(A.D. 259.)
[Roman Martyrology, those of Usuardus, Bede, Notker, Ado, &c. The
perfectly genuine Acts, which are extant, were read in the Church
on this day, as S. Augustine testifies in his sermon for their
commemoration.]
Valerian and Gallienus being emperors,[100] Aemilian and Bassus consuls,
on January 16th, being the Lord's-day, Fructuosus, the Bishop, Augurius
and Eulogius, the deacons, were taken. Fructuosus was in bed, but
hearing the tramp of the officers, he rose at once and went out
barefoot.[101] To whom the soldiers said, "Come, the governor wants
thee and thy deacons." Fructuosus said, "Let us go, but please, let me
put on my shoes." The soldiers said, "As thou desirest, shoe thyself."
As soon as they were come, they were put into prison. Fructuosus,
certain and glorying in the crown of the Lord, to which he was called,
prayed without ceasing. There were also with him some of the brethren,
praying him to have them in remembrance. Next day, he baptized in the
prison our brother Rogatian. And they were six days in prison, and then
were brought forth. It was on the 21st January, and a Friday, that they
were heard. Aemilian, the governor, said, "Let Fructuosus, the Bishop,
Augurius and Eulogius be brought forward." According to custom it was
said, "They are here." Aemilian, the governor, said to Fructuosus, the
Bishop, "Hast thou heard what the Emperors have ordered!" Fructuosus,
the Bishop, said, "I do not know what their orders are; I am a
Christian." Aemilian said, "They have ordered that the gods be
worshipped." Fructuosus said, "I worship one God, who made heaven and
earth, the sea and all that therein is." Aemilian said, "Do you know that
there are many gods?" The Bishop said, "No, I do not." "Then thou soon
shalt," said the governor. Fructuosus, the Bishop, looked up to the
Lord, and began to pray within himself. Aemilian said, "Who will be
heard, who feared, who adored, if the gods and the countenance of the
Emperor are despised?" Then he said to Augurius, the deacon, "Don't
listen to the words of Fructuosus." Augurius answered, "I worship the
Almighty God." Aemilian, the governor, said to Eulogius, the deacon,
"Dost thou not worship Fructuosus?" "By no means," said Eulogius, "but I
worship the same God as does Fructuosus." Aemilian said to Fructuosus,
"Art thou a Bishop?" Fructuosus answered, "I am." "You were one," said
the Governor, and he ordered them to be burnt alive.
And when Fructuosus, the Bishop, and his deacons, were led into the
amphitheatre, the people began to mourn for Fructuosus, for he was
greatly beloved, not by the brethren only, but also by the heathen. For
he was a vessel of election and a teacher of the people. And when some,
in brotherly charity, offered them a spiced cup to drink, he said, "The
hour of breaking fast is not yet come." For it was the fourth hour,
though indeed they had solemnly celebrated the station (fast) on the
fourth day (Wednesday) in the prison. Therefore joyously on the sixth
day (Friday) they hastened to conclude this station (fast) with prophets
and martyrs in Paradise. And when they had come to the amphitheatre,
one, named Augustalis, a lector, ran to him, with tears, beseeching him
to suffer him to unloose his shoes. But the blessed martyr said, "Stand
aside, I can put off my own shoes." And when he had done so, our brother
and fellow-soldier, Felix, went up to him, and took his right hand,
asking him to remember him.[102] To him S. Fructuosus replied in a clear
voice, so that all heard, "It behoves me to hold in mind the whole
Catholic Church, extending from east to west." Then, as he was in the
gate of the amphitheatre, ready to advance to his unfading crown, rather
than to his pains, as the officers saw, and the brethren heard, and the
Holy Spirit urged and spake, Fructuosus the Bishop, exclaimed, "A pastor
will not be lacking to you, nor will the love and promises of the Lord
fail, now or hereafter. This which ye behold is the infirmity of one
hour." And when the bands wherewith their hands were tied had been burnt
through, rejoicing, they cast themselves on their knees, sure of the
resurrection, and having formed the sign of victory,[103] they poured
forth their souls, praying to the Lord.
The brethren, sad as if bereft of a shepherd, endured their solitude;
not that they lamented Fructuosus, but rather they desired to be mindful
of the faith and passion of each. When night came, they hastened to the
amphitheatre with wine, with which to extinguish the charred bodies,
which being done, they collected the ashes of the martyrs, and each
carried away a portion. But neither in this did the marvellous works of
the Lord fail; that the faith of the believers might be stimulated, and
an example might be given to the little ones. After his passion,
Fructuosus appeared to the brethren, and exhorted them to restore,
without delay, what each had carried off of the ashes, out of love, that
they might be laid altogether in one place.[104]
Fructuosus in Spanish _Frutos_, in French _Fruteux_.
Patron of Taragona.
Relics, in the Benedictine monastery, near the Porto Fino, at Genoa;
some portions, however, in the church of S. Montana, at Barcelona.