Anonymous sermon ('Eusebius Gallicanus', Sermon 55), on *Epipodius and Alexander (martyrs of Lyon, S00318). Preached in Latin at Lyon (south-east Gaul), probably in the 5th century.
E00874
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Eusebius Gallicanus
Eusebius Gallicanus, Sermon 55: On the Holy Martyrs Ephypodius and Alexander (De sanctis martyribus Ephypodio et Alexandro) (BHL 2575d)
Summary:
(1-2.) It gives particular joy to celebrate the cult of our native martyrs and the honour of our special patrons (indigenarum martyrum cultus, et honor specialium patronorum). If we celebrate martyrs from far away, how much more are these to be celebrated.
The preacher refers to the feast days of the two martyrs, which were two days apart (22 and 24 April):
(3.) Duplicia itaque Ephypodii et Alexandri tropaea ecclesiae nostrae fides interiecta bidui uel tridui distinctione concelebrat, non aduenticiis festa reliquiis, sed intemeratis patrii sinus festa monumentis.
'(3.) The faith of our church celebrates the double trophies of Ephypodius and Alexander with a separation of two or three days inserted; not a feast for relics brought from outside, but a feast for the unblemished memorials of the paternal breast.'
(4.) After a brief passage praising the glory of martyrdom in general, the preacher adds the following:
Nos uero beatorum illustre munus totum atque integrum possidemus, et, quod uniuerso mundo possit sufficere, intra gremium ciuitatis huius peculiariter conclusum tenemus; et geminas palmas triumphi aemulas apostolicae urbi attolimus, atque, habentes et nos Petrum Paulumque nostrum, cum sublimi illa sede binos suffragatores certamus.
'We truly possess the illustrious gift of the blessed ones [Epipodius and Alexander] whole and entire, and what could suffice for the whole world we hold as our own, contained within the embrace of this city; and we lift up the twin palms of triumph vying with the apostolic city, and, we too having our Peter and Paul, we vie with the highest see in having two patrons.'
(5.) The martyrs whose precious dust is spread through different parts of the world to heal the people are honoured everywhere, but how much more joyfully if they are celebrated in the very place where they were persecuted and tortured and shed their blood.
(6.) The preacher imagines the martyrs giving a speech, in which they proclaim themselves as examples of faith and of valuing it more than life. They warn that in the peaceful life that Christians now have, they risk losing what the martyrs gained in adversity.
(8-14.) A lengthy passage denouncing those who think that suffering in the world, and the fact that evildoers are not immediately punished, show that God is indifferent or lacks power. The preacher uses the sufferings of the martyrs as a counterpoint to this.
(15.) The conclusion: our fathers struggled against violence and persecution, we struggle against pleasures and vices, and must defeat what is in ourselves: 'for since we know there can be war without a persecutor, God can also give martyrdom without blood' (nam quia esse nouimus sine persecutore bellum, potest dare deus et sine cruore martyrium).
Text: Glorie 1971.
Summary and translations: David Lambert.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivitySaint as patron - of a community
RelicsContact relic - dust/sand/earth
Source
The sermon on Epipodius and Alexander survives as part of the large collection of anonymous Gallic sermons known as 'Eusebius Gallicanus'. This was compiled in southern Gaul at some point between the late 5th and early 7th centuries, but the precise date and circumstances remain uncertain. For a detailed examination of the collection, see Bailey 2010.Like the entire Eusebius Gallicanus collection, this sermon is anonymous; it contains no information that allows its author or precise date to be identified, though it was evidently preached at Lyon, most likely by a bishop of the city, and probably in the 5th century. The sermon mentions the fact that the saints had two separate feast days, two days apart (22 and 24 April): it would have been preached on one of these days.
Discussion
Epipodius and Alexander evidently had a cult at Lyon in the 5th and 6th centuries that was not insignificant, but virtually nothing seems to have been known about them: a situation exemplified by this sermon, which praises them in the strongest terms as martyrs and patron saints of Lyon but, other than the fact that they were natives of the city, does not include even the smallest detail about who they were or the circumstances of their martyrdom. (For what can actually be established about Epipodius and Alexander, see discussion in E06302.)It is only in the first part of the sermon (§§ 1-6) that the preacher even talks about Epipodius and Alexander as individuals, and his statements about them ultimately come down to just two points: they were martyrs native to Lyon, indigenae martyres (§ 1), and there were two of them, which enables him to compare them to Peter and Paul, and indulge in the conceit that they therefore allow Lyon to rival Rome (§ 4). One passage (§ 5) seems to contain a reference to the use of dust from their tombs as a healing relic, though this is not given much emphasis. The second half of the sermon (§§ 7-15) focusses entirely on arguments about divine justice and about the greater temptations to which Christians were subject now that they were no longer persecuted; there are various references to the martyrs in general, but no further mention of Epipodius and Alexander even in the conclusion.
Bibliography
Edition:Glorie, F., Eusebius 'Gallicanus'. Collectio Homiliarum II (Corpus Christianorum Series Latina 101A; Turnhout: Brepols, 1971), 639-644.
Further Reading:
Bailey, L.K., "Building urban Christian communities: sermons on local saints in the Eusebius Gallicanus collection," Early Medieval Europe 12 (2003), 1-24.
Bailey, L.K., Christianity's Quiet Success: The Eusebius Gallicanus Sermon Collection and the Power of the Church in Late Antique Gaul (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010).
David Lambert
07/12/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Petrus | Certain | S00318 | Epipodius and Alexander, martyrs of Lyon | Ephypodius | Certain |
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