘It is not revolt,’ replied all these pious faithful, ‘but the love of our august religion that unites us in these places. We are gathered to offer the incense of our prayers to Christ, who unites, by the virtue of his blood, his scattered sheep.’

ALEXANDER. ‘Whence comes such presumption and impudence that you dare to display your title of Christians before the very envoys of the emperor?’ — THE CHRISTIANS. ‘It is He to whom your kings and your emperors themselves owe their lives, who strengthens us by his merciful grace.’

ALEXANDER. ‘You therefore belong to our cult; for the emperors, the kings, and we ourselves breathe only through Jupiter, creator and sovereign of the heavens!’ — THE CHRISTIANS. ‘You are in a deplorable error if you claim that a man given over to vice and debauchery can grant the benefit of life. Is this not the Jupiter who was the incestuous husband of his sister, and who, to satisfy shameful whims, often took the form of animals?’

ALEXANDER. ‘O scoundrels! A flock seduced by I know not what crucified one, you dare to blaspheme against the great Jupiter, the savior of the human race!’ — THE CHRISTIANS. ‘How can you call him a savior who, disguised as a shower of gold, penetrated a foreign dwelling for infamous designs?’

ALEXANDER. ‘By the salvation of the emperor, you are all sacrilegious, and you deserve to be dragged to the scaffold!’ — THE CHRISTIANS. ‘Where are the sacrilegious words? Are they on our lips, which proclaim that the true God is the only Creator of things visible or invisible, or on yours, which deify your abominable Jupiter?’

ALEXANDER. ‘It is too long to abuse my patience: acknowledge, by offering him libations, that Jupiter is the almighty god, or else the emperor's edict will immediately bring death into your ranks.’ — ALL THE CHRISTIANS. ‘Execute the orders you have received; for we do not wish to defile ourselves by leaving the worship of the Creator for that of the creature!’

ALEXANDER, addressing Priscus: "Do you also share these sentiments?" — PRISCUS: "Send out your satellites for a moment, so that I may take counsel with my brothers, and then I shall give you my answer." He spoke thus, not because he feared to die, but because he wished to console his brothers and prepare them to suffer with greater courage the torments that were being prepared for them. Alexander, deceived by a false hope, sent out the soldiers: he thought that Priscus, leader and master of this holy multitude, would seek a means of salvation by consenting to sacrifice to the gods. When Alexander had gone out with his troop, Priscus spoke thus: "My brothers, this is the day when Our Lord Jesus Christ, raising the standard of his cross in our midst, says to us: Let him who serves me follow me!" At these words, all answered with a unanimous voice: "Father, we will follow your holy resolution, and we ardently desire that the will of God be accomplished in us."

"Then Alexander returned to the assembly with a great noise, and had the multitude of Christians surrounded by his satellites, whose appearance, words, and threatening swords inspired horror. He immediately asked Priscus what he had decided and what he intended to do for his salvation. "Why delay any longer?" replied the Christian. "We worship only one God, and we all wish to die for him." Alexander then had Priscus struck with the sword, and his body thrown into a well. Several companions of the Saint suffered the same penalty.

"However, one of those who survived, named Cottus, furtively gathered the head of Priscus, and fled thr ough t Cottus Companion of Saint Priscus, martyr near Auxerre. he winding paths of the forest. The persecutors noticed it and set out in pursuit, searching all the retreats in the vicinity. Cottus, carrying the head of the blessed martyr Priscus, had already traveled nearly thirty stadia (two leagues) when he was seized near the road called Vestrensis, not far from the city of Auxerre. It is in this place that he was put to death, and where the Christians piously interred him, with the head of the venerable Priscus. As for the other confessors who were immolated with him, the Christians clandestinely removed their bodies, and buried them in a cistern, not far from a well where the body of the Martyr had been thrown."

## RELICS OF SAINT PRISCUS.

Thus, according to the Acts, the bodies of the Martyrs rested in three different places: 1st, that of Saint Priscus, separated from his head, in a well at Teney-sur-Yonne; 2nd, those of his two companions in a cistern not far from the well where the body of Saint Priscus had been thrown. One may consider these first two groups as forming only one; 3rd, that of Saint Cot and the head of Saint Priscus, on the road to Auxerre, at Lyon, four miles from the first of these cities, at the place where the town of Saint-Bry later arose.

The memory of these glorious Saints and their relics remained in oblivion until the time of Saint Germ anus, Bishop saint Germain Spiritual model for Aquilinus. of Auxerre (418-448). At Cociacus, today Toucy-sur-Yonne, Saint Germanus had a monastery built which was called Coucy-les-Saints or Les Saints-en-Puisaye: the body of Saint Priscus, separated from his head, and the bodies of his many companions, with the exception of that of Saint Cot, were gathered and venerated there.

Saint Germanus had a second church erected to house the head of Saint Priscus, two leagues from Auxerre, at the very place where the small town of Saint-Bry stands today, which owes its name and its existence to the gathering of the faithful attracted to this sanctuary to venerate the relics of the Martyrs.

It was in these same p laces that S saint Didier Bishop of Auxerre in the 7th century, discoverer of the relics of Saint Cot. aint Desiderius, Bishop of Auxerre (from 603 to 631), discovered, at the beginning of the 7th century, the body of Saint Cot. He had it buried honorably, on January 19, with the head of Saint Priscus. The memory of the holy Martyrs of the Auxerrois remained in veneration throughout the following centuries. Jean Baillet, who was Bishop of Auxerre from 1477 to 1513, contributed particularly to restoring the cult of Saint Cot to honor. This holy Martyr was hardly known except at Saint-Bry, the place of his burial. Since the discovery of his body by Saint Desiderius, his bones had remained in a stone tomb behind the high altar of the church. Some burghers of the town of Saint-Bry, witnesses to the miraculous healings performed through his intercession, judged that the relics of this generous soldier of Christ were not sufficiently preciously enclosed. At their request, the Bishop of Auxerre went to Saint-Bry, on November 19, 1480, to transport these relics into a beautiful gilded wooden reliquary.

What had been done in the 15th century at Saint-Bry to honor the remains of the Martyrs was done in an even more solemn manner in 1662, in the village of Les Saints-en-Puisaye, to the glory of Saint Priscus and his companions. Their relics had been kept until then in several wooden shrines, which were no longer suitable enough.

Pierre de Broc, then Bishop of Auxerre, wished for these sacred remains to be surrounded with greater veneration. He went to the village of Les Saints-en-Puisaye on November 5, 1663, "to perform there," as he said, "a new translation of the relics of Saint Prix and his companions, whom the diocese of Auxerre venerates as the first Martyrs of the faith in this province." Two new shrines had been prepared.

Thus were honored, in the following centuries, the Saints whom the church of Besançon claims as its children, and whom the church of Auxerre venerates as its first martyrs. Their names were inscribed, from the beginning, in the oldest Martyrologies, and, in particular, in those that bear the name of Saint Jerome: they are also mentioned, on May 26, in the Martyrologies of Umard, Ado, and Notker. An ancient manuscript Martyrology, cited by the Bollandists, reports the main circumstances of their death as recounted in their Acts. Besides the special cult rendered to him in the diocese of Auxerre, Saint Priscus was honored in various churches under the name of Saint Prix or Prex, and, in particular, in the church of Sainte-Marie-de-Piepos, in Paris, where some of his relics were deposited in a chapel that bore his name.

There are still today relics of Saint Prix or his companions and of Saint Cot at Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye and at Varzy, two parishes of the diocese of Nevers that inherited them at the time of the Revolution, and at the cathedral of Nevers itself. The diocese of Besançon has also preserved the memory of Saint Prix, and his feast is celebrated there on May 26, under the double rite.

Acta Sanctorum; Vie des Saints de Franche-Comté; Hagiologie Nivernoise.