De decollatione sancti Johannis
The Martyrdom and Moral Witness of John
The chapter introduces the four reasons for the feast of John the Baptist, detailing his beheading and the moral lessons drawn from his confrontation with Herod.
The beheading of Saint John the Baptist seems to have been established for four reasons, as noted in the book of the liturgical office. First, because of his beheading; second, because of the burning and gathering of his head; third, because of the finding of his head; and fourth, because of the translation of his finger and the dedication of the church. Accordingly, some refer to the feast by different names: the Beheading, the Gathering, the Finding, and the Dedication. First, therefore, this feast is celebrated because of his beheading, which indeed happened in this way. For, as is held in the Scholastic History, Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, while traveling to Rome and passing through the territory of his brother Philip, was with Herodias, the wife of Philip, and according to Josephus... He secretly agreed with the sister of Herod Agrippa that upon his return he would divorce his wife and take her as his own. This did not escape his wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of the Damascenes, and so, without waiting for her husband's return, she hurried back to her homeland as quickly as possible; but Herod, returning, took Herodias from Philip and incited Aretas the King, Herod Agrippa, and Philip to enmity against him, while John rebuked him for this, since according to the law he had received, it was not permitted for him to have his brother's wife while he was still alive. Herod, seeing that John rebuked him so harshly for this, and because he was gathering a great crowd of people for his preaching and baptism (according to Josephus), bound him in prison, wishing to please his wife and fearing the harm that might come to John from the people who followed him; he wanted to kill him sooner, but he feared the people. Herodias and Herod, both equally eager to find an opportunity to kill John, seem to have conspired in secret to have Herod celebrate his birthday before the leading men, while masking his true intentions with a show of joy; he excused his wickedness with an oath, so that under the guise of piety he might become an impious man. The executioner was sent, John’s head was cut off, given to the girl, and presented by her to her adulterous mother. Augustine, regarding this oath, tells the following story in a sermon he gave on the beheading of Saint John the Baptist. There was an innocent and faithful man from whom I heard what I am now recounting. For when someone had denied him what he had lent him, or what was owed to him, he became agitated and challenged the man to take an oath. The man took the oath, and the other man lost his case. That night, he saw himself snatched before a judge and questioned by him with these words: 'Why did you challenge a man to take an oath when you knew he would swear falsely?' He replied: 'He denied me what was mine.' The judge said, "It would have been better for you to lose your property than to destroy his soul with a false oath." He was ordered to be beaten so severely that, when he woke, the marks of the lashes were still visible on his back. But he was pardoned after he had been corrected, as Augustine says.
The Divine Judgment of the Persecutors
The text explores the vanity of earthly power through the downfall of Herod and the apostate Julian, contrasting their cruelty with the holiness of the Baptist.
John was not beheaded on this day, but around the days of Unleavened Bread in the year before Christ’s passion; it was fitting, therefore, that the lesser should yield to the greater on account of the Lord's Sacraments. John Chrysostom exclaims: John is the school of virtues, the master of life, the form of holiness, the rule of justice, the mirror of virginity, the title of modesty, the example of chastity, the way of penance, the pardon of sinners, and the discipline of faith. John is greater than man, equal to the angels, the sum of the Law, the sanction of the Gospel, the voice of the apostles, the silence of the prophets, the lamp of the world, the forerunner of the Judge, and the mediator of the whole Trinity. And yet, such a great man is given to an incestuous woman, handed over to an adulteress, and sold to a dancing girl. Herod, however, did not go unpunished; he was condemned to exile. As recorded in the Scholastic History, the other Herod, or Agrippa, though a capable man, was poor; in his extreme poverty and despair, he entered a tower to starve himself to death. When his sister Herodias heard about this, she begged her husband—Herod Antipas the tetrarch—to get him out of there and provide him with what he needed. After this was done, and while they were both feasting together, Herod the tetrarch grew warm with wine and began to reproach Herod Agrippa for the favors he had shown him. Agrippa was deeply hurt by this and, setting out for Rome, was received into such favor by Gaius Caesar that he gave him two tetrarchies—namely, those of Lysanias and Abilene—and appointed him king over Judea, placing a diadem upon his head. Seeing that her brother held the title of king, Herodias began to press her husband with persistent pleas to go to Rome and secure the royal title for himself. He, however, though he abounded in great wealth, was unwilling to agree, preferring his leisure to a laborious honor. At last, overcome by his wife's pleas, he set out for Rome with her. Agrippa, learning of this, sent a letter to Caesar claiming that Herod had formed an alliance with the King of the Parthians and intended to rebel against the Roman Empire; as proof, he informed him that Herod had enough weapons in his cities to arm 70,000 men. Once the letter was read, Gaius, acting as if he had heard it from another source, questioned Herod about his situation and, among other things, asked if there was as large a supply of armed men in his cities as he had heard. He didn't deny it at all. Then Gaius, believing what Herod Agrippa had written to be true, sent him into exile; but he granted his wife the power to return to her own land, because she was the sister of Herod Agrippa, whom he greatly favored. She, however, wanted to accompany her husband, saying she wouldn't abandon in adversity the one with whom she had shared prosperity. They were therefore deported to Lyon, where they miserably ended their lives, as recorded in the Scholastic History. Secondly, this is because of the burning and gathering of his bones, which, according to some, were burned on that very day and partially collected by the faithful. Thus he suffers a kind of second martyrdom, since he is burned in his own bones, and for this reason the Church celebrates this feast as a second martyrdom of his, just as it is read in the twelfth book. According to the Scholastic or Ecclesiastical History, when the disciples of John had buried his body at Sebaste, a city in Palestine, between Elisha and Obadiah, and many miracles were occurring at his tomb, the apostate Julian ordered the Gentiles to scatter his bones; and when the miracles did not cease, they gathered them afterward, burned them with fire, reduced them to dust, and scattered them across the fields, as is stated in the Scholastic and Ecclesiastical History. Bede, however, says that they gathered the bones and scattered them more widely, and thus he seems to have suffered a second martyrdom in a certain way; some represent this unknowingly when they burn bones gathered from everywhere on his feast day. But while they were being gathered for burning, as is held in the Scholastic History and attested by Bede, certain monks coming from Jerusalem secretly mingled with those gathering them and took a large portion of them. They also brought the bones to Philip, the bishop of the Jerusalemites, who later sent them to Anastasius, the bishop of Alexandria; afterward, Theophilus, the bishop of that same city, placed them in the temple of Serapis, which had been purged of its filth, and consecrated a basilica in honor of Saint John, as Bede and the Scholastic History record. Now, however, they are devoutly venerated at Genoa, as Alexander III and Innocent IV, having learned the truth of the matter, approved with their privileges. Just as Herod, who had his head cut off, suffered the penalty for his crimes, so too did divine vengeance strike the apostate Julian, who ordered his bones to be burned; his persecution is recorded in the history of Saint Julian, which is found after the conversion of Saint Paul. The origin, reign, cruelty, and death of Julian the Apostate are covered in more detail in the Tripartite History. Constantius, the brother of the great Constantine, had two sons by the same father: Gallus and Julian. After Constantine died, his son Constantius took power. He named Gallus a Caesar, though he later had him killed. Julian, acting out of fear, became a monk and began consulting magicians to see if he could still reach the imperial throne. Later, Constantius made Julian a Caesar and sent him to Gaul, where he won many victories. A laurel crown hanging between two columns fell when its cord broke, landing on his head as he passed by and crowning him quite fittingly, while everyone shouted that it was a sign of his future empire. When the soldiers hailed him as Augustus and there was no crown available for the ceremony, one of them took the torque he was wearing around his own neck and placed it on Julian's head, and in this way he was made emperor by them. Then he cast off the pretense of Christianity he had been maintaining, opened the temples of the idols, sacrificed to them, named himself the high priest of the pagans, and destroyed the sign of the cross everywhere. At one point, dew fell on his clothes and those of his companions, and every drop turned into the sign of the cross. Hoping to please everyone after Constantius died, he wanted people to serve whoever they liked, and he cleared the eunuchs, barbers, and cooks from his court. He dismissed the eunuchs because his wife had died and he hadn't remarried; the cooks, because he preferred simpler food; and the barbers, because he said one was enough for many. He wrote many books in which he attacked all the princes who came before him. In driving out the cooks and barbers, he acted like a philosopher rather than an emperor, but in his attacks and praise, he acted like neither. Once, while Julian was sacrificing to idols, the sign of the cross surrounded by a crown appeared to him in the entrails of the sacrificed animal. When the ministers saw this, they were afraid, interpreting it as the future unity, victory, and endlessness of the cross. Julian comforted them, saying this was a sign that the Christian faith should be contained and not spread beyond that circle. While Julian was sacrificing to Fortune in Constantinople, Maris, the bishop of Chalcedon—who had lost his sight due to old age—approached him and called him an impious man and an apostate. Julian said to him, 'Your Galilean couldn't even heal you.' He replied, 'I thank my God for this, because he took away my sight so I wouldn't have to look at you, stripped of all piety.' Julian, however, said nothing else and left. At Antioch, he gathered the sacred vessels and vestments, threw them on the ground, sat on them, and added insult to injury. Soon after, he was struck in those very places so severely that worms swarmed from them and ate away his flesh; he couldn't be freed from this suffering as long as he lived. Julian the prefect, too, after taking the church vessels by the emperor's order, urinated on them and said, "Look, these are the vessels in which they serve the son of Mary." His mouth was suddenly twisted toward his anus, and it became an organ for excrement. When the apostate Julian entered the temple of Fortune and the temple ministers were sprinkling the people entering with water to purify them, Valentinian saw a drop of the sprinkling on his cloak. Indignant, he struck the minister with his fist, saying that he was stained rather than purified. Seeing this, the emperor ordered him to be taken into custody and sent to the desert. For he was a Christian, who later earned the reward of being raised to the empire. Out of hatred for Christians, Julian also ordered the Jewish temple to be rebuilt, providing the Jews with funds most generously. But after they had supplied a huge amount of mortar, a great wind suddenly came and scattered it all. Then a massive earthquake occurred, and later, fire coming from the foundation burned many of them up. On another day, the sign of the cross appeared in the sky, and the Jews' clothes were filled with the black heat of the cross's mark. When he was going to the Persians and had reached Ctesiphon and was besieging the king, the king offered him a part of his country if he would leave. He, however, did not agree at all. For he thought, according to the opinion of Pythagoras and Plato, that through the transmigration of bodies, he possessed the soul of Alexander, or rather, that he was another Alexander in a different body. But a dart suddenly flew and pierced his side, and from that wound he met his end. Who actually struck the blow remains unknown; some say one of the invisible powers did it, others say a shepherd of the Ishmaelites, and still others say a soldier exhausted by hunger and the journey. But whether it was a man or an angel, it is clear that he served the divine commands. Calixtus, who was close to him, says that he was struck by a demon. This is in the Tripartite History.
The Discovery and Veneration of Holy Relics
This portion recounts the miraculous discovery of John's head and finger, tracing their translation and the establishment of their veneration.
Third, because of the discovery of his head. For on this day, as they say, his head was found. As is stated in Book XI. According to church history, John was imprisoned in the Arabian fortress of Machaerus and beheaded. Herodias, however, had his head brought to Jerusalem and buried it carefully near Herod’s residence, fearing that the prophet might rise again if his head were buried with his body. During the reign of Emperor Marcian—as recorded in the Scholastic History, which begins in the year 353—John revealed his head to two monks who had come to Jerusalem. They hurried to the palace that had belonged to Herod and found the head wrapped in haircloth and garments, which I believe were the same ones he had worn in the desert. While they were returning home with the aforementioned head, a potter from the city of Emesa, fleeing poverty, joined them as a companion. While he was carrying the bag entrusted to him with the sacred head inside, he was warned at night by Saint John to flee from them; he entered the city of Emesa with the head itself and, as long as he lived, he venerated the holy head in a certain cave and attained no small prosperity; dying, however, he revealed it to his sister under a pledge of secrecy, and in the same way it was passed down to his successors. After a long time, blessed John revealed his head in this way to the holy monk Marcellus, who was living in that same cave; for it seemed to him in his sleep that many crowds were walking along, singing psalms and saying, "Look, Saint John the Baptist is coming." Then he saw the blessed John, who was being led by one person on his right and another on his left, and he blessed everyone who approached him. When Marcellus had approached him and prostrated himself at his feet, he raised him up, took him by the chin, and gave him the kiss of peace. Then Marcellus asked him, saying, "My lord, from where have you come to us?" He said, "I have come from Sebaste." After he woke up, marveling at this vision, someone came to him on another night while he was sleeping and woke him; and look, once he was awake, he saw a shining star resting in the doorway of his cell. When he got up and tried to touch it, it suddenly moved to another spot, but he followed the star until it stood over the place where the head of John the Baptist was; he dug there, found an urn, and inside it, the holy treasure. However, a certain man who didn't believe this reached his hand into the urn, but his hand immediately withered and stuck to it. While his companions were praying, he pulled his hand out, but it remained paralyzed; however, John appeared to him and said, "When my head is placed in the church, you will touch the urn and be healed." He did this and received complete healing. When Marcellus had reported this to Julian, the bishop of that same city, it was raised by them and brought into the city. From that time, the feast of the beheading of Saint John began to be celebrated in that same city on the very day, as we believe, that the head was found or raised, just as it is said in the Scholastic History. This was later translated to Constantinople. As the Tripartite History tells us, when Emperor Valens ordered the sacred head to be placed on a wagon and taken to Constantinople, the wagon wouldn't budge once it reached Chalcedon, no matter how much the oxen were prodded, so they were forced to leave it there. But when Theodosius later wanted to take it from there and found a certain consecrated virgin who had been assigned to guard the head, he asked her to let him take the sacred head away; she agreed, however, believing that just as it had not allowed itself to be moved in the time of Valens, it would not allow itself to be moved now either. Then the emperor, dressed in purple, embraced the head, brought it to Constantinople, and built a most beautiful church there. This is in the Tripartite History. From there it was later moved to Poitiers in Gaul during the reign of Pepin, where many dead were raised to life through his merits. Just as Herod, who beheaded John, was punished, as was Julian the Apostate, who burned his bones, so too were Herodias—who suggested to the girl that she ask for the head—and the girl herself, who asked for it, punished. Some say that Herodias was not condemned to exile nor did she die there, but that when she held John’s head in her hands and was mocking it with great joy, the head itself, by divine will, blew into her face, and she died immediately. This is commonly said, but because it was stated earlier that she was miserably consumed in exile with Herod, the saints record this in the chronicles, and it seems this is how it should be understood. As for his daughter, she was walking on the ice when it broke beneath her, and she drowned immediately. One chronicle, however, says the earth swallowed her alive. This can be understood in the same way it is said of the Egyptians who drowned in the Red Sea: the earth devoured them. Fourth, because of the translation of his finger and the dedication of the church; it is said that his finger, with which he pointed out the Lady, could not be burned. That very finger was found by the monks mentioned above, and as the Scholastic History records, Saint Thecla later brought it across the Alps and placed it in the church of Saint Maximus. John Beleth also testifies to this, saying that Saint Thecla brought that finger—which could not be burned—from overseas to Normandy and built a church there in honor of Saint John, which some claim was dedicated on this day. Consequently, the Pope decreed that this day should be celebrated throughout the world.
Devotion and Miraculous Intercession
The final section provides anecdotal evidence of the Baptist's ongoing intercession and the power of devotion through relics and prayer.
At... A certain noblewoman in the city of Marienna in Gaul, who was deeply devoted to John the Baptist, prayed to God with great urgency that she might eventually be granted some relic of John. When she saw that her prayers weren't accomplishing anything, she took heart in God and bound herself by an oath that she wouldn't eat until she received what she was asking for. After she had fasted for a few days, she saw a thumb of wondrous whiteness on the altar and joyfully accepted it as a gift from God. However, three bishops who came running there, each wanting to take a portion of that thumb, were amazed to see three drops of blood drip onto the cloth placed beneath it, and each rejoiced that they had been found worthy of one of the drops. Theodolinda, Queen of the Lombards, built and endowed a magnificent church in honor of Saint John the Baptist at Monza, near Milan. As time went on, as Paul testifies in his History of the Lombards, the Emperor Constantine—also known as Constans—wishing to wrest Italy from the Lombards, inquired of a certain holy man who possessed the spirit of prophecy about the outcome of the war. The man, who spent his nights in prayer, replied in the morning: 'The Queen built a church to John, and he himself continues to intercede for the Lombards, and for that reason they cannot be overcome; yet the time will come when that place will be held in contempt, and then they will be conquered.' This was fulfilled during the time of Charlemagne. As Gregory relates in his Dialogues, a man of great virtue named Sanctulus had taken a deacon captured by the Lombards into his custody under the condition that if the man escaped, he himself would face the death penalty. Yet, the aforementioned Sanctulus compelled the deacon to flee and save himself. Because of this, Sanctulus was led away to be beheaded, and a very strong executioner was chosen for the task, one about whom there was no doubt he would sever the head with a single blow. As he stretched out his neck and the executioner raised his arm with the sword high in the air with great effort, the man immediately said, "Saint John, receive him!" At once, the executioner's arm stiffened, and it remained rigid with the sword held high toward the sky. After he swore an oath that he would never again strike a Christian, the man of God prayed for him, and the executioner immediately lowered his arm.
Read the original Latin
Decollatio saneti Johannis baptistae qnatuor de causis instituta fuisse videlur, sicut in libro demitrali officio invenitur. Primo propter ejus decollationem , secundo propter capitis ipsius cremationem et collectionem, tertio propter capitis ipsius inventionem, quarto propter digiti ipsius translationemet ecclesiae dedicationem. Et secundum hoc festum istnd a quibusdam diversimode nominatur, scilicetdecollatio, collectio, inventio ac dedicatio. Primo igitur celebratur hoc festum propter ipsius decollationem, quae quidem hoc modo facta est. Nam, nt habetur in hystoria scholastica, Herodes Antipas filius magui Herodis Romam proficiscens et per fratrem suum Philippum transitum faciens, cum Herodiade uxore Philippi et secundum Jo. Sephum sorore Herodis Agrippae secreto pepegit, quod in reditu suo uxorem repudiaret et ipsam in conjugem duceret. Quod uxorem suam scilicet filiam Arethae regis Damascenorum minime latuit et ideo non exspectato viri reditu ad patriam quantocius festinavit, Rediens autem Herodes Herodiadem Philippoabstulit et Aretham regem et Herodem Agrippam et Philippum in sui inimicitiam incitavit, Johannes autem eum de hoc arguebat, quoniam secundum legem, quam receperat, fratris sui uxorem ipso vivente sibi minime habere licebat. Videns Herodes, quod Johannes tam dure eum super hoc redargueret, et quia ob praedicationem et baptismum secundum Josephum magnum populum congregaret, ipsum in carcere vinculavit, uxori placere cupiens et populi subsequentis Johannem dispendium pertimescens, lpsum ante occidere volnit, sed populum timuit.
Desiderantes autem Herodias et Herodes pariter occasionem aliquam invenire, ut Johannem occidere possent, videntur inter se secreto condixisse, ut Herodes natalis sui diem coram primis ferebat in facie, cum laetitiam haberet in mente; excusat scelus juramento, ut sub occasione pietatis impius fieret. lgitur spiculator mittitur, caput Johannis praesciditur, puellae datur et a puella matri adulterae praesentatur. Augustinus occasione hujus jurationis narrat in sermone quodam, quem fecit in decollatione sancti Johannis baptistae, tale exemplum. Fuit quidam homo innocens et fidelis, a quo audivi, qnod narro. Cum enim quidam sibi negasset, quod ei accommodaverat, vel quod sibi debebatur, commotus ille provocavit eum ad jusjurandum. Jlle igitur juravit, iste perdidit. Videbat ergo in ipsa nocte, se ad judicem raptum fuisse et ab eo interrogatum fuisse his verbis: quare provocasti hominem ad juralionem, quem sciebas falsum esse juraturum? Respondit ille: negavit mihi rem meam.
Et judex: melius erat, ut rem tuam perderes, quam ut animam ipsius falsa juratione perimeres. Prostratus igitur tam graviter caedi jussus est, ut in dorso evigilantis plagarum vestigia apparerent. Sed indultum est ei, postquam emendatus est, Haec Augustinus. In bac autem die Johannes decollatus non est, sed circa dies azimorum anno praecedente passionem Christi, Oportuit ergo, ut propter dominica sacramenta minor cederet majori. Hic exclamat Johannes Chrysostomus dicens: Johannes schola virtutum, magisterium vitae, sanclitatis forma, norma justitiae, virginitatis speculum, pudicitiae titulus, castitatis exemplum, poenitentiae via, peccatorum venia, fidei disciplina. Johannes major homine, par angelis, legis summa, evangelii 'sanctio, apostolorum vox, silentium prophetarum, lucerna mundi, praecursor judicis, totius medius trinitatis. Et hic tantus datur incestuosac, traditur adulterae, addicitur saltatrici. Herodes autem impunitus non abiit, sed exsilio damnatus fuit, Nam, sicul habetur in hystoria scholastica, alter Herodes seu Agrippa cum esset vir strenuus, sed pauper, prae nimia paupertate desperans quandam turrim intravit, ut ibidem se fame afficiens moreretur.
Quod cum Herodias soror sua audivisset, viro suo, scilicet Herodi Antipae tetrarchae supplicavit, ut eum inde educeret et sibi necessaria ministraret. Quod cum fecisset et ambo invicem epularentur, Herodes tetrarcha vino incaluit et Herodi Agrippae beneficia, quae sibi contulerat, improperare coepit et hoc ille vehementer doluit et Romam proficiscens in tantum a Cajo Caesare in gratiam est receptus, ut ei duas telrarchias, scilicet Lisaniae et Abilinae, tribueret et regem in Judaeam imposito dyademate destinaret, Videns Herodias, quod frater ejus haberet nomen regis, viro suo molestis precibus insistebat, ut Romam pergeret et sibi regium nomen compararet. Ille vero, cum multis divitiis abundaret, acquiescere nolebat, magis diligens otium, quam honorem laboriosum. Tandem devictus uxoris precibus Romam cum ipsa perrexit. Quod Agrippa intelligens Caesari litteras destinavit, quod Herodes cum rege Parthorum amicitias firmaverit et Romano imperio voluerit rebellare, et in argumentum hujus rei significavit ei, quod in civitatibus suis habebat arma, quae sufficerent LXX millibus armatorum. Lecta autem epistola Cajus quasi aliunde accipiens Herodem de statu suo interrogavit et inter caetera, utrum tanta copia armatorum esset in urbibus, quantum ipse audierat, requisivit. Quod ille minime negavit. Tunc Cajus verum esse credens, quod Herodes Agrippa scripsit, ipsum in exsilium relegavit, uxori autem ejus, quia erat soror Herodis Agrippae, quem maxime diligebat, potestatem tribuit, nt in terram suam rediret.
Ipsa autem virum suum voluit comitari dicens, quod illum, cui communicaverat in prosperis, non derelinqueret in adversis. Lugdunum igitur deportati fuerunt et ibi vitam miserabiliter finierunt, Haec in hystoria scholastica. Secundo propter ossium ipsius concremationem et collectionem, quaeipso die secundum quosdam fuerunt concremata et a fidelibus ex parte collecta. Unde quasi secundum martirium patitur, quoniam ipse in suis ossibus concrematur, et ideo ecclesia tamquam secundum ejus martirium hoc festum celebrat, Sicut enim legitur in libro XII. hystoriae scholasticae vel ecclesiasticae, cum discipuli Johannis corpus ejus apud Sebasten urbem Palaestinae inter Elisaeum et Abdiam sepelivissent et ad ejus tumulum multa miracula fierent, jubente Juliano apostata gentiles ejus ossa sparserunt, et cum miracula non cessarent, post collecta et igne concremata in pulverem redegerunt et per agros ventilaverunt, sicut dicitur in hystoria scholastica et ecclesiastica. Beda vero dicit, quod ipsa ossa collecta latius sparserunt et sic secundum martirium quodammodo passus videtur, Hoc quidam repraesentant nescientes, dum in ejus nativitate ossa undecunque collecta concremant. Dum autem ad concremandum colligerentur, ut habetur in hystoria scholastica et Beda testatur, quidam monachi a Hierosolimis venientes latenter colligentibus se miscuerunt et magnam eorum partem tulerunt. Ipsa quoque ossa ad Philippum Hierosolimitarum episcopum detulerunt, qui ea postmodum Anastasio Alexandrino episcopo misit, Postmodum vero Theophilus ejusdem urbis episcopus ea in templo Serapis a sordibus purgato reposuit et in honorem sancti Johannis basilicam consecravit, Haec Beda et hystoria scholastica, Nuno autem apud Januam devote coluntur, sicut Alexander tertius et Innocentius quartus rei veritate cognita suis privilegiis approbaverunt, Sicut autem Herodes, qui ejus caput amputari fecit, suorum scelerum poenam pertulit, sic et Julianum apostatam, qui ejus ossa comburi jussit, ultio divina percussit, De cujus persecutione habetur in hystoria sancti Juliani, quae est post conversionem sancti Pauli.
De hujus autem Juliani apostatae origine, imperio, crudelitate et morte in hystoria tripartita plenius edocetur. Constantius namque frater magni Constantini ex eodem patre duos habuit filios, scilicet Gallum et Julianum. Mortuo autem Constantino Constantius ejus filius. Gallum Caesarem fecit, quem tamen postmodum interfecit. At Julianus metuens monachus effectus est coepitque magos consulere, si posset adhuc in imperium pervenire. Post hoc Constantius Julianum Caesarem fecit et ad Gallias misit, ubi victorias multas exercuit, Corona autem laurea inter duas columnas dependens rupto funiculo super caput ejus inde transeuntis decidit eumque aptissime coronavit cunctis clamantibus, quia imperii signum esset. Cumque a militibus appellaretur Augustus et corona, cum qua coronaretur, ibidem deesset, unus torquem, quem habebat, in collo Juliani capiti imposuit et sic ab iis imperator est effectus. Tunc figmentum christianitatis, quod habebat, abjecit et templa ydolorum aperiens et iis sacrificans se paganorum pontificem nominabat et signum crucis ubique destruebat.
Quadam: vice ros super ejus vestimenta caeterorumque, qui cum eo erant, cecidit et gutta quaelibet se in crucis signaculum transformavit. Volens autem complacere omnibus mortuo Constantio volnit, ut unusquisque, cui vellet ritni, deserviret, ac de curia sua eunuchos, tonsores et coquos fugavit, Eunuchos quidem, quia uxor ejus obierat, post quam aliam non duxerat, coquos, quia cibis simplicioribus uteretur, tonsores autem, quia unus, inquit, sufficit multis. Multos libros dictavit, in quibus omnes ante so principes laceravit. Ut ergo coquos atque tonsores expelleret, opus philosophi, non imperatoris egit, ut autem detraheret atque laudaret, neque philosophi neque imperatoris fuit, Dum aliquando Julianus ydolis sacrificaret, in visceribus pecudis immolatae signaculum crucis corona circumdatum eidem ostensum est. Qnod ministri videntes timuerunt, interpretantes crucis futuram unitatem, victoriam et interminabilitatem. Quos Julianus confortans ait, hoc esse signum christiani dogmatis coercendi nec ultra circulum dilatandi. Dum Constantinopolim Fortunae Julianus sacrificaret, Maris episcopus Chalcedoniae, qui prae senectute lumen amiserat, ad eum accedens ipsum impium et apostatam appellavit, Cni Julianus ait: neque Galilaeus tuus potuit te curare. Et ille: de hoc gratias ago Deo meo, quia ideo lumine me privavit, ne te videam pietate nudatum.
Julianus antem nil aliud respondens abscessit, Apud Antiochiam vasa sancta et pallia colligens et in lerra projiciens, super ea sedit et ignominiam addidit moxque in locis illis adeo est pereussus, ut inde vermes scaturirent et carnes corroderent; a-qua passione, quousque vixit, liberari non potuit, Julianus quoque praefectus, dum ad praeceptum imperatoris ecclesiarum vasa abstulisset, super ea mingens ait: ecce, in quibus vasis Mariae filio ministratur. Cni repente os versum est in anum et egestionis organum est factum. Dum apostata Julianus Fortunae templum intraret et ministri templi aqua, ut mundarentur, ingredientes adspergerent, Valentinianus aspersionis guttam vidit in chlamyde et indignatus pugno percussit ministrum dicens, so maculatum potius quam purgatum. Quod videns imperator jussit eum in custodiam redigi et ad eremum destinari. Erat enim christianus, qui pro mercede meruit postmodum ad imperium sublimari. In odium quoque christianorum Julianus templum Judaeorum jussit reparari, ipsis Judaeis sumtus largissime subministrans, sed dum maximam caementi copiam subministrassent, subito ventus maximus veniens totam dispersit; deinde terrae motns maximus est effectus; postmodum ignis a fandamento egrediens plurimos concremavit. Alia vero die signum crucis in coelo apparuit et Judaeorum vestes nigro calore crucis signaculo sunt impletae, Cum ad Persas vadens Ctesiphontem venisset et regem obsideret, rex suae patriae partem obtulit, si ab eo discederet. Ille antem nullatenus acquievit, Putabat enim secundum Pythagorae Platonisque sententiam ex mutatione corporum Alexandri animam possidere aut polius esse in alio corpore alius Alexander.
Sed jaculum repente discurrens ejus lateri est infixum, quo vulnere terminum vitae suscepit. Qui vero intulit, hactenus ignoratur, sed alii quendam invisibilium hoc intulisse ferunt, alii unum pastorem Ismaelitarum, alii militem fame et itinere fatigatum. Sed sive homo sive angelus fnerit, palam est, quia divinis jussionibus ministravit. Calixtus autem ejus familiaris dicit, eum a daemone fuisse percussum. Haec in hystoria tripartita. Tertio propter ipsins capitis inventionem. Nam hac die, ut ajunt, caput ejus repertum est. Sicut dicitur in libro XI.
hystoriae ecclesiasticae, Johannes in castello Arabiae dicto Macheronta fuit vinctus et capite truncatus, Herodias autem caput Johannis Hiernsalem fecit deferri et juxta Herodis habitaculum caute sepeliri, timens, ne propheta resurgeret, si cum corpore caput sepultum fuisset. Tempore vero Marciani principis, ut habetur in hystoria scholastica, qui coepit anno domini CCCLIII Johannes caput suum duobus monachis, qui Hierosolimam venerant, revelavit, qui ad palatium, quod Herodis fuerat, properantes caput ejus invenerunt saccis cilicinis involutum vestibus, aestimo, quibus in deserto fuerat obvolutus. Qui dum cum praedicto capite ad propria remearent, quidam Emissenae civitatis figulus paupertatem fugiens comitem se iisdem exhibuit. Hic dum peram sibi creditam cum sacro capite portaret, admonitus nocte a sancto Johanne ipsos fugiens Emissenam urbem cum ipso capite est ingressus ibique, quamdiu vixit, in quodam specu sanctum capnt venerans prosperitatem non modicam assecutus est, Moriens autem illad sorori suae sub fide revelavit et secundum eundem modum sibi invicem successores. Post multum vero temporis sancto Marcello monacho in eodem specu degenti beatas Johannes caput suum hoc modo revelavit Videbatur enim sibi dormienti, quod multae turbae psallentes incederent ac dicerent: ecce, sanctus Johannes baptista venit. Deinde vidit beatum Johannem, quem unus a dextris, alius a sinistris ducebat, omnesque ad enm accedentes ab eo benedicebantur. Ad quem cum Marcellus accessisset et ejus pedibus se prostravisset, elevans eum et per mentum apprehendens dedit ei oscnlum pacis. Tunc Marcellus interrogavit eum dicens: domine mi, unde ad nos venisti?
Et ille: de Sebaste veni. Cum igitur excitatus fuisset et de hac visione plurimum miraretur, quadam alia nocte, cum dormiret, quidam ad eum veniens ipsum excitavit, et ecce dum excitatus fuisset, vidit stellam fulgentem in ostio cellulae residere. Quam surgens dum palpare vellet, subito in aliam partem se transtulit, ille autem coepit abire post stellam, quousque stella stetit in loco, ubi erat caput Johannis baptistae, ubi fodiens reperit urnam et in ea sanctum thesaurum. Quidam autem cum non crederet, manum ad hydriam misit, sed statim manus exaruit et hydriae adhaesit. Orantibus antem sociis manum extraxit, sed invalida remansit, Apparuit autem eidem Johannes dicens: cum caput menm in ecclesia deponetur, hydriam continges et sanitatem recipies. Quod et fecit et sanitatem integram recepit, Haec autem cum Marcellus Juliano ejusdem urbis episcopo indicasset, ab iis est elevatum et in urbem delatum. Ex quo tempore coepit in eadem urbe decollatio sancti Johannis celebrari, ipsa die, ut arbitramur, sicut dicitur in hystoria scholastica, qua caput est inventum sive elevatum. Quod postmodum Constantinopolim est translatum.
Nam sicut dicitur in hystoria tripartita, cum Valens imperator jussisset, sacrum caput in vehiculo poni et Constantinopolim transferri, cum circa Chaleedoniam venisset, vehiculum nullatenus trahi poterat, quantumcunque boves stimulis urgerentur, ideoque ipsum ibidem deponere sunt coacti. Sed cum postea Theodosius ipsum inde auferre vellet et quandam matronam virginem custodiae capitis deputatam reperisset, ibidem rogavit eam, ut sibi auferre dimitteret sacrum caput, llla autem consensit credens, quod sicut tempore Valentis, ita etiam et nunc non permitteret se auferri. Tunc-devolus imperator purpura caput amplectens Constantinopolim transtulit et ibi pulcherrimam ecclesiam aedificavit. Haec in hystoria tripartita. Et inde Gallias apud Pictaviam regnante Pipino postmodum est translatum, nbi ejus meritis multi mortui sunt resuscitati. Et sicut punitus est Herodes, qui Johannem decollavit, et Julianus apostata, qui ejus ossa combussit, sic et Herodias punita est, quae puellae, ut caput peteret, suggessit, et ipsa puella, quae hoc petiit. Quidam enim dicunt, quod Herodias in exsilium damnata non est nec ibi defuncta, sed cum caput Johannis in manibus teneret et eidem gaudens plurimum insultaret, divino nutu caput ipsum in ejus faciem insufflavit et illa protinus exspiravit. Hoc quidem vulgariter dicitur, sed quia superius dictum est, quod in exsilio cum Herode miserabiliter consumpta fuerit, sancti tradunt in chronicis et sic tenendum videtur.
Filia vero ejus, cum super glaciem deambularet, sub ea glacies resolvitur et ipsa in aquis continuo praefocatur. In chronica vero quadam dicitur, quod terra ipsam vivam deglutivit, Quod potest intelligi, sicat de Aegyptiis in mari rubro praefocatis dicitur: devoravit eos terra. Quarto propter digiti ipsius translationem et ecclesiae dediceationem, Digitus enim suus, quo dominam ostendit, nt fertur, comburi non poterat. Unde ipse digitus a praedictis monachis est repertus, quem postmodum, ut habetur in hystoria scholastica, sancta Thecla intra Alpes detulit et in ecclesia sancti ) Maximi collocavit. Hoc etiam testatur Johannes Beleth dicens, quod praedicta sancta Thecla ipsum digitum, qui comburi non potuit, deultra partibus marinis in Normanniam attulit et ibi in honore sancti Johannis ecclesiam fabricavit, quam ecclesiam, ut ibidem dicit, quidam hac die dedicatam fuisse asserunt. Unde a domino papa statutum fuit, ut haec dies per totum mundum celebris haberetur.
Apud ? )Mariennam urbem Galliae matrona quaedam Johanni baptistae valde devota Deum instantius exorabat, ut sibi de reliquiis Johannis aliquando donaretur aliquid, Cum autem orando nihil proficere se videret, sumta de Deo fiducia juramento se adstrinxit, quod hactenus non comederet, donec, quod petebat, acciperet. Cum autem diebus aliquibus jejunasset, pollicem super altare miri candoris vidit et Dei donum laeta suscepit, tres autem episcopi illuc accurrentes, cum quilibet de illo pollice partem vellet accipere, tres sanguinis guttas stillare videntes in linteo supposito stupuerunt et singuli singulas se meruisse laetati sunt.
Theodolina regina Lombardorum Medoenae juxta Mediolanum nobilem ecclesiam in honore sancti Johannis baptistae construxit et ditavit. Procedente tempore, ut testatur Paulus in hystoria Longobardorum, Constantinus, qui et Constans imperator, volens Italiam a Lombardis eripere, a quodam sancto viro, qui spiritum prophetiae habuit, de exitu belli quaesivit. Qui nocte orationi vacans mane respondit: Johanni ecclesiam regina construxit et ipse pro Lombardis continue intercedit et ideo superari non possunt, veniet tamen tempus, quo locus ille despicietur, et tunc superabuntur. Quod tempore Caroli fuit impletum,
Vir quidam magnae virtutis, ut ait Gregorius in dyalogo, nomineSanctulus, um quendam dyaconum a Longobardis captum in sua custodia tali conditione recepisset, ut, si fugeret, ipse pro eo capitalem sententiam subiret, coegit praedictus Sanctalus ipsum dyaconum, ut fugeret et se liberaret, Quapropter Sanctulus ad decollandum adducitur et ad hoc fortissimus spiculator eligitur, de quo dubium non erat, quin uno ictu caput ejus abscinderet, extensoque collo, cum carnifex forti annisu brachium cum ense in altum levasset, ille protinus ait: sancte Johannes, suscipe illum, statimque brachium percussoris irriguit et erecto in coelo gladio inflexibile remansit praestitoque juramento, quod de caetero nullum christianum feriret, vir Dei pro eo oravit et brachium statim deposuit.
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
Chosen Portion serves the Golden Legend as a daily portion on iOS, free, alongside the full Sub Rosa archive
The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
- A complete saint's life or feast reading most days in 5-10 minutes
- 240 chapters - enough daily readings to cover a full liturgical year and beyond
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