De sancta Dorothe a
The Faithfulness of Dorothea
Dorothea is born into a noble family and remains steadfast in her devotion to Christ despite the intense persecution and temptations of the governor Fabricius.
The glorious virgin and martyr Dorothea was born to a father named Doro and a mother named Thea, both of noble senatorial blood. In those times, the persecution of Christians was raging in the land of the Romans. Because of this, Doro rejected Roman idols and abandoned his estates—including his possessions, fields, vineyards, camps, and houses—to travel across the Iretavil with his wife and two daughters, Christen and Calisten. He settled in the kingdom of Cappadocia and arrived at the city of Caesarea, where he lived and fathered the daughter whose life we are about to discuss. After she was born, she was secretly baptized according to Christian custom by a holy bishop, who gave her a name formed from the names of her parents. Dorothea was a girl filled with the Holy Spirit, steeped in virtue and the ways of peace, and exceptionally beautiful—more so than any other girl in the region. The envious serpent, the devil, that enemy of chastity, could not stand this; he stirred up Fabricius, the governor of the land, to desire the virgin Dorothea with carnal lust. He sent for her, promising her immeasurable treasure and wealth as a dowry if she would only submit to a lawful marriage. Upon hearing this, the sweet Dorothea, despising earthly riches as nothing, fearlessly declared that she was betrothed to Christ. Enraged, Fabricius immediately ordered her to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil. She remained unharmed by the help of Christ, as if she were being anointed with balm. Many pagans, seeing this miracle, were converted to Christ in their hearts, but Fabricius, believing it was done by magic, locked her in prison for nine days without food. When she was brought to the tribunal, having been nourished by holy angels, she appeared more beautiful than she had ever been seen before, and everyone marveled that she could look so beautiful after so many days without food. Fabricius, however, said: 'Unless you worship the gods right now, you will not escape the torture of the rack.' Dorothea replied, "I worship God, not a demon; for your gods are demons." Prostrating herself on the ground with her eyes raised to heaven, she prayed to the Lord that He would show His omnipotence, and that He alone is God and there is no other besides Him. For Fabricius had erected a column with an idol on top of it.
The Triumph of the Martyr
Through miraculous signs and the conversion of her sisters, Dorothea endures torture and ultimately receives the crown of martyrdom, sending a sign to the skeptic Theophilus.
And look, a multitude of angels came with great force and shattered the idol, so that not even a fragment of the column could be found; and the voice of demons was heard crying through the air, "Dorothea, why do you destroy us like this?" Many thousands of pagans openly converted to Christ, and they too entered into the palm of martyrdom. Dorothea was suspended on the rack with her feet raised, her body torn with hooks, beaten with rods, and scourged with whips; then burning torches were applied to the virgin's breasts, and she was left half-dead in prison until the next day. When she was brought out in the morning, neither any mark nor any injury appeared on her; the governor himself was amazed at this and said to her, "You may still turn back, lovely girl, for you have been punished enough." He sent her to her two sisters, Christa and Callista, who had fallen away from Christ for fear of death, so that they might pull their sister Dorothea away from Christ. But Dorothea spoke gently to the sisters, taking away the blindness of their hearts and converting them to Christ. Hearing this, Fabricius had both sisters tied back-to-back and thrown into the fire to be burned, and he said to Dorothea, "How long, you witch, will you drag us along?" "Either sacrifice and you will live, or you will be punished with a capital sentence." She replied with a joyful face, "Whatever you wish, I am ready to suffer for Christ, my Lord and Spouse, in whose garden are delights, and I will gather roses and apples and rejoice with him forever." Hearing this, the tyrant raged within himself and ordered that her beauty and face be beaten with clubs and staves, and that the torturers be exhausted, and that not even a trace of her face should remain, and she was kept in prison until the next day. In the morning, she was brought out, healed and unharmed by our Savior, and was sentenced to death and led outside the walls. Theophilus, the royal protonotary, seeing her, asked her mockingly to send him roses from her Spouse's garden, which she promised to do. When she came to the place of execution, she prayed to the Lord for all who would honor her name and commemorate her passion, that they might be saved in all their tribulations, and especially that they might be delivered from shame, poverty, and false accusations, and that at the end of their lives they might obtain contrition and the remission of all their sins; and that women in labor who call upon her name might feel quick relief in their pains. And look, a voice from heaven was heard: "Come, my chosen one, you have obtained everything you asked for." Dorothea, bowing her head for the executioner's blow, saw a boy appear dressed in purple, barefoot, with curly hair, on whose garment were stars, carrying in his hand a small basket with three roses and three apples. Dorothea said to him, "I beg you, Lord, take these to Theophilus the scribe." And she was beheaded and went to Christ.
The Conversion of Theophilus
Theophilus is converted by the miraculous roses and apples sent from heaven, leading him to his own martyrdom and eternal union with Christ.
His own. She was happily united with her Spouse. The glorious virgin and martyr Dorothea suffered in the year of our Lord 287. On the Ides of February, under the governor Fabricius and Diocletian and... Under the emperors Maximian and the Romans, Theophilus was standing in the governor’s palace when a boy appeared to him and took him aside, saying, 'My sister Dorothea sends you these roses and apples from the garden of her Spouse.' The boy then disappeared. Theophilus broke out in praise, glorifying Christ, the God of Dorothea, who is powerful enough to send roses and apples in the month of February—when the great cold grips the earth and no plant is clothed in leaves—and may His name be blessed. Through his affirmation and preaching, almost the whole land was converted. Seeing this, the tyrant tortured him with many kinds of torments, more than he had used on Dorothea, and finally ordered him to be cut into small pieces and thrown out to be eaten. Theophilus, however, having been communicated with the sacred baptism and the mystical Body and Blood of Christ, went to Christ, who glorifies His saints and is Himself glorified in those who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, consubstantial and coeternal, God for ever and ever. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Gloriosa virgo et inartir Dorothea ex patre Doro et matre Thea fuit progenita ex nobili sanguine senatorum. Illis temporibus viguit persecutio christianorum in terra Romanorum. Unde ipse Dorus spernens ydola, Romana derelinquens praedia cum possessionibus, agris, vineis, castris ac domibus trans Íretavil cuim uxore sua et duabus filiabus Christen et Calisten, perrexit in regnum Cappadociae venitque in civitatem Caesaream ibique habitans genuit filian, de cujus vita nunc inlendimus loqui. El ipsa genita secundum morem christianorum occulte baptizata est a quodam episcopo sanclo, qui nomen ei imposnit ex patre et matre compositum. Dorothea autem ipsa puella repleta est spiritu sancto, virlutibus et omni pacis disciplina inbuta, formosa valde super omnes puellas regionis illius, Quod invidus serpens inimicus castitatis dyabolus non sustinens Fabricium terrae praefectum in amorem virginis Dorotheae stinulans, ut ipsam carnali concupiscentia appeleret, Qui mittens pro ea, spondens thesaurum et res absque compoti determinatione pro dote prodere ipsam legitimo toro producendam, Audiens hoc dulcis Dorothea quasi Intum lerrae despiciens terrenas divitias et intrepida se Christo desponsatam fatebatur, Quod andiens Fabricins furore succensus mox eam in dolimn plenum fervent olei mitti jussit, ipsaque adjutorio Christi illaesa manens, ac si balsamo ungeretur, Multi antem paganorum videntes hoo miraculum intra se ad Christuin convertuntur, Fabricius vero credens hoc magicis arlibus fieri, ipsam in carcerem reclusit novem diebus absque ciborum alimentis. Quae nutrita a sanctis angelis dum producitur ad tribunal, pulchrior, quam nunquam visa fuerit, apparuit cunclique mirabantur, quod tot diebus absque cibo tam formosa videretur, Fabricius vero it: nisi Deos in praesente adores, equulei poenas non evades. Dorothea respondit: Detun adoro, non daemonem; Dii enim tui daemones sunt, Et prostrata in terram elevatisque in coelum oculis oravit ad dominum, ut ostenderet omnipotentiam suam, et quod ipse sit solus Deus et non alius praeter eum. Erexerat namque Fabricius colhunnam et desuper ydolum.
Et ecce inultitudo angelormin cum impetu veniens conterit ydolum, quod nec particula colinnae inveniretur, Et audita est vox daemonum per aéra clamantium : Dorothea, cur nos sic devastas? Et multa millia paganorum ad Cliristum manifeste convertebantur, qui etiam martirii palmam ingressi sunt. Ipsa antem Dorothea equuleo est suspensa pedibus elevatis, uncis laceratur corpus ejus, virgis cas gatur, flagellis flagellatur, deinde ad mmammillas virginis faculae ardentes applicatae sunt et ipsa semünortua usque ad crastinum reclusa est. De mane producta nec ulla macnla nec ulla laesio apparuit, De quo etiam cum ipse praeses miraretur, dixit ei: adhuc revertaris amoena puella, satis namque castigata es. Et misit eam ad duas sorores suas, Christen et Calisten, quae metu mortis a Christo recesserant, ut ipsae Dorotheam sororem suam a Christo avellerent, Dorothea autein leniter alloquens praedictas sorores, auferens ab iis caecitatem cordis et eas ad Christum convertit, Quod audiens Fabricius ambas sorores dorso ad dorsum ligari fecit et in ignem projici et cremari, Et dixit Dorotheae: quousque, malefica, nos protrahis? aut sacrifica et vives, ant sententia capitali plecteris, Ila laeto vultn respondit: quicquid vis, passura sum pro Christo domino et sponso meo, in cujus horto deliciae, et rosas cum pomis colligam et laetabor cnm ipso in aeternum, Hoc audiens tyrannus in se ipsum infremuit praecepitque, ut pulchritudo ejus et facies ejus baculis et fustibus caederetur, et ut tortores fatigarentur et quod nec vestigia faciei in ipsa apparerent, et in carcere servata in crastinum. De mane vero producitur illaesa a salvatore nostro curata, sententia capitali judicatur, et dmn extra muros ducitur, videns eam Theophilus protonotarius regni quasi illusorie rosas de viridario sponsi sui petens sibi mitti, quod illa promisit, Com autem venit ad locum decollationis, rogavit dominum pro omnibus, qui ad honorem sui nominis suae memoriam passionis peragerent, ut in omnibus salvarentur tribulationibus et praecipue verecundia, paupertate et a falso crimine liberarentur et in fine vitae contritionem et remissionem Omnium peccatorum obtinerent, mulieres vero parientes nomen ejus invocantes celerem sentiant in doloribus profectum, Et ecce vox de coelo audita est: veni, electa mea, omnia, quae petiisti, impetrasti, Dorothea vero inclinata ad ictum spiculatoris apparuit puer purpura indutus, discalceeatus, crispo capite, in cujus veste stellae fuerunt, ferens in manu orarium, id est sportulam cum tribus rosis et tot malis. Cui Dorothea: obsecro te, domine mihi feras, eas Theophilo scribae, Et decollata et ad Christum.
suum. sponsum feliciter collocata est. Passa est autem gloriosa virgo et martir Dorothea anno domini CCLXXXVII. Idus Februarias Fabrició praeside snb Dyocletiano et. Maximiano imperatoribus Romanorum, Theophilus autem stans in palatio praesidis et ecce puer apparuit cirea emn et sustulit eum in partem dicens: has rosas cum pomis mittit tibi soror mea Dorothea de paradiso sponsi sui, Puer vero disparuit, Tunc Theophilus prorupit in voces laudando et glorificando Christum Deum Dorotheae, qui mense Februario, dum magna frigora terram cogebant nec aliquod virzultum frondibus vestitur, rosas el poma, quibus vult, mittere potens est, cnjus nomen sit benedictum, Et illius afirmatione et praedicatione fere tola terra convertilur, Videns hoc tyrannus pluribus generibus tormentorum, quam Dorotheam cruciavit, ultimum vero in particulas minunas succidi jussit et ad manducandum projicitur, Theophilus vero sacro baptismate mystico corpore et sanguine Christi communicatus est, perrexit ad Christum, qui glorificat sanctos suos, et glorificatur ipse in his, qui patri sanctoque spiritui consubstantialis et ooaeternus vivit et regnat Deus in saecula saecnlorum, Amen.
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