De sancto Cyriaco et sociis ejus
The Deacon's Labor and Witness
Cyriacus serves in humble labor and begins his ministry of exorcism amidst the persecutions of the Roman prefects.
Cyriacus, having been ordained a deacon by Pope Marcellus, was arrested and brought before Maximian, who ordered him and his companions to dig earth and carry it on their shoulders to the place where the baths were being built; there, the elderly Saint Saturninus was working, whom Cyriacus and Sisinnius helped with the labor. Eventually, the prefect ordered that Cyriacus be brought out of the prison where he had been held. And as Apronianus was leading him out, a voice suddenly came from heaven with a light, saying, "Come, you blessed of my Father," and Apronianus believed, had himself baptized, and went to the prefect confessing Christ. The prefect asked him, "Have you become a Christian?" He replied, "Woe to me, for I have wasted my days." The prefect answered, "You will truly waste your days now," and he sent him to be beheaded; Saturninus and Sisinnius, however, because they refused to sacrifice, were subjected to various tortures and eventually beheaded. Now, when Diocletian's daughter, named Arthemia, was being tormented by a demon, the demon cried out within her, saying, "I will not leave unless the deacon Cyriacus comes." So when Cyriacus was brought to her and commanded the demon, it replied, "If you want me to leave, give me some vessel to enter into."
The Power of the Name of Jesus
Cyriacus travels to Babylon to heal the King of Persia's daughter, demonstrating the power of Christ over demonic forces.
Cyriacus replied, "Here is my body; enter if you can." The demon answered, "I cannot enter your vessel because it is sealed and closed on all sides. But if you cast me out, know that I will make you come to Babylon." And when he had been forced to leave, Arthemia cried out, saying that she saw the God whom Cyriacus preached. So, after Cyriacus had baptized her and was living securely in the house that Diocletian and his wife Serena had given him, a messenger came from the King of Persia to Diocletian, asking that Cyriacus be sent to him because his daughter was being tormented by a demon. At Diocletian's request, Cyriacus happily set off for Babylon with Largus and Smaragdus, having loaded the ship with necessary supplies. When he arrived at the girl, the demon cried out through her mouth, "Are you tired, Cyriacus?" Cyriacus replied, "I'm not tired, but governed everywhere by God's help." The demon said, "Still, I've led you to where I wanted." Then Cyriacus said to the demon, "Jesus commands you to leave." And the demon, leaving immediately, said, "O terrible name, that forces me to leave!" He then baptized the healed girl along with her father, mother, and many others. Although many gifts were offered to him, he refused to accept them, instead fasting there for forty-five days on bread and water before finally returning to Rome. Two months later, however, Diocletian died. Maximianus succeeded him and, angered by his sister Arthemia, seized Cyriacus and ordered him to be dragged naked, bound in chains, before his chariot.
The Martyr's Final Victory
Cyriacus and his companions face their final trial and martyrdom, followed by divine judgment upon their persecutors.
This Maximianus can be called the son of Diocletian, because he succeeded him and took his daughter, who was named Valeriana, as his wife. He then ordered the vicar Carpasio to force him and his companions to offer sacrifice, or else to kill them using various tortures. After pouring boiling pitch over his head and hanging him on the rack, he had Cyriacus and all his companions beheaded. But when Carpasius took possession of Saint Cyriacus’s house and, to mock the Christians, bathed in the place where Cyriacus used to baptize and held a feast with nineteen companions, they all suddenly died; from that time on, with the bathhouse closed, the pagans began to fear and honor the Christians.
Read the original Latin
Cyriacus a Marcello papa dyaconus ordinatus comprehensus et ad Maximianum deductus jussus est cum sociis suis, ut terram foderet ct ad locum , scilicet thermas, qui ibidem construebatur, suis eam humeris deportaret, ubl erat sanctus Saturninus senex, quem Cyriaeus et Sisinnius ad portandum juvabant. Tandem in carcere reclusum praefectus jussit Cyriacum praesentari. Et cum eum Apronianus educerel, subito vox cum luce de coelo veniens dixit: venite benedicti patris mei elc, Apronianus credidit et baptizari se fecit et ad praefectum confitens Christum venit. Cui praefectus: numquid tu Christianus factus es? Qui respondit: vaeh mihi, quia perdidi dies meos. Respondit praefectus: vere modo perdes dies iuos; et misit eum decollari, Saturninus vero et Sisinnius cum sacrificare nollent, diversis suppliciis affecti tandem decollati sunt. Filia autem Dyocletiani nomine Arthemia cum a daemonio vexaretur, clamabat in ea daemon dicens: non exeam, nisi Cyriacus dyaconus veniat. Unde ad eam adductus Cyriacus cum daemoni imperaret, respondit: si vis, ut exeam, da mihi vas aliquod, in quod intrem.
Responditque Cyriacus: ecce corpus meum, si potes, ingredere. Cui daemon: in vas tuum intrare non possum, quia undique est signatum et clausum, sed, si ejicis me, scito, quod in Babyloniam te venire faciam, et cum coactus exiisset, Arthemia clamavit dicens, quod Deum, quem Cyriacus praedicat, videret. Cum igitur illam Cyriacus baptizasset et ex gratia Dyocletiani et Serenae uxoris ejus iu domo, quam dederant ei, securus viveret, venit nuntius a rege Persarum ad Dyocletianum rogans, ut ad se Cyriacus mitteretur, quia filia sua a daemone vexaretur. Ad preces igitur Dyocletiani Cyriacus cum Largo et Smaragdo navi imposilis necessariis in Babyloniam laetus ivit, cumque ad puellam pervenisset, daemon per os ejus clamavit dicens: fatigatus es, Cyriace? Cui Cyriacus respondit: non sum fatigatus, sed ubique Dei auxilio gubernatus. Ait daemon: tamen ego, ad quod volui, te perduxi, Tunc Cyriacus dixit daemoni: imperat tibi Jesus, ut exeas. Et statim exiens daemon dixit: o nomen terribile, quod me coartat exire. Et sic sanatam puellam cum patre et matre et multis aliis baptizavit et, cum multa sibi munera offerrentur, recipere noluit, sed XLV diebus ibidem in pane et aqua jejunans tandem Romam rediit Post duos autem menses Dyocletianus defunctus est, cui Maximianus succedens iratus de sorore sua Arthemia Cyriacum comprehendit et nudum catenis ligatum ante currum suum trahi jussit.
Iste Maximianus pro -fanto potest dici filius Dyocletiani, quod sibi successit et filiam ejus habuit in uxorem, quae Valeriana nuncupata est. Deinde jussit Carpasio vicario, ut ipsum cum sociis sacrificare compelleret ant diversis suppliciis occideret.
Et cum ipse picem super caput ejus liquasset et in equuleo suspendissel, fecit Cyriacum cum omnibus sociis decollari. Carpasius autem cum domum sancti Cyriaci impetrasset et ad derisionem christianorum in loco, ubi Cyriacus baptizabat, se lavaret epulasque cum XIX sociis celebraret, subito omnes mortui sunt et extunc clauso balneo gentiles christianos timere et venerari coeperunt.
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