SAINT SATURNINUS
Bishop and Martyr
(†ca. 70 A.D.)
Saint Saturninus was a contemporary and a disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ; he came to Palestine from Greece, attracted by the reputation of Saint John the Baptist, which had echoed even to the northern Mediterranean region. He then followed our Saviour, heard His teaching, and was a witness to many of His miracles. He was present in the Cenacle when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost upon the Mother of Christ, the Apostles and Disciples assembled in the number of 120. (Acts of the Apostles 1:15) He departed to teach Christianity under Saint Peter's authority, evangelizing the lands east of Palestine, and going as far as the region of the Persians and Medes and their neighboring provinces. He cured the sick, the lepers, and the paralytics and delivered souls from the demons; and before he left, he gave written instructions to the new Christians concerning what they should believe and practice.
When Saint Saturninus went with Saint Peter to Rome, the Apostle was inspired to send out a number of fervent evangelists to the West, to dissipate by the light of Christ the darkness in which those regions were still plunged. Saturninus was directed to go to what is now southern France, to Toulouse in particular. Saint Peter consecrated him a bishop, that he might form and ordain native priests for the future Christian churches of Gaul. He was given for his companion Papulus, later to become Saint Papulus the Martyr.
The two companions acquired at Nimes an ardent assistant in the person of Honestus. At Carcassonne, when the three announced Christ they were thrown into a prison, where they suffered from hunger; but an Angel was sent by the Lord to deliver them, and they continued on their way to Toulouse, preaching the doctrine and the name of Christ publicly. At this large and opulent city, where idolatry was entrenched, the idols became mute when the missionaries arrived. This caused great astonishment, and the cause of the silence was sought. Saint Saturninus in the meantime was working miracles which produced a strong impression on the witnesses; among them, the cure of a woman with advanced leprosy. The sign of the cross which he made over crowds often cured many sick persons at the same time, and he then baptized those who showed themselves ready for the sacrament. For a time he left his two disciples there and continued on elsewhere, preaching in the cities of what are now Auch and Eauze. A Spaniard heard of him and crossed the Pyrenees to hear him; this man, by the name of Paternus, advanced so rapidly on the paths of virtue that Saint Saturninus ordained him and then established him bishop of Eauze. He himself returned to Toulouse and sent Honestus to Spain to preach. When the latter returned to ask him to come with him to Spain, he left his disciple Papulus in charge for a time at Toulouse.
At Pampeluna his preaching brought thousands to the truth, delivering these former idolaters from the heavy yoke of the ancient enemy. While he continued his apostolic labors elsewhere, in Toulouse a persecution broke out against Papulus, and the faithful Christian obtained the crown of martyrdom by a violent death. At once Saint Saturnin returned to Toulouse, when he learned of it.
The idols again became mute. One day a great multitude was gathered near a pagan altar, where a bull stood ready for the sacrifice. A man in the crowd pointed out Saturninus, who was passing by, as the cause of the silence. "There is the one who preaches everywhere that our temples must be torn down, and who dares to call our gods devils! It is his presence that imposes silence on our oracles!" He was chained and dragged to the summit of the capitol, situated on a high hill, and commanded to offer sacrifice to the idols and cease to preach Jesus Christ. An Angel appeared to him to fortify him, and the terrible flagellation he endured could not alter his firmness. "I know only one God, the only true one; to Him alone I will offer sacrifice on the altar of my heart... How can I fear gods who you yourselves say are afraid of me?" He was tied by a rope to the bull, which was driven down the stairs leading to the capitol. His skull was broken, and the Saint entered into the beatitude of the unceasing vision of God. His body was taken up and buried by two devout young women. Tradition conserved the memory of the place of his burial, where later a church was built.
Another take:
Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Reflection: When beset by the temptations of the devil, let us call upon the Saints, who reign with Christ. They were powerful during their lives against the devil and his angels. They are more powerful now that they have passed from the Church on earth to the Church triumphant.
Bishop and Martyr
(†ca. 70 A.D.)
Saint Saturninus was a contemporary and a disciple of Our Lord Jesus Christ; he came to Palestine from Greece, attracted by the reputation of Saint John the Baptist, which had echoed even to the northern Mediterranean region. He then followed our Saviour, heard His teaching, and was a witness to many of His miracles. He was present in the Cenacle when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost upon the Mother of Christ, the Apostles and Disciples assembled in the number of 120. (Acts of the Apostles 1:15) He departed to teach Christianity under Saint Peter's authority, evangelizing the lands east of Palestine, and going as far as the region of the Persians and Medes and their neighboring provinces. He cured the sick, the lepers, and the paralytics and delivered souls from the demons; and before he left, he gave written instructions to the new Christians concerning what they should believe and practice.
When Saint Saturninus went with Saint Peter to Rome, the Apostle was inspired to send out a number of fervent evangelists to the West, to dissipate by the light of Christ the darkness in which those regions were still plunged. Saturninus was directed to go to what is now southern France, to Toulouse in particular. Saint Peter consecrated him a bishop, that he might form and ordain native priests for the future Christian churches of Gaul. He was given for his companion Papulus, later to become Saint Papulus the Martyr.
The two companions acquired at Nimes an ardent assistant in the person of Honestus. At Carcassonne, when the three announced Christ they were thrown into a prison, where they suffered from hunger; but an Angel was sent by the Lord to deliver them, and they continued on their way to Toulouse, preaching the doctrine and the name of Christ publicly. At this large and opulent city, where idolatry was entrenched, the idols became mute when the missionaries arrived. This caused great astonishment, and the cause of the silence was sought. Saint Saturninus in the meantime was working miracles which produced a strong impression on the witnesses; among them, the cure of a woman with advanced leprosy. The sign of the cross which he made over crowds often cured many sick persons at the same time, and he then baptized those who showed themselves ready for the sacrament. For a time he left his two disciples there and continued on elsewhere, preaching in the cities of what are now Auch and Eauze. A Spaniard heard of him and crossed the Pyrenees to hear him; this man, by the name of Paternus, advanced so rapidly on the paths of virtue that Saint Saturninus ordained him and then established him bishop of Eauze. He himself returned to Toulouse and sent Honestus to Spain to preach. When the latter returned to ask him to come with him to Spain, he left his disciple Papulus in charge for a time at Toulouse.
At Pampeluna his preaching brought thousands to the truth, delivering these former idolaters from the heavy yoke of the ancient enemy. While he continued his apostolic labors elsewhere, in Toulouse a persecution broke out against Papulus, and the faithful Christian obtained the crown of martyrdom by a violent death. At once Saint Saturnin returned to Toulouse, when he learned of it.
The idols again became mute. One day a great multitude was gathered near a pagan altar, where a bull stood ready for the sacrifice. A man in the crowd pointed out Saturninus, who was passing by, as the cause of the silence. "There is the one who preaches everywhere that our temples must be torn down, and who dares to call our gods devils! It is his presence that imposes silence on our oracles!" He was chained and dragged to the summit of the capitol, situated on a high hill, and commanded to offer sacrifice to the idols and cease to preach Jesus Christ. An Angel appeared to him to fortify him, and the terrible flagellation he endured could not alter his firmness. "I know only one God, the only true one; to Him alone I will offer sacrifice on the altar of my heart... How can I fear gods who you yourselves say are afraid of me?" He was tied by a rope to the bull, which was driven down the stairs leading to the capitol. His skull was broken, and the Saint entered into the beatitude of the unceasing vision of God. His body was taken up and buried by two devout young women. Tradition conserved the memory of the place of his burial, where later a church was built.
Another take:
Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
| Biographical selection: St. Saturninus was a disciple of St. John the Baptist and became a follower of Our Lord. Later he was consecrated Bishop by St. Peter and was sent as a missionary from Rome to the Pyrenees Mountain area. He became the first Bishop and Apostle of Toulouse, France.
An enemy of the Christians discovered the cause of the silence of the idols. One day, as St. Saturninus was passing and the pagan priests were preparing to offer the sacrifice of a bull in honor of Jupiter, the man shouted: “This man is the enemy of our gods, the one who prevents them from making oracles. But now the gods have delivered him into our hands so that we might avenge the grievances made against them.” The crowds seized the Bishop and dragged him before the pagan altar to oblige him to sacrifice to the false gods. But St. Saturninus addressed the people and said: “I adore the one true God, and only to Him do I offer my homage and sacrifices. In face of this, your idols have become silent. Your gods are devils who fear the true God and are more delighted with deceiving your souls than receiving the sacrifices of your bulls. They tremble before me because I represent the true God.” Furious over his answer, the pagan priests tied St. Saturninus to the feet of a wild bull, which dashed through the city and killed him, tearing him to pieces. His remains were collected by two young women who did not fear facing the furor of the people. Comments of Prof. Plinio: In this text one has a magnificent picture of the fight of good against evil. St. Saturninus was a saint whose virtue and presence in Toulouse caused the demons who inhabitated the idols to become mute. For before a man of God, the devil is a coward who flees. Therefore, the idols could not say anything to their followers. From this situation came the martyrdom of St. Saturninus. We could ask: • Why don’t the devils become mute today in the presence of good persons? I will try to give answers to these questions.
Second, obvious supernatural facts like what happened with St. Saturninus do not take place today because, on one hand, God has distanced Himself from this earth. He does not give such miracles to this revolutionary world, because it is not worthy of such things. Someone could object: But if He would work miracles like that, then the world would change. I don’t think so. You can observe the statues of Our Lady that have wept in various places. Notwithstanding, nothing changed. People ordered chemical examinations of her tears. The lab results concluded that the tears were actually human tears – that is to say, a manifest miracle. Still, practically no one changes his life. People have reached a degree of insensibility to the supernatural that almost nothing can change them. You can note the silence that has fallen over Lourdes. We could almost say that Lourdes hardly exists anymore. Why? Because people today scorn miracles and thus are no longer worthy of them. This is the reason why for some time Our Lady has wept. Doing this, she nourishes the piety of the good Catholics. She also leaves evidence that she forewarned mankind of the catastrophe that is near. On the other hand, the devils have today a dominion over the world that they did not have at the time of St. Saturninus. In our days we are facing not only the devils of the air, but also and principally the devils of Hell. Perhaps you remember that Pope Leo XIII had a vision warning him that the devils of Hell would shortly be released on earth. Well, I think that they were set at large and are present everywhere intensifying the action of the devils of the air and making men much worse. This is another reason why the magnificent facts of the life of St. Saturninus are not repeated today. We should ask Our Lady through the intercession of St. Saturninus to shorten these sad and terrible times and permit the good to once again be visibly triumphant over the devils for the greater glory of God. |
Reflection: When beset by the temptations of the devil, let us call upon the Saints, who reign with Christ. They were powerful during their lives against the devil and his angels. They are more powerful now that they have passed from the Church on earth to the Church triumphant.
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