The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

Various manuscripts have different headings, but they all say about the martyrdom of the blessed Marculus, on the dates differing between the eighth, seventh and third day before the Kalends of December (i.e. 22, 23 or 27 November).

1. Quoniam multorum martyrum passiones et gloriae in sublimi memoria eximio olim sermone digestae ad magnam utilitatem proficiunt populorum, dum ad incentivum virtutis et laudis Ecclesiae semper auribus recitantur; idcirco me quoque et honor martyris tanti, et communis omnium devotionis profectus accendit, ut passionem Marculi gloriosi, sacerdotali etiam honore fulgentem, traditorum nuper scelere consummatam, indigna licet, sed plena amoris oratione decurrerem. Iustum enim ac satis dignum est, ut antiquorum testium laudibus recentium quoque martyrum virtus adiuncta glutinetur. Sicut enim illos gentilis saevitia diabolo parens destinavit ad regnum; sic et hos traditorum rabies Antichristo serviens misit ad caelum. Et quia praetermittendus non est superioris vitae memorabilis cursus; de virtutibus Marculi gloriosi, etsi propter multitudinem nequeunt omnia, propter testimonium; tamen vel pauca dicenda sunt.

1. 'The passions and the glories of many martyrs have already been laid out in lofty style as a sublime memorial. They provide great benefit for the people who listen each time they are recited as an incentive to virtue and as praise for the Church. For this reason, the honour of such a martyr and an increase in the common devotion of all incited me also that I too, unworthy yet full of love, might expound in an oration the martyrdom of the glorious Marculus, radiant with priestly honor, brought to perfection only recently through the shameful crime of the traitors. It is right and proper that the steadfastness of our recent martyrs should be joined to the praise of the witnesses of old. Just as the savagery of the pagans (gentiles), serving the devil, destined those martyrs of old to the kingdom [of God]; so the rage of the traitors, serving the Antichrist, sent these recent martyrs to heaven.
We must not omit the memorable course of his earlier life. Even if no-one can recount all the well-witnessed virtues of the glorious Marculus because of their great number, some must be told.'

2. Marculus conduct is praised, from his youth to obtaining priesthood [i.e. bishopric].
Sacerdotium vero qualiter gesserit inde fit clarum, cui pro praemio Dominus dignatus est praestare martyrium.
'Truly the way he exercised his priesthood is demonstrated by this: the Lord gave him martyrdom as a reward.'

3. The beginning of the persecution of the Donatists by Macarius and Paul, acting on the orders of Emperor Constans, is described.

4. Ten Donatist bishop, among them Marculus, come to Macarius in Vegesela (Numidia) to plead him to cease persecutions. Macarius starts torturing them.

5. The tortures inflicted on Marculus are described.

Tale denique illic tunc miraculum Christus martyris sui membris indutus ostendit, ut ad eum non solum dolorem adire non sineret; verum etiam ab eius corpore universas saevitiae notas atque omnia carnificinae signa detergeret. Quo proelio victus ac subactus inimicus, [...]. Tunc eum secum per aliquas Numidiae civitates quasi quoddam crudelitatis suae spectaculum ducens, nesciens feritas et gentilibus stuporem, et Christi hostibus confusionem, et fidelibus Dei servis incentivum gloriosi certaminis exhibebat.

'At this point then, Christ, arrayed in the limbs of the martyr, unveiled a miracle: not only did he not allow pain to touch Marculus, but he even stripped from his body all signs of savagery and all the marks of torture. The enemy was conquered and subdued in this battle. [...] Next they dragged him with them through other cities of Numidia as some sort of public spectacle of their cruelty, their ferocity not knowing that this provided amazement to the pagans, confusion to the enemies of Christ, and an incentive to glorious combat to the servants of God.'

6-7. Marculus is led under strict guard to Nova Petra [also in Numidia], where he awaits his execution praying and fasting.

8. Marculus wakes up. He is going to celebrate the eucharist, but firstly he preaches a sermon, in which he describes his vision. He saw three gifts offered to him, being the symbols of future triumph: a silver cup, a golden crown, and a palm branch.

9. A messenger of Macarius arrives with the death sentence for Marculus. Everyone weeps, but Marculus is joyful.

10. One of the soldiers explains what will happen because of the vision he received. He asks Marculus for mercy and pardon for what he will have to do.

11. Marculus is led from the building surrounded by soldiers, "honoured even by his persecutors“. He is conducted to the edge of a nearby precipice.

12. The executioner throws Marculus down the precipice to his death. The victorious soul of the martyr goes directly to heaven.

13.
Confusa sunt igitur virtutibus Christi persecutorum exquisita ingenia, et traditorum iniqua consilia, qui ad hoc tale supplicium cogitaverant, ne umquam in testimonium eorum a populis Dei memoria martyris posset honorari. Putaverant enim in illo praecipitio corpus per frustra discerpi, et acutis cautibus laniari, ut cui ademerant vitam, nec sepultura superesset. Putaverant nihil pervenire usque ad terram posse, quod collectum pia fraternitas sepeliret. Cum per illa montis ardui confragosa singulae rupes singula sibi membra tenuissent, vel certe cum semel integrum corpus inter fissuras petrarum aut rimosas latebras scopulorum hiatu aliquo fuisset absorptum: ecce consecratis artubus dura saxa et rupes asperae percerunt; et quem traditores occidere non timuerunt, montes laedere timuerunt. Exceptis enim ipsis, Creatorem suum omnis creatura veneratur; nec in hac causa ad promerendum Deum deesse poterat montibus sensus, quibus ad eius laudem etiam vocem scriptura concessit.

'The exquisite schemes of the persecutors and the evil counsels of the traitors were brought into disarray by the help of Christ. They had planned on such a punishment as this, so that the memorial of the martyr (memoria martyris) might never be honoured by the people of God in their testimony. For they erroneously thought that the body might be mangled on the precipice, that it might be torn by the sharp-edged rocks, so that the one deprived of life might not even have need for burial. They thought that nothing could even reach the ground which the pious fraternity might collect and bury, since each of the limbs might be held in the recesses of the high mountain or the entire body might be swallowed up all at once in some cleft in the fissures of the rocks or in the fractured recesses of the cliffs. But look! The hard stones and rough rocks spared his consecrated limbs. The mountains feared to harm the man whom the traitors did not fear to slay. Except for them, every creature adores its Creator and in this respect the mountains could not lack the capacity to deserve God’s favour. Even Scripture gives them a voice for his praise.'

14. The soldiers tried to hide what had happened. However:
[…] Nam ubi primum diei albescentis ingressus pallorem globi noctis infudit, et discolorem caeli faciem tenebrarum ac lucis discordia variavit, continuo sub eiusdem montis gremio splendida nubes apparuit, quae interdum fulgore promicante consciam se de martyris corpore blando lumine testabatur. Neque enim illa matutinis roribus gravida fusco tegmine umidos obumbraverat colles; sed candido vellere tota praefulgens sic membra felicia contegebat, ut cessantibus paulisper humanis officiis amictum quodam modo sepulturae ipsa interim exhibere videretur. Quae ad hoc interdum tremulo fine discissa, per flexuosos hiatus coruscum ignem vibrabat, ut aut tantae passionis ignaros stupendis magnalibus admoneret, aut quia adhuc erat aliqua de vicinitate noctis obscuritas, inveniendi corporis viam devote quaerentibus demonstraret.

'As soon as the beginning of the dawning of the day infused the pale light of the orb of the night, and varied the colourless face of heaven with the contrast of darkness and light, immediately a magnificent cloud appeared below the heart of the mountain. While lightning flashed, the cloud bore witness to the body of the martyr with its caressing light. That cloud, heavy with morning dew, failed to throw any shadow like a dark cover on the damp vividly coloured hills, but all aglow it wrapped his blessed limbs in a white fleece. While human ceremonies were yet absent, in a way the cloud seemed to take the place of a burial. Meanwhile, the cloud was occasionally pierced by bright lightning and it glimmered through the winding clefts, so that either by wondrous mighty feats it might alert the ignorant of his great martyrdom, or, because the darkness of the night still hung over the area, it might show those who were piously searching the way to find the body.'

FROM HERE I MADE THE CHANGES IN THE DATABASE!

15.
His igitur admirabilibus Dei admonitus fraternitatis fervor exarsit, totusque ille subito locus exultanti elamore clamore completus est, ac religioso discursu vota invicem communia nuntiaverunt. Tunc derelictis domibus raptim omnis sexus atque aetas egressa ad montem pariter ac nubem desiderio martyris convolabat: nec ullam illic animam poterat aut senectutis debilitas, aut pueritiae infirmitas, aut sexus fragilitas retardare: omnes enim unius fidei ardor accenderat. Cum vero ad illa loca quae praecipitio subiacebant, festinans turba venisset; quos conglobatos fecerat intentio una currendi; mox per totum montem quaerendi corporis cura dispersit. Erat illic cernere divisa per singulos officia pietatis: alii enim condensos duris stirpibus sentes manu celeri pertractabant, alii tortuosis petrarum dehiscentium foveis testes oculos inserebant: alii, ne forte festinatio esset illusa, sollicitis luminibus etiam quae iam respexerant saxa illustrabant. Postremo, quia et hoc sine Domino esse non poterat, desideratum ab omnibus locum quae ad hoc missa fuerant fulgura prodiderunt, et exoptatum fratribus corpus index nubis candor ostendit. Qui tunc illic fuit omnium mixtus cum gaudiis fletus, qui circa illustria membra complexus! Vix denique a cunctis satietate percepta, suprema ingenti obsequia fratrum laetitia celebrata sunt, et religiosus sepulturae honor cum triumphis maximis restitutus est. Totum enim in gloriam nominis sui repraesentaverat Dominus, quicquid fraudare tentaverat inimicus.


'Therefore, the excitement of the association of believers flamed bright, kindled by these admirable works of God, and suddenly the entire area resounded with a ringing shout, and they declared to each other their common commitments in their pious scurrying to and fro. People of both sexes equally and of every age left their homes in a hurry and flew to the mountain and the cloud in their longing for the martyr. Neither the impairment of old age, nor the weakness of youth, nor the fragility of sex could hold back any soul from that place. The ardour of their common faith set them all aflame. As the scurrying throng had come to those places which lay beneath the precipice, their common purpose in running had brought them together into one crowd; then their concern for finding the body dispersed them over the whole mountain. There you could see the duties of piety divided up among people. Some with impulsive hands explored the briar patch with its rough stalks; others cast their eyes as witnesses into the crooked crevices in the gaping rocks; still others with their anxious eyes went back over the rocks they had already looked at, lest their haste make fools of them. In the end, because their search could not be successful without the Lord, lightning was sent to that place to reveal the location which they were all seeking. The radiance of the cloud served as an indicator to point out the body longed for by the brethren. On that spot what weeping mixed with all their joy! What embraces round his distinguished limbs! At last when with difficulty they were all satisfied, funeral rites were celebrated with great joy by the brethren and the honour of a religious burial was restored with the greatest jubilation. For the glory of his name, the Lord revealed everything that the enemy had tried to conceal.'

16. The life and death of Marculus, 'the exemplar necessary for all the ranks of the clergy, by which he came to the palm, the reward of his praiseworthy life', is praised.


Text: Mastandrea 1995.
Translation: Tilley 1996, modified.
Summary: S. Adamiak

Procession

Miracle at martyrdom and death
Saint aiding or preventing the translation of relics

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

Discussion

Bibliography