272 Ss. Priscus, or Prix, and his companions, Martyrs
In território Antisiodorénsi pássio sancti Prisci Mártyris, qui, cum ingénti multitúdine fidélium Christi, cápite cæsus est.
    In the territory of Auxerre, the passion of St. Priscus, martyr, along with a great multitude of other Christians.

The persecution initiated under the Emperor Aurelian was carried on with peculiar ferocity in Roman Gaul, notably in the town of Besançon. Mindful of the precept “When they persecute you in one city, flee to another”, two prominent citizens, Priscus and Cottus, went with a number of other Christians to Auxerre, which was surrounded by forests. They were, however, hunted down and slain by the sword. The bodies of the saints were discovered in the first half of the fifth century by St Germanus, who built two churches in their honour and who propa­gated a cultus of these martyrs of Auxerre which became very general. Besançon and Sens still celebrate the feast of St Priscus.

The passages from Eusebius and St Jerome upon which we depend for all our knowledge of St Quadratus are quoted in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi. Quadratus was not an uncommon name, and it is very doubtful whether the apologist, the bishop of Athens, and the prophet in Asia Minor were one and the same person. See Bardenhewer, Geschichte deraltkirchlichen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 168—169; Harnack in Texte und Untersuchungen, vol. i, part i, pp. 100 seq.; Harnack, Chronologie der altchristlichen Literatur, vol. i, pp. 269—271 and DTC., vol. xiii, cc. 1429—1431.

1154 St Lambert, Bishop of Vence

St Lambert was born at Bauduen, in the diocese of Riez, and became a monk in the abbey of Lérins, where he had lived from his childhood. Though kindly to all and popular with his brethren, he was so great a lover of solitude and study that he never left his cell except when obedience required him to do so. Much against his will he was made bishop of Vence in 1114. For forty years he ruled his diocese, instructing the people and healing many sick persons by prayer and the laying-on of hands. He was famous for his learning and for his miracles. Beloved of all, he died in the year 1154, and was buried in his cathedral church.

The life printed n the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi, seems to have been written within ten years of St Lambert’s death, but its dullness is only relieved by the narration of some very dubious miracles. A copy of his epitaph has been published in the Revue des Sociétés savantes, vol. iv (1876), p. 196.

1265 Bd Eva of Liege, Virgin 

When Bd Juliana was prioress of Mount Cornillon, one of her closest friends was a holy recluse, Eva, or Heva, of Liege, whom she inspired with her own enthusiastic purpose to obtain the institution of a feast in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. It was in Eva’s cell near the church of St Martin that Juliana found refuge when she was driven for the first time from Cornillon, and it was Eva who took up her mission after she died. The accession of Pope Urban IV raised her hopes, for he had formerly shown himself sympathetic when, as Archdeacon James Pantaleon, he had been approached on the subject by Bd Juliana. Eva’s hopes were fulfilled. Not only did he institute the festival of Corpus Christi, but he sent to her the bull of authorization as well as the special office for the day which St Thomas Aquinas had compiled at his desire. The cultus of Bd Eva was confirmed in 1902.

The brief authorizing the cultus may be read in the Analecta Ecclesiastica, vol. X (1902), p. 245. See also Demarteau, La premiere auteur wallonne, Eve de Saint-Martin (1898); Analecta Bollandiana, vol. xvi (1897), pp. 531—532; and cf. the bibliography given under Bd Juliana on April 5.

1595 St Philip Neri * [* To-day is the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury in England and Wales; see May 28, his date in the general calendar.] “the Apostle of Rome”; “Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?”; Here, in the grotte as they were then called, he was fervently praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the eve of Pentecost 1544 when there appeared to him as it were a globe of fire which entered his mouth and which he afterwards felt dilating his breast. Immediately he was filled with such paroxysms of divine love that he rolled upon the ground exclaiming, “Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more!” When he had risen and was more composed, on putting his hand to his heart he discovered a swelling as big as a man’s fist, but neither then nor subsequently did it give him pain. From that day, under the stress of spiritual emotion he was apt to be seized with violent palpitations, which caused his whole body to tremble and sometimes the chair or the bed on which he rested to be violently shaken. The fervour which consumed him often obliged him to bare his breast to relieve the heat within and he would ask God to mitigate His consolations lest he should die with love. After his death it was discovered that two of the saint’s ribs were broken and had formed an arch which added to the normal space for the beating of his heart—all before becoming priest in 1551;  a small community of priest joined him with the townspeople calling them “Oratorians” because of the little bell he rang to assembly;

St Philip Neri was born in Florence in the year 1515 and was one of the four children of a notary called Francis Neri. Their mother died while they were very young, but her place was well supplied by an excellent step­mother. From infancy Philip was remarkable for his docility and sweet disposition, which caused him to bespoken of as “Pippo buono”—“good little Phil.” Indeed, the only time he ever merited and received a reprimand from his elders was when he once pushed away his elder sister because she persisted in interrupting him and his little sister while they were reciting some of the psalms. His first religious teachers were the Dominicans of San Marco, whose instructions and example made a deep and permanent impression. He grew up a pious, attractive, cheerful lad— very popular with all who came in contact with him. When he was eighteen he was sent to San Germano, to a childless kinsman who was supposed to have a flourishing business and who was likely to make him his heir. Philip, however, did not stay there long. Soon after his arrival he passed through a mystical experience which in after years he spoke of as “conversion”, and from thenceforth worldly affairs had no more attraction for him. The atmosphere in which he was living became uncongenial, and he set out for Rome, without money and without plans, trusting entirely to the guidance of divine providence. In Rome he found shelter under the roof of Galeotto Caccia, a Florentine customs-official, who provided him with an attic and the bare necessaries of life. It was little enough that Philip needed. His entire fare consisted of bread, water and a few olives or vegetables, which he usually took once a day: and his room was practically bare except for a bed, a chair, some books, and a line on which he hung his clothes. In return for his hospitality Philip gave lessons to his host’s two small sons who, if we may accept the testimony of their mother and their aunt, became veritable little angels under his direction.

Except for the hours he devoted to his charges, St Philip seems to have spent the first two years of his residence in Rome almost like a recluse, giving up whole days and nights to prayer in his garret. It proved to be a period of inward pre­paration, at the close of which he emerged from his retreat, with his spiritual life strengthened and his determination to live for God confirmed, while he proceeded to take up courses of philosophy and theology at the Sapienza and at Sant’ Agostino. For three years he worked with diligence and with such success that he was regarded as a promising scholar. Then, quite suddenly—perhaps in response to some intuition or intimation—he threw up his studies, sold most of his books and embarked upon an apostolate amongst the people. Religion at that time was at a low ebb in Rome, which was very slowly recovering from the effects of the sacking in 1527. There were several contributory causes. Grave abuses had crept into the Church: they had long been generally recognized, but nothing was being done to remove them. Elections to the Sacred College had been controlled by the Medici, with the result that the cardinals, with few exceptions, were princes of the state rather than of the Church. The enthusiasm for classical authors fostered by the Renaissance had gradually substituted pagan for Christian ideals, thereby lowering the moral standard and weakening faith. Indifference, if not corruption, was rife amongst the clergy, many of whom seldom celebrated Mass, let their churches fall into disrepair and neglected their flocks. It was small wonder that the people were lapsing into semi-godlessness. To re-evangelize Rome was to be St Philip’s life-work, and he accomplished it with such success as to earn from posterity the title of “the Apostle of Rome”.

He began in a small way. He would stand about the street-corners and market place, entering into conversation with all sorts of people—especially with the young Florentines employed in the banks and shops of the Sant’ Angelo quarter. He had an attractive personality with a notable sense of humour, and he readily won a hearing. Then he would put in a word in season or speak to his audience about the love of God and the state of their souls. In this manner he gradually prevailed upon many to give up evil practices and to reform their lives. His customary greeting, “Well, brothers, when shall we begin to do good?” found them willing enough to respond provided he would show them the way. So he took them with him to wait upon the sick in the hospitals and to visit the Seven Churches—a favourite devotion of his own. His days were given up to men; but towards evening he would retire into solitude, sometimes spending the night in a church porch, sometimes in the catacombs of St Sebastian beside the Appian Way. Here, in the grotte as they were then called, he was fervently praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the eve of Pentecost 1544 when there appeared to him as it were a globe of fire which entered his mouth and which he afterwards felt dilating his breast. Immediately he was filled with such paroxysms of divine love that he rolled upon the ground exclaiming, “Enough, enough, Lord, I can bear no more!” When he had risen and was more composed, on putting his hand to his heart he discovered a swelling as big as a man’s fist, but neither then nor subsequently did it give him pain. From that day, under the stress of spiritual emotion he was apt to be seized with violent palpitations, which caused his whole body to tremble and sometimes the chair or the bed on which he rested to be violently shaken. The fervour which consumed him often obliged him to bare his breast to relieve the heat within and he would ask God to mitigate His consolations lest he should die with love. After his death it was discovered that two of the saint’s ribs were broken and had formed an arch which added to the normal space for the beating of his heart.

In the year 1548, with the help of his confessor, Father Persiano Rossa, who lived at San Girolamo della Carità, St Philip founded a confraternity of poor laymen who met for spiritual exercises in the church of San Salvatore in Campo. With their aid he popularized in Rome the devotion of the forty hours and under­took the care of needy pilgrims. This work was greatly blessed and developed into the celebrated hospital of Santa Trinità dei Pellegrini, which in the year of jubilee 1575 assisted no less than 145,000 pilgrims, and afterwards undertook the charge of poor convalescents.

Thus by the time he was thirty-four, St Philip Neri had accomplished much; but his confessor was convinced that he could do still more as a priest. Though the saint’s humility made him shrink from the idea of taking holy orders, he eventually deferred to his director’s wishes. He was ordained on May 23, 1551, and went to live with Father Rossa and other priests at San Girolamo della Carità. His apostolate was now exercised mainly through the confessional. From before daybreak until nearly midday and often again in the afternoon he sat in the tribunal of penance, to which flocked a host of penitents of all ages and ranks. He had a wonderful power of reading the thoughts of those who resorted to him and effected an enormous number of conversions. For the benefit of these penitents he would hold informal spiritual conferences and discussions, followed by visits to churches or attendance at Vespers and Complin. Often they would read aloud the lives of martyrs and missionaries. The account of the heroic career and death of St Francis Xavier so inspired St Philip himself that he was tempted to volunteer for the foreign mission field. However, a Cistercian whom he consulted assured him that Rome was to be his Indies, and the saint accepted the decision.

A large room was built over the nave of San Girolamo to accommodate the increasing numbers of those who attended the conferences, in the direction of which St Philip was aided by several other priests. The people called them Oratorians, because they rang a little bell to summon the faithful to prayers in their oratory, but the real foundation of the congregation so-named was laid a few years later, when St Philip presented five of his young disciples for ordination and sent them to serve the church of San Giovanni, the charge of which had been entrusted to him by his fellow Florentines in Rome. For these young priests, amongst whom was Cesare Baronius, the future historian, he drew up some simple rules of life. They shared a common table and spiritual exercises under his obedience, but he forbade them to bind themselves to this state by vows or to renounce their property if they had any. Others joined them and their organization and work developed rapidly-­the more so, perhaps, because it met with opposition and even persecution in certain quarters. However, in 1575, the new society received the formal approbation of Pope Gregory XIII, who afterwards gave to it the ancient church of Sta Maria in Vallicella. The edifice, besides being in a ruinous condition, was far too small, and St Philip decided to demolish it and to rebuild it on a large scale. He had no money, but contributions came in from rich and poor. The pope and St Charles Borromeo were generous in their donations, as were many of the most prominent men in Rome. Cardinals and princes were amongst his disciples, though he not infrequently disconcerted them by the strange things he did and said—sometimes spontaneously, for he was the most unconventional of saints, but often deliberately in order to conceal his spiritual emotion or to lower himself in the esteem of on­lookers. Humility was the virtue which, of all others, he strove to practise himself and to instil into his penitents. He could not succeed, however, in blinding others to his own sanctity or in wholly concealing from them the extraordinary gifts and graces with which he was endowed.

Always a delicate man, he was once cured of a severe attack of stone by our Lady, who appeared to him in a vision. He had been lying in a state of exhaustion when he suddenly rose with outstretched arms exclaiming, “Oh, my beautiful Madonna! Oh, my holy Madonna!” A doctor who was present took him by the arm, but St Philip entreated him to let him be. “Would you not have me embrace my holy Mother who has come to visit me?” he asked. Then, realizing the presence of two physicians at his side, he hid his head in the bedclothes like a bashful child. Many sick persons were restored by him to health, and on several occasions he prophesied future events—all of which came to pass. He lived in such constant touch with the supernatural that sometimes it was with the greatest difficulty that he could pursue his worldly avocations. He would fall into an ecstasy when saying his office, when offering Mass, or even while he was dressing. Men looking upon his face declared that it glowed with celestial radiance.

By April 1577, work on the Chiesa Nuova, as it was called, had advanced sufficiently for the Congregation of the Oratory to be transferred to the Vallicella, but their superior went on living at San Girolamo as before. He had become attached to the room he had occupied for thirty-three years, and it was not until 1584 that he took up residence at the Chiesa Nuova, in compliance with the pope’s expressed wish. Even then he continued to live and have his meals apart from the community, although his spiritual sons had free access to him. So far, indeed, was he from leading the life of a solitary that his room was constantly crowded by visitors of all descriptions. The Roman people in his later years held him in extraordinary veneration: the whole college of cardinals resorted to him for counsel and spiritual refreshment; and so great was his reputation that foreigners coming to Rome were eager to obtain an introduction. It was thus, in his own room, that he continued his apostolate when increasing age and infirmities precluded him from going about freely. Rich and poor mounted the steep steps that led to his apart­ment at the top of the house, with its loggia looking out above and beyond the roofs—the holy man always loved open spaces—and to each person he gave advice suited to his special needs.

Towards the close of his life St Philip had several dangerous attacks of illness from which he rallied wonderfully after being anointed. Two years before the end he succeeded in laying down his office of superior in favour of his disciple Baronius. He also obtained permission to celebrate Mass daily in a little oratory adjoining his room. So enraptured did he become when offering the Holy Sacrifice that it became the practice for those who attended his Mass to retire at the Agnus Dei.

Even the server would leave the chapel after extinguishing the candles, lighting a little lamp and placing outside the door a notice to give warning that the Father was saying Mass. Two hours later he would return, relight the candles and the Mass would be continued. On the feast of Corpus Christi, May 25, 2595, the saint appeared to be in a radiantly happy mood, bordering on exultation, and his physician told him he had not looked so well for ten years. St Philip alone realized that his hour had come. All day long he heard confessions and saw visitors as usual, but before retiring he said, “Last of all, we must die”. About midnight he was seized with an attack of haemorrhage so severe that the fathers were called. He was obviously dying, and Baronius, who read the commendatory prayers, besought him to say a parting word, or at least to bless his sons. Though St Philip was past speaking, he raised his hand, and in bestowing his blessing passed to his eternal reward. He was eighty years of age and his work was done. His body rests in the Chiesa Nuova, which the Oratorians serve to this day. St Philip Neri was canon­ized in 1622.

Abbé Louis Ponnelle and Abbé Louis Bordet, in the best documented and most pains­taking life of St Philip which has yet been published (St Philip Neri and the Roman Society of his Times, translated by Father R. F. Kerr, 1932), devote a preliminary chapter to an exhaustive review of the sources. It is therefore only necessary here to indicate a few of those earlier publications by which Catholics, and more particularly those of English speech, have become familiarized with the lovable personality of the Apostle of Rome. The earliest biography is that of the Oratorian Father Gallonio, written in Latin and published in 1600. It is reproduced in the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. vi, together with another by Father Bernabei, probably chosen because it amounts to little more than a summary of the beati­fication process. The life by Bacci appeared in Italian in 1622, and it was supplemented by G. Ricci in 1678. This standard work was translated into English as part of the Oratorian Series, edited by Father Faber (1847). Another edition, revised by Father Antrobus, was issued in 1902. The life by Cardinal Capecelatro, written in Italian, has also been twice printed in English, in 1882 and 1926. Finally may be mentioned an excellent sketch, in much more compendious form, published by Father V. J. Matthews in 1934; A. Baudrillart’s book in the series “Les Saints” (1939) ; and T. Maynard’s good popular life, Mystic in Motley (1946)—a bad example of American “striking” titles.

The present capital of Ecuador was a Peruvian town in 1628, the year which saw the birth of its famous citizen, Mariana Paredes y Flores, “the Lily of Quito”. Her parents, who came of noble Spanish stock, died when she was very young, leaving her to the care of an elder sister and brother-in-law, who loved her as they did their own daughters. She was remarkable for her piety almost from infancy and, when a mere child, liked to engage her nieces, still younger than herself, in saying the rosary or making the stations of the cross, and she would manufacture disciplines for her own use from thorn bushes or prickly leaves. So precocious did she appear that her sister obtained permission for her to make her first communion at the then unusually early age of seven. When she was twelve she decided to start off with a few companions to convert the Japanese, and after that scheme had been frustrated she inspired them with the idea of living as hermits on a mountain near Quito. Somewhat perturbed at the adventurous turn her piety was taking, her relations proposed placing her in a convent to try her vocation. But although on two occasions all preparations were made, her departure was prevented at the last moment by what appeared to be some special interposition of Providence. Mariana accordingly remained at home, and, under the direction of her Jesuit confessor, entered upon the life of a solitary in her brother-in-law’s house, which she never again left except to go to church.

Gradually she embarked upon a succession of austerities which can only be regarded as horrifying when practised by a frail young girl delicately reared, and one cannot but ask why her spiritual adviser did not restrain her. She kept a coffin, in which she spent each Friday night: at other times it contained the semblance of a corpse, as a constant reminder of death. Chains bound her arms and legs, and besides a wire girdle, she wore a hair shirt. Every Friday she put on two crowns, the one of thorns and the other of spiked iron, followed by other practices whose recital hardly tends to edification. She is said never to have slept more than three hours, the rest of her time being employed in religious exercises, according to a detailed time-table which was found after her death. Little by little she reduced her food until she came to subsist on a small portion of bread taken once a day. Towards the end of her life she deprived herself of drink in order the better to realize our Lord’s thirst on the cross; to add to her sufferings she would raise a glass of water to her parched lips in very hot weather and would then withdraw it untasted. She was, we are told, the recipient of many spiritual favours and was endowed with the gifts of prophecy and miracles.

In 1645 Quito was visited by earthquakes, followed by an epidemic which swept away many of the inhabitants. On the fourth Sunday in Lent Mariana, after listening to an eloquent sermon preached by her confessor in the Jesuit church, was moved to offer herself publicly as a victim for the sins of the people. We read that the earthquakes ceased immediately, but that as soon as the epidemic began to abate, Mariana was seized with a complication of maladies which soon brought her to the grave. She died on May z6, 1645, at the age of twenty-six. The whole city mourned for one whom they regarded as their saviour. St Mariana was canonized rn 1950, ninety-six years after her beatification.

There is a life in Italian and in French by Father Boero (1854), and in Spanish others by J. Moran de Bertrón (1854) and A. Bruchez (1908).

The previous year persecution had broken out against the Christians and it had required great circumspection on the part of the bishop to escape capture. The storm had died down, but in 1746 it began again on a much greater scale. A man at Fogan, who had applied to the bishop for money and been refused, drew up a formal indictment of the European missionaries who, as he complained, were infringing the laws and winning thousands in the city to the Catholic faith. The case came before the viceroy, a bitter enemy to Christianity, and stern measures were adopted. Bishop Peter, Father Royo and Father Alcober were imprisoned. After some time they were transferred, loaded with chains and emaciated by hunger, to the city of Foochow, where their patience under barbarous ill-treatment won the admiration even of their enemies. For a year they languished in prison under appalling conditions, and then Bd Peter was beheaded. His last words to his companions were: “Be of good courage: must we not rejoice that we are to die for the law of our God?“

The other four captives—Father Serrano and Father Diaz had by now joined their brethren in prison—had not very long to wait. The arrival of a document appointing Father Francis Serrano coadjutor to Bishop Sanz, the news of whose death had not yet reached Rome, sealed their fate. Father Serrano—bishop elect of Tipasa i.p.i.—Father Royo, Father Alcober and Father Diaz were cruelly executed in prison. They were all beatified in 1893.

See M. J. Savignol, Les Martyrs Dominicains de la Chine au XVIII’ siècle (1894); A. Marie, Missions Dominicaines dans l’Extrême Orient (1865); Monumenta 0. P. historica, vol. xiv, pp. 128 seq.; Wehofer, Die Apostel Chinas (1894).