Saint Procopius

Procopius, surrounded by this militia, therefore left Antioch and took the road to Alexandria, with the same design as Saint P saint Paul Apostle cited by Saint Jerome to illustrate divine decrees. aul had once left Jerusalem with letters from the high priests to go to Damascus. But He who had stopped the fury of that Apostle in the middle of the road, and had made of a persecutor a vessel of election, operated with the same success in the soul of this same captain, and before he arrived at Alexandria, subjected him to the yoke of His Gospel. Indeed, as he was marching one night with his men, because of the great heat which was not bearable during the day, there was suddenly an earthquake, and in the midst of the thunder and lightning that fell and scattered all his people, he heard a voice that said to him: "Neanias, where are you going, and against whom are you marching with such impetuosity and fury?"

— "I am going," he replied, "on behalf of the emperor, to Alexandria, to put to death all the Galileans (that is how, out of contempt, they called the Christians), if they do not wish to renounce Jesus Christ." — "It is therefore against Me," added the same voice, "that you are going to make war." — "And who are You, Lord?" said this captain; "for I do not have the honor of knowing You!"

At the same instant, a cross like crystal appeared to him, and Our Lord replied to him from the midst of this cross: "I am Jesus Christ, Son of God, crucified." This word, which had once converted Saint Paul, also had a marvelous effect in the heart of this furious man; nevertheless, he still took the boldness to speak to Him whose sign he saw, and said to Him: "I have learned from the emperor that the God whom the Christians adore has no wife: how then can You be His Son? And if You are so great and so noble, how is it that You were condemned, whipped, crowned with thorns, and crucified?" He spoke as a pagan and infidel; but, Our Lord, enlightening him suddenly on the mysteries of His eternal generation, of His incarnation, and of His death for the sins of men, changed his heart so much that He made him a true Christian on the spot. Indeed, having gone that very night to Scythopolis, he sent for a goldsmith to whom he or dered to ma Scythopolis Place of exile for Saint Eusebius in Palestine. ke him a cross of gold and silver, following a model that he traced for him. The goldsmith at first refused, because the cross being the sign of the Christians, the emperor did not allow any to be forged or cast in a mold: but, upon the word given to him by the captain never to reveal him, he cast one, where, by a great miracle, the image of Our Lord was found engraved at the top, with the word Emmanuel, and on both sides, the images of Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel, with their names.

Procopius, fortified by this prodigy and comforted by carrying a cross upon him, went to Jerusalem, the place of his birth, where the emperor's favor and his new dignity as governor earned him a most magnificent welcome. A few days later, the inhabitants complained to him of the tyranny of the Arabs, who came continually into the neighboring villages and small towns to carry off young girls, whom they married or forced to marry their children. He promised to free them from this servitude; and, taking his cross with him, he set out on campaign, went to attack these barbarians in their entrenchments, and killed up to six thousand of them, without losing a single man from his army. He saw clearly that this was a miraculous effect of the cross, especially since Our Lord had assured him, twice, that he would be victorious through this sign. However, his mother, who knew nothing of his change, having embraced him after his victory, urged him to give thanks to the gods of the empire and to offer them sacrifices for it. 'It is not to them,' Procopius replied, 'that I owe this great happiness, but to Jesus Christ crucified, whose divinity I have recognized and adored.' — 'What are you saying,' his mother replied, 'have you then renounced the worship and religion of our gods?' — 'They are not gods,' said Procopius, 'but senseless statues that cannot hear our prayers, nor give us help in our needs and our most pressing necessities.' Entering then into the room where his mother had a certain number of idols, he overturned them, trampled them underfoot, broke them, and turned them into minted gold and silver, which he distributed liberally to the poor.

This action threw Theodosia into an extraordinary fury. She renounced at that very hour all the feelings of nature; and, without considering the love she owed to her only son, she went to denounce him herself as a Christian to the Emperor Diocletian, who was still in Antioch. This prince consoled her, and gave her hope that he would easily succeed in bringing her son back to the religion of his ancestors. He therefore gave her a rescript, addressed to the prefect of Palestine, named Justus: "Having learned," he said, "that Neanias, governor of the city of Alexandria, had embraced the superstition of Christianity, he ordered him to arrest him, to use every means to make him return to his duty, and, if he remained obstinate in his resolution, to deprive him of his dignities, and even of the military belt, and to have him undergo the most cruel tortures." Justus, having received this order, came to find Procopius, communicated it to him, begged him to read it, and, expressing the sorrow he would feel if he were forced to execute its contents, he conjured him to submit to it of his own accord, without putting him in the necessity of either taking away his fortune, if he disobeyed the emperor, or mistreating him despite all the respect and friendship he had for him. Procopius, without being astonished, took the paper he presented to him; but, having seen in it execrable blasphemies against Jesus Christ, he tore it to pieces and threw the fragments to the wind. Then, although he could have defended himself against the prefect and forced him to withdraw, desiring nevertheless ardently to suffer for Jesus Christ, he renounced his position as governor in his presence, threw his sword belt at him, and placed himself in his hands to be tested by all the tortures he might please. Thus, he who was yesterday at the head of a victorious army is today a captive and loaded with chains; he whose benevolence and friendship were yesterday sought with ardor is today abandoned by his own and despised by those very people who looked upon him as the author of their fortune. But the disciple of Jesus Christ considers that he gains much by losing everything for his glory, and that he is richer and stronger by having him alone than by possessing all the treasures and advantages of the earth.

Justus, having seized him, had him taken to Caesarea Philippi, which was in his prefecture; there he had him whipped with such cruelty that no human form remained on his body, and his skin and flesh having fallen into shreds, one could see almost nothing but bones. Those who were present, touched with compassion, mainly because of the high birth and youth of the patient, all melted into tears; but he still had enough voice to cry out to them: "I beg you, my fathers and my brothers, do not weep for me, who will gain an immortal crown through these torments; but weep for yourselves and for the loss of your souls, since, if you do not convert, you must expect only torments that will never end." The constancy of the patient and the weariness of the executioners brought this torture to an end: the Martyr was led back to prison. The jailer, named Terence, who had previously received great benefits from Procopius, did everything he could to relieve him; he had him enter the in Procope Martyr in Palestine, a former imperial officer who converted. ner chamber, and, having wrapped his limbs with linens, he laid him on fresh hay. But Our Lord consoled him in quite another way: for in the middle of the night, two angels in human form came to see him on his behalf, to congratulate him on his battles and his victories. He asked them who they were; they replied that they were angels sent by Jesus Christ: "Ah!" said the holy Martyr then, "I am not worthy that my Lord should have me visited by celestial spirits; it is true that he once sent an angel to the three children of Babylon to preserve them from the burning furnace; but, I a sinner, what have I ever done in comparison with those innocent souls full of fervor? If therefore you are truly of Jesus Christ, adore his divine Majesty now, and make the sign of the cross upon yourselves." They did what he wished, and they filled him at the same time with unspeakable consolation. Our Lord also showed himself to him with a face full of loving majesty, and, having sprinkled him with water to baptize him, he changed his name from Neanias to that of Procopius, and restored him to perfect health, such as he was before his flagellation. The Saint had no words to acknowledge so many benefits; but, in the feeling of his weakness, he begged his Lord not to abandon him in the other battles he had to sustain. "Fear nothing," Our Lord then said to him; "I will always be with you." The next day, a great number of people were informed of this prodigy, and there were several who left the foolish superstition of paganism to embrace the worship of the true God. Justus, furious at this success, which was so contrary to his designs and the wishes of the emperor, had the Martyr appear before him, and ordered that he be led into a temple of the false gods to be forced to adore them. Procopius did not refuse to go; but having entered, at the sight of an immense crowd, he caused the thirty images of the demons that were there to dissolve into water, by making the sign of the cross against them in the middle of the air. This new miracle caused still more conversions; two tribunes, named Nicostratus and Antiochus, and several soldiers of their troop were baptized, and were beheaded a few days later by sentence of the prefect, as it is marked in the Roman Martyrology of May 21.

Twelve illustrious ladies, wives of senators, also shared in his triumph. They were first put in prison with him, so that, as they were of the same religion, they might also be in the same torments.

The Saint consoled them, strengthened them, and kindled in their hearts such a great desire to suffer something for the divine Master that they endured the greatest torments with joy: their bodies were torn with lashes, their sides and armpits were burned with flaming torches, and their breasts were cut off to the root, without them opening their mouths, except to praise God and thank Him for aggregating them to the number of His Martyrs. The mother of the admirable Procopius, who had followed him to Caesarea, was La mère de l'admirable Procope Mother of Saint Procopius, converted by her son. a witness to such surprising generosity. At first, she looked upon it only as stubborn obstinacy: but she was then so touched by it, that grace operating secretly in her heart by virtue of the prayers of her son, who offered his blood to Jesus Christ to obtain her conversion, she despised in a moment all that she possessed in this life: we mean the pleasures, the riches, the honors, the friendship of princes, and the abundance of a very opulent house, and published loudly before everyone and before the judge himself, that she was and wished to die a Christian. As much as our Saint was consoled by this change, so little expected, the judge was irritated and reduced to despair. He tried all sorts of ways to corrupt her and make her return to her superstition; but, seeing that he was wasting his time, he had her taken to prison with her son and with the twelve ladies whose example had been so salutary to her. God only permitted this short delay of her martyrdom to grant her the favor of receiving Baptism. Procopius took care to procure this sacrament for her the following night, sending her, with the permission of his jailer, to Bishop Leontius, who had already baptized the tribune s and their sol l'évêque Léonce Brother of Cosmas and Damian, martyred with them. diers. The grace of regeneration animated her courage even more: she returned from the church and re-entered the dungeon, burning with love for Jesus Christ, and with a desire to expiate the blasphemies she had previously vomited against His divinity, through the most cruel death and the most violent tortures: when the judge had her recalled before his tribunal, with her twelve companions, she appeared there with the same radiance as if it had been to ascend a throne. Neither the remonstrances of Justus, nor his promises, nor his threats, nor the sight of a thousand instruments prepared to hack her limbs and make her suffer a hell on earth, could ever shake her constancy. They struck her on the face, they flayed all her skin, they tore her sides with iron hands and nails, they broke her jaws with leaded cords: which was also done to the other holy ladies; but, instead of crying and complaining, they did nothing but give thanks to God. The judge was in rage, spite, and torture; and the patients, on the contrary, were in holy gladness. Finally, they were all condemned to have their heads cut off; which happened on May 29, the day on which their triumph is marked in the Roman Martyrology.

After this execution, Justus, addressing Procopius, said to him: "Are you not yet content to have been the cause of the loss of so many souls?" — "I have not been the cause of their loss," replied Procopius; "but of their eternal salvation; for they were on the path of perdition, and they are now in the harbor of life and in a happiness that will never end." Justus, outraged by this answer, ordered the executioners to throw themselves upon him and tear his face with iron hands. They did so immediately, like wild beasts throwing themselves upon prey; but the Saint did not move any more than a statue: so that one did not know what one should admire more, the strength of the blessed Martyr, or the barbarity of the judge. He showed the same firmness when they whipped his neck with cords armed with lead balls, and when they tested him with other similar torments: which forced the prefect to send him back to prison. He did so to have time to invent new kinds of torture; but God did not give him the time: for, while he was thinking of satisfying his fury, he was seized with a violent fever that carried him off in a few days, and made him appear himself before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, whom he had so cruelly persecuted in his servants.

Before his successor had arrived, Procopius had a little respite which he used to exhort the Christians, to convert the infidels, and to cast out the demon from a great number of possessed people. The one whom Diocletian appointed in place of Justus was Paulinus, who, despite his nobility and eloquence, had no less hatre Paulin Roman magistrate who had the two saints tortured. d for our religion, nor less blind compliance for this prince, than his cruel predecessor. He undertook to win over Procopius by reasoning, telling him "that he did not know how a man of intellect like him could believe that God was born of a woman, and that he had been crucified and put to death by the hand of men." Procopius, whom the Holy Spirit had admirably well instructed in our mysteries, explained to him thereupon what we believe regarding the Incarnation of the Word, the two natures in Jesus Christ, one of which is immortal, and the other was subject to death, and the necessity of his Passion for the salvation of the world corrupted by sin. He confirmed this doctrine by the predictions of the Sibyls, who were in great veneration among the Romans, and also by the admi Sybilles Pagan prophetesses cited to confirm Christian doctrine. ssion, although forced, of Apollo and Ammon, whom the Greeks consulted as oracles. He also showed him the unity of God, not only by reason, but also by the testimony of the greatest philosophers, especially Trismegistus, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Heraclitus, who all recognized that the multitude of gods a bsolute Socrate Greek philosopher cited by Procopius. ly destroyed divinity. Such a judicious and learned response only embittered the mind of the prefect. He told Procopius to sacrifice promptly to the gods of the empire, instead of reasoning so much, if he did not want to be even more mistreated than he had been under his predecessor. The Saint mocked his command and the folly of his gods, which were only wood, stone, gold, or silver, or else had been vicious men burdened with all sorts of infamies. Paulinus, no longer able to suffer such constancy, ordered one of his guards to pass his sword through his body. This soldier set about to obey; but his arm lost all its strength and he himself fell to the ground. Thus, Procopius was again led back to prison, so burdened with irons that he could not remain standing. It was then that this divine man addressed to God the excellent prayer that the author of his life reports to us: after having proclaimed his greatness and the effects of his power, and having thanked him for the infinite number of his benefits, he conjures him to finally end his combats and to give him, by his grace, a holy perseverance.

Six days later, he was brought back before the prefect; there, he was broken with ox-hide whips and his wounds were then burned with glowing coals; salt was also placed on them, and red-hot steel spikes were passed through them. This torture was so terrible that it seemed to be beyond the most heroic patience. However, the Martyr, insulting the tyrant, said to him with incomparable strength: "You think, Paulinus, to mistreat me, and you do not see that you are procuring for me the greatest happiness I could receive: for what is sweeter to a soul that loves Jesus Christ than to suffer something for His love? In truth, if you knew this mystery, the hatred you bear me would prevent you from tormenting me, so as not to do me such a desirable good." Meanwhile, Paulinus, whose fury was ever increasing, devised a dreadful artifice: to make it believed that the Martyr had offered incense to the idols, he ordered an altar to be set up in his presence, and, forcing his hand to be extended, he had burning coals and incense placed upon it, so that, when he let these smoking coals fall, one could cry out that he had finally satisfied the will of the emperor. But, O admirable strength of Christian generosity! Procopius, notwithstanding the pain of the fire roasting his hand, nevertheless held it perfectly still, without ever shaking off the coals that tormented him so terribly. He then raised his eyes, bathed in tears, toward heaven, and speaking to God, he said to Him with the King-Prophet: "You have, Lord, held and stayed my right hand; You have preserved my soul from sin, You have wiped away my tears and have strengthened me with Your virtue from on high." Paulinus said to him: "Since torments are so agreeable to you, why do you shed tears?" — "I do not weep for my torture," replied the Saint, "except as a mass of mud dissolves in the heat of the fire; but I weep for the misfortune of your soul which, for your incredulity, will be plunged into hell."

It would take an entire volume to express all the other tortures that this invincible athlete overcame. He was led back to prison; from there he was brought back to the tribunal, he was suspended in the air by his hands; in this state, heavy stone blocks were placed on his feet, then he was thrown into a burning furnace whose flame consumed several of the executioners who approached too close; in a word, everything that the malice of men can invent of the most cruel was tested upon him; but he emerged from all these combats victorious and full of glory, and yet so humble and so convinced of his weakness that he continually had his eyes fixed on heaven to implore its help. Finally, the last sentence of death was given against him, and he was led to the usual place to be beheaded. Before the execution, having turned toward the East, he prayed to God with great fervor for the whole city where he was, for the sick deprived of help, for the poor, the widows, the wards and the orphans, for those tempted, afflicted and persecuted, and for every other kind of miserable person. And he heard a voice that assured him that his prayers were answered and that his crown was all prepared. Thus, he stretched out his neck to the executioner, who cut off his head on July 8, some time after the abdication of Diocletian. His body was honorably buried by the Christians, and his memory was immediately after marked in the inventories of the Church. The Roman Martyrology makes mention of him on this day.

Saint Procopius is represented: 1° in the costume of an army general or at the very least a senior officer, in his capacity as a soldier of the court of Diocletian; 2° thrown from his horse, like Saint Paul, when he was traveling to Alexandria to exterminate the Christians there; 3° perceiving in the sky, near Apamea, a cross which suddenly changed his heart from that of a persecutor and which later ensured him a brilliant victory; 4° thrown into a great fire: it is indeed recounted that he was cast into the midst of the flames, but without suffering the slightest damage from them, and he perished only by the sword.

*Acta Sanctorum*, volume II of July.