De sancto Floriano
The Witness of Saint Florian
Saint Florian leads his soldiers to faith before they are sent into persecution in Noricum.
In the time of Diocletian, Saint Florian was a high-ranking military officer, and through him, forty soldiers came to believe in Christ. The prefect Aquilinus sent them to the regions of Noricum—that is, Bavaria—where they were tortured and imprisoned at Lauriacum.
The Martyrdom and Miraculous Rest
Florian endures torture and death, followed by miraculous signs that protect his body and honor his burial.
Then Saint Florian openly confessed himself a Christian, and because he could not be swayed to worship idols, he was twice beaten severely, and his shoulder blades were pierced with sharp clubs; finally, Aquilinus ordered him to be thrown from a bridge into the Enns River. The saint prayed while the guards were busy, but one of them, more cruel than the rest, pushed the saint off; his eyes immediately burst open for all to see. As the martyr floated upstream against the current on a large rock, an eagle flew down, spread its wings in the shape of a cross, and covered his body. The saint appeared to a devout matron, who joined the animals together and wrapped his body in brushwood so it would not be seen by the persecutors. But when the animals grew weak from the heat, a spring burst forth at the woman's prayers, which flows to this day. When the oxen arrived at the place prepared for the martyr, they could not be moved any further, and there he was buried, shining forth with many miracles.
Read the original Latin
Tempore Dyocletiani sanctus Florianus princeps officii militiae fuit, de quo XL milites crediderunt Christo. Qui ab Aquilino praefecto ad partes Noricorum, id est Bavarorum, destinati apud Lauriacunm suppliciis affecti incarcerantur. Tunc sanctus Florianus ultro se christianum confitetur, et cum flecti non posset ad cultun ydolorum, bis duriter caesus est et acutis fustibus scapulae ejus perfodiuntur, Tandem jubet Aquilinus, nt a ponte in flumine Avisi praecipitetur. Orat sanclus, student lictores, sed unus aliis atrocior sanctum praecipitat; cujus oculi statim videntibus omnibus crepuerunt, Martir adscendens contra flaxumn fluvii in magno saxo, aquila advolat, expansis alis in modum crucis tegit corpus, matronae devotae sanctus apparuit, jungit illa animalia et corpus virgultis involvit, ne a persecutoribus videatur, Sed cum aestu animalia deficerent, ad preces feminae fons erupit, qui usque hodie flnit, Venientes ergo boves ad locum martiri paratum ultro se movere non poterant, ibique sepultus miraculis multipliciter coruscat, 56
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