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Trudie
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September 20th - Saint Eustachius and His Family, Martyrs
(d. ca. 118)
The remarkable story of Saint Eustachius, named Placidus before his
conversion, is a lesson given by God Himself on the marvels of His Divine
Providence. He was a distinguished and very wealthy officer of the Roman
army under the Emperor Trajan, in the beginning of the second century. He
practiced generous charity to the poor, although he had not yet perceived
the errors of idolatry.
One day, while this distinguished officer was vainly pursuing a deer, the
animal suddenly stood immobile before him in the light of a hilltop, and he
perceived between its horns a luminous cross. On the cross was the image of
the crucified Saviour, and a voice said to him, "I am the Christ whom you
honor without knowing it; the alms you give to the poor have reached Me."
Like Saint Paul, he fell from his horse and remained inert for a time.
Coming to himself, he said interiorly, "What is this voice I have heard? You
who speak to me, who are you, that I may believe in you?" And the Lord told
him interiorly that He was the Creator of the light, of the seasons, of man
and all things visible, that he had suffered to save the human race, died
and been buried, but had risen the third day.
This was sufficient, and the officer went home to fulfill the prescription
he had received to be baptized with his wife and two young sons. His spouse
had received a similar revelation at the same time as himself, and they all
went to the Christian authority of the region in secret, to be baptized the
same night.
In a short time he lost all his possessions through natural catastrophes and
robbers. But he had been advised beforehand that the Lord wanted to make of
him another Job, that already the ancient enemy had plotted against him, and
that he was not to allow any thought of blasphemy to arise in his heart amid
the sufferings that were awaiting him. He prayed for strength, and retired
from the region after the calamities, with his wife and children. When by
unforeseeable and extraordinary accidents, his wife and children were also
taken from him, and he believed the children dead, he was close to despair
and wished his life might end; but the warning of the Lord returned to his
mind, and he entered into the service of a land-owner of a village called
Badyssus, to tend the fields. He remained for fifteen years in this
occupation. During this time his loved ones were well and safe, all spared
in the perilous circumstances which had removed them from his sight, but
separated, each one like himself, from the three others.
In those days the empire was suffering greatly from the ravages of
barbarians, and was sinking under the assaults. The emperor Trajan had
Eustachius sought out, and when he was found, had him clothed in splendid
garments to give him command over the troops he intended to send against the
invaders. During the celebration that accompanied his return, he related to
the emperor all that had occurred to him. When the troops were being
assembled, his own sons were conscripted. Seeing them, he noticed them as
young men taller than most and of great nobility of bearing and countenance,
and kept them near him without yet recognizing them. One of the two, while
on bivouac near the very house of his own mother, who like Eustachius had
taken employment in the garden of a landowner, related the confused memories
of his childhood to his companion. Suddenly, the two brothers recognized one
another and embraced in an effusion of joy.
Their mother, by a delicate attention of Providence, had chanced to overhear
them, and reflecting on what she heard, became certain they were her own
sons. She went to the captain of the campaign to inquire about them, and
immediately recognized him. Not wishing to startle him, she began to relate
her story, identifying herself as the wife of a certain Placidus, and saying
she believed she was now in the presence of her two sons from whom she had
been separated, and whom she had not seen for long years. One must imagine
the sentiments of the captain on hearing this narration, the reunion which
followed, and the prayers of thanksgiving sent up to God by the family and
also the troops, who joined them in their joy and prayers.
Returning to Rome victorious, Eustachius was received in triumph and greatly
honored, but when commanded to sacrifice during the celebration to the false
gods, refused. The infuriated emperor Hadrian - for Trajan had died -
ordered him with his wife and children to be exposed to a starved lion. But
instead of harming these servants of God, the beast came up to them, lowered
its head as if in homage, and left the arena. The emperor, more furious
still, caused the martyrs to be shut up inside a brazen bull, under which a
fire was to be kindled that they might be roasted to death. Saint Eustachius
prayed aloud and thanked God, asking Him who had reunited them to cause that
their lives end at the same time, so they might be received together by Him
into the happiness of His presence. They expired, but neither their bodies
nor even their hair was injured. They were found entire the next day, and at
first it was believed they were still alive. Many believed in Christ through
this final miracle, which to us today seems perhaps less miraculous than the
story of their existence while alive. A church in honor of the martyrs still
exists in Rome: Saint-Eustachius in Thermis.
<><><><>
Saint Quote:
Envy is a sadness which we feel on account of the good that happens to our
neighbour.
Envy, my children, follows pride; whoever is envious is proud. See, envy
comes to us from Hell; the devils having sinned through pride, sinned also
through envy, envying our glory, our happiness. Why do we envy the happiness
and the goods of others? Because we are proud; we should like to be the sole
possessors of talents, riches, of the esteem and love of all the world! We
hate our equals, because they are our equals; our inferiors, from the fear
that they may equal us; our superiors, because they are above us. In the
same way, my children, that the devil after his fall felt, and still feels,
extreme anger at seeing us the heirs of the glory of the good God, so the
envious man feels sadness at seeing the spiritual and temporal prosperity of
his neighbour.
We walk, my children, in the footsteps of the devil; like him, we are vexed
at good, and rejoice at evil. If our neighbour loses anything, if his
affairs go wrong, if he is humbled, if he is unfortunate, we are joyful. . .
we triumph! The devil, too, is full of joy and triumph when we fall, when he
can make us fall as low as himself. What does he gain by it? Nothing. Shall
we be richer, because our neighbour is poorer? Shall we be greater, because
he is less? Shall we be happier, because he is more unhappy? O my children!
how much we are to be pitied for being like this! St. Cyprian said that
other evils had limits, but that envy had none. In fact, my children, the
envious man invents all sorts of wickedness; he has recourse to evil
speaking, to calumny, to cunning, in order to blacken his neighbour; he
repeats what he knows, and what he does not know he invents, he exaggerates.
.. . .
Through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world; and also
through envy we kill our neighbour; by dint of malice, of falsehood, we make
him lose his reputation, his place. . . . Good Christians, my children, do
not do so; they envy no one; they love their neighbour; they rejoice at the
good that happens to him, and they weep with him if any misfortune comes
upon him. How happy should we be if we were good Christians. Ah! my
children, let us, then, be good Christians and we shall no more envy the
good fortune of our neighbour; we shall never speak evil of him; we shall
enjoy a sweet peace; our soul will be calm; we shall find paradise on earth.
-Saint John Vianney on Envy
Bible Quote:
We preach Christ crucified-to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the
Gentiles foolishness. I Cor. 1:23
(d. ca. 118)
The remarkable story of Saint Eustachius, named Placidus before his
conversion, is a lesson given by God Himself on the marvels of His Divine
Providence. He was a distinguished and very wealthy officer of the Roman
army under the Emperor Trajan, in the beginning of the second century. He
practiced generous charity to the poor, although he had not yet perceived
the errors of idolatry.
One day, while this distinguished officer was vainly pursuing a deer, the
animal suddenly stood immobile before him in the light of a hilltop, and he
perceived between its horns a luminous cross. On the cross was the image of
the crucified Saviour, and a voice said to him, "I am the Christ whom you
honor without knowing it; the alms you give to the poor have reached Me."
Like Saint Paul, he fell from his horse and remained inert for a time.
Coming to himself, he said interiorly, "What is this voice I have heard? You
who speak to me, who are you, that I may believe in you?" And the Lord told
him interiorly that He was the Creator of the light, of the seasons, of man
and all things visible, that he had suffered to save the human race, died
and been buried, but had risen the third day.
This was sufficient, and the officer went home to fulfill the prescription
he had received to be baptized with his wife and two young sons. His spouse
had received a similar revelation at the same time as himself, and they all
went to the Christian authority of the region in secret, to be baptized the
same night.
In a short time he lost all his possessions through natural catastrophes and
robbers. But he had been advised beforehand that the Lord wanted to make of
him another Job, that already the ancient enemy had plotted against him, and
that he was not to allow any thought of blasphemy to arise in his heart amid
the sufferings that were awaiting him. He prayed for strength, and retired
from the region after the calamities, with his wife and children. When by
unforeseeable and extraordinary accidents, his wife and children were also
taken from him, and he believed the children dead, he was close to despair
and wished his life might end; but the warning of the Lord returned to his
mind, and he entered into the service of a land-owner of a village called
Badyssus, to tend the fields. He remained for fifteen years in this
occupation. During this time his loved ones were well and safe, all spared
in the perilous circumstances which had removed them from his sight, but
separated, each one like himself, from the three others.
In those days the empire was suffering greatly from the ravages of
barbarians, and was sinking under the assaults. The emperor Trajan had
Eustachius sought out, and when he was found, had him clothed in splendid
garments to give him command over the troops he intended to send against the
invaders. During the celebration that accompanied his return, he related to
the emperor all that had occurred to him. When the troops were being
assembled, his own sons were conscripted. Seeing them, he noticed them as
young men taller than most and of great nobility of bearing and countenance,
and kept them near him without yet recognizing them. One of the two, while
on bivouac near the very house of his own mother, who like Eustachius had
taken employment in the garden of a landowner, related the confused memories
of his childhood to his companion. Suddenly, the two brothers recognized one
another and embraced in an effusion of joy.
Their mother, by a delicate attention of Providence, had chanced to overhear
them, and reflecting on what she heard, became certain they were her own
sons. She went to the captain of the campaign to inquire about them, and
immediately recognized him. Not wishing to startle him, she began to relate
her story, identifying herself as the wife of a certain Placidus, and saying
she believed she was now in the presence of her two sons from whom she had
been separated, and whom she had not seen for long years. One must imagine
the sentiments of the captain on hearing this narration, the reunion which
followed, and the prayers of thanksgiving sent up to God by the family and
also the troops, who joined them in their joy and prayers.
Returning to Rome victorious, Eustachius was received in triumph and greatly
honored, but when commanded to sacrifice during the celebration to the false
gods, refused. The infuriated emperor Hadrian - for Trajan had died -
ordered him with his wife and children to be exposed to a starved lion. But
instead of harming these servants of God, the beast came up to them, lowered
its head as if in homage, and left the arena. The emperor, more furious
still, caused the martyrs to be shut up inside a brazen bull, under which a
fire was to be kindled that they might be roasted to death. Saint Eustachius
prayed aloud and thanked God, asking Him who had reunited them to cause that
their lives end at the same time, so they might be received together by Him
into the happiness of His presence. They expired, but neither their bodies
nor even their hair was injured. They were found entire the next day, and at
first it was believed they were still alive. Many believed in Christ through
this final miracle, which to us today seems perhaps less miraculous than the
story of their existence while alive. A church in honor of the martyrs still
exists in Rome: Saint-Eustachius in Thermis.
<><><><>
Saint Quote:
Envy is a sadness which we feel on account of the good that happens to our
neighbour.
Envy, my children, follows pride; whoever is envious is proud. See, envy
comes to us from Hell; the devils having sinned through pride, sinned also
through envy, envying our glory, our happiness. Why do we envy the happiness
and the goods of others? Because we are proud; we should like to be the sole
possessors of talents, riches, of the esteem and love of all the world! We
hate our equals, because they are our equals; our inferiors, from the fear
that they may equal us; our superiors, because they are above us. In the
same way, my children, that the devil after his fall felt, and still feels,
extreme anger at seeing us the heirs of the glory of the good God, so the
envious man feels sadness at seeing the spiritual and temporal prosperity of
his neighbour.
We walk, my children, in the footsteps of the devil; like him, we are vexed
at good, and rejoice at evil. If our neighbour loses anything, if his
affairs go wrong, if he is humbled, if he is unfortunate, we are joyful. . .
we triumph! The devil, too, is full of joy and triumph when we fall, when he
can make us fall as low as himself. What does he gain by it? Nothing. Shall
we be richer, because our neighbour is poorer? Shall we be greater, because
he is less? Shall we be happier, because he is more unhappy? O my children!
how much we are to be pitied for being like this! St. Cyprian said that
other evils had limits, but that envy had none. In fact, my children, the
envious man invents all sorts of wickedness; he has recourse to evil
speaking, to calumny, to cunning, in order to blacken his neighbour; he
repeats what he knows, and what he does not know he invents, he exaggerates.
.. . .
Through the envy of the devil, death entered into the world; and also
through envy we kill our neighbour; by dint of malice, of falsehood, we make
him lose his reputation, his place. . . . Good Christians, my children, do
not do so; they envy no one; they love their neighbour; they rejoice at the
good that happens to him, and they weep with him if any misfortune comes
upon him. How happy should we be if we were good Christians. Ah! my
children, let us, then, be good Christians and we shall no more envy the
good fortune of our neighbour; we shall never speak evil of him; we shall
enjoy a sweet peace; our soul will be calm; we shall find paradise on earth.
-Saint John Vianney on Envy
Bible Quote:
We preach Christ crucified-to the Jews a stumbling-block and to the
Gentiles foolishness. I Cor. 1:23