9. About the virgin Theodosina, Saint Barbara, and Saint Dorothy.
‘Equally worthy of mention here is the blessed Theodosina, who showed such remarkable constancy in martyrdom. This extraordinarily beautiful girl, only eighteen years of age, was born of a very noble family. She used her fine intelligence to debate with Urban, a judge who was threatening her with persecution unless she renounced Jesus Christ. However, because she answered him with the words of God, he had her hung by her hair and given a severe beating. Yet still she reproached him, saying, “What a wretch is he who seeks to rule over others but is incapable of ruling himself. Woe betide him who thinks only of gorging himself with food and gives no thought to the starving. Shame on him who wants to be warm yet does not help clothe and comfort those who are dying of cold. Cursed be he who wishes to rest and yet forces others to work, who claims all things as his own when he has in fact received them from God, and who desires to be treated well by others but whose every action is wicked.” Throughout her suffering, the virgin kept on coming out with other splendid words such as these. None the less, in her heart, she felt ashamed that her naked body was on display for everyone to see. God therefore sent a white cloud to cover her up completely from view. To Urban’s increasing threats she replied, “You shall not take a single dish away from the celestial table that has been prepared for me.” When he warned her that he meant to rob her of her virginity, she answered, “Your threats to defile me are all in vain because God dwells in the hearts of the pure.” More incensed than ever, the judge had her thrown into the sea, weighed down with a heavy stone tied to her neck. However, she was kept afloat by the angels and she sang as they brought her back to shore. Theodosina then picked up the stone, which was heavier than she was, and carried it in her arms. Next the tyrant set two leopards on her, but all they did was dance around her in joy. In the end, Urban ran out of ideas and so had her beheaded, whereupon her soul visibly departed her body in the form of a pure white dove. That very night, she appeared to her parents wearing a priceless crown and shining more brightly than the sun, accompanied by a host of virgins. Holding a golden crucifix in her hand, she proclaimed to them, “Behold the glory that you wished to take away from me!”, and straightaway they converted.
‘Likewise, during the reign of the Emperor Maximian, the virtue of the blessed virgin Barbara, a high-born and supremely lovely girl, was in full flower. Because of her great beauty, her father locked her away in a tower, where she was divinely inspired to become a Christian. With no one else there to baptize her, Barbara took some water and christened herself in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Though her father wanted her to make an advantageous marriage, she held out for as long as she could against complying with his wishes. Eventually she had to admit to him that she had become a Christian and had dedicated her virginity to God. On hearing this, her father was ready to kill her, but she managed to escape from him. Determined that she should die, her father set off after her and finally tracked down his daughter with the help of a shepherd who gave away her whereabouts. This shepherd was soon scorched to death for his pains, along with his flock. Her father took her before the prefect and there she was subjected to appalling tortures and hung upside down by her feet, all because she had disobeyed his orders. She kept saying to him, “You wretch, can’t you see that your tortures are having no effect on me?” Boiling with anger, he had her breasts cut off and then dragged her around the town to display her mutilated body. Yet still she never let up singing God’s praises. However, because she was ashamed that everyone would see her naked, virginal body, the Lord sent down His angel to heal her wounds and to drape her from head to foot in a white robe. When they deemed that her humiliation had gone on long enough, they took her back before the prefect, who flew into a rage at seeing her completely restored to health and her face shining like a star. He had new torments inflicted on her until even the torturers themselves grew tired of persecuting her. Finally, the prefect became so livid that he couldn’t bear the sight of her any longer and ordered her to be taken away and decapitated. She began to pray, beseeching God to help those who would call on Him for her sake in remembrance of her martyrdom. When she had finished praying, a voice was heard saying, “Come, my dearly beloved daughter. Come and rest in your Father’s kingdom and receive your crown. All that you have requested will be granted.” At the top of the mountain which was chosen as her place of execution, her wicked father himself cut off her head. On his way back down again, a bolt of lightning fell from the heavens and burnt him to a cinder.
‘Likewise, the blessed virgin Dorothy of Cappadocia also underwent much suffering. Having refused to take any mortal man as her husband, Dorothy kept talking incessantly about her bridegroom Jesus Christ. As she was being taken off to be beheaded, a lawyer by the name of Theophilus mocked her by saying that once she was reunited with her bridegroom she should be sure to send him some roses and apples from her husband’s garden. Dorothy replied that she would certainly do so. No sooner was her martyrdom over than a beautiful little child, about four years old, appeared with a small basket full of the most exquisite roses and the most mouthwatering and delicious-smelling apples. He came up to Theophilus and told him that it was Dorothy who had sent these gifts to him. As it was still winter time, being the month of February, Theophilus was so amazed by this sight that he immediately converted. He too later died a martyr’s death for the sake of Jesus Christ.
‘If I were to tell you about all the holy virgins who are now living in heaven thanks to their constancy in the face of torture, such as Saints Cecilia, Agnes, Agatha, and countless others, it would really take far too long. You only have to look in the Miroir historial, which contains many of these stories, to find out all about these other saints. However, I will tell you about Saint Christine, not simply because she’s your patron saint, but also because she was a particularly splendid example of a virgin-martyr. I won’t omit any of the details, for hers is a most beautiful and inspiring story.’
10. About the life of Saint Christine the virgin.
‘The blessed virgin Saint Christine came from the city of Tyre. She was the daughter of Urban, governor of the city. Because of her great beauty, her father kept her locked up in a tower along with twelve other maidens. Despite the fact that he had built a pretty little oratory next to her bedroom for her to worship the pagan gods, she had already been inspired to adopt the Christian faith from the tender age of twelve and would have nothing to do with these idols. Her companions were most taken aback by this and they frequently urged her to offer up a sacrifice. Instead, she would take the incense as if to worship the gods but would then kneel down in front of a window which faced east, look up towards the heavens and pay homage to the eternal glory of the Lord. She would then spend the rest of the night gazing at the stars from her window, moaning softly as she invoked God’s name in her prayers and begging Him to come to her aid against her enemies. Though they could see that her heart was given up to Jesus Christ, her maidens would often kneel down in front of her, their hands clasped together, imploring her to revere her parents’ gods rather than put her faith in some strange deity. They were afraid that, if the truth came out, both she and they would be put to death. Christine retorted that they had all been tricked by the Devil into worshipping a multiplicity of gods when there was in fact only one true God.
‘When her father eventually discovered that she was refusing to venerate the idols, he was extremely alarmed and reproached her severely. She replied that she would gladly make a sacrifice to the ruler of the heavens. Thinking that she meant Jupiter, her father was delighted and rushed to kiss her. But she cried out to him, “Don’t touch my mouth, for I want to offer myself untainted to the Lord”, which pleased him even more. She then went back into her room and locked the door behind her. Going down on her knees, she burst into tears as she recited a devout prayer to God. The angel of the Lord came and comforted her, bringing white bread and meat for her to eat because she h
ad gone three days without food.
‘A short while after, as she was looking out from her window one day, she saw some poor Christians begging at the foot of her tower. Having nothing of her own to give them, Christine went and fetched her father’s idols which were made of gold and silver. She then smashed them to bits and gave the broken pieces to the beggars below. When her father found out what she had done, he gave her a savage beating. She told him in no uncertain terms that he was wrong to glorify these false images, for there was but a single God, who was three in one, and He alone should be adored. She herself was devoted entirely to this God and would worship no other, even if her life were at stake. At these words, her father flew into a terrible rage and put her in chains. Before throwing her into prison, he had her scourged as she was being led through the town. Having decided to judge her himself, he had her brought before him the next morning and threatened her with all sorts of tortures if she refused to revere the idols. However, when he saw that neither his pleas nor his threats were having any effect on her, he ordered her to be stripped and spreadeagled, with her arms and legs tied down, and commanded twelve men to whip her until they were exhausted. He kept asking her if she had changed her mind, saying to her, “Daughter, it truly breaks my paternal heart to have to torture my own flesh and blood, but my duty to the gods means that I have no choice, for you have turned your back on them.” The holy virgin replied, “Tyrant! You’re fit only to be called the enemy of my happiness, not my father! Though you may inflict a harsh punishment on this flesh which you have created, you have no power to subject my spirit to any temptation whatsoever, for it has been created by my Father who lives in heaven and it is protected by Jesus Christ, my saviour.” Her brutal father grew even more furious and brought in a wheel that he had had made. He tied the poor little child to it, lit a fire beneath her and threw great quantities of boiling oil on to her body. As the wheel turned, all her limbs were broken.
‘God, the merciful Father, took pity on His servant. He commanded His angel to go down and break the wheel, put out the fire and deliver the virgin safe and sound. More than a thousand pitiless unbelievers who had been watching her suffer were killed, blaspheming against God as they died. Her father asked her, “Tell me, who taught you such black magic?”, to which she replied, “Ruthless tyrant, didn’t I make it plain to you that my Father, Jesus Christ, was the one who taught me to have patience and to uphold my faith in Him, the living God? Thanks to Him, I shall overcome every possible torture you can devise and, with the grace of God, I will resist all the assaults that the Devil may make on me.” Despairing at having been defeated, her father threw Christine into a dark and gloomy dungeon. As she lay there contemplating God’s mysteries, three brightly shining angels came to visit her, bringing her food to eat and words of comfort. Urban kept dreaming up different kinds of torture to inflict on his daughter, for he was at his wits’ end how to deal with her. He finally became so angry that he decided to get rid of her once and for all by tying a great stone around her neck and throwing her into the sea. However, just as she was being tipped into the waves, the angels took hold of her and carried her off across the water with them. She raised her eyes to heaven and offered up a prayer to Jesus Christ, begging him to baptize her using the sea water as the holy sacrament, for her sole desire was to be christened. Jesus Christ himself came down with a whole host of angels and baptized her with his own name, calling her Christine. He then crowned her and placed a bright star on her head before leading her back to dry land. That night, Urban was tormented by the Devil and died.
‘The blessed Christine, whom God wanted to receive in heaven as a martyr, as was also her own most fervent wish, was taken back to the prison by her tormentors. The second judge, whose name was Dyon, knew all about what had already been done to her and ordered her to be brought before him. The sight of her beauty quickened his heart with desire, but when his honeyed words clearly failed to have any effect on her, he decided to subject her to new tortures. He had a huge cauldron of oil and pitch heated up over a great fire, into which she was thrown head first and prodded by four men wielding iron hooks. The holy virgin kept on singing sweet hymns in praise of God as she mocked her torturers by saying that they would be punished in hell. Realizing that his efforts were all in vain, the cruel judge had her suspended by her long, golden hair in front of the whole town. Women rushed up to her in tears, full of pity at seeing such a tender young creature being so ill treated. The women said to the judge, “Brutal tyrant, you’re more ferocious than a wild beast. How can any man have it in his heart to be so violent towards a lovely, innocent girl like this?” As they were about to attack him, the judge grew so afraid that he said to Christine, “My friend, don’t suffer this torture any longer. Come with me, we’ll go together and worship the supreme god who has helped sustain you through all this.” Although by “supreme god” he meant Jupiter, she understood something quite different. She therefore replied, “You’ve convinced me to do as you say.” He had her cut down and taken to the temple, with a huge crowd of people following on behind. Having brought her before the idols, Dyon thought that Christine would bow down and worship them. Instead, she knelt down, raised her eyes to heaven and said a prayer to God. She then stood up, turned towards the idol and exclaimed, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I order the evil spirit that lives inside this idol to come out now!” No sooner had she uttered these words than the Devil himself appeared with a deafening and terrifying roar. Everyone was so horrified that they all fell to the floor. When the judge picked himself up, he said to Christine, “Our almighty god has been moved by your words: he has taken pity on you and come out to see his creature for himself.” She was furious at this and attacked him fiercely for being so blind that he couldn’t even recognize the hand of God at work. She then prayed to the Lord to cast the idol down and turn it into dust, which is exactly what happened. Thanks to the virgin’s words and miraculous deeds, more than 3,000 men were converted. The terror-stricken judge said, “If the king finds out the wrong that this Christine has perpetrated on our god, he’ll have me put to a horrible death.” He went out of his mind with fear and died.
‘A third judge, by the name of Julian, was then called in. He seized Christine and boasted that he would definitely succeed in making her worship the idols. However, no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to move her from the spot where she stood. He therefore had a huge fire lit all around her, in which she was tortured for three whole days. Yet, throughout this time, sweet songs could be heard coming from the flames. Her persecutors were absolutely terrified by these extraordinary signs and went to tell Julian what they had seen. He thought he would go mad with rage when Christine emerged completely unscathed after the fire had died out. He therefore ordered serpents to be brought, and Christine was set upon by two asps – a kind of snake that has a terribly poisonous bite – as well as by two enormous adders. However, the snakes just fell at her feet with their heads bowed and did her no harm whatsoever. Next, two horrible vipers were let loose, but they simply hung off her breasts and licked her. Christine looked up to the heavens and exclaimed, “Lord God, Jesus Christ, thanks be to you for exalting me with your holy powers so that these vicious serpents can recognize your splendour in me.” Despite these marvels, Julian would not stop there but shouted over to the man who looked after the snakes, “Has Christine cast a spell on you too which prevents you from making the snakes attack her?” Fearful of what the judge might do to him, the man tried to excite the snakes into striking Christine, but they just turned on him instead and bit him to death. As everyone was too afraid of the serpents to go near them, Christine commanded them in the name of God to return whence they came without harming anyone, which they did. She brought the dead man back to life, who immediately fell down at her feet and became a Christian. The judge, who was too blinded by the Devil to see that these were the workings of God, said to Christine, “We’ve had quite enough of your witchcraft!” In her fury, she answered him, “
If your eyes could see God’s powers, you would surely believe in them.” Livid with rage, he had her breasts torn off, whereupon milk rather than blood poured forth from her wounds. As she wouldn’t stop calling out Jesus Christ’s name, he had her tongue cut out too. Yet she then spoke even more clearly and eloquently than before as she talked of holy matters and blessed God, thanking Him for the favour He had shown her. She began to pray to Him, asking to take her place at His side once the crown of her martyrdom was completed.
‘A voice from heaven was heard saying, “Pure, innocent Christine, the heavens are open to you and the everlasting kingdom is ready to welcome you. The whole company of saints is praying to God on your behalf: ever since you were a child, you have steadfastly upheld the name of Jesus Christ.” Lauding God, she lifted her gaze towards heaven. The voice spoke again, “My beloved daughter Christine, my chosen one, come and accept the eternal crown and palm. Take the reward that you deserve for having spent your life as a martyr glorifying my name.” When the evil Julian heard this voice, he reproached the torturers for not having removed enough of Christine’s tongue, telling them to cut it so close that she would be unable to converse with her lord Jesus. They cut off the whole of her tongue, right down to the root, but she spat out these remains into the tyrant’s face and blinded him in one eye. Speaking just as easily as ever, she exclaimed, “Tyrant, what was the point of your removing my tongue so that I couldn’t praise God when my spirit will praise Him for evermore whilst yours is damned for all eternity? It’s only fitting that my tongue should have blinded you, since you didn’t believe my words in the first place.” So saying, Christine could already see Jesus Christ seated at his Father’s right hand as her martyrdom came to an end from two arrows that were shot at her, one in her side and the other near her heart. A relative of hers, whom she had converted, buried her saintly body and wrote down her magnificent legend.’
The Book of the City of Ladies Page 29
