Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter

The joy that this generous Martyr displayed in his torments, his gentle, modest, and smiling demeanor, his tranquility, and his patience, astonished all the pagans. He was heard, day and night, singing the praises of God in his dreadful prison, even though he was loaded with chains and his whole body was but one wound. He noticed one day that the jailer , name Artème Jailer converted by Saint Peter. d Artemius, never descended into the dungeon without tears in his eyes; the sadness painted on his brow showed that his heart was in bitterness. Our Saint took the liberty of asking him the cause of his affliction. I weep, the jailer replied, for the misfortune of a daughter whom I have and whom I love with tenderness, without being able to bring any relief to her ills. For some years she has been possessed by a cruel demon who torments her horribly, and I have just left her in one of these dreadful fits.

If that is the only thing that afflicts you, replied the Saint, it will be easy to console you. — And how? replied Artemius. — By delivering your daughter, said the exorcist. — I understand, replied Artemius, but what man, or what God can perform this wonder? — I, said Saint Peter, by the omnipotence of Jesus Christ, the only true God, who is also the only one I adore and serve. The jailer listened with pity to this answer. If that is so, resumed Artemius, you are very foolish not to use the power of your Master to deliver yourself from your chains. — I know too well the advantages and the price of this dungeon and these irons, replied the holy exorcist, to wish to be delivered from them; and my divine Savior loves me too much to wish to deprive me of such a precious crown: sufferings are the fortune of Christians. — If you want, said Artemius, interrupting him, that I believe in your God and his omnipotence, break your chains, open your prison yourself; and, passing through the guardhouse that is at the door, come find me this evening in my room. Saying this in mockery, he turned his back on him and retired to his house.

Artemius, entering his home, said to his wife Candida: I have just left in the dungeon a young Christian whose mind has been turned by torments and prison. His madness is quite amusing: he imagines that, by the virtue of his God Jesus Christ, he will deliver our daughter Paulin Pauline Daughter of Artemius, healed of demonic possession. a. — I admire, said Candida, that you treat this as madness; what does it cost to put it to the test? — The madness, replied Artemius, is that having asked him for proof of the omnipotence of his God, that he come to find me this evening in my room, he promised me he would, even though I have doubled both his chains and his guard. — If he keeps his word, replied Candida, it is indeed a sign that there is no true God but his. — You are as mad as he is, retorted Artemius: even if Jupiter with all our gods were to come to pull him from his dungeon, they would not be able to succeed. The conversation continued, when Saint Peter appeared at the door of the room, dressed in white and holding a crucifix in his hand. His presence struck Artemius and Candida with awe, who, having recovered from their astonishment, threw themselves at his feet, and, bursting into tears, cried out: There is no true God but the God of the Christians. At the same time, Paulina knelt before the Saint; and the demon by whom she was possessed, unable to endure the presence of the holy exorcist, left her, crying out: O Peter! The virtue of Jesus Christ that is in you drives me from here, and compels me to leave the body of this girl.

The miracle was too striking not to cause a great stir. The house was soon full of neighbors and relatives, who, witnesses to such a marvelous event, all asked for baptism. Saint Peter, filled with the sweetest consolation at the sight of so many conversions, went to fetch the priest Marcellinus who, having explained to them the principal mysteries of the faith, and seeing them in the best disposition, gave them Baptism. Artemius, overflowing with joy to see himself a Christian, entered the prison and released all those who were held there for the cause of Jesus Christ.

The illness of the prefect Serenus gave Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter ample leisure to instruct these new Christians for nearly fifty days, and to prepare them for martyrdom. No sooner had Serenus recovered than he summoned Artemius and ordered him to bring him the prisoners. Lord, the jailer replied, the prisons are empty. Peter, the exorcist of the Christians, has broken the chains of those you held in the dungeons and has opened the prison door by the omnipotence of Jesus Christ. At this miracle, we have all received the faith and holy Baptism, and there are only the holy priest Marcellinus, Peter his exorcist, and myself who have remained to receive your orders.

Serenus, irritated to the point of fury against Artemius, had him torn with whips armed with lead with such cruelty that he could not have survived it without a miracle. Then, having Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter brought in: Expect not to be treated with less severity, he told them, after the attack you have committed, unless, renouncing your Jesus Christ, you offer incense to our idols. God forbid, replied Saint Marcellinus, that we should ever commit such an impiety: there is only one God, and it is the height of folly and impiety to recognize several. It is by the omnipotence of this God that the chains of your prisoners were broken, and that the doors of your prisons were opened; do not make a crime of this wonder for us, but rather recognize by it that there is no other God than the God of the Christians.

Serenus could no longer restrain his anger; he had Saint Marcellinus cruelly beaten, and, seeing him all bruised, he ordered him to be bound in a dark dungeon, stretched out on broken glass, without water or food. Saint Peter was locked in another prison, with shackles on his feet and his whole body in torture. But the hand of the Lord, who had set the holy confessors at liberty, delivered our holy Martyrs that very night. An angel, having entered the dungeon where Saint Marcellinus was, broke his bonds, ordered him to put on his clothes, and led him to the dungeon where Saint Peter was; and having also delivered and healed him, he led them both to the house where the new Christians were gathered in prayer. They remained there for a few days to confirm them in the faith and to prepare them for martyrdom. Meanwhile, Serenus, having learned that Marcellinus and Peter had escaped, unleashed all his fury upon Artemius. He ordered that this jailer, Candidus, his wife, and Paulina, his daughter, be led to the temple of Jupiter, and that, if they refused to sacrifice to the gods, they should be buried alive under a pile of stones that would be collapsed upon them. As they were being led to their execution, Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter, followed by several other Christians, came to meet the holy Martyrs and accompanied them in triumph. God soon rewarded their zeal and fervor. They were themselves arrested and, without delay, condemned to be beheaded.

To avoid a feared uprising, it was ordered that they would be executed a league from Rome, in a wood which was then called the Black Forest , and which Forêt Noire Site of the execution of saints near Rome. since, because of these holy Martyrs, was called the White Forest; there they received the crown of martyrdom, around the year 304. Their bodies were thrown into a cavern, where they remained hidden. Some time later, a respectable lady named Lucilla learned by revelation what had happened. She had herself accompanied by another pious lady, who was named Firmina, and having removed the bodies of the Martyrs, she buried them near that of Saint Tiburtius, in the catacombs, on the Via Labicana. Pope Damasus assures th at as a chi pape Damase Pope who ordained the two brothers and sent them on a mission. ld he learned all these details from the very mouth of the executioner. He inserted them into the Latin epitaph that he placed on the tomb of the Saints.

Anastasius the Librarian reports, based on ancient monuments, that Con stantine the Great Constantin le Grand Roman emperor whose conversion ended Christian persecutions. built a church at this location under the invocation of the two Martyrs; that he had his m other, Saint sainte Hélène Mother of Emperor Constantine, who discovered the True Cross. Helena, buried there in a porphyry tomb, and that he donated a pure gold paten, weighing thirty-five pounds, along with many other rich gifts. According to the same author, Popes Honorius I and Adrian I had the church and the cemetery of Saint Tiburtius and Saints Peter and Marcellinus repaired.

In the 9th century, the bodies of our two holy Martyrs were transported to Germany. Here is the occasion for it. Einha rd, favo Eginhard Secretary to Charlemagne, translator of relics to Germany. rite and secretary to Charlemagne, had pledged by vow, as had Emma, his wife, to maintain perpetual continence. He became a monk, and became successively abbot of Fontenelle and Ghent. Emma having died in 836, he felt a keen pain, as can be seen from the letters that Lupus of Ferrières wrote to him. In 827, he had sent his secretary to Rome, in order to obtain from Pope Gregory IV relics of the Martyrs, pape Grégoire IV Pope who instituted the feast of All Saints in France in 837. to enrich the monasteries that he had just founded or repaired. The Sovereign Pontiff gave him the bodies of Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter, which he transferred to Strasbourg; but, shortly after, he deposited them at Michlenstad, then at Malinheim or Selingestad. In 829, he built there in honor of these Saints a church and a monastery of which he was the first abbot.

Saint Gregory the Great Saint Grégoire le Grand Pope contemporary to Saint Psalmodius. preached his twenty homilies on the Gospels in the church of Saint Marcellinus and Saint Peter, in Rome. This is evident from some of these very homilies, and is further confirmed by the testimony of John the Deacon.

Cf. Vies des Saints, by Abbé Duras.