In Juventinum et Maximum martyres

A panegyric homily by the same author on the holy martyrs Juventinus and Maximus, who suffered martyrdom under Julian the Apostate. 1. The blessed Babylas formerly gathered us here with three children; today a pair of holy soldiers has set up the camp of Christ in the battle line. Then it was a chariot of martyrs, now a pair of martyrs. The age is different, but the faith is one; the contests are varied, but the courage is the same. Those were ancient in time; these are new and recent. Such is the treasury of the Church, having both new and old pearls; but the beauty of all is one. Their bloom is not dimmed, it does not fade with time; the nature of this splendor does not admit the rust of age. For material wealth yields and gives way to the length of time; indeed, garments are worn out, houses are demolished, gold rusts, and the entire nature of this perceptible wealth decays with time and disappears. But with spiritual treasures it is not so; rather, always and continually the martyrs remain in equal bloom and youth, shining and radiating the glory of their own splendor.

You, knowing this, do not honor the ancients in one way and the moderns in another, but with the same eagerness, the same affection, the same disposition, you honor and welcome all. For you do not examine time, but you seek courage, reverence of soul, unwavering faith, and winged and fervent zeal, such as those who have gathered us today displayed. For they burned with such desire for God that they were able, without persecution, to bind on the crown of martyrdom; without battle, to set up a trophy; without war, to seize victory; without conflict, to snatch the prize. How this was, I shall tell; but bear with me as I narrate a little from the beginning. There was a certain emperor in our generation, who surpassed all before him in impiety, about whom I also spoke to you recently. This emperor, seeing our affairs becoming illustrious from this—I mean the death of the martyrs—and not only men, but also tender children, and unwedded virgins, and every age and both sexes simply leaping to the slaughters for piety, was stung and pained, and did not wish to openly proclaim war. For all, he said, like bees to a honeycomb, will fly to martyrdom. And he learned this not from another, but from his own ancestors. For tyrants also warred against the Church, and mobs continually rose up, when the spark of piety was still small; but nevertheless they did not extinguish it, did not destroy it, but were themselves destroyed.

That spark, growing, rose to a height and seized the whole inhabited world, as all the faithful were slaughtered, burned, thrown from cliffs, drowned, and given to beasts. For they trampled on coals as if on mud, they looked upon seas and waves as if upon meadows, they ran to the sword as if to a diadem and crown, and they refuted every form of punishment not only by bearing it nobly but also with pleasure and great eagerness. For just as plants naturally grow when watered, so our faith, when warred upon, flourishes all the more, and when troubled, increases; and the watering of gardens by streams does not make them so lush as the blood of martyrs naturally waters the Churches. Knowing all this and more, that man was openly afraid to stir up war against us, lest, he said, we set up trophies one after another, achieve continuous victories, and weave crowns. And what does he do? Observe the malice: he ordered doctors, soldiers, sophists, and all rhetors to abandon their professions or abjure the faith. Thus he skirmished with us in war, so that if they yielded, the defeat would be ridiculous, because they did not prefer piety to money; but if they stood nobly and prevailed, the victory would not be very glorious, nor the trophy conspicuous, for it is no great thing to despise one's craft and profession for the sake of piety. And he does not stop even here.

But if there was anyone in earlier times, when the emperors were pious, who had destroyed an altar, or razed a temple, or taken votive offerings, or done any other such thing, he was dragged into court and executed—not only the one who had done such a thing, but also anyone simply accused. And he devised countless other pretexts of every kind, so as to cut down all who lived in piety. And he did all this, wishing to obscure the crown of martyrdom, so that the slaughter might proceed and executions take place, yet the glorious prizes of the martyrs might not appear bright. But nothing turned out better for him. For those who suffered these things do not receive the crown from his judgment, nor from his malice entirely, but from the impartial judgment—I mean from above. 2. Therefore, while matters were in this state, and he was laboring to bring on war and fearing defeat, it happened that a military banquet took place, in which the martyrs who have gathered us today participated. And as is usual at a banquet, when many topics were brought up and different people were discussing various things, they lamented the present evils, blessed the earlier time, and said to themselves and to those present: "Is it any longer worth living at all? Is it worth breathing, or seeing this sun, when the sacred laws are trampled, piety is insulted, and the common Master of creation is dishonored? Everything is full of the stench of burnt fat and smoke, everything is full of impure sacrifices; we cannot even breathe clean air." And do not simply pass over what has been said.

But consider the time at which these words were spoken, and observe the piety of those who spoke them. For if in a soldiers' banquet, where there was unmixed wine and drunkenness and a contest of utmost debauchery, and a struggle of intoxication and madness, they groaned and lamented in this way, what were they like when at home, associating only with one another? What were they like in their prayers, who at the very time of revelry were so restrained and displayed apostolic hearts? Others were falling, and they were lamenting; another was committing impiety, and they were burning with zeal; they were not aware of their own health, because of the sickness of their brethren; but as though they had been given as common protectors of the world, they grieved and wept over the evils that were happening. Having said these things, they did not escape notice; but one of those who shared that table, a sneerer and a flatterer, wishing to curry favor with the emperor, reported everything that had been said to him. And the emperor, finding what he had long sought, and seizing upon a pretext capable of depriving them of the rewards of martyrdom, ordered their entire property to be confiscated, charging them with tyranny on account of these words, and commanded that they be brought naked into the prison. But they rejoiced and exulted.

For what need have we of property and costly raiment?" they said. "Even if it should be necessary to strip off the very last garment from the flesh for Christ's sake, we will not cling even to that, but will yield it up as well." And so there were seals upon their houses, and all their possessions were seized. And just as men who are about to set out for a far-distant homeland often sell off their household goods and send them ahead, so it was with them. Since they were about to depart for heaven, their property was sent on ahead, with even their enemies serving as the agents of this conveyance. For not only are the alms given according to reason transferred to heaven, but even what is seized by those who war against the faith and persecute those who live in piety—this too is stored up there. For that this is no less than the former, hear what Paul says: "You have even welcomed the plundering of your possessions with joy, expecting to have a better and more enduring possession in heaven." So then, the martyrs were in prison, and the whole city flocked there; and yet great fears, threats, and dangers hung over anyone who might approach, converse, or share words with them. But the fear of God thrust aside all those things, and through them many at that time became martyrs, despising their present life for the sake of communion with them; and as many gathered, continuous psalm-singing was performed, sacred all-night vigils were held, and gatherings full of spiritual teaching took place; and with the church closed, the prison became a church.

For it was not only those entering from outside, but also those dwelling within who received the greatest instruction in virtue and temperance from the endurance and faith of these saints. Hearing these things, the king was pained all the more, and wishing to trip them up and relax that zeal, he sent certain polluted and sorcerous men for the plot; who, sitting with them often, if ever they caught them alone, as if advising from themselves, but not as sent by the king, urged them to abandon piety and desert to impiety. "For you will not only thus evade the imminent danger, but you will also obtain greater honor and a better office, having thus dissolved the king's anger. Do you not see that others of your rank have done this very thing?" But they said, "It is precisely for this reason that we will stand nobly, so that we may offer ourselves as sacrifices on behalf of those fallen bodies. We have a philanthropic Master; he knows that, having accepted even one sacrifice, he can be reconciled with the whole world." And just as the three youths said, "There is in this time no ruler, nor prophet, nor leader, nor whole burnt offering, nor sacrifice, nor place to offer before you and find mercy, but may we be received with a contrite soul and a spirit of humility," so too the martyrs, seeing the altars demolished, the churches closed, the priests driven out, all the faithful banished, were eager to offer themselves to the Master in place of all.

and abandoning their military ranks, they hastened to mingle themselves with angelic choirs. For even if we do not die now, they said, we will certainly die a little later, and we will suffer this same thing; it is better to die for the king of the angels than for a man who commits such impiety; it is better to lay down our arms for the fatherland above than for the one below, which is trampled upon. Here, even if one dies, he will receive nothing worthy of his zeal from the king. For what favor will a man grant to the deceased? Often, indeed, not even deemed worthy of burial, he will lie exposed to the mouths of dogs. But if we die for the king of the angels, we will receive our bodies back with greater glory, we will return with great splendor, and we will obtain rewards and crowns far greater than our labors. Let us therefore take up spiritual arms; there is no need for arrows and bows, no need for any other sensible weapon; our tongue suffices for everything, he said. For the mouths of the saints are a quiver, bringing continuous and successive blows to the head of the devil.

These things and others like them were reported to the emperor; but he did not desist, but again attempted to set the lures through those men. So this crafty, treacherous, and clever evildoer contrived, so that if they weakened and gave in, he might bring them out before the eyes of all, and thus prepare them to sacrifice; but if they persisted, displaying fierce courage and standing nobly for the contest, the victory might not become evident to them, but he might take them away on the pretext of tyranny and behead them. But the one who reveals deep and hidden things did not allow the ambush to remain hidden, nor the plot to go unnoticed; but just as the Egyptian woman of that time, having seized Joseph in a chamber and great solitude, expected to escape the notice of all men, yet did not escape the unsleeping eye, and not only that one, but not even men afterwards, but what she said to Joseph, with no one present, is sung throughout the whole world—so too this man hoped to escape notice by conversing in prison through those disguised counselors, but he did not escape; but all afterwards learned of the ambush, the plot, the victory, the trophy.

As time was passing and much was flowing by, and the multitude of days did not dissolve their eagerness, but rather intensified their zeal and produced even more imitators, he finally ordered that they be taken to the pit in the middle of the night. And in the midst of darkness the luminaries were led out and were cut off. Then their heads were more fearsome to the devil than when they uttered a voice; for even the head of John was not so fearsome when speaking as when it lay speechless on the platter. For the blood of the saints has a voice, not heard through the ears, but seizing the conscience of those who slay them. After that blessed slaughter, those who hunt for such relics, placing their own salvation at risk, took up these champions; and they too were living martyrs. For even if they were not cut off, yet having first chosen to suffer this, they set out thus for the hunt of the bodies. So those who were present then and deemed worthy to see these bodies freshly slain say that, as they lay beside one another before burial, such grace blossomed upon their faces as Luke says occurred upon Stephen's face when he was about to defend himself before the Jews, and there is no one who stood by them then without a shudder. Thus this sight also astounded all who saw it, and all cried out that saying of David: In their life they were not separated, and in their death they were not divided.

For they both confessed together and dwelt in the prison, and were carried to the pit, and laid down their heads, and one chest holds the bodies of both; just as one tent will receive them again in the heavens, when they are to be taken up with greater glory. These it is fitting to call both pillars, and watchtowers, and towers, and luminaries, and bulls. For as pillars they support the Church, and as towers they fortify it, and as watchtowers, repelling every plot, they create great calm for those within; and as luminaries they drove away the darkness of impiety, and as bulls, with equal eagerness of soul and body, they drew the good yoke of Christ. Therefore let us constantly frequent them, and touch the chest, and with faith embrace their relics, so that we may draw some blessing from there. For just as soldiers, having shown the wounds which they received from the enemy, speak with boldness to the king, so also these, bearing on their hands the heads which were cut off and bringing them forward, easily obtain everything they wish.

they can accomplish before the king of the heavens. Therefore, let us go there with great faith and great eagerness, so that from the sight of these holy tombs, and from the contemplation of their contests, and from every side taking many and great treasures, we may be able to complete this present life as is pleasing to God, and with abundant merchandise sail into that harbor, and attain the kingdom of the heavens, by the grace and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, power, honor, and adoration, unto the ages of ages. Amen.