The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): FebruaryBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
The Lives of the Saints, Volume 02 (of 16): February
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Christian saints
The body of a S. Valentine, together with that of a S. Albinus, and S,
Paulianus, Bishop of Rieux, are preserved at Annecy. The body of
another S. Valentine, M. at Rome, was extracted from the cemetery of
S. Calixtus, and given by Pope Urban VIII. to the monastery of
Socuellamos, in Albacete, in Spain. Another body claiming to be that
of a S. Valentine, Roman martyr, is venerated in Belgium, at Hamme;
this body was extracted from the catacomb of S. Laurence on the
Flaminian Way, and given by Pope Gregory XV., in 1623, to Count Louis
Egmont; part of these relics were translated to Armentières on the
Lys, upon the French frontier. Again, another body of a S. Valentine,
martyr at Rome, was found in the catacomb of S. Cyriac, and was given
in 1651 to the Jesuits of Ghent. The name was so common in the later
period of the Roman Empire, that it is probable there were many
martyrs of the same name. This is proved by the discovery in the
catacombs of three, with the palm branch and bottle of blood. Besides,
the ancient Martyrology, called that of S. Jerome, mentions on this
day, "In Africa, Valentine and twenty-four soldiers, martyrs," of whom
nothing further is known. There was also a S. Valentine, first Bishop
of Teramo, in Umbria, who having healed the crippled son of one Crato,
a citizen of distinction, was seized and beheaded by order of the
governor, about the year 273.
S. ABRAHAM, B. C.
(ABOUT A.D. 390.)
[Greek Menæa. Authority:--The Philotheus of Theodoret, c. 17.]
Abraham was a native of Cyrus in Syria, and a monk, who, moved by
desire to spread the kingdom of God, visited the Lebanon in the
quality of a merchant buying nuts. And whilst there he collected the
Christians into his hut, and together they recited the divine office
in a low tone. But when the heathen heard the subdued strains of
music, they supposed that they were engaged in incantations, and
assembled about the house, then climbed upon the roof, broke it, and
poured down dust and sand upon those within, to choke and bury them.
However some of the elders of the village interfered, and the
half-stifled Christians were drawn out of the house, and bidden to
depart. After this the taxgatherers of the Emperor came round, and the
people being hardly able to pay, Abraham went to Emesa and begged the
money, and then, returning, paid the tax for the whole village,
thereby completely conciliating the barbarous people, who at once
insisted on his remaining among them, and teaching them the way of
God. He accordingly sought priest's orders, and became their pastor
for three years, till he was elected Bishop of Charan. In his new
position he remained a monk, living on lettuces and water, and never
using a bed for rest, nor fire for warmth. Every night he chanted
forty hymns, interspersed with prayer, and slept seated in his chair.
The Emperor Theodosius visited him, having heard of his fame, and
found him a poor old man in a country smock, unable to speak a word of
Greek.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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