Posted in MARTYRS, SAINT of the DAYSain/s of the Day – 22 August – St Timothy and Companions, St Hippolytus and Symphorian
Saints of the Day – 22 August – St Timothy and Companions – they were + St Hippolytus of Porto and + St Symphorian of Autun. The three died at different times in different places but all on the same date, that is, 22 August – Martyrs.
The Roman Martyrology reads of these three today:
St Timothy – “At Rome, on the Ostian road, the birthday of the holy Martyr, Timothy. After he had been arrested by Tarquinius, Prefect of the City and kept for a long time in prison, as he refused to sacrifice to the idols, he was scourged three times, subjected to the most severe torments and finally beheaded.”
St Hippolytus – “At Porto, St Hippolytus, Bishop, most renowned for learning. Having gloriously confessed the Faith, in the time of the Emperor Alexander, he was bound hand and foot, precipitated into a deep ditch filled with water and thus received the Palm of Martyrdom. His body was buried by the Christians at that place.”
St Symphorian – “At Autun, St Symphorian, a Martyr in the time of the Emperor, Aurelian. Refusing to offer sacrifices to the idols, he was first scourged then confined in prison and finally ended his Martyrdom by being beheaded.”
The Martyrdom of Saint Symphorian, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres
Timothy (Timotheus), Hippolytus of Rome and Symphorian (Symphorianus, Symphorien), are three Martyrs who, although they were unrelated and were Martyred in different places and at different times, shared a common Feast day in the General Roman Calendar from at least the 1568 Tridentine calendar to the Mysterii Paschali (i.e. Paul VI – Vatican II).
Timothy of Antioch came to Rome in 310 and was Martyred in 311. He was cruelly beaten and quicklime was sprinkled over his torn flesh. At last he was beheaded.
On the same date at Ostia, Hippolytus, Bishop of Porto, was thrown into a hole filled with water and received the Crown of Martyrdom about 225.
Again on the same day, about 180, under the reign of Aurelian, Symphorian, who was still a young man, was beheaded at Autun. While he went to execution his mother said to him: “My son, my son, remember eternal life; look up to Heaven and see the One Who reigns there; life is not taken from thee, it is exchanged for a better one.”
Collect:
Deny us not, Thy aid, O merciful Lord but listening to the prayers of Thy blessed Martyrs Timothy, Hippolytus and Symphorian, stretch forth over us, the Right Hand of Thy merciful forgiveness. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
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NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)
First Reading:
From: Ezekiel 36:23-28
Restoration; return from exile
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[23] And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. [24] For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land.
Inner renewal
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[25] I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. [26] A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. [28] You shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
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Commentary:
36:16-39:29. In this second last section of the book, the prophet uses a series of metaphors to paint the scene of a restored Israel. The oracles have an eschatological dimension to them, particularly the latter ones (38:1-39:29).
Overall, what we are given here is a song celebrating hope; nothing is impossible to the Lord: he is able to renew Israel (36:16-38), by giving her a new heart and a new spirit (v. 25); he can make the people come back to life (37:1-14); and the unity between this new people and their Lord will he almost like the way things were in Eden (37:15-28) -- so wonderful that it will astonish the nations (37:28). The final oracles (38:1-39:29) are a dramatic climax that convey an idea of the vicissitudes of the chosen people up to when their fortunes will be permanently restored. The empires seem to be those determining the course of events, but that is not the case: the Lord is always in control and, when the end comes, his victory will be so amazing that not only Israel but all other nations, too, will know that he truly is the Lord.
36:16-38. In these oracles, which continue the proclamation of Israel’s restoration-purification, we can see the core of Ezekiel’s teaching, namely, that the Lord, who is above all things, is the one who determines the election, punishment and restoration of his people. People have an obligation to accept the gifts that God offers; they must acknowledge that the Lord is sovereign and free, and render him due worship. This teaching can be seen in the announcement about restoration and a return to the promised land (vv. 16—24) and in the Lord’s promise of inner renewal (vv. 25-38).
“They defiled it by their ways” (v. 17): the people’s straying, their sins, defiled the promised land, the most precious of all the gifts God had given them. As Ezekiel explains it, their exile was a necessary punishment (v. 19), but it is also a condition for restoring to the land its lost honour.
“The holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations” (v. 22): when the pagan nations saw the Israelites being deported, they thought that the God of Israel had been defeated or, at least, that he had failed to protect his people. In this sense the exile caused the name of the Lord to he profaned among the nations. The return of the people to the promised land was a necessary part of their deliverance (v. 24). but it was also needed to vindicate the name of the Lord (v. 22). This “theology” of the Name of God carries over into the New Testament, where we find it as a petition in the Our Father (cf. Mt 6:9; Lk 11:2, and from there it becomes part of the whole Christian tradition. The Catechism of the Council of Trent has this to say about these verses of Ezekiel: “Many people judge the truth of religion and of its Author by the deeds and lives of Christians. Those who truly profess their faith and put it into practice in their lives carry out the most valuable apostolate, provoking in others the desire to glorify the name of the heavenly Father” (“Roman Catechism,” 4, 10, 9).
“You shall be clean[sed]” (v. 25): Ezekiel views the renewal of Israel from the perspective of divine worship -- sprinkling with water and other purification rites being a sign of inner change. This passage can be read as an announcement of the effects of Baptism: “Baptism, by the power of God, remits and pardons all sin -- the original sin that we inherited from our first parents, and all our peronal sins, no matter how grave and terrible they may seem to us, no matter how grave and terrible they were. This truth was foretold long ago by the prophet Ezekiel, through whom the Lord God spoke: I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses (Ezek 36:25)” (ibid., 2, 2, 42).
“A new heart” and “a new spirit” (v. 26): renewal affects a person’s disposition (heart) and motivation (spirit). The Israelites will have a completely new life-force: as a result, their conduct will be perfect (v. 27), the Covenant will never again be broken (v. 28), and the land, also cleansed of defilement, will he abundant in the fruit it yields (v. 30).
God’s patent initiative in repatriating and renewing Israel is a proof of his disinterested love for his people. Jesus makes this very clear, for example, in his discourse on the bread of life: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Jn 6:44). “Our salvation flows from God’s initiative of love for us, because ‘he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins’ (Jn 4:10)’’ (“Catechism of the Catholic Church,” 620).
The Martyrdom of Saint Symphorian, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres