Chapter V (5)

On leaving the novitiate at Lisbon, he went to Evora for two years, and thence to Coimbra, to study literature and philosophy. He then removed to Lisbon to teach grammar; and while thus employed, his thirst to go out as a missionary received an additional impulse from the visit of Father Balthazar da Costa, who had just returned from Madura to find recruits. To him he stated the wish of his heart, and he promised to plead his cause at Rome; the consequence of which was that a few months afterwards orders were received by the father-provincial to despatch John de Britto, along with several other young missionaries, in the first ship which should sail for Madura.

John returned hearty thanks to God for the favour, but his mother was distracted at the thought of losing her child. She appealed to the provincial, to her son himself, to the papal nuncio, and to the king, but without effect; and at length, fearing to offend God by persisting in her opposition, she offered him up as the dearest sacrifice she could render. His departure was fixed for the 25th of March, 1674. The night before, he paid a visit to his mother; but to save her the pang of parting, he forebore to tell her that it was the last. He carefully avoided any thing which might interfere with his object; and therefore, instead of joining the other missionaries, when, with a great crowd of people, they attended church on the banks of the Tagus, he embarked secretly, and only appeared when all danger of being delayed was over. He was ordained priest just before leaving.

During the voyage he won the favour of the captain, and took advantage of it to exercise his ministry with the utmost freedom. He had to preach every Sunday, taught the catechism to the ignorant and the children on board, and continually engaged the passengers and sailors in exercises of devotion.

Scarcely had the father set foot on shore, than he ran to embrace the brethren of the college. Having then paid a visit to the Blessed Sacrament, he prostrated himself at the tomb of S. Francis Xavier, thus gathering fresh ardour for his apostolic course. At Goa he commenced the austere life of the Madura missionaries,--which consists in neither eating flesh-meat nor fish, in sleeping on the ground, and walking bare-foot,--that he might be ready for his apostolate when his summons should arrive. In April, 1674, orders arrived from the father-provincial that he should set sail for Malabar, with Father Emmanuel Rodriguez and some other companions.

The mission of Madura, to which Father de Britto was called, comprised a tract of country two hundred leagues long by eighty broad. It presented the most arduous field of labour for the missionary, on account of its extent, the denseness of the population, the climate and nature of the country, and the wild beasts with which it is infested.

The inhabitants generally are very intelligent; they have made great progress in many sciences, and their Brahmins are perfectly able to sustain an argument in defence of their religion. To holiness, devotion, energy, and courage, the essential qualities of an apostle, the Indian missionary must add the advantages of a logical mind and a ready wit. But perhaps the opposition of the Brahmins is less to be feared by the missionary than the popular veneration for caste.

The first missionaries in India, not possessing caste, found it impossible to obtain a hearing. With all their holiness, earnestness, and zeal, no one would listen to a pariah. It was reserved for Father Robert de' Nobili to surmount, or at least show how to surmount, this obstacle. He was a Roman Jesuit, nephew of Cardinal Bellarmine, and grand-nephew of Pope Marcellus II. After carefully studying the peculiarities of the Brahmins, their laws, traditions, customs, and tenets, he saw the rock on which his predecessors had split. He determined to lay aside whatever should denote his European extraction, and adopt the dress and mode of life of some class of the natives possessing caste. First he appeared as a rajah, then as a secular Brahmin, with a long flowing robe and a silk shoulder-knot; but without success. He then discovered that, over and above caste, a mortified exterior is required to influence the Indians. He appeared, therefore, partly in the dress of the Samasks, or Brahmins of Penance; and in this he was completely successful. This class is in the highest repute among the natives; they are regarded as the masters of the law, and their word is final. They are distinguished by their ascetic life, and their renunciation of the pleasures of the world. They live on a little boiled rice, which they receive only once a day, at sunset. In this character Father de' Nobili converted a vast number of Brahmins.

Father de Britto approved the principle of his great predecessor, but somewhat varied his practice. He adopted the dress of the Pandarists, a sect in very great estimation on account of their ascetism; they are not held in equal honour with the Samasks, but they mix more with the various sects, and their garb therefore affords greater opportunities of intercourse with the natives. The reader then must imagine our blessed martyr for the future not in his own black habit, but in the long yellow wrapping of the Pandarist.

The Pandarists wear no other garment than a piece of yellow cloth enveloping the whole figure. This dress guards them from the dangerous rays of the tropical sun, to which they are exposed the whole day. They sometimes wear a cap, an addition absolutely necessary to the European who would avoid a stroke of the sun; but they walk barefoot, except on occasions of ceremony, and in crossing the burning sands of the country, when they adopt a sandal of a peculiar construction. It is not fastened by a strap, but attached to the foot by means of a wooden peg between two toes. This clog is of little value for purposes of travelling, as it produces violent swellings of the legs and feet; but it is useful in crossing the deserts. The Pandarists allow the beard to grow, which is a mark of distinction in India, and carry a staff as a symbol of authority. Their diet is of the plainest kind, and entirely vegetable; animal life being held too sacred among them for the purposes of food, and therefore of course interdicted to all who would adopt their mode of life.

This rigorous rule might have discouraged souls less ardent than John de Britto; but to him no sacrifice, no painfulness, seemed too great in his Master's service; and he cheerfully entered upon it, in spite of his feeble health and European constitution for the love he bore to Jesus Christ, and his yearning for the salvation of the idolators.

Father de Britto set sail from Goa for the coast of Malabar, and landed at Ignapatam; then through Tanjore, where he was detained nearly a year by illness, he passed on to Ambalgata. In the college at this station Father de Britto, after a retreat of a month, took his monastic vows, and received his appointment to the Madura mission.

He set out immediately with one other missionary and a few neophytes for Colli. They suffered excessive hardships on the route: they had to climb steep and rugged mountains, to pass through forests dense with briers and brushwood, and swarming with reptiles, to cross swollen rivers and pathless deserts; but at length they reached Colli, on the festival of S. Ignatius.

There he found the plague raging, and he made it the means of converting very many to the faith by his intrepidity in relieving the sufferers. After the pestilence had ceased, the conversions increased so rapidly, that it became necessary to divide the northern and southern district of the mission, and the latter was committed to Father de Britto.

His plan was to send on before him two or more catechists to get the work ready; so that when he arrived himself, he might proceed without loss of time. On arriving, he assembled the Christians and catechumens, and preached a sermon; then he visited the sick and dying, and baptized the infants of Christian parents; after which he entered the tribunal of penance, in which he sat often for twelve consecutive hours, for the whole neighbourhood flocked, and made their confessions to him. He preached on all Sundays and holidays, catechized the children, and passed from house to house to warn bad Christians, or to resolve the doubts of inquiring idolators. In the evenings he assembled the whole congregation to recite the rosary of the Blessed Virgin, and in this way he made a vast number of converts; and when he had stayed long enough in one place for the requirements of the people, he passed on to some other station.

In his dress of a Pandarist, De Britto always obtained a ready hearing, and hence perhaps the great success of his preaching. But in all these labours he was obliged, by the universal prejudice against the pariahs, to direct his endeavours mainly towards the conversion of the upper classes. To his great sorrow, he found that even as a Pandarist he could not openly make proselytes among that caste without exposing his religion to universal contempt. He therefore was compelled to recognise their distinctions in society for the present, in order to establish Christianity on the broader basis ultimately. But, notwithstanding, he took care to advance the cause of the pariahs, or lowest and most despised caste, by showing to the converts the universality of the Gospel of Christ; and secretly he effected many conversions among the pariahs themselves. But the caste-prejudices of the natives were so strong, that he found it impossible to overcome them; and he did not consider them incompatible with the most sincere acceptance of Christianity. As the Apostles had for a time consented to circumcision, the more effectually to recommend the new faith,--so the Indian missionaries judged it right to waive for awhile, in the infant state of Christianity in India, their objection to the social distinctions between man and man.

In addition to the natural obstacle from caste, and the ability of the Brahmins, which the Indian missionary has to encounter, the saint had to labour at a time when the whole country was convulsed with civil war. Hordes of savage Indians from the interior traversed the country; fire and the sword destroyed whole villages; and the inhabitants, being unable to take vengeance on the real aggressors, the tide of popular fury set in against the Christians. Thus it was that in many cases prosperous missions had to be given up, and the trembling Christians fled to celebrate the rites of religion in secret places. Solitary chapels rose up in the depths of the forest, or by the lone riverside, and thither the faithful repaired with their beloved pastor. But here they were exposed to a danger from which they had been free in the cities. The fury of the inundations rendered their retreats exceedingly perilous. An instance of this occurred near the river Corolam, where the Christians, who had been driven from Ginghi, erected a chapel. De Britto was praying in the chapel with sixteen of his flock, when the cry was raised that the building was surrounded with water. They tried to dam the water out, but unsuccessfully; and were compelled to construct a raft out of the beams of the roof, and upon that they floated to a wood at a little distance, situated on an eminence. There they intended to remain till the flood subsided; but they had no food; and even their place of security threatened to fail them, for the waters ran with terrible rapidity, and almost covered the hill; so one of the Christians, at the risk of his life, swam back to the chapel, and succeeded in obtaining a little rice; this, along with some bitter herbs, which they procured with difficulty, was all their sustenance during the three days they were encompassed by the floods. But this was not all; they were attacked by a number of serpents, which, driven out of their holes by the water, sought the same place of safety. But throughout his missionary career, the blessed De Britto enjoyed that power over venomous beasts which our Saviour promised to His followers, and the band of Christians were unhurt. Power over serpents gives its possessor an unbounded influence with the Indians; and this terrible situation of the little band of Christians, being perfectly well understood by the idolaters, procured for De Britto a wonderful reputation. When the waters subsided, the Christians returned to their chapel, and found it almost swept away; but the foundations remained, and they set to work with such vigour, that in a short time the walls were raised again, and the chapel was ready for the Christmas solemnity. Father de Britto, with streaming eyes, thanked God for their escape, and besought him to look down with pity upon the struggling society, and prosper the cause of Christ in his hands.

In consequence of the wonderful success of De Britto, his superiors would have made him rector of Ambalucata. This preferment he evaded; but he accepted the post of superior of both districts of the mission. His journeys now became longer and more arduous. He travelled on foot, and was detained neither by the heat of the sun nor by the floods in the rainy seasons. Rocky mountains, sandy plains, dense forests, broad and rapid rivers were traversed. At Madura, as he was preparing 200 catechumens for baptism, a band of armed men rushed upon him and took him prisoner. They struck him with their fists and with sticks, and kicked him, and threw him into a dungeon with his hands tied behind his back. But God suffered them not to hurt him; and after trying to terrify him with threats of death, they at length let him go.

Journeying northward, he made a stay at Marava of three months, in the year 1686, during which he baptized more than 2000 idolaters; but not withstanding his success he was anxious to get on, in consequence of the accounts which reached him of the ripeness of the natives for Christianity still farther north. This anxiety was the cause of a long and painful imprisonment.

At Mangalam the idolaters laid wait for the missionary, and seized him as he was entering the gates of the city. They bound him hand and foot with iron chains, and conducted him immediately to the presence of General Conmara, the first minister of state of the King of Marava. This man had an implacable hatred of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The father was first accused of being a magician; but he meekly answered that he was under no guidance of the spirit of darkness, but that he preached the law of the true God, the Maker of heaven and earth. The judge then addressed the two catechists and other churchmen who were taken with him:

"And you," he said, "what do you say?"

"We say the same," they replied.

For which answer they were all condemned to be scourged. And so cruelly were they scourged, that some of them died from the effects. The tyrant then ordered the others to be confined in dungeons, and loaded with irons. Afterwards he tried to shake the constancy of De Britto, believing that if he could gain over the leader the rest would follow. After heaping upon him insults and reproaches, he desired him to sprinkle his forehead with ashes consecrated to the idols, as that would have been tantamount to an acknowledgement of their divinity; the saint of course refused, and the judge in a fury exclaimed that he would have him torn limb from limb.

He was then beaten again, and taken back to his dungeon, laden with irons, and tied to a pillar.

On the fourth day, the persecutors tried a new kind of torture, common enough in that country. The sufferer is taken to the bank of a river, and a cord is fastened to his feet; his hands are tied behind his back, and he is then allowed to fall into the water; then an executioner jumps upon his back, and with his whole weight presses the poor victim to the bottom, where he is kept till he is almost dead; next he is dragged out gasping for breath, and before he has recovered is cast in again; and so on, at the pleasure of his executioners, always being dragged out before life is extinct. It is a torture enough to overcome the staunchest courage. Up to this moment all the companions of the blessed father had remained stedfast; but now one of them, unhappily, entreated the executioners to let him loose. The wretched man saved his life at the expense of his faith.

After enduring farther hardships for some days, the father and his fellow-sufferers were brought into the judgment-hall, where all sorts of instruments had been laid out to terrify their minds,--axes, scourges, torches, pincers, knives, and all the horrible apparatus of torture. The sight of these things, however, inspired them with fresh courage, and a more vehement desire for martyrdom; and as the spectacle had only been produced to impress their minds, they were led back again, the better rather than the worse for what they had seen. But the next day an order came for the execution; and they were taken to Paganari to be tortured and put to death. The executioners began with Valentine, a catechist; whom they led full of wounds and with one of his eyes forced out, to De Britto, and taunted the father with being the cause of the poor man's sufferings.

"He is a happy man," said Father de Britto; "when will you do the like for me?"

Amazed at fortitude such as this, the executioners perceived that while the father lived they could effect nothing by tormenting the disciples; and leaving Valentine alone, they cast themselves upon Father de Britto. Valentine's sufferings had been very great, but they had reserved a special torture for the blessed father. Hard by was a flag of pumice-stone, which the sun had heated up to blister-heat; after beating the missionary violently, they stripped off his clothes and laid him down upon this burning stone; eight of the executioners then jumped upon his body, so as to press the sharp and heated points into his back, already raw with the scourges; and then they took him by the feet and shoulders, and rubbed him up and down till his back was entirely excoriated. In this miserable plight he was left to scorch in the sun; but a charitable idolater dragged him into the shade; and a storm coming on, his murder was deferred till the following day, and he was thrown back into his dungeon, more dead than alive. Valentine's eye was miraculously cured by the blessed father.

The most ignominious death which a criminal can die in that country is by impalement; and the idolaters determined to stamp Christianity in India with infamy by subjecting its ministers to this punishment. The next morning Father de Britto and his companions were marshalled for the execution; in front marched a detachment of armed men; then followed the man of God in irons, with his eyes raised to heaven and his face beaming with joy; last came the executioners and an immense crowd of people. But Almighty God had yet work for him to do, and suspended the blow as it was about to fall. A messenger arrived from court, bearing an order to General Conmara to come immediately to the capital with all his forces, as an insurrection had broken out against the government. At this news the crowd dispersed, the soldiers made ready to march, and the officers of justice retraced their steps with their prisoner. But they revenged themselves upon him for their disappointment by ill-usage of every kind. At last, after three weeks, he was ordered up to Ramanadabouram, the capital, to see the prince.

On his arrival, he was to his astonishment received with favour by Prince Ranganadeven. He made the missionary sit by his side, and explain the principal doctrines, and practices of the Christian religion. The prince having listened, said, "I grant you your liberty, and your companions may go also: worship your God and preach His law; but do not preach it in my country. It is an excellent law; but it forbids stealing and polygamy, so it will not suit my subjects. If you dare to disobey me, depend upon it I will cut off your head." Thus De Britto obtained his liberty; and as he thought it best to obey the prince's injunctions, he left Marava.

When Father Rodriguez, Provincial of Malabar, heard of the liberation of De Britto, he summoned him to the pearl-fishery coast, to regain his strength after their labours. He obeyed, though he would rather have continued in the mission while any strength remained to him. But his journey to the coast had been ordered by God. Father Francis Paolo, who was returning to Europe in his capacity of procurator of Malabar, had been shipwrecked; and Father de Britto was sent home in his place. He left the fishery in 1687; and after a voyage of ten months he reached Lisbon in September, 1688, having been absent fourteen years and a half.

On the news of his arrival, the whole city rose to greet him, for the fame of his sanctity and heroism had reached Portugal long before. The king, whose page he had been, the infanta Isabella Louisa, the ministers of state and the grandees, the people and the religious orders, all showed him a thousand marks of respect and honour.

He maintained in Portugal the same mortified habits which he had formed in India, wore the same dress, used the same food, and slept on the bare ground. He set about the work upon which he had been sent home with great diligence; and in the college of the Jesuits which he visited, he awoke an extraordinary enthusiasm among the young men; even old priests were seized with the same fervour. Of the volunteers, Father de Britto selected six, and to that number he added several who had been missionaries, but were now occupying chairs in different universities, and whom he wanted to argue with the Brahmins.

Having once selected his band, he commenced instructing them in the details of their work; and when all things were ready, and he had obtained larger funds for the support of this increase to his mission, from the king, they set sail for India in 1690; but not without great opposition; for the King of Portugal would have retained him at home, first to superintend the education of his son, and then to promote him to a bishopric--both of which _persecutions_, however, as he called them, he happily surmounted. They started with a favourable wind, and the voyage was at first prosperous; but presently they were detained by a calm, when their provisions became tainted, and a fever broke out. The holy father fell ill, and two of his missionaries died. De Britto, writing home, gave a horrible account of that voyage, and the miseries they endured from the sickness of the crew, the stench of the vessel, the heat and cold, the contrary winds, the incessant fatigues which they all had to suffer. In his great humility he attributed them all to his own sins.

On their arrival at Goa, his return was celebrated by the whole college of Santa Fé and the Christians there with rejoicings. After a short stay, he passed on to see the Provincial at the pearl fishery, with whom he held a council on the plan of his future campaign. In consequence of the maturity of judgment, which the father displayed on this occasion, he was nominated Visitor of the mission, and immediately after Easter he set out for Madura on his new charge. Then he visited in succession all the stations, encouraged the missionaries, confirmed the faithful, and converted a great number of idolaters to the faith of Christ. But his chief longings were in the direction of Marava, where he hoped to find that palm and crown of martyrdom which five years before had fallen from his grasp. Thither accordingly he bent his steps.

The kings of Marava and Madura were still at war; and all the sufferings which he had formerly experienced under the same circumstances awaited him now upon his second arrival. Soldiers were ravaging the country, and he and his flock were compelled to skulk about in the woods. It is difficult to realize the sufferings which the holy father endured for several months with so much joy and resignation. It was his zeal for the salvation of sinners, and the numerous conversions with which God accredited his mission, that supported him under all. We should scarcely be able to credit the fact, if it had not been asserted on oath by one of the catechists in the process of Beatification; that, in the short space of ten days the blessed father administered Baptism with his own hand to twelve thousand idolaters; and more than once his right hand fell powerless through fatigue.

He established his head quarters in the principality of Mouni, on the borders of Marava. In order to obtain for the Maravians a proper place for celebrating the holy mysteries, he chose a thick forest not far from Mouni, and there constructed three chapels, to which catechists were attached for the instruction of converts in Christian doctrine; and at night the holy father came to administer the Sacraments. In a short time he gained to the faith a vast number of heathen. And Almighty God deigned to confirm the faith of these converts by the most extraordinary miracles. By the mere touch of the father, devils were cast out and the sick cured. The same power was possessed even by the catechists and neophytes. They read the Gospel over the sick, and made the sign of the Cross, and God restored them to health.

The report of these wonderful cures reached the ears of Prince Teriadeven, the real heir to the throne of Marava, now in the possession of Prince Ranganadeven the usurper, a young man who had before shown some signs of favour towards Christianity. Being taken ill, he sent to the blessed father to come and heal him. The father did not go at once himself, but sent one of his catechists, to instruct the prince in the elements of Christian doctrine, and exhort him to put his whole trust in Jesus Christ, as at once the Saviour of soul and body. The catechist went and read the Gospel to him, made him repeat the Apostles' Creed, and that instant the sickness left him.

Awed by the sudden miracle of which he had been the subject, the prince no longer delayed his resolution, but expressed his readiness at once to be baptized. He sent to the father and desired to be made a Christian, and was the more confirmed in his desire when he had witnessed on the feast of Epiphany a large assembly of the faithful, and the holy sacrament of Baptism conferred upon two hundred catechumens. But the missionary, who knew him to be possessed of five wives, replied that he could not conscientiously grant him so great a favour until he had put away all save one, with the firm resolution of adhering to her alone for the remainder of his life. The noble Indian upon the spot sent for his wives, selected the first of the five, who herself wished to be a Christian, and informed the others of the resolution he had taken in consequence of his miraculous cure by the holy missionary. Stupefied at this announcement, they assailed the prince, now with tears and caresses, then with threats and reproaches; but nothing could change his resolution; and they went away transported with fury against Father de Britto, whom they looked upon as the author of their calamity.

Teriadeven received baptism solemnly with two hundred of his court. This was in the beginning of 1693. Immediately after the ceremony he returned to Mouni, where a great multitude awaited baptism. The joy of the Church was raised to its highest pitch by these glorious conversions, and by the prospect of greater still, when suddenly there burst out the most terrible persecution that had yet fallen upon them. It confounded in its fury the whole of that infant society, and tore from them their sole support, the holy father, to whom they owed their birth unto Jesus Christ, and whose hour of martyrdom had at length arrived.

In every one of the four wives put away by Prince Teriadeven, Father de Britto had raised up an enemy, who would be satisfied with no sacrifice short of his life. But among them all the youngest, who happened to be the usurper's niece, was the most furious. In a transport of rage she ran to her uncle and told him of the outrage she had suffered from the European. Then she appealed to the Brahmins, who hated him too bitterly to remain deaf to her cries. They had long nourished their thirst for revenge, and now they saw an opportunity of slaking it. A consultation was held as to the best course to be pursued, and it was decided that they should go in a body to the king, and make a formal complaint against Father de Britto. They selected Pomparanam to be their spokesman, an old man, and very spiteful, who pronounced a set speech on the occasion.

The king saw perfectly well through the motives of the Brahmins in thus taking up the woman's cause; but as the honour of his own family was concerned in the person of his niece, he acceded to their request. He ordered the Christians to be fined, and their houses to be burnt. The father had foreseen the storm that was gathering, and had warned his flock of the danger, but they all refused to fly. They determined to stand by their dear master, upon whom they knew the great fury of the persecution would fall, and if God required it, die with him. The king despatched four companies of soldiers to seize the missionary. Three of them advanced to the chapels which he had built in the woods, where they arrested the catechists who were in charge of them. The fourth hastened to Mouni, and there they found the holy father. It was the morning of the 8th of January, and he was offering, as was his wont, the Holy Sacrifice, when God revealed to him what was coming; and after Mass he addressed the people, and said that those who had not courage to give up their lives in testimony to the faith of Jesus Christ, had better depart at once and hide themselves. He pronounced these words in so decided and significant a manner, that they all perceived he had received some definite intelligence, and, seized with a sudden panic, they all dispersed except one Brahmin, a convert, and two children, who preferred remaining with him. In the evening, warning came of the approach of a troop of mounted soldiery. He knew their errand, and raising his eyes towards heaven, he offered up his life as a sacrifice to God, and went forth to meet them. They seized him violently, and led him off with his three companions.

In a neighbouring village, there was being celebrated at that time a grand festival to one of their gods. Thither on their arrival they drew the Christian victims, and harnessed them to the triumphal car of the idol, and exposed them to the jeers of the multitude. Next day they were taken to the royal city of Ramanadabouram, and there the saint was incarcerated in a filthy hovel, and with him the three catechists who had been arrested in the forest chapels. The holy father embraced them, and exhorted them to continue firm to the end. The heroism of the two children is especially recorded. They animated each other to suffer for Jesus Christ.

The imprisonment lasted for several days. Teriadeven only heard of their captivity when it was too late to avert it; but he gave orders that they should be treated with kindness till the king's wishes should be known. Those orders, however, were not attended to, and the brutal jailors amused themselves with the sufferings of the martyrs, and fed them with food which the soldiers rejected.

At last the prisoners were brought before the chief minister of state. A small crucifix had been found upon De Britto, and the judge asked him what that image represented. "It is the image of my God," said the father, "who being immortal and impassible in his own nature, was made man, and died upon a cross to rescue us from the slavery of the devil." At these words the impious wretch threw it down upon the ground in contempt, and stamped upon it with his feet. The holy man, although chained and bound, fell upon his knees, and crawling with difficulty to the crucifix, pressed it to his breast, and watered it with tears, in reparation of the insult. There was a great crowd of spectators present, who regarded this action as a contempt of court, and loudly demanded sentence. But the judge, not knowing what to say, ordered the confessors back to prison, and there they remained for a month.

Prince Teriadeven boldly pleaded their cause before the king, in face of the personal danger he incurred by his advocacy of the Christians. Ranganadeven, in a rage, ordered him at once to adore the gods. The prince refused, and said he would rather die than again offer the worship to idols which was due only to Jesus Christ. The tyrant answered that he would soon show which religion was the most powerful, and forthwith gave orders to the magicians to prepare a certain incantation considered infallible in its operation, to cause the death of the missionary. The incantation failed, to the shame of the king, and the discomfiture of his priests; and Father de Britto was sent for, and asked whether the failure of the sorcerers was owing to the enchanted book, meaning the Breviary, which he was still allowed to retain in his possession. The missionary replied that that book was devoted to the praise of God, and to nothing so hateful as sorcery. The tyrant ordered the book to be hung round his neck, and the executioners to shoot at him in the market-place: "And we shall see," said he "whether your God can deliver you." He was led away, and the soldiers were taking aim, when Teriadeven broke through their ranks, and ordered them to desist. They obeyed, knowing him to be the true owner of the crown; and as he was very popular, the tyrant feared a revolt if he should persist in the execution. De Britto's death was accordingly again deferred; and the tyrant ordered him to be sent to Oureiadeven, his brother, who lived at Orejour, a distance of two days' journey from the court, with instructions that he should be put to death on his arrival.

The father rejoiced when he heard whither he was going, for he knew that it was to die; but he wept at leaving his dear companions; they separated, never more to meet again in this world. He had to travel barefoot, tightly bound, and surrounded by guards, who hurried him over rocks and briers, through sand and brushwood. The blood gushed from the wounds he had received in prison, and from his torn and blistered feet; but instead of receiving pity from these wretches, they heaped abuse upon him. On his journey, the Christians assembled to see him pass, and receive his blessing.

He arrived at Orejour on the last day of January, and was immediately taken before Oureiadeven, the king's brother. This prince laboured under an incurable leprosy. Having heard of the missionary's gift of miracles, he doubted not that he would gladly purchase his life by exerting it for his cure. The father replied, that it appertained to God alone to cure disease; all that he could do was to apply the remedies, and entreat Almighty God to bless them; and he added, that if the prince desired to be made whole of his bodily disease, he must first heal the sickness of his soul, by accepting the true faith. When the prince saw that nothing would move the holy man, he turned to one of his suite named Margharittei, and bade him cut off his head upon the spot. Margharittei answered, that he was a Christian himself, and nothing would induce him to imbrue his hands in innocent blood. Then the prince's own wife rushed in, and threatened her husband with the judgments of heaven if he dared to execute the sentence of the king. Moved by these remonstrances, he ordered the servant of God to be carried back to his dungeon.

As soon as this got abroad, the Brahmins, fearing that their prey might escape their hands, went to the governor of the town, who was a bitter enemy of the Christians, and represented the case to him. Mourougapapoullei, for that was his name, instantly demanded an audience of the prince, and in the strongest terms reproached him for not obeying the commands of the king. The cowardly prince yielded through fear of the king's displeasure, and granted the governor leave to execute the sentence of death. It was on the morning of the 4th of February, being Ash-Wednesday, that the servant of God was apprised of his final sentence. At the joyful news, his countenance lighted up; he fell on his knees, and returned thanks to God. Then rising up, he said to the executioners, "I am ready." He walked to the place of execution without restraint, and with his Breviary hanging from his neck, his eyes fixed on heaven, and his steps so rapid that his guards were compelled to restrain him. Along the road a multitude of the faithful were waiting to see him pass.

The spot which had been selected for the martyrdom was a little hill by the bank of the river, not far from the city. On arriving there he was allowed by the guards to retire for a short time to pray. The executioner who at that moment came up, seeing the servant of God absorbed in prayer, was afraid to disturb him. More than a quarter of an hour had elapsed, when the son of the prince ran up and reprimanded the executioner for his delay in executing the sentence. Then the holy man approached the side of the river, and, after embracing the executioner, knelt down, and holding out his head, said, "I am ready; do as you are commanded." The executioner drew his scymitar, and raising his arm, was about to give the fatal blow, when he perceived the martyr's reliquary hanging by a cord from his neck. Taking it for granted that it was some charm which would ward off the stroke, he had first to remove it; but he durst not take it away with his hand, lest he should be bewitched. He therefore severed the string with the scymitar, and made a frightful gash on the breast and shoulder. The holy martyr offered to God the first fruits of his sacrifice; and then the executioner, no longer fearing any amulet to turn the edge of his weapon, raised the scymitar and hewed off his head.

This glorious triumph of the faith of Jesus Christ took place at Marava, on the 4th of February, 1693.

After Father de Britto's death the executioner drove a stake into the ground, on which he impaled the body; and having cut off the hands and feet, he hung them, along with the head, from the waist. The faithful tried hard to obtain possession of the relics, but in vain; they were too well guarded by the soldiers. His crucifix the martyr had given to a faithful convert, who transmitted it to Father Laine, and from his hands it reached his house of profession in Paris. And all that could be collected of the clothing, writing, objects of devotion, and instruments of penance were forwarded to the same father, by whom they were laid up in the Jesuit Church at Pondicherry, and thence they found their way to Goa. But it was some time before any fragments of the body fell into the hands of the Christians. The soldiers kept guard over the body while it remained impaled on the stake; but at last a violent storm came on, and the cord which supported the head and hands broke; the head rolled into the river, and was saved; but wild beasts preyed upon the body. When the soldiers had retired, the catechists came and gathered up all they could find of the body. In the river they discovered the head; they bought the stake, on which his limbs had been impaled, of the soldiers, and the scymitar of the executioner; this scymitar Father John de Corte brought with him to Europe a few years afterwards, and presented it to the king of Portugal, Pedro II. And these are all the relics that remain of the blessed Father John de Britto.

[12] 'Annales Archeologiques,' Tom. xxiii. p. 232.

[13] "Vie des Saints" Tom. ix. p. 22.

[14] Elmasini 'Hist. Sarac.' Lugd. Batav. 1625, p. 267.

[15] This article is condensed from an article by the Author in the Quarterly Review for October, 1867, on "Portraits of Christ."

[16] For information on this Order, see Jan. 15, S. Alexander.

[17] See for more information on the Iconoclastic heresy the life of S. Tarasius, Feb. 25th.

[18] This very term "Symbol of Christ," as applied to the Holy Eucharist, is indication of heretical views on the Presence.

[19] Gofredus in Vita S. Bernardi.

[20] Eugenius III.

February 5.

S. AGATHA, _V. M. at Catania_, A.D. 251.
S. AGRICOLAUS, _B. of Utrecht, beginning of 5th cent._
S. AVITUS, _B. of Vienne, in France, circ._ A.D. 524.
S. GENUINE, _B. of Savio, circ._ A.D. 640.
S. BERTULF, _Ab. at Ghent; beginning of 8th cent._
SS. INDRACT, DOMINICA AND COMPANIONS, _MM. at Glastonbury,
beginning of 8th cent._
S. VODAL, _Mk. at Soissons, beginning of 8th cent._
SS. DOMITIAN, _Duke of Carinthia, and_ MARY, _his wife,
beginning of 9th cent._
S. POLYEUCTUS, _Patr. of Constantinople_, A.D. 970.
S. ADELHEID, _V. Abss. at Villich; circ._ A.D. 1015.
SS. JAPANESE MARTYRS, _at Nangasaki_, A.D. 1592-1642.

S. AGATHA, V. M.

(A.D. 251.)

[Roman Martyrology and all others. Famous also among the Greeks.
There are various editions of the Acts of her Martyrdom in Latin and
in Greek. The latter are not as trustworthy as the former, which are
very ancient, and though apparently tampered with by copyists, are
on the whole to be relied upon. The Latin Acts were written by
eye-witnesses, as appears from a passage in them, "From this we
supposed he was her angel." There is an older version of the Greek
Acts than that given by Metaphrastes (fl. 867), and there is a
sermon on S. Agatha by S. Methodius. The name of S. Agatha occurs in
the Canon of the Roman Mass; among the first five Virgin Saints
enumerated in _Nobis quoque peccatoribus_.]

The honour of being the birth-place of S. Agatha is claimed by Catania and Palermo, in Sicily. The probabilities in favour of either are nearly equally divided, though there seems to be a slight superiority in the claims of Catania. It certainly was the scene of her martyrdom, which took place during the persecution of Decius in A.D. 251, as all her acts testify. If these are not in all particulars to be relied on, their main facts seem to be pretty well established. According to these, S. Agatha was the daughter of an illustrious and wealthy house in Sicily, and was famed for her beauty and her gentle and amiable manners. But her love was consecrated to God from her very earliest youth. Quintianus the Consular of Sicily, as the Governor was then called, admired her exceedingly, and the holy virgin retired to Palermo to avoid his importunities. As often happened in those days of heathen cruelty, his love was turned into hatred when he discovered that she was a Christian. She was seized and brought to Catania; and all the way thither she could only weep and pray to the Lord to strengthen her for the conflict which awaited her. Every means was tried during the space of a month to prevail on her to forget her vow; but she was supported by continual prayer, and at last came off victorious from this lingering martyrdom. She was privately examined before Quintianus as to her faith, and confessed Christ with undaunted firmness, declaring the service of the Lord Jesus to be the highest nobility and the truest freedom: she was then sent to prison, to which she went joyfully, recommending herself to God, and entreating His aid. The day after she was tortured on the rack, and suffered with calmness and constancy. And, when she was put to the cruel torment of having her breasts cut off, she mildly reproached the inhuman Quintianus with the remembrance of his own infancy, and with the tenderness of his mother. She was then led again to prison, and all sustenance and medical aid were denied her. Four days afterwards she was put to still further tortures, and then, being taken back to prison, sweetly fell asleep in the Lord, and was buried by the people with great honour.

Relics in Catania, and some in the Church of S. Méry, at Paris.

Patroness of Catania, La Mirandola, and the Order of Malta.

In Art S. Agatha is represented as a majestic virgin wearing a long veil, and over this, in early figures, a crown, the symbol of her victory over death; she usually holds a clasped book in her left hand, and a palm branch in the right; occasionally the place of this latter emblem is supplied by a pair of pincers, having a nipple between the teeth, in allusion to the fearful torture to which she was subjected. Sometimes she carries both her breasts cut off in a dish, or a sword is passed through them.

S. AVITUS, B. OF VIENNE, C.

(ABOUT 524.)

[Not to be confounded with S. Avitus, P. of Orleans, commemorated on
June 27th. Roman Martyrology, Usuardus, Gallican, German, and
others. Commemorated at Vienne on August 20th. Authorities:--S.
Gregory of Tours, Hist. lib. i. c. 2; and his successor Ennodius.]

S. Avitus was the son of S. Hesychius, archbishop of Vienne after S. Mammertus, who baptized him. He succeeded his father in the archiepiscopal throne in 490. Ennodius, his successor, says that he was a treasure of learning and piety; and adds that the Burgundians having crossed the Alps, and carried off a large number of captives, this holy prelate spent all his revenue in redeeming as many as he could. Clovis, king of France, though still a pagan, and Gundebald, king of Burgundy, though an Arian, held him in high veneration. The latter, for fear of offending his subjects, durst not embrace the Catholic faith, he nevertheless did all in his power to advance the cause of Catholicism, and in a public conference at Lyons, in his presence, S. Avitus boldly proclaimed the divinity of Christ and reduced the Arian bishops to silence. Gundebald died in 516. His successor Sigismond was brought over by S. Avitus to the true faith. When this king had executed his son Sigeric on a false charge, brought against him by his stepmother, S. Avitus wrought by his exhortations so great a change in the passionate prince, that he retired to Agaunum, now S. Maurice, in the Valais, where he lived the life of a recluse in a cell on the face of the precipice above the monastery he had built at its foot.

Most of the works of S. Avitus have been lost, but a poem by him in praise of virginity, some epistles, and fragments of homilies remain. It is a blot on the memory of the saint, that with fulsome flattery he excused the murder of his brothers by Gundebald. See June 3, p. 26.

S. BERTULF, AB.

(BEGINNING OF 8TH CENT.)

[Additions to Usuardus and some editions of the Martyrology of Bede.
No authentic account of S. Bertulf exists. All known of him is from
a life written in 1703, from old materials, but of what authority it
is impossible to decide.]

S. Bertulf is said to have been an abbot at Renescure, where the church is dedicated to him. He is regarded also as the patron of Harlebeke, near Courtrai. Renescure is a village on the canal between Aire and S. Omer. His body was taken to Ghent, where it was enshrined in an iron coffin, and for many centuries it was believed that on the approach of danger to the city, the dead abbot knocked against the side of his iron shrine. His bones were scattered by the Calvinists in 1578. S. Bertulf is represented in art in monastic habit distributing alms, with an eagle over his head with wings expanded, a legend relating that he was thus protected from rain in a heavy shower.

SS. INDRACT AND COMPANIONS, MM.

(BEGINNING OF 8TH CENT.)

[Ancient English Martyrologies. Authority:--William of Malmesbury,
and Capgrave.]

Of old, on the 5th of February, were commemorated in the famous monastery of Glastonbury, S. Indract, S. Dominica, and nine companions, martyrs. He was of royal extraction, son of one of the kings of Ireland; but quitted all this world could give for the love of God. He left his country, with his sister Dominica or Drusa, and seven, or according to another account nine, companions, and settled at Skipwith near Glastonbury, in Somersetshire, where they lived a retired and eremitical life. At length, some wicked men, thinking to meet with great booty, murdered them at night; and to conceal their villainy, cast the bodies into a deep pit. But a column of light standing over the place warned the neighbours that some sacred bodies lay there, and the relics were removed to Glastonbury, in the reign of king Ina.

S. ADELHEID, V. ABSS. OF VILLICH.

(ABOUT A.D. 1015.)

[Cologne Kalendar, and additions to Usuardus. Commemorated with
special office at Villich on the Rhine, opposite Bonn. She is
variously called Adelheid, Alkeid, Adelaide, Alheidis, and Aleidis.
Her local name at Villich is S. Alen. Her life was written by a
contemporary, one Bertha, a nun in her convent.]

This holy virgin was the daughter of a Count Megingand of Gueldres, and became abbess of the convent of Villich, founded by her father and mother. Her piety, charity, and gravity are celebrated by Bertha, the nun who wrote her life. She died in 1015. The church and nunnery were burnt in the war between Truchsess Gerhard, the apostate archbishop of Cologne, and the archduke Ernest of Bavaria, and again by the Swedes in the Thirty years' war. It is not known what has become of her relics.

THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN.

(A.D. 1597.)

[Roman Martyrology. Pope Urban VIII beatified 26 of these martyrs in
1627. On June 8, 1862, the twenty-six were canonized as Saints.
These were Peter Baptist, Martin d'Aguera, Francis Blanco, Philip de
Las Casas, Gonzalez Garcia, Francis de S. Miguel, all of the Order
of S. Francis; Cosmo Tachegia, Michael Cozaki, Paul Ibarki, Leo
Carasumo, Louis, a child, Antony, a child, Thomas Cozaki, also a
child; Matthias, Ventura, Joachim Saccakibara, Francis Miaco, Thomas
Dauki, John Kimoi, Gabriel Duisco, Paul Suzuki, Francis and Paul
Sukegiro, all these Japanese; also Paul Miki, John de Gota, and
James Quigai, Japanese Jesuits. Authorities: Numerous contemporary
accounts. The following account is epitomised from the history of
the Japanese missions by Miss Cecilia M. Caddell. In the brief space
accorded us it is impossible to give anything like a full account of
this wonderful history. We refer our readers to Miss Caddell's most
interesting account.]