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History of the Franks
St Gregory of Tours, tr. Dalton, 1927
Book 1, 30. Of the Seven Sent to Preach in Gaul
Under the emperor Decius there arose many wars against the Christian name, and the believers were slaughtered in such numbers that they could not be counted. Babillas, bishop of Antioch, with three children, Urbanus, Prilidanus, and Epolon; further, Xystus, bishop of the Church of Rome, Laurentius the archdeacon, and Hippolytus, attained the martyr’s end, confessing the name of the Lord. Valentinianus and Novatianus were now the chief leaders of the heretics, and under the impulsion of the Enemy, raged against our faith. At this time seven men consecrated as bishops were sent into Gaul to preach, as we read in the history of the Passion of the holy martyr Saturninus. It is there written: ‘In the consulate of Decius and Gratus, as is faithfully recorded, the city of Toulouse had already its first and greatest bishop in the holy Saturninus.’ These are the names of those who were sent: to Tours, Bishop Catinus;1 to Arles, Bishop Trophimus; to Narbonne, Bishop Paulus; to Toulouse, Bishop Saturninus; to Paris, Bishop Dionysius; to Clermont, Bishop Stremonius; to Limoges, Bishop Martialis. Of these, the blessed Dionysius, bishop of Paris, after enduring divers torments for the name of Christ, ended this present life under the sword. Saturninus, when he was certain of his martyrdom, said to two of his priests: ‘Behold now am I made a sacrifice, and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I pray you that until my destined end be accomplished, ye leave me not wholly.’ But when he had been arrested and was being led to the Capitol, he was dragged thither alone, for these twain forsook him. When therefore he saw that they had abandoned him, he is said to have prayed after this manner: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, hear me from Thy holy heaven, and grant that to the end of time this Church may never have a citizen of Toulouse for her bishop.’ And we know that it hath never so befallen in that city until the present time. Saturninus was bound at the heels of a maddened bull and driven headlong from the Capitol, so ending his life. Gatianus, Trophimus, Stremonius, Paul, and Martial, after lives passed in the greatest sanctity, during which they won over much people to the Church, and spread the faith of Christ on every hand, passed from the world in the glad confession of their faith. In this wise leaving this earth, the first as martyrs, the rest as confessors, they were all together united in heaven.
Notes
- This should be Gatianus.