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THE UNIATE EASTERN CHURCHES

Italy and Sicily. There were great colonies of Jews here, among whom, as usual, the Gospel would first be preached. At the Nicene Council (325) there was present a bishop, Mark of Calabria.[1] We have still earlier evidence of Christianity in Sicily. The Roman presbyters and deacons, during the vacancy of the See after the martyrdom of St Fabian (250), write to St Cyprian: "You will have received the letter we wrote to Sicily."[2] There are Christian catacombs in the island, which appear to date from the second century. At Naples, too, are catacombs of the same time.[3]

Then for Southern Italy and Sicily we have a number of acts of martyrs. There are the acts of St Euplius ((Greek characters)) at Catana[4] in the year 304. The "Acta S. Felicis" (Bishop of Tubuza in Africa, † 303) mention Christian communities in Agrigentum, Catana, Messana, and Tauromenium.[5] The "Acta Petri et Pauli " (second or third century) speak of Chris- tians at Messana.[6] The book "Prœdestinatus" (fifth century) mentions the Bishops Eustachius of Lilybæum and Theodorus of Panormus,[7] from which Harnack concludes that it is probable that there were bishops in these cities about the year 300. The most famous Sicilian saints of the Roman persecution are St Agatha at Catana,[8] who was martyred in 251 under Decius, and St Lucy of Syracuse[9] under Diocletian (284-305). On

1 Hefele-Leclercq, "Hist. des Conciles," i, p. 411.

2 Inter ep. Cypr. xxx, 5; ed. Hartel, ii, 553.

3 Harnack, "Mission u. Ausbreitung," 501-502.

4 In the "Acta Sanctorum," Aug., vol. ii, pp. 721-722; Ruinart, "Acta Martyrum" (Regensburg, 1859, pp. 437-439); L. di Brolo, "Storia d. Chiesa in Sicilia," i, 150-154.

5 R. Knopf, "Ausgewählte Märtyreracten" (in Krüger's "Sammlung ausgew. Quellenschriften"), Tübingen and Leipzig, Mohr, 1901, pp. 85-86.

6 Ed. R. A. Lipsius and M. Bonnet, "Acta Apost. apocr." (Leipzig, 1891), Pt. I, p. 182.

7 "Prædestinatus," Lib. i, cap. 16 (P.L. liii, col. 592, B); cf. L. di Brolo, op.cit., i, 64-69.

8 "Mission u. Ausbreitung des Christentums " (Leipzig, 1902), p. 503, n. 1.

9 February 5, "Acta Sctor." February 1, pp. 621-629. There are three versions of the acts of St Agatha; the last is by Simeon Metaphrastes. L. di Brolo, op. cit., i, 89-95.

[10]

  1. ↑ 1
  2. ↑ 2
  3. ↑ 3
  4. ↑ 4
  5. ↑ 5
  6. ↑ 6
  7. ↑ 7
  8. ↑ 9
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Her acts are in Oct. Caietanus, S.J. "Vitæ Sanctorum Siculorum" (Palermo, 2 vols., fol. 1657), i, 116-118, and the "Animaduersiones," pp. 87-102. Here is the poem about her by Sigebert of Gembloux († 1112). The acts are not very authentic; so Ruinart did not include them in his collection. The prayers of her Mass and office (December 13) are in the Gregorian Sacramentary and Liber Responsalis (P.L., lxxvii, cols. 151-152; 819). See Ioh. de
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