MARTIROLOGIO

MARTYROLOGY. – A catalogue of martyrs and saints arranged according to the order of their feasts.

SUMMARY:

I. Concept

II. Primitive nucleus of the M.: the calendars. –

III. General martyrologies

IV. Historical martyrologies

V. Martyrologium Romanum

VI. Insertion of new elogia in the M

VII. Liturgical use.

I. CONCEPT

1. Definition

According to its etymology (μάρτυς = witness, martyr; λόγος = discourse), M. signifies a narrative concerning martyrs (cf. can. 63 of the Sixth Council of Constantinople, 680-81: Mansi, XI, 972; G. Penco, Note sui M., in Rivista liturgica, 38 [1951], 22-25, who believes that M. originally indicated collections of martyrs reported by direct witnesses). The martyrs indeed formed the primitive nucleus of the M. When later bishops, confessors, church dedications, and founders, and thus every liturgical celebration on a fixed date, were included in the M., the concept of M. took on an ever broader meaning. At the present state of knowledge, with H. Quentin (Les martyrologes historiques du moyen âge, Paris 1908, p. 1), the M. may be defined as: “the book of the anniversaries of martyrs and, by extension, of saints in general, of mysteries and events that are the object of annual commemoration in the Church.” According to modern usage, the term M. closely corresponds to that of the Greek synaxarion (cf. H. Delehaye, Synaxarium Eccl. Constant., Brussels 1902, pp. 11-12).

2. Division

Considering purely the external form, two categories of M. may be distinguished: those that limit themselves to listing under certain dates one or more names of saints, with or without topographical indication (M. or, better, calendars), and those that, in addition, contain narratives or hagiographical details (historical M.). Taking into account, instead, the factor of formation, the M. are distinguished into local and general. The former provide the catalogue of feasts of a Church or a group of particular Churches (e.g., the Philocalian Calendar and the Calendar of Carthage); the latter result, as in the case of the Hieronymian Martyrology, from the combination of various local M. The territory to which they extend may be a province, a region, half of the Empire, or the entire Christian world. From the general M., with the development of the latercula, there derived the historical M., so dear to the Middle Ages, which form the basis of the present Martyrologium Romanum.

II. PRIMITIVE NUCLEUS OF THE M.: THE CALENDARS. –

3. Origin and formation

The calendars originated from the cult of the martyrs. By the middle of the 2nd century, Smyrna celebrated the anniversary of St. Polycarp (Martyrium Polycarpi, XVIII, 2; F. X. Funk, Opera patrum apostol., I, Tübingen 1881, p. 303); in Africa the practice is attested by Tertullian (d. 222: Habes [christianae] tuos; De corona, cap. 13: PL 2, 96) and by St. Cyprian (d. 258), who, in addition to martyrs, recommends keeping note of confessors, the heroes of the faith, who, though they did not shed their blood, are, after death, equal in merit and veneration to true martyrs (Cyprian, Epist., 37, 2: PL 4, 328; cf. St. Gregory, Ad episc. Alexandriae [a. 598], in MGH, Epistolae, II, p. 28). It was therefore seen as necessary to fix firmly the dates of the various commemorations, and from this arose the calendar in its simplest form and structure: day and name of the saint, and for cities, such as Rome, where there were several churches, also the indication of the place of assembly. The calendar is thus a document of a liturgical character.

Five elements contributed to the formation of the calendar: 1) the anniversaria martyrum, i.e., their dies natalis or natalicium (day of death or “birth” into heaven), the depositio (day of burial), the memoria (remembrance of the martyr), and finally the translatio of relics. 2) The anniversaria episcoporum. It was natural that Christian communities should cherish with filial piety the date of burial of their fathers in the faith and inscribe them in the fasti of their own Church. At Rome, martyrs and bishops are listed in two separate lists. Sozomen speaks of two distinct lists for the cities of Gaza and Maiuma, which, even after their fusion into a single see under Julian (361-63), continued to celebrate separately the dies festos of their own martyrs and the commemorations of their bishops (Hist. eccl., I, V, cap. 3: PG 67, 1222). The two distinct catalogues, however, did not last long and ended by merging. A trace of this may be seen in the mutual relation between the two Roman depositions, where Pope Sixtus II is not remembered in the depositio episcoporum because he is already listed among the martyrs. A clearer trace is found in the title of the Calendar of Carthage (4th century): Hic continentur dies nataliciorum martyrum, et depositiones episcoporum, quos Ecclesia Cartagensis anniversaria celebrant. 3) The dedicatio Ecclesiae: an element that entered in the 4th century. The earliest testimony is found in the Peregrinatio of Egeria (4th century) for the dedication of the basilica on Golgotha: Dies encaeniarum appellantur quando sancta Ecclesia quae in Golgota est, quam martyrium vocant, consecrata est Deo. The anniversary of the dedicatio entered the calendar either with the clear indication of the dedication or, more often, as the feast of the titular saint. 4) Memory of the church founder and benefactors. In the oldest documents the name of the founder is generally followed by the expression tituli conditor, which serves to identify him. Thus in the Hieronymian Martyrology on 14 August: Eusebii tituli conditoris. But more often this indication is lacking, which increases the difficulty of distinguishing the founder from a saint. 5) The confessors. Once the persecutions had passed, when confessor, from hero of the faith (a martyr without the shedding of blood), came to denote the hero of virtue (= spiritual martyrdom = ascetic), and confessors found a place in the liturgy, the local calendars fixed their names in their fasti, thus completing the series of fundamental elements of the liturgical calendar.

4. Principal calendars

a) Chronography of 354. – Furius Dionysius Philocalus (v.), stonecutter of Pope Damasus (d. 384), compiled in 354 some ten historical-chronological documents which take their name from him. Among them are two lists of martyrs and popes venerated at Rome and designated by the titles Depositi martyrum and Depositi episcoporum. The two documents form a single whole, the Calendar of festive commemorations of the Roman Church in the first half of the 4th century. Through these lists the faithful of Rome were informed of the day and place where the Church officially paid homage to a martyr. The practical purpose led to preferring the arrangement by months and days, as in the analogous lists compiled for other communities. The Depositi martyrum has 24 latercula and names 52 martyrs. It begins with 25 Dec.: Natus Christus in Bethlehem Iudaeae, and this together with that of 22 Feb.: Natale Petri de cathedra are the only two feasts that constitute an “out of place” in the Calendar, where only feasts of martyrs are listed. This observation led De Rossi, followed by Mommsen and others, to call the Depositi: feriale ecclesiae Romanae. Martyrs of Rome, Africa, Albano, and Porto not earlier than the 3rd century are mentioned. The oldest Roman name with a certain date is Pope Callistus (d. 223), of the non-Romans, Perpetua and Felicity (d. 203). The Depositi episcoporum contains the list of bishops of Rome of the 3rd-4th centuries with the indication of the place where the liturgical assembly was celebrated. The list of 12 names is complete from Lucius I (d. 254) to Julius I (d. 352). Marcellus, who on 16 Jan. is replaced by Marcellinus, is missing. The compilation can be dated to the period 335-36 because the last pope regularly listed in his proper place is Sylvester (d. 335), while Mark (d. 336) and Julius I (d. 352) are exceptions, being placed last. The discovery in situ in the cemetery of Callistus of the inscriptions of some popes confirmed the accuracy of the Depositio.

In both lists the information is reduced to a minimum: the day of the month, the name of the pope or martyr, and the place of burial (in the genitive, dependent on *depositio*). When two notices are given under the same heading, the order is reversed, with the cemetery indication preceding the names of the martyrs. The names carry no distinction or indication of death, except in three cases. All these elements will constantly reappear in the elogia of the martyrs, albeit expanded by later additions (cf. R. Valentini and G. Zucchetti, *Codice topografico della Città di Roma*, I, Rome 1942, pp. 1-28; C. Kirch, *Enchiridion fontium hist. eccl.*, Freiburg in Br., nos. 543-44).

b) **Calendar of Carthage.** — In 1682, J. Mabillon discovered the manuscript of this Calendar in the Library of Cluny and published it the same year in vol. III of the *Verae analecta*. The manuscript, judged by Mabillon to be “not inferior to the seventh century,” has since been lost. Fortunately, the Mabillon edition appears to be a very faithful reproduction of the original, reproducing even its defects, which were later corrected by Duchesne (*Martyr. Hieronymianum*, pp. LXX-XXI). It is a genuine local calendar; for the sanctuaries outside Carthage listed in it were appropriated and thus included among the local saints. The Calendar’s composition dates to after 505, as revealed by the list of bishops of Carthage. It is a document of Catholic (not Donatist) origin. The text begins on 19 April and ends on 16 February. Nine weeks are missing, deliberately left blank because they fall during Lent, during which the feasts of martyrs, like weddings and the *dies natales* of emperors, were prohibited (Council of Laodicea of 360, canons 51, 52). The notices of martyrs run together with the *Depositiones episcoporum*. As in the corresponding Roman lists, the laterculi give first the day of the month, then the name of the saint in the genitive; however, whereas the Roman lists add the topographical indication of the burial place, the Carthaginian one does not. This means that in Rome the cult took place at the tombs of the martyrs, while in Carthage it was celebrated in churches. Moreover, whereas in the Roman *Depositio* the martyrs are recorded without any title distinction, the Carthaginian Calendar assigns the prerogatives of *sanctus*, *martyr*, or even *sanctus martyr*.

The Carthaginian Calendar counts 81 feast days, with 45 feasts of martyrs, 10 feasts of non-martyred saints, and 8 *depositiones episcoporum*. It includes 18 non-African martyrs and an unspecified number of non-Carthaginian martyrs. Notable is the presence of 9 Roman martyrs, three of whom are not recorded in Rome. The provenance of the saints is rarely indicated, but in part it can be identified. Rome, Naples, Milan, Spain, Noviodunum, Chalcedon, and various African provinces are represented. There was thus a genuine exchange of martyr cults between Carthage and the provinces. The absence of the celebrated martyrs Perpetua and Felicity (7 March) allows us to deduce that the Carthaginian Calendar is incomplete. Even so, it remains a document of primary importance. It reveals, among other things, certain constant laws in hagiographical history, such as: the increase of feasts according to specific principles, the adoption by the metropolis of provincial feasts, the recording of the *dies depositionis* of bishops, the increasingly elastic concept of martyrdom, and the introduction of biblical saints as martyrs.

c) **Calendar of Carmona.** — Crudely inscribed on a marble column found near the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Carmona (Seville). G. Bonsor, who discovered it in 1909, assigned it to the end of the 5th century. It records feasts from Christmas (8th kalends of January) to the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (8th kalends of July); exactly six months. This has led to the supposition that the other half of the Calendar must have continued on a second column. The order and number of feasts are what we might expect in the first half of the 7th century. The Nativity laterculus has the same formulation as that preserved in the Roman *Depositio*: *Nativitas D. N. f. C. secundum carnem* (cf. H. Delehaye, *Le Calendrier lapidaire de Carmona*, in *Anal. boll.*, 31 [1912], pp. 319-21; J. Vives, *Inscriptiones christianae de la España romana y visigoda*, Barcelona 1942).

d) **Calendar of Naples.** — Composed between 847 and 877, carved on two marble slabs, each containing six months. Originally they were plutei of the church of San Giovanni Maggiore in Naples and are now preserved in the archbishop’s chapel. The Calendar was not an official document of the Neapolitan church but was intended for the faithful. It has a hybrid character: the compiler had before him two lists, not earlier than the 8th century, one Latin and one Greek, which he combined and supplemented, creating a composite calendar that reflects the ethnic, religious, cultural, and liturgical bilingual practice of 9th-century Naples. The Greek part is predominant, as it filled many gaps left by the Latin Calendar. The marble document remains a witness to a time and place where “graeca latinque pars sacerdotalis” flourished, in which the laity together with the clergy continually sang to God in Greek and Latin (cf. D. Mallardo, *Il Calendario marmoreo di Napoli*, Rome 1947; A. Ferrara, *Note sul testo del «Calendario Marmoreo» di Napoli*, in *Miscellanea Möhlberg*, I, Rome 1948, pp. 135-67).

e) Other Western calendars of particular interest include: The Calendar of Echternach (Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, ms. 10837, ff. 34-41), written between 702 and 706 for the monastery of Echternach, the work of an Anglo-Saxon monk (ed. H. A. Wilson, *The Calendar of St. Willibrord*, London 1918). The Irish Calendar, from the first half of the 9th century (codex Augiensis CLXVII, formerly of the Abbey of Reichenau, now in the Karlsruhe Library). The Calendar of “Fronte” (British Museum, Herleian collection, ms. 2797). It is a Calendar appended to an evangelary from the second half of the 9th century, belonging to the Abbey of Sainte-Geneviève in Paris. Jean Fronteau (d. 1662) published it in Paris in 1652. The Calendars of Monte Cassino: three, published in 1908 by M. E. A. Loew (*Die ältesten Kalendarien aus Monte Cassino*, Munich 1908); subsequently analyzed in detail by G. Morin: *Les quatre plus anciens calendriers du Mont Cassin* (7th and 9th centuries), in *Rev. bénéd.*, 25 (1908), pp. 486-97. Also noteworthy are the calendars published by D. Férotin in *Le liber Ordinum en usage dans l'Église wisigothique et mozarabe d'Espagne du Ve au XIe siècle*, Paris 1904, pp. 448-97, and by G. Morin, *Liber comicus sive lectionarius Missae quo Toletana ecclesia ante annos mille et ducenos utebatur*, Maredsous 1893, pp. 11-21, 393-405, and in *Une liste des fêtes chômées à l'époque carolingienne* (*Rev. bénéd.*, 19 [1903], pp. 352-56).

f) **Calendar of Oxyrhynchus.** — Preserved in a papyrus of the British Museum. The editors, Grenfell and Hunt, dated it to 535, a date confirmed by internal evidence. It is a list of feasts of the Church of Oxyrhynchus from 23 Phaophi (23 October), the second month of the Egyptian year. The large number of churches and monasteries named suggests that Oxyrhynchus at the beginning of the 6th century was something of a holy city. In the five months covered by the Calendar, 25 churches are mentioned, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, St. John the Baptist, St. Zechariah, St. John the Evangelist, St. Peter, and St. Phoebammon, famous and greatly venerated in Egypt. Outside Lent, synaxes are celebrated only on Sundays, days of penance, and the feasts of saints. The solemnity of the latter never extends beyond two, three, or four days (cf. Grenfell and Hunt, *The Oxyrhynchus Papyri*, XI, London 1925, p. 32 ff.; H. Delehaye, *Le Calendrier d'Oxyrhynque pour l'année 535-36*, in *Anal. boll.*, 42 [1924], pp. 83-99).

g) Calendars of Alexandria and Antioch. These are reconstructions, the first by N. Nilles (*Calendrier de l'Église copie d'Alexandrie*, in *Revue de l'Orient chrét.*, 2 [1897], pp. 397-99; *DACL*, VIII, cols. 654-57), which gives an approximate idea of what the Calendar of the Church of Alexandria may have been at the beginning of the 6th century. The second was attempted, with less success, by A. Baumstark for the Church of Antioch (*Das Kirchenjahr in Antiochia zwischen 512 und 558*, in *Römisch-Archiv*, 11 [1899], pp. 305-23).

h) Gothic Calendar. — A simple fragment containing a list of feasts from October 23 to November 30, preserved in a manuscript of the Ambrosiana (Ambrosiana AS. 36 sup.). A local calendar, brought by the Ostrogoths from Thrace, similar to the *Chronographus* of 354. Out of 38 days, 31 are blank, and the remaining seven are occupied by anniversaries of interest to the Goths. The Arian profession of faith is clearly evident in the selection; however, the Calendar is a translation from a Greek exemplar (*DACL*, VIII, cols. 658-61).

III. General Martyrologies

From Calendars to general Martyrologies, as has been seen, the step is short. The earliest representative is the:

5. Syriac Martyrology

The manuscript (British Museum ms. add. 12150, fol. 251v-254r) is dated from Edessa (Mesopotamia), in the month of Tisrî of the year 723, corresponding to November 411. But this is only the date of the Syriac translation; the original Greek, according to Nau, would have been nothing other than the Martyrology of Nicomedia between ca. 360 and 411.

The work is of a private nature, and the Syriac translation is very poor. The copyist has sometimes abbreviated the original, sometimes expanded it or mixed it with other calendars; for the entire month of July, only three feasts remain, added later.

The title reads: *Names of our lords* (cf. the medieval *domus*) *martyrs* (Syriac *mandajâ*, i.e., "confessors," in the original sense) *and victorious, with the days on which they received the crown.* This is followed by the names of the saints divided into two classes: the first with the martyrs of the Roman Empire and the indication of the month and day from December 26 to November 23; the second, the saints of Babylonia and Persia grouped in three series, according to hierarchical order: bishops, priests, deacons, without regard to the Calendar and without indication of anniversary. The first list is separated from the second by the rubric: *Here end the confessors of the West* (in relation to the province of Osrhoene, except Nisibis and Edessa).

The importance of the Syriac Martyrology lies in its antiquity, its universality, and its close relations with the Hieronymian Martyrology. It is not certain that Eusebius composed a catalogue of martyrs, but the Syriac could constitute precisely the onomastic index, in chronological order, of works devoted by Eusebius to martyrs, now lost. Among these was a collection of ancient martyrs, a phrase that recurs several times in the Syriac. It is also significant that in the codex it comes immediately after Eusebius’ *De martyribus Palaestinae*. Without doubt, the author made use of Eusebian works, but with additions and interpolations made by him or others before the manuscript was translated into Syriac (*H. Achelis, Die Martyrologien*, Berlin 1900, p. 61). Eusebius himself is listed in it on May 30. The compiler also drew on the calendars of various Churches: this explains why many regions and cities of the Roman Empire are represented: Rome, Africa, Illyricum, Thrace, Greece, Scythia, almost all the provinces of Asia Minor, often Antioch and Caesarea in Palestine, Cilicia, Egypt. V. de Buck was the first to point out the close relationship between the Syriac and the Hieronymian (*Acta SS. Octobris*, XII, 185). According to him, this is explained by the fact that the Frankish redactor of the Hieronymian would have had before him a Latin translation of the Syriac Menology; Duchesne, however, believes that the Syriac is a compendium of the Hieronymian for the part relating to the Roman Empire. It is certain that the Syriac is entirely contained within the Hieronymian. It suffices to glance at the comparative tables of De Rossi-Duchesne (*Martyrologium Hieronymum*, pp. LII-LXV). The entry for June 6: *Alexandria, presbyter Arius* led Duchesne to conjecture that the Martyrology is of Arian origin. The idea was taken up by K.A.H. Kellner (*L'anno ecclesiastico e le feste dei santi*, Rome 1906), who built an entire chapter on the Syriac, pp. 302-311 (*Il Calendario santorale ariano del IV sec.*). It does not seem that this rests on solid foundations (cf. F. Nau, *op. cit.*: *PO* 10, 9 note 3). The name Arius was common in the East, and it may not refer to the heresiarch but to a namesake, perhaps a martyr (F. Nau, *ibid.*, 10, 17, note to July 6).

**

6. Hieronymian Martyrology

a) Origin. — The archetype of the Syriac Martyrology (4th c.) was the principal source of the so-called Hieronymian Martyrology. In the first half of the 5th century, in fact, this Greek text was translated into Latin by a cleric of Upper Italy and combined with Western documents of the same nature.

The name "Hieronymian" arose from the two letters that head the work. In the first, the two Venetian bishops, Chromatius and Heliodorus, ask St. Jerome to review the most famous *feriale* of Eusebius and send them a list of the feasts of the martyrs. In the second, St. Jerome replies that the names are so numerous (from 500 to 800 per day) that he can only send the small collection that follows. But critics are unanimous in denying its authenticity. The unknown cleric made use of Jerome’s name to lend credibility to his work (cf. Duchesne, *Martyrologium Hieronymum*, in *Acta SS. Novembris*, II, Prolegomena, p. 1).

The Hieronymian remains a precious anonymous work. That the compiler lived in the region between Milan and Aquileia seems beyond doubt, among other things because of his perfect knowledge of the bishops of the 4th and 5th centuries, so much so that Achelis was led to assign Aquileia as his place of origin. As for the sources, Duchesne indicates three principal ones: a) the Roman *Chronographus* of 354, which provided all that appears under the rubric *Romae* (cf. A. Urban, *Ein Martyrologium der christlichen Gemeinde zu Rom am Anfang des V. Jahrhunderts*, Leipzig 1901); b) the Eastern Martyrology, which provides information up to the middle of the 5th century (the anniversary of the death of Simeon Stylites, d. 459, is mentioned); c) a general African Martyrology of the 4th century, which supplied the names listed under the rubric *in Africa*, names and groups belonging to that region.

2) The "recensio Italica" had been prepared for liturgical use and more precisely to be read daily at Mass as a supplement to the diptychs. It is unknown whether it was ever used in the liturgy; by the 6th century, however, St. JEROME’s Martyrology was used as a book of edification in monasteries. In 541, CASSIODORUS (d. 562) recommended it to his monks (De inst. divin. lect., cap. 32: PL 70, 1147). In 598, St. GREGORY THE GREAT clearly referred to it in a letter to EULOGIUS, Patriarch of Alexandria (Ep., I. VIII, cap. 29: PL 77, 931).

3) The "recensio Gallicana." In the 7th–8th centuries, St. JEROME’s Martyrology completely disappeared from the churches of Italy. Fortunately, by the end of the 6th century (before 605), it had entered Gaul and first at Auxerre. All other manuscripts derive from the Auxerre manuscript. The need for adaptations to local churches led to additions that enabled scholars to trace the various stages through which the monasteries beyond the Alps passed. The documents have been grouped into families according to their various additional features. DUCHESNE (Les sources du Martyrologe hieronymien, in Mélanges d'archéol. et d'hist., 5 [1855], pp. 149–50) distinguishes three:

1. Family: Echternach (Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, ms. lat. 10837). The manuscript appears to have been written by a companion of St. WILLIBRORD, founder of Echternach. It represents the state of the Hieronymian Martyrology at the beginning of the 7th century. It already contains several lists of French saints, especially from Lyon, Autun, and Auxerre.

2. Family: Berne (Bibliothèque de Berne, ms. 289). The manuscript dates from the end of the 8th century and was written for a monastery in Metz. The exemplar from which it derives had been made for Bourges, as evidenced by the proper feasts of that church. Close to the Berne manuscript is the fragment from Lorsch (Vatican Palatine 238), from the 8th or 9th century, which adds some historical notes taken from the acts of the martyrs.

3. Family, characterized by dedications of churches and numerous French saints of the 7th century, includes the Martyrologies of western France (Neustria): the Corbeiensis maior (Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, ms. lat. 12410), from the beginning of the 12th century, with particular feasts of Corbie, Amiens, and neighboring regions, and also three bishops of Évreux; the Semones (the manuscript is divided between the Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, ms. nov. cap. lat. 1604, and the Vatican, Reg. 567), a 10th-century fragment with proper saints of Bayeux and Avranches; the Fontenelle sub-family (archetype written there before 756), represented by the manuscript of Wolfenbüttel (from the Weissenburg collection) written in 772, and by the two manuscripts of Lucca (Capitular Library no. 618 and Municipal Library no. 428). The latter was used by FILORENTINI for his edition.

**Contents.** — After the two apocryphal letters, the Hieronymian Martyrology provides an index of the feasts of the Apostles scattered in the manuscripts: SS. Peter and Paul (June 29), St. Andrew (November 30), Philip (alone, May 10), St. Thomas (December 21), St. James (July 25), St. Bartholomew (August 24), St. Matthew (September 21), SS. Simon and Jude (October 28); St. Paul is mentioned three times: on January 25 (the Translation instead of the Conversion), on February 8 (the Depositio), and on December 8 (the Inventio); St. James is celebrated together with St. John on December 27. On June 24, after the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the Dormitio of St. John the Evangelist is indicated.

These peculiarities, according to DUCHESNE, point more to the Gallican rite than to the Roman. The same applies to the feasts of the Lord and the Blessed Virgin. Christmas on December 25, on January 1 the Circumcision instead of the Octave of the Lord as in the Roman feriale, on January 6 the Epiphany, on January 18 the Depositio of the Blessed Mary and the Cathedra of St. Peter in Rome, both of Gallican origin, on February 2 the Purification, on March 25 and 27 the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, on May 1 the beginning of Jesus’ preaching, on May 3 the Invention of the Holy Cross, on August 15 the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on September 8 her Nativity, and on September 14 the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. As for the saints, a considerable number are listed each day. The series is often closed by a total number indicating the names omitted, e.g., on January 27 in Africa XLIV.

The names are generally grouped by regions. First the East with the generic formula “in Oriente” or with the indication of the region or city. Then the West: Africa, then Rome, Ravenna, Milan, and finally the cities of Gaul.

In the Berne manuscript, there are scattered references to *passiones* or historical annotations. For example, on December 27, St. James is given as Bishop of Jerusalem and martyred during the Paschal feast.

Apart from the easily recognizable Gallican lists, the “centonized Hieronymian” (as DE ROSSI calls it, *Roma sotterranea*, II, p. xii) obscured the obscurities of local or general Martyrologies due to the ignorance of copyists who often misinterpreted the model, confused the boundaries separating one day from another, introduced bizarre readings, inserted marginal notes into the text, and finally lacked discernment in using the sources.

But the gravest problem is that of repetitions caused by the copyist’s distraction or the juxtaposition of various documents. Saints or groups of saints appear two, three, four, up to seven or ten times, either on the same day (as on December 23, which reports a double list of popes) or on different days. Despite all its deficiencies, the Hieronymian Martyrology remains a document of the utmost importance, “principium et fons” of all martyrological literature (DUCHESNE).

**

IV. HISTORICAL MARTYROLOGIES. — When the Hieronymian entered liturgical use, its skeletal list of names was no longer sufficient, and the lists were enriched with hagiographical details drawn from various ecclesiastical literary sources, but above all from the *passiones*, which served as a link between the Hieronymian and the so-called historical Martyrologies. These can be divided into: 1. The English Group; 2. The Lyonnais Group; 3. The Martyrology of USUARD.

### English Group

The oldest representative is the Martyrology of Bede (d. 735). The manuscripts fall into two families. The first, exemplified by the manuscript of St. Gall 451, contains no additions to the text; the second already includes several interpolations introduced to fill in empty days. The historical notices number 114, in addition to a fair number of brief notices (especially in the second family), which reduce the empty days to 1187. Bede’s sources are of three kinds: hagiographical, such as lives, passions, and miracles; literary, especially Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Gregory of Tours, the Liber Pontificalis; and the Hieronymian Martyrology, in the recension of Epternacensis. In all, about fifty passions and a dozen ecclesiastical writers are drawn upon. The dates assigned to the saints are fixed with prudent discernment; generally, they combine the Hieronymian Martyrology with the Greek Synaxarion and liturgical books. A summary of Bede’s Martyrology is the so-called Martyrology of d’Achéry. This is a poetic composition on a certain number of saints, published by Luke d’Achéry (d. 1685 [PL 94, 603–606]). The work is certainly of English origin; indeed, for a time it was thought to be by Bede himself. It dates from the first half of the 8th century (744) and seems to be a simple obituary calendar of the Church of York or of the monastery of Ripon. Two other Martyrologies of lesser interest derive from Bede’s Martyrology: the Martyrology of Rabanus Maurus (d. 856; PL 110, 1122–88) and the Pseudo-Florus (PL 94, 799–1148).

### Lyonese Group

The Lyonese Martyrology (Bibliothèque nationale de Paris, 3879), first noted by H. Quentin, is of the 9th century and was used in Velay. Essentially, it is Bede’s Martyrology with additions and developments that have reduced the empty days to 129. A significant number of Spanish saints initially suggested that it might be a manuscript of Bede that had passed through Spain. A more careful examination of the documents has led to the more plausible hypothesis that the compiler had before him a Spanish “passionary.”

The sources are the same as those of Bede and the Hieronymian Martyrology. The assignment of dates is less precise than in Bede’s work but not arbitrary. Generally, the author follows the Hieronymian Martyrology and the Passions. That the provenance of the Martyrology is Lyon is evidenced by the notices of French saints, two-thirds of which pertain to this city. The composition must be placed before 806.

An important Martyrology is that of Floro (d. c. 860), deacon of Lyon. His information is more abundant than that of his predecessors, and to their sources must be added Eusebius’s *Historia ecclesiastica* as continued by Rufinus, St. Jerome’s *De viris illustribus*, Bede’s *Chronica*, St. Cyprian, and Cassiodorus. Recourse to sources is frequent, and the hand of an expert in ecclesiastical literature is evident. The dates naturally depend on the sources, and when these are silent, the compiler attempts to establish them as best he can. Of the nine manuscripts that contain it, six are Lyonnais and date between 806 and 857.

Adon (d. 875) used Floro’s Martyrology to compile his own, which is preserved in many manuscripts and has had several editions (PL 123, 143–438). The notices are often very long and include extensive passages taken from literary sources.

The manuscripts fall into two major families (cf. Quentin, op. cit., pp. 466–68). The first, followed by L. Lippomano (1554), Mosander (1581 and 1586), and E. Rosweyde (1613), presents the following order: preface by Adon, the *Parvum Romanum* (rarely), a second preface by St. Augustine (*Contra Faustum*, 20, 21: PL 42, 384), the hymn *Aeterna Christi munera* (not always), the first part of the Martyrology (beginning with the vigil of Christmas), an extract of a prefatory poem by Floro, notes on the popes concerning the constitutions attributed to them in the *Liber Pontificalis*; and, in some manuscripts, a series of additions devoted to bishops and saints of Vienne. The second family is simpler, consisting of St. Augustine’s preface and the text of the Martyrology with additions of saints from Auxerre and the Martyrology of Usuard.

From a critical standpoint, Adon’s Martyrology is the most vulnerable of all historical Martyrologies. For a single notice, Adon sometimes draws on several sources, often adding arbitrary details. Notices taken from the New Testament, especially the Acts of the Apostles, are handled with great freedom. There is no longer any concordance with the Synaxarion or the Hieronymian Martyrology; new names appear, dates are shifted, and there is a great abundance of topographical indications. In the preface, Adon claims to have used also a venerable *perantiquum martyrologium*, sent to Aquileia by the Pope to a bishop. This document, published in 1613 by Heribert Rosweyde (d. 1629) and by him called the *Parvum Romanum* (instead of *vetus Romanum*) (PL 123, 143–178), has been the subject of discussion and differing assessments by scholars. Du Sollier (*Acta SS. Iunii*, VI, ed. Paris 1867, pp. xviii–xxxv) and de Buck (*Recherches sur les calendriers ecclésiast.*, Brussels 1877, p. 12) assign it to 740, De Rossi (*Roma sotterranea*, II, XXVII) and Achelis (*Die Martyrologien*, p. 112) say it is contemporary with Bede, Dufourcq (*Etude sur les gestes martyrum. rom.*, p. 372) places it in the first half of the 7th century (608–38), Duchesne between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 9th century (*Lib. Pont.*, I, p. CXXVI). Quentin considers it a composition posterior to 848 (*Les martyrs historiques*, p. 410). The *Parvum Romanum* contains 525 entries, of which 120 are proper and the rest derived from Floro. Of these, the compiler of the *Parvum* has shifted 51, usually to fill in gaps.

The author draws on the literary sources of his predecessors, but there is a clear concern to push back the dates when it comes to Roman saints and to avoid saints that are too recent or of local character so as not to detract from the ancient and Roman appearance of the Martyrology. Finally, Quentin (op. cit., pp. 654–63) has demonstrated that the *Parvum* is an Adonian composition, passed off by the author as of ancient date, probably to lend greater credence to the assertions of his major work and to eclipse all competitors. It suffices to compare in the two documents the narratives of the passions, the manner of using ecclesiastical writers, and the changes of date. The *Parvum* is therefore “false,” and the work of Adon loses value; his Martyrology is nothing more than an expanded reworking of Floro’s Martyrology, compiled in Lyon (as evidenced by the numerous references to that city) in the decade 850–859. From Adon derive the Martyrologies of Usuard and Notker Balbulus, monk of St. Gall (d. 912), the Farfense Martyrology (11th century, edited by A. I. Schuster, in *Revue bénéd.*, 36 [1909], pp. 433 ff.), Hermannus Contractus (d. 1054), and the Adonian recension used by the Balliol Martyrology and by Giorgi (1745).

### Martyrology of Usuard

In a letter to Emperor Charles the Bald (875–77), Usuard, a Benedictine of St. Germain-des-Prés (d. 877), states that he was led to compile his Martyrology to correct what he found imperfect in others; the composition thus dates to about 875, shortly after Adon’s work. With him, the historical Martyrology reaches its perfection: it has no more empty days, as in Bede and Floro, nor prolixities, as in Adon; the number of saints rises from 800 (Adon) to 1170, of which 300 are merely mentioned, while the rest have brief notices. Usuard claims to have taken all his indications from the Hieronymian Martyrology, that of Bede, and that of Floro. The latter has caused difficulties because, in fact, Usuard refers to Adon’s Martyrology, not that of Floro. Quentin suggests that this expression should be understood in the sense that Usuard abridges and completes the text of Adon’s edition, in some way returning to Floro’s edition, on which Adon himself depended.

The Martyrology of Usuard enjoyed wide and rapid diffusion, which increased with the invention of printing. In 1475, a major edition appeared in Lübeck, followed five years later (1480) by that of Utrecht. The *Martyrologium secundum usum Romanae curiae*, printed in Paris (1521) by the Augustinian Belino of Padua, is nothing more than a corrected Usuardine Martyrology. By the end of the 16th century, it was adopted in almost all churches, including the Roman basilicas. In 1568, a splendid edition by Giovanni Monaco appeared in Louvain under the title: *Usuardi martyrologium quo Romana ecclesia ac permulta aliae utuntur*. The Martyrology of Usuard revised by Francesco di Messina (Venice 1575), which was quite widespread in the 16th century, was instead prohibited from public and private reading due to arbitrary alterations to the text (G. Mercati, *Lettera del card. Santoro*).

The *Martyrologium sanctae Romanae ecclesiae usui in singulos anni dies accomodatum* by Galesino (Milan 1578) was riddled with errors.

V. «MARTYROLOGIUM ROMANUM». — In 1580, Gregory XIII entrusted Cardinal Guglielmo Sirleto (1514-85) with the task of preparing an edition of the Roman Martyrology. The specially appointed commission included Silvio Antoniano (d. 1603), Cesare Baronio (d. 1607), who played the leading role, Lodovico de Torres, Luigi Giglio (Lilius), who composed the temporary table, the *explicatio... ad pronuntiationem lunae* and the table of letters at the head of each day, Pedro Chacón (d. 1581), a Toledan, formerly a member of the commission for the reform of the calendar, Gerard Vossius (Vossius), a Belgian, renowned editor of the *Opera s. Gregorii Thaumaturgi* (Mainz 1604), the humanist Latino Latini (d. 1593), Curzio Franco (or de’ Franchi), Vatican canon, secretary of the commission, Antonio Geronio of Tarragona, and the Theatine Antonio Agellio (d. 1608, bishop of Acerno). It seems that the Franciscan Giovanni Salon (cf. Pastor, IX, p. 202) and, more probably, Giambattista Bandini (cf. G. Mercati, *Giambattista Bandini e le correzioni del M.*, article cited in bibliography) were also added to these. On the entire question of the commission’s members, cf. Lämmer (op. cit. in bibliography, p. 159 ff.) and Paschini (article cited in bibliography, p. 199).

The work was based on: a) the Martyrology of Usuard, now adopted almost everywhere, the Martyrology of St. Cyriacus ad Thermas (ms. F. 85 of the Biblioteca Vallicelliana), and the Martyrologies of Bede, Florus, and Ado; b) the Greek menologia translated into Latin by Sirleto; c) the *Dialogues* of St. Gregory, from which all the persons named in them were taken; d) various catalogues of particular churches, especially Italian ones. The work was carried out with great energy and published in Rome in 1583: *Martyrologium Romanum ad novam Kalendarii rationem et ecclesiasticae historiae veritatem restitutum, Gregori XIII Pont. Max iussu editum*, 1583. After a second edition, the official edition for reading in choir finally appeared in 1584, accompanied by the apostolic constitution *Emendato* of 14 January 1584 (cf. the text at the beginning of the current typical edition of the Martyrology), with which Gregory XIII, after removing all other Martyrologies, prescribed it for the universal Church. As regards the results, from a critical point of view it must be noted that the editors could not avail themselves of the critical apparatus of modern scholars.

The interest aroused by the new Martyrology was great, and a host of questions fascinated ecclesiastics and scholars. Cardinal Sirleto had foreseen this and the year before had entrusted Baronio with the publication of the “sources” and documentation. The work, encouraged by St. Philip Neri, Cardinal F. Peretti (later Sixtus V), and Cardinal A. Caraffa, was completed by the middle of 1585. At Baronio’s request, Willem Lindano (d. 1588), bishop of Ruremond, who was passing through Rome, was entrusted by the Pope with the revision, which was finished on 22 August with ample praise and approval of the work. At the end of 1586, the volume appeared under the title *Martyrologium Romanum cum notationibus Baronii*, dedicated to Sixtus V. Although the *notationes* were a personal work, Sixtus V authorized Baronio to make slight corrections (“perraro”) to the text of the Martyrology on their basis, but he wished the name of Gregory XIII to remain on II. At the head of the 1586 edition, the Pope had printed the *Tractatio de Martyrologio Romano* by Baronio, which is still found in its place.

The work, the first to be printed, attracted the attention and esteem of all scholars of the time towards the learned Oratorian. The *notationes* were defined as “aureae” (Lindano), “doctissimae” (Plantin), “stilissimae” (Colt. Veronici). On Lindano’s advice, Baronio, having corrected his work, had it published in Antwerp with this solemn title page: *Martyrologium Romanum, ad novam Kalendarii rationem, et ecclesiasticae historiae veritatem restitutum, Gregori XIII Pont. Max. iussu editum. Acceserunt notationes atque tractatio de Martyrologio Romano: Auctore Caesare Baronio Sorano, Congregationis Oratorii presbytero. Secunda editio ab ipso auctore emendata et compluribus aucta. Antverpiae, Ex officina Christophori Plantini, Architypographi Regii, MDLXXXIX*. The edition met with great favour and was reprinted several times. A third, entirely corrected edition appeared in Rome in 1598. Other subsequent works (1598-1606) on the same subject served for the 1630 edition (Calenzio, op. cit., p. 223). Urban VIII (1623-44) in 1628 extended to the Martyrology the revision initiative of the Breviary. Among the ten members of the special commission (cf. Lämmer, op. cit., p. 87), Bartolomeo Gavanti, a Barnabite, and Luca Wadding, a Franciscan, stood out for their learning and activity. In the Martyrology, recently canonized saints were added, with those having the “de praecepto” office placed first; the text was amended in several places “ad fidem certissimae historiae,” while doubtful matters were relegated to the

"pore decernendo maturius" (B. Gavanti, Thesaurus sacrorum rituum, ed. C. M. Merati, Venezia 1749, p. 160). This followed the ordered revision by Clement X (1670-76), completed under Innocent XI (1676-89) in 1681. Essentially, it amounted to little more than an updating. It is worth noting that just the year before, by decree of 31 August 1680 (cf. Decreta authentica, SRC, no. 1651), the Sacred Congregation of Rites had brought to an end the controversy over the criteria and meaning of inserting a saint into the Martyrologium.

Sixty years later (1749), through the labor and study of Benedict XIV (1740-58), a most meticulous edition of the Martyrologium was issued by the Vatican Press, in which some names of saints omitted in previous editions were supplied, while other names of saints and blessed were added in their entirety. A request had been made to include in the Martyrologium the names of those blessed venerated with immemorial cult, but the Pope rejected the petition. Among the names of saints restored was that of the 200 Benedictine monks of the monastery of Cardegna in Spain, martyred in 834 under the Moorish tyrant Raffa. In 1598 the abbot of the monastery petitioned the Sacred Congregation of Rites for their names to be inserted into the Martyrologium. After examining the matter, Baronius approved the request, and their elogium appeared on 6 August in the Martyrologium printed in Rome by Stefano Paulini in 1602. However, that edition was entirely sold in Spain, so that in subsequent reprints the elogium was omitted. After a century and a half, the request was resubmitted. The sub-promoter, Prospero Lambertini, obtained a copy of the 1602 Martyrologium from Spain, and the elogium of the Benedictine martyrs on 6 August was restored.

Benedict XIV did not limit himself to a mere revision or updating. He himself minutely studied several questions of updating, such as the cases of Clement of Alexandria, Sulpicius Severus, Theodore, and Siricius, setting forth his findings in the apostolic letter to King John V of Portugal and the Algarves, dated 19 July 1748, which he prefixed to the text of the Martyrologium, where it still remains. Another edition, more correct and enriched, was that of Gregory XVI (1845), which included in an appendix the Martyrologia of the four great religious orders, though these were removed in the subsequent edition by Pius IX (1873). Pius X also published a new edition of the Martyrologium in 1913. The most recent edition, bearing the name of Benedict XV, was published in 1922, prepared by Fr. Brugnani, but it was criticized and repudiated by scholars (H. Quentin, La correction du Martyrologe roman, in Anal. boll., 42 [1924], pp. 387-406). This is the edition currently in liturgical use.

The editions of the Martyrologium from its first typical edition of 1584 have been very numerous. The Bollandists have listed 129 of them alone up to 1912 (Propylaeum, pp. XIV-XV). It has also been translated into the principal modern languages.

VI. INSERTION OF NEW ELOGIA IN THE MARTYROLOGIUM — Gregory XIII in the apostolic constitution *Emendato prolifico* reserved to himself the right to make any addition or alteration to the text of the Martyrologium, except for the inscription, separately, of the saints of particular churches. The Martyrologium, like all other liturgical books intended for worship, is a living book. Indeed, from Gregory XIII onward, the Martyrologium has always been updated with the addition of newly canonized saints.

The insertion of a saint into the Martyrologium is governed by precise norms, enshrined in documents and usage. A decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites dated 30 July 1616, confirmed by another of 31 August 1680 (Decr. auth., no. 1651), limits inscription in the Martyrologium to canonized saints alone, excluding the blessed. This norm, steadfastly maintained and defended, even by Benedict XIV (op. cit., p. 575), remains the basis of the practice of the Sacred Congregation of Rites to this day. Exceptions, in particular cases and by special concession of the Supreme Pontiffs, are few, such as in 1731 for Bl. Vincent de Paul, canonized six years later (1737), and more recently for Bl. John Leonardi (now a saint), especially meritorious in the founding of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, and on that account inserted into the Martyrologium in 1893, while still a blessed. The elogium by which a saint enters the Martyrologium was once composed by a cardinal belonging to the Sacred Congregation of Rites; now it is generally compiled by the Postulation of the cause or by officials of the same Congregation, approved in "congress," and then by the Supreme Pontiff. It is then published, like other official documents of the Holy See, in the *Acta Apostolicae Sedis*.

According to Benedict XIV (op. cit., p. 575), the elogium must obey two rules: that it be drawn from approved authors, from tradition, or from canonical processes; and that it be concise. Generally, the elogium highlights sanctity, a particular virtue, a miracle, doctrine, or apostolic activity—one or more of these elements. Announcements are also made of feast days of conversions (such as for St. Paul and St. Augustine), episcopal ordinations, discoveries, and translations of notable relics.

In short, according to the best tradition, the elements that might enter into an "elogium" should be gathered under the following headings: the place where the saint died, the saint’s name and liturgical title, and an indication of the character of the feast (translation, passion, deposition, etc.). If the saint is a founder, mention of the religious family he established is indispensable. In recent elogia, the name of the pope who canonized the saint is almost always included. Some historical element may be added, but with extreme sobriety. The Martyrologium is not, in itself, a book for edifying reading, but a simple catalog of the saints venerated day by day in the Church.

The *Rubricae Martyrologii* (typical edition 1922, no. 18) have also laid down the criteria governing the hierarchical insertion of the elogia. According to these norms:
a) at the same rank, the feasts of saints of the universal Church take precedence over those of particular churches, in this order: martyrs, confessors, virgins, non-virgins;
b) in the absence of such parity, the more noble feasts take precedence over those of lesser dignity;
c) men take precedence over women;
d) ecclesiastics take precedence over lay persons;
e) among ecclesiastics, precedence follows the order of dignity;
f) among women, virgins take precedence;
g) among men and women, those who died in Rome or whose notable relics are preserved in Rome take precedence.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was debate over whether the insertion of a saint into the Martyrologium signified an official recognition of cult or was merely a memoria of their acts. The latter opinion prevailed, strongly supported by Benedict XIV (op. cit., pp. 579-80; cf. also Card. G. Tomasi, *Opuscoli inediti*, ed. G. Mercati [Studi e testi], Roma 1905, pp. 46-53). Saints are inserted into the Martyrologium, first and foremost, to commemorate their feast and their cult, and such insertion, being merely a historical record, has nothing to do with the infallibility of the Church or of the Pope (H. Grisar, art. cit., p. 293; cf. also Quentin, op. cit., pp. 678-88). Indeed, the various stages in the composition of the Martyrologium over the centuries, before the Holy See imposed an official edition, exposed the Martyrologium, more than any other liturgical book, to inaccuracies, errors, and incongruities from a historical-critical standpoint, owing to the state of historical-agiographical science at the time. Thus, even today, in light of recent hagiographical studies, the Martyrologium requires careful and judicious revision (cf. A. Bugnini, *Verso una riforma del «Martyrologium Romanum»*, in *Ephem. lit.*, 61 [1947], pp. 91-99).

VIII. Liturgical Use. In the liturgical offices (in choir) the Martyrology is read at Prime after the psalms, before the verse Pretiosa. Its use seems ancient, at least in monasteries (E. Martène, *De ant. monachorum rit.*, bk. I, ch. 5, Lyon 1690, pp. 54–68). It is attested by the Rule of St Crodogamus (d. 766): «Post lectionem recitantur aetas mensis et lunae, et nomina sanctorum, quorum festa crastinum excipiat dies» (PL 89, 1067). It is mentioned by the Council of Aix-la-Chapelle of 817 (can. 60): «Ad capitulum primum martyrologium legatur» (Mansi, XIV, 398). Many churches adopted the practice. Gregory XIII sanctioned it and desired that the Martyrology be read also in the private recitation of the Office.

IX. Among religious not bound to choir and in colleges, seminaries, etc., the Martyrology is read at the end of the midday refectory reading. Each day the saints of the following day are announced. Exceptions are made on Easter Day and 2 November (Commemoration of the Faithful Departed), when the saints of the same day are announced; on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday the reading of the Martyrology is omitted entirely. The day is announced according to the Roman computation by kalends, not “of,” with the addition of the lunar cycle. In the Middle Ages the reader first asked the superior’s blessing, who gave it with the formula: *In viam mandatorum...*

When Usuaud was compiling his Martyrology, finding an average of some three hundred saintly feasts for each day and unable to include them all, he supplied the deficiency by adding at the end of the daily reading the formula: *Et alibi aliorum plurimorum sanctorum martyrum et confessorum atque sanctarum virginum*, a formula still in use. After the response *Deo gratias* by those present, the one presiding over the Office adds a short prayer to all the saints. Formerly it ran: *Ipsi et omnes sancti intercedant*. Today instead it invokes: *Sancta Maria (et) sancti*: the reading of the Martyrology was performed with particular solemnity in some places. Thus at Christmas, when the reader announced the birth of the Redeemer with the words: *Nativitas Domini nostri Iesu Christi secundum carnem*, all prostrated themselves humbly with foreheads to the ground. Even today those words are sung in a higher tone of voice to emphasize their meaning. A similar practice existed at the announcement of the Lord’s death and Resurrection on Maundy Thursday and Holy Saturday.

The rules to be observed for the reading or chanting of the Martyrology in the canonical Office are set out in minute detail in the Rubrics prefixed by Gregory XIII to the first typical edition of 1548, subsequently considerably developed in later editions. The Martyrology is one of the liturgical books whose printing is reserved to the Holy See (AAS, 38 [1946], p. 371; documentation in *Ephem. lit.* [pars altera, *Ius et Praxis*], 61 [1947], pp. 19–21). — *See* pl. XX.