The Latin Life of *Pastor (priest and martyr of Rome, S01842) narrates that Pastor, priest and disciple of the apostle *Paul (S00008), together with *Timotheus (presumably the disciple of Paul, S00466), is the dedicatee of a church (titulus pastoris) near the vicus Laterici in Rome built by the senator Pudens, where he is buried. He took care of the burial of several saints, among whom the virgins *Praxedes and *Pudentiana (martyrs of Rome, S00591 and S00142), whose Lives he also wrote. Written presumably in Rome, at an uncertain date, by the 12th-13th c. at the latest.
E03255
Literary - Hagiographical - Other saint-related texts
Life of Pastor (BHL 6470d)
Summary:
Pastor comes from a distinguished Roman family; he becomes Christian and is instructed together with Timotheus by the apostle Paul, and ordained a priest. He suffers greatly under the emperor Antoninus. He is humble and truly bears the name Pastor, as he takes care of Christians at night, instructing them and comforting them in a time of persecution. He also takes care of the poor.
A church (ecclesia) is dedicated to his name in the vicus Laterici by the senator Pudens, the father of the holy virgins Praxedes and Pudentiana, that is called titulus Pastoris up to this day.
Pastor steals and buries the bodies of several saints, relying on the help of Pudentiana and Praxedes, whom he then buries with honours and whose lives he put into writing. He dedicates his whole life to God and is a remarkable example to his fellow Christians in Rome. He dies on the 7th day before the Calends of August [= 26 July]. His body is buried in the aforementioned titulus where God bestows many favours up to this day.
Text: Delehaye 1936, 264-266.
Summary: M. Pignot.
Saint’s feast
Cult PlacesBurial site of a saint - tomb/grave
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityDistribution of alms
Composing and translating saint-related texts
Construction of cult buildings
MiraclesUnspecified miracle
RelicsBodily relic - entire body
Construction of cult building to contain relics
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesAristocrats
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Women
Source
There is only one version of the Life, BHL 6470g, the earliest manuscript being from the 12th century (see the database Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina Manuscripta at bhlms.fltr.ucl.ac.be).Discussion
The priest Pastor in this text relates to the character Pastor, mentioned in a number of other martyrdom accounts, in particular the Martyrdom of Marius, Martha and Companions (E02093) and the Martyrdom of Pudentiana and Praxedes (E02507). The latter similarly situates the main action under emperor Antoninus, tells of Pudens’ dedication of a titulus to Pastor, and relates the care he took in burying the virgins. It also makes of Pastor a correspondent of Timotheus, who tells the story of Praxedes and Pudentiana’s life. Despite our Life being generally dated to the 6th century (Clavis Patrum Latinorum 2216; Gryson, R., Répertoire général des auteurs ecclésiastiques Latins de l’Antiquité et du Haut moyen âge, 2 vols. (Freiburg, 2007), I, 80), there is no evidence to date it on the basis of the information that it shares with other martyrdom accounts. The earliest preserved manuscript being from the 12th century, and the church of Saint Pudentiana being dedicated to Pastor and John the Baptist at that time, Lanéry guesses that it might have been composed following that dedication.The Martyrdom of Pastor (E04565) does not relate to our Life as it presents Pastor as a martyr originally coming from Nicomedia. However, it shares the same feast day, 26 July, and may point to diverging traditions on the same saint.
It is worth noting that the Life at one point refers to the audience as "dearest brothers" (fratres carissimi).
Bibliography
Edition (BHL 6470g):Delehaye, H., Étude sur le Légendier Romain. Les saints de Novembre et de Décembre (Brussels, 1936), 264-266.
Further reading:
Delehaye, H., Étude sur le Légendier Romain. Les saints de Novembre et de Décembre (Brussels, 1936), 137-140.
Lanéry, C., "Hagiographie d'Italie (300-550). I. Les Passions latines composées en Italie,” in: Philippart, G. (ed.), Hagiographies. Histoire internationale de la littérature hagiographique latine et vernaculaire en Occident des origines à 1550, vol. V (Turnhout, 2010), 15-369, at 299.
Matthieu Pignot
09/01/2018
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00008 | Paul, the Apostle | Paulus | Certain | S00142 | Praxedes, virgin and martyr of Rome | Praxedis | Certain | S00466 | Timothy, the disciple of Paul the Apostle | Timoteus | Certain | S00591 | Pudentiana, virgin and martyr of Rome | Pudentiana | Certain | S01842 | Pastor, priest and martyr of Rome | Pastor | Certain |
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Matthieu Pignot, Cult of Saints, E03255 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E03255