SS. FAUSTUS, JANUARIUS, AND MARTIALIS, MM.

THESE saints are called by Prudentius The three crowns of Cordova,1 in which city they, with undaunted constancy, confessed Jesus Christ before a judge named Eugenius, in the year 304. First Faustus, then Januarius, and lastly Martialis, who was the youngest, was hoisted on the rack. While they were tormented together, Faustus said: “How happy is this union in our sufferings, which will unite us in our crowns!” Eugenius charged the executioners to torment them without intermission, till they should adore the gods. Faustus hearing these orders, cried out: “There is one only God, who created us all.” The judge commanded his nose, ears, eyelids, and under lip to be cut off, and the teeth of his upper jaw to be beaten out. At the cutting off each part, the martyr returned thanks to God, and fresh joy sparkled in his countenance. Januarius was then treated in the same manner. All this while Martialis prayed earnestly for constancy while he lay on the rack. The judge pressed him to comply with the imperial edicts; but he resolutely answered: “Jesus Christ is my comfort. Him I will always praise with the same joy with which my companions have confessed his name in their torments. There is one only God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, to whom our homages and praises are due.” The three martyrs being taken from their racks, were condemned to be burnt alive, and cheerfully finished their martyrdom by fire at Cordova in Spain, in the reign of Dioclesian. See their genuine acts in Ruinart, p. 597, and Prudentius1. de Coronis Mart.