Saint Cyricus

Julitta Julitte Mother of Saint Cyricus, martyr, whose tooth and bones are preserved in Nevers and Nolay. , having seen what had happened, thanked God for having granted her son the crown of martyrdom. The joy she displayed further increased the judge's fury. He ordered the executioner to lift the Martyr and suspend her to be flayed alive, then to pour boiling pitch on her feet. During the execution, a herald shouted to Julitta: "Have pity on yourself, and sacrifice to the gods; deliver yourself from these tortures, fear the horrible death that has just struck your son." But the blessed Martyr, unshakable in the midst of the torments, raised her voice in turn, and replied with generous constancy: "I do not sacrifice to demons, to deaf and dumb statues; but I honor Christ, the only Son of God, He by whom the Father created all things: I am eager to find my son again. It is in the kingdom of heaven that it will be given to me to see him." After this response, the governor, seeing that he could not overcome the courage of his victim, condemned her to be beheaded; he further ordered that the body of Julitta and that of her son be carried to the place where the corpses of criminals were thrown. The remorse and confusion he felt, on the occasion of the crime he had committed by causing the death of a three-year-old child, had made him like a ferocious beast that follows only the ardor of a blind impetuosity.

The executioners closed Julitta's mouth by means of a gag which they tied with violence, then they led her, according to the tyrant's orders, to the place of execution. Julitta asked them by sign for a few moments to pray to God. The executioners allowed themselves to be swayed; they granted her a moment, and untied the gag. Then the Saint knelt down, and made this prayer to God: "I give you thanks, Lord, for having called my son before me, and for having deigned to grant him, for the glory of your terrible and holy name, in exchange for a fleeting and vain life, eternal life in the abode of the Blessed; receive also your unworthy servant, and may I have the happiness of being reunited with the wise virgins, to whom it has been given to enter the dwelling of the celestial spirits, where nothing defiled can penetrate, where my soul will bless God your Father, the Creator and Preserver of all things, as well as the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen." At the moment she finished saying this last word, the executioner, brandishing his sword with effort, struck off the head of the generous Martyr. This took place in 304, or at the latest the following year. The two women of her retinue secretly took her body along with that of her son, and buried them in a field near the city.

When Saint Cyricus a nd Saint saint Cyr Young three-year-old martyr, son of Saint Julitta. Julitta are represented together, Saint Julitta, a young woman richly attired to recall her royal origin, gives her right hand to her child and holds a palm in the other; a similar palm is in the right hand of the little Saint Cyricus. M. Chantrier had the happy idea of representing Saint Cyricus without a palm, but trying to reach up to grasp his mother's palm; at their feet, one sees a royal crown and a scepter. — When Saint Cyricus is alone, he is naked, mounted on a boar; this is how he is seen on the chapter's coat of arms. On the metals of Issoudun, he is simply beside his boar, which he holds by the bristles or by the ears. Elsewhere, the scene is completed by placing Charlemagne, either sta nding or kn Charlemagne Emperor of the Franks and uncle of Saint Folquin. eeling, before the holy child, often piercing the furious animal with his sword. This is how he is seen on a pillar of the cathedral, on one of the metals of Issoudun, and on the stained glass windows of Saint-Saulge, in the diocese of Nevers, and of Saint-Julien-du-Sault, in the diocese of Sens. — This way of representing Saint Cyricus recalls the following dream of Charlemagne: It seemed to him one day, while sleeping, that he was hunting, when suddenly, finding himself alone in the middle of a forest, he perceived a furious boar that was about to spring upon him; his first thought, in this pressing danger, was to throw himself on his knees and implore the protection of God. At the same time, he saw beside him a naked child, who promised to deliver him from the peril he was running if he would give him a veil to cover himself. The emperor did not hesitate to make this promise; immediately the child jumped onto the boar, and, holding it by its tusks, he led it to the emperor who pierced it with his sword and killed it.

A few years after the death of our holy Martyrs, the great Constantine put an end to all the persecutions directed for so long against the Christians, by declaring himself a disciple of Jesus Christ. One of Saint Julitta's servants was still alive; she made known the place where she had laid the bodies of the holy Martyrs. We read in their Acts that, after this discovery, "the faithful of the country hastened to procure some portion of their relics, hoping to find there a safeguard against the accidents of life, and that they flocked to their tomb to glorify God there." The oldest houses of Lycaonia prided themselves on recognizing Saint Julitta as their relative; every year, according to Theodore, Bishop of Iconium, they gathered to celebrate her feast, with a pomp worthy of a Saint and a daughter of kings.

Saint Amator, Bishop of Auxerre, predecessor of Saint Germanus, during a journey he made to the Auxerre City and episcopal see of the saint. East, is said to have brought back from Antioch the bodies of Saint Cyricus and Saint Julitta. He gave an arm of Saint Cyricus to Savin, a man of quality and companion of his journey, and enclosed the rest in Auxerre, in the church which later bore his name; but, fearing that this precious deposit might be dissipated and lost, whether in wars or in other public calamities, he placed it in a wall on which he had a small image of Saint Cyricus painted and an inscription which was to serve as an authentic record; then, by means of a counter-wall, he hid this tomb.

For a long time, the inhabitants of Auxerre were unaware of the precious deposit they possessed; it was not until the time of Saint Jerome, Bishop of Nevers, that it was discovered. This holy bishop had a very special devotion to Saint Cyr and Saint Julitte, his mother. He had built a chapel in their honor adjoining his cathedral, and wished to place his entire diocese under their protection by dedicating the new church he hoped to build to these Saints, when it would please Providence to support his wishes.

Soon, thanks to the generosity of Charlem agne, he undertook the rec libéralités de Charlemagne Emperor of the Franks and uncle of Saint Folquin. onstruction of his cathedral. In the meantime, the wall that Saint Amateur had built in Auxerre suddenly collapsed, revealing the sacred deposit that the holy bishop had hidden, along with the images of the saints and the inscriptions indicating the names and relics of each. The people flocked to Auxerre to venerate these precious relics; Jerome went there himself and was fortunate enough to obtain a portion of them; he was given the arm of the holy child, the very same arm, it is said, that Saint Amateur had once given to Savin, and which the latter left in Auxerre when he departed for Poitou.

Jerome solemnly transported this precious treasure to Nevers, where it was received with joy and ha ppines Nevers The saint's first episcopal see. s. A great number of miracles were performed through his intercession, and the sick, healed of their infirmities, proclaimed the praises of the holy Martyrs far and wide. The arm of Saint Cyr was deposited in the new basilica and, from that time on, Saint Cyr and Saint Julitte became the patrons of the diocese of Nevers.

At the end of 1857, during a drainage operation, a certain number of coins of Pepin were found at Imphy, most of them unp ublis Pépin King of the Franks whose accession to the throne was supported by Burchard. hed. One of these pieces, stamped on one side with the sigil of Pepin P. R. Pepinus rex, bears on the reverse this exergue: Sancti Cirici. It is known that, during the Aquitanian wars, Pepin held his headquarters in Nevers from 761 to 763. Was the cult of Saint Cyr already famous in the Nivernais at that time? This curious piece allows us to think so. In this case, Saint Jerome would have found it established, and would only have given it more extension.

Tédalgrin, Bishop of Nevers, who ascended to this see in 922, received from Guy, Bishop of Auxerre, a part of the head of Saint Cyr, which Ki ng Raoul roi Raoul King of France who had the head of Saint Cyricus encased in gold. had encased in gold. Nowhere was the cult of Saint Cyr as widespread as in the diocese of Nevers; four days during the course of the year were devoted to honoring the young Martyr and his holy mother. In the Breviary printed in 1494, under the care of Pierre de Fontenay, Bishop of Nevers, one finds, on June 4, a memorial of Saint Cyr and his companions, martyrs; on the 10th of the same month, the solemn feast of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitta; on July 15, their martyrdom; and finally, on October 27, the feast of the Translation of the arm of Saint Cyr.

Besides the cathedral of Nevers, which is under the invocation of Saint Cyr, the parishes of La Nocle, in the deanery of Flours, and of Chevannes, in that of Brinon-les-Allemands, are placed under his patronage.

A great number of churches in France took pride in possessing a portion of the relics of Saint Cyr and Saint Julitta; such as those of Issoudun, in the diocese of Bourges; Saint-Cyr de Borchières, in the diocese of Chartres; Saint-Cyrgues, in the diocese of Clermont in Auvergne; Saint-Sernin of Toulouse, where considerable portions are still seen; the convent of the Mathurins of Arles, from which, with the authorization of Pop e Clement VII, a pape Clément VII Pope mentioned as having possessed a relic of the saint. transport was made in the 16th century to Villejuif, in the diocese of Paris, of a bone or a leg of Saint Cyr, and a part of the jaw of Saint Julitta. Sancerges, in the diocese of Bourges, which honors Saint Cyr as its patron, must also have formerly possessed some relics of this holy Martyr. Saint-Amand, in Hainaut, also possesses some relics of Saint Cyr.

Many other localities are placed under the invocation of this holy Martyr, such as Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, near Tours; Saint-Cyr, in the diocese of Limoges, in the archdeaconry of Rochechouart; Saint-Cyr-le-Cordière, near Toulon, in the diocese of Fréjus, etc.

In 1493, Philibert de Champagne handed over to the cathedral the rather significant relics of Saint Cyr that he had in his possession.

As for the gold reliquary given by King Raoul, it is not known today what became of it. The relics of Saint Julitta and Saint Cyr remained enclosed with others in the glass retable that surmounted the altar of Saint Julitta, formerly named after Saint Cyr. It was demolished in 1856 to be replaced by a Romanesque altar more in keeping with the style of the chapel. On 2 Brumaire Year II (October 24, 1793), the representative of the people Fouc hé, ha Fouché Representative of the people who ordered the stripping of churches in the Nièvre in 1793. ving ordered the churches of the Nièvre department to be stripped of everything precious they might contain, the episcopal vicar Goussot succeeded in saving the relics deposited in the cathedral. These relics, accompanied by their authentications, were transported to Nolay, wher e the Nolay Commune possessing an important reliquary transferred from the Cathedral of Nevers. y are still found today in several reliquaries.

The most precious of these reliquaries is the one called the Christ-aux-Reliques, because of the large number of relics enclosed in the cross. They were verified again and authenticated by Mgr Dufêtre, Bishop of Nevers. One notes among others a bone of Saint Julitta, ten centimeters long, and an arm bone of Saint Cyr, five centimeters long.

It appears that Mr. Goussot was only able to remove a portion of the relics deposited in the retable of Saint Julitta, for the Abbé Guérin, for his part, saved a tooth of Saint Julitta and a bone of Saint Matthew. These two relics were deposited in the cathedral's reliquary, sealed with the seal of Mgr Charles de Houdet d'Auzers, with an authentic act dated November 28, 1830. The other relics enclosed in this reliquary are those of Saint James the Greater, Saint Sulpice, Archbishop of Bourges, Saint Anselm, Saint Jerome, Bishop of Nevers, and Saints Eugenia and Euphemia; plus a fairly substantial bone of Saint Cyr.

Finally, the bishopric possesses the lower jaw of Saint Julitta, which has only one tooth remaining, and bone fragments of Saint Cyr; these relics had been originally examined by Mgr d'Auzers and sealed with his seal; this seal has since been replaced by that of Mgr Dufêtre.

Saint Cyricus and Saint Julitta are named in the Roman Martyrology under June 16; but it is more probable that they were martyred on July 15. It is on this latter day that their feast is celebrated among the Greeks, the Muscovites, the Armenians, and the Nestorians. The Abyssinians honor them two days before the 19th of their month of Hamie and on January 20.

Taken from their sincere acts, published by Dom Ruinart; from the Hagiologie Nivernoise, by Mgr Crosnier. — Cf. Tillemont, vol. v, p. 349; Fr. Papelbrock; the Acts of the Martyrs, by the R.R. Benedictine Fathers.