ST PAULINUS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

ST PAULINUS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS - 12 JULY

SAINT PAULINUS AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

The story of these holy martyrs is rooted in pious legend. Saint Paulinus was born in Antioch and accompanied Saint Peter to Rome, where the Prince of the Apostles ordained him bishop and sent him to Lucca to preach the word of God. In a short time, assisted by the priest Severus and the deacon Luke, he converted a large group of pagan men and women to Christianity. He built seven churches, for which he appointed priests and other clergy, so that the newly converted Christian flock would be fed the bread of eternal life. News of the spread of Christianity soon reached the cruel Emperor Nero, who had Bishop Paulinus seized along with Saint Severus, the priest, Saint Luke, the deacon, and the holy soldier Saint Theobald and many others.

They were brought before the tyrant, who, upon their refusal to sacrifice to his idols, cruelly beat them and then imprisoned them with orders that they be given neither food nor drink until they had sacrificed to the gods.

Three days later, when the emperor had them brought before his judgment seat, Saint Paulinus presented the truth of the Christian faith and the folly and absurdity of idolatry to the emperor. The emperor thereupon ordered the holy confessors to be thrown to the wild beasts.

The bears and panthers, driven to fury by hunger, were let loose on the saints. As soon as the holy bishop had made the sign of the cross and invoked the name of Christ, the beasts lay down like lambs at the feet of the confessors and began licking their hands and feet. Inflamed with rage, Nero ordered the prefect Anolinus to kill these "despisers of the gods" in the most cruel way.

As the holy bishop prayed to God for his flock during the night, an angel appeared to him and assured him of the palm of martyrdom for the following day and gave him the consolation that for his sake the Lord would provide for the Church of Lucca.

The next morning Anolinus had the most cruel tortures inflicted on the saints, during which Saint Paulinus and Saint Severus, praying and praising God, gave up their spirits. When Anolinus saw this, he then had Saint Luke, the holy soldier Theobald, and many others beheaded, and afterwards left their bodies unburied. At night, the elderly priest Anthony came with several other Christians, among whom Saint Valerius is mentioned (cf. Jan. II. 923), and buried the holy bodies of Saints Paulinus, Severus, and Theobald in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity in Lucca, and those of the other martyrs at the place of execution, namely, at the foot of Mount Pisano. They, too, were later transferred to the Church of the Most Holy Trinity.

Saint Paulinus was succeeded by his disciple Valerius (January 29).

On June 15, 1261, a pious brother named Jacobus received a vision revealing that the body of Saint Paulinus, the first Bishop of Lucca, was buried in the Church of Saint Anthony, and he was commanded to see to its exhumation. He went to investigate and, lo and behold, he located there a marble monument on which was inscribed: "Here rests the body of Blessed Paulinus, first Bishop of Lucca and disciple of the Apostle Peter, and of Saint Severus and Theobald." From then on, this church was named after after Paulinus. The annual feast was set for July 12, several indulgences were granted for this day, and the entire diocese of Lucca was permitted to invoke Saint Paulinus's intercession in the litanies. The popularity of Saint Paulinus's church grew day by day. The old and dilapidated church was rebuilt and enlarged and consecrated by Bishop Wilhelmus [Guglielmo] in 1341.

Another church dedicated to Saint Paulinus was built on the same site by decree of the Senate in 1511, when the church of Saint Donatus outside the city had to be demolished, and the priests employed at the same collegiate church, along with their prior, were transferred to the city. In this church, the holy relics of Paulinus, Severus, Luke, and Theobald rest in a stone coffin under the high altar. Countless times, individuals, as well as the entire city, have found miraculous help through their intercession. (The city's patron saint, by the way, is Bishop Saint Martin.) In the Roman Martyrology*, the name of Saint Paulinus is listed on July 12, but without any mention of his companions.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, pp. 713-14)

*A hagiography source used by the authors

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Paulinus and Companions may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org

ST JOHN BERCHMANS, RELIGIOUS - 13 AUGUST

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