“. . . The Love That Asks No Question, The Love That Stands The Test . . .” “I Vow To Thee, My Country”.

“I Vow To Thee, My Country”.

Available On YouTube

HERE

“I Vow To Thee, My Country” is a British Hymn 

created in 1921, when a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice 

was set to music by Gustav Holst. 

The origin of the Hymn’s text is a poem by diplomat Sir Cecil Spring Rice, which he wrote in 1908 or 1912, entitled Urbs Dei (“The City of God”) or “The Two Fatherlands”. 

The poem described how a Christian owes his loyalties 

to both his Homeland and the Heavenly Kingdom. 

In 1908, Spring Rice was posted to the British Embassy in Stockholm. In 1912, he was appointed as Ambassador 

to the United States of America, where he influenced the administration of Woodrow Wilson to abandon neutrality 

and join Britain in the War against Germany. 

After the United States entered the War, he was recalled to Britain. Shortly before his departure from the United States 

in January 1918, he re-wrote and renamed “Urbs Dei”, significantly altering the first verse to concentrate on the themes of love and sacrifice, rather than “the noise of battle” and “the thunder of her guns”, creating a more sombre tone in view of the dreadful loss of life suffered in The Great War. 

The first verse in both versions invokes Britain (in the 

1912 version “Britannia with Sword and Shield”, in 

the second version simply called “My Country”, 

the second verse “the Kingdom of Heaven”. 

According to Sir Cecil’s grand-daughter, the re-written 

verse of 1918 was never intended to appear alongside the first verse of the original poem, but was replacing it; the original first verse is nevertheless sometimes known 

as the “rarely-sung middle verse”.

 

The text of the original poem was sent by Spring Rice 

to William Jennings Bryan in a Letter shortly before 

his death in February 1918. 

The poem circulated privately for a few years, 

until it was set to music by Holst, to a tune he adapted 

from his “Jupiter” [Editor: In “The Planets Suite”] 

to fit the words of the poem. 

It was performed as a unison song with orchestra 

in the Early-1920s, and it was finally published 

as a Hymn in 1925 in the “Songs of Praise” Hymnal.

Lyrics.

I vow to thee, my Country, all Earthly things above,

entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

that lays upon the Altar the dearest and the best;

the love that never falters, the love that pays the price,

the love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,

that lays upon the Altar the dearest and the best;

I vow to thee, my Country, all Earthly things above,

entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:

And there’s another Country I’ve heard of long ago,

most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;

we may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

and Soul by Soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

and her ways are ways of gentleness 

and all her paths are peace.

We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;

her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;

and Soul by Soul and silently her shining bounds increase,

and her ways are ways of gentleness 

and all her paths are peace.

“I Vow To Thee My Country”.

Available On YouTube

HERE

“. . . Tranquil You Lie, Your Knightly Virtue Proved . . .” “O Valiant Hearts”.

“O Valiant Hearts”.

“O Valiant Hearts” is a Hymn 

remembering The Fallen of the First World War. 

It often features prominently in annual 

Remembrance Day Services in the United Kingdom 

and the British Commonwealth. 

Words were taken from a poem by Sir John Stanhope Arkwright (1872 – 1954), published in  “The Supreme Sacrifice”, and other Poems in “Time of War” (1919). 

It was set to music by the Rev. Dr. Charles Harris (1865 - 1936), who was Vicar of Colwall, Herefordshire, between 1909 - 1929. 

It is to his tune, referred to as “Harris”, 

or sometimes “The Supreme Sacrifice”, 

that the Hymn is now almost always sung.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Lyrics.

O valiant hearts who to your glory came

Through dust of conflict and through battle flame;

Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved,

Your memory hallowed in the land you loved.

Proudly you gathered, rank on rank, to war

As who had heard God’s message from afar;

All you had hoped for, all you had, you gave,

To save mankind — yourselves you scorned to save.

Splendid you passed, the great surrender made;

Into the light that nevermore shall fade;

Deep your contentment in that blest abode,

Who wait the last clear trumpet call of God.

Long years ago, as earth lay dark and still,

Rose a loud cry upon a lonely hill,

While in the frailty of our human clay,

Christ, our Redeemer, passed the self same way.

Still stands His Cross from that dread hour to this,

Like some bright star above the dark abyss;

Still, through the veil, the Victor’s pitying eyes

Look down to bless our lesser Calvaries.

These were His servants, in His steps they trod,

Following through death the martyred Son of God:

Victor, He rose; victorious too shall rise

They who have drunk His cup of sacrifice.

O risen Lord, O Shepherd of our dead,

Whose cross has bought them and whose staff has led,

In glorious hope their proud and sorrowing land

Commits her children to Thy gracious hand.

Source: HYMNARY.ORG

“O Valiant Hearts”.

The National Youth Choir of Scotland perform 

“O Valiant Hearts” as part of the Passchendæle Centenary 

Commemoration events, Ypres, Belgium, July 2017.

Prince-Bishops.

Coat-of-Arms of Cambrai.

Bishopric, then Archbishopric.

To France by 1678 Peace of Nijmegen.

Date: 23 January 2017.

Source: Own work.

Author Nomadic1

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

A Prince-Bishop is a Bishop who is also the Civil Ruler of some secular Principality and Sovereignty, as opposed to Prince of The Church, itself, a title associated with Cardinals.

Since 1951, the sole extant Prince-Bishop has been the Bishop of Urgell, Catalonia, who has remained, Ex-Officio, one of two Co-Princes of Andorra, along with the French president.[1][2]

In the West, with the decline of Imperial Power from the 4th-Century A.D., onwards, in the face of the barbarian invasions, sometimes Christian Bishops of Cities took the place of the Roman commander, made secular decisions for the City and led their own troops when necessary.

English: Coat-of-Arms of the Diocese of the former

Prince-Bishopric and Bishopric of Fulda.

Deutsch: Wappen des Bistums bzw. des ehemaligen Fürstbistums und Hochstiftes; Fulda.

Date: 29 December 2010.

Source: Own work.

Author: David Liuzzo

(Wikimedia Commons)

Later relations between a Prince-Bishop and the Burghers were invariably not cordial. As Cities demanded Charters from Emperors, Kings, or their Prince-Bishops and declared themselves independent of the secular territorial magnates, friction intensified between Burghers and Bishops.

The Principality or Prince-Bishopric (Hochstift), ruled politically by a Prince-Bishop, could wholly or largely have overlapped with his Diocesan jurisdiction, but some parts of his Diocese, even the City of his residence, could have been exempt from his Civil Rule, obtaining the status of Free Imperial City.

The Prince Bishops of Durham.

Durham Cathedral Guide, Maureen Potter.

Available on YouTube

HERE

If the Episcopal See was an Archbishopric, the correct term was Prince-Archbishop; the equivalent in the Regular (Monastic) Clergy was Prince-Abbot. A Prince-Bishop was usually considered an Elected Monarch.

With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the title finally became defunct in the Confederation of the Rhine. 

However, in respect to the lands of the former Holy Roman Empire outside of French control, such as the Habsburg Monarchy, including Austria proper (Salzburg, Seckau), the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (the bulk of Olomouc and parts of Breslau), as well as in respect to the parts of the 1795-partitioned Polish State, including those forming part of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria or those acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia, the position continued in some cases nominally and was sometimes transformed into a new, titular type, initially recognised by the German Empire and Austria-Hungary until their demise, with the title ultimately abolished altogether by the Pope in 1951.

Saint Theodore. Martyr. Feast Day 9 November. Red Vestments.

Text is from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

Saint Theodore.
   Martyr.
   Feast Day 9 November.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

Saint Theodore of Amasea (Pontus),

also known as St. Theodore Tyro (Orthodox icon).

Source: http://www.svetigora.com/node/666

This File: 22 March 2008.

User: Mladifilozof

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Theodore, a Soldier in The Roman Legion at Amasea (Pontus), was arrested on account of his Christian Faith.

He was cast into prison, and torn with iron hooks until his ribs were laid bare.

The Martyr, filled with joy, never ceased singing the Verse of The Psalm: "I will Bless The Lord at all times."

He was burned alive and gave up his Soul to God in 306 A.D.

Mass: Lætábitur.

Saint Theodore.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The Missale Romanum Supplements For England And Wales.

Missale Romanum Supplements For England And Wales.

Text and Illustrations from SOCIETY OF ST. BEDE

This is part of a project to produce Missal Supplements for the FSSP Altar Missal, http://introibo.net/missale.php

This project will involve several stages:

1. To collect the texts of the Propers, to be added below, and carefully Proof-Read. Completed.

2. To choose a format for the Supplement, either separate Diocesan Supplements or a Countrywide Supplement. Completed.

3. To look into making Supplements for the Dioceses that have been created Post-1962: Arundel and Brighton; East Anglia; Wrexham; Hallam.

4. To look at producing other Supplements.

The Web-Site of the Society of St. Bede can be found HERE

Some points to note:

1. Diocesan Calendars are problematic, as, not only do we have the various changes coming thick and fast from Rome, we also do not have one reliable source for these Calendars. 

We have used the LMS Ordo as the basis for these Supplements.

A discussion of the problem of compiling a Calendar and the relevant Supplements can be found in the introduction to the Latin Mass Society Ordo.

2. What is the 1962 Missal? 

Is it the Typical Edition of June 1962 ?, or an Edition with the last textual changes, circa November 1962 ?

We will follow the FSSP in choosing the end of December 1962.

3. Many Priests are using older Calendars and Rubrics, so we will also produce a set of Supplements dated 1935 for England and Wales. 

We have chosen 1935 for two reasons: Firstly, because it is before the wreckovators began to lay waste to the ancient Roman Missal, and, secondly, we also have a number of Calendars from around that time.

We also intend to produce UVOC style Latin / English Propers sheets for these Feasts. These will be found in the Sanctoral Cycle Latin / English Propers.

Calendar of Feasts for England and Wales.

With links to UVOC Propers sheets.

NOVEMBER.

29th: Bd. Cuthbert Maine: Westminster, Leicester, Liverpool, Northampton and Plymouth.

DECEMBER.

1st: BB Richard Whiting: Westminster.
1st: BB Edmund Campion: Northampton and Portsmouth.
1st: St. Edmund Campion, Ralph Sherwin and Alexander Bryant.
1st: BD. Ralph Sherwin: Nottingham.
BB. Martyrs of Oxford University: Birmingham.
BD. John Beche: Brentwood.
4th: St. Osmund: Westminster, Plymouth and Clifton.
5th: St. Birinus: Birmingham and Portsmouth.

The Dedication Of The Basilica Of Saint Saviour, Rome. Celebrated On 9 November. White Vestments.

Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.

The Dedication of The Basilica of Saint Saviour.
   9 November.

Double of The Second-Class.

White Vestments.

The Basilica of Saint Saviour, Rome.
(The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome).
Illustrations: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
Artist: René de Cramer.
"Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium".
Used with Permission.

“Terribilis est locus iste”.

Introit for the Mass of Dedication of a Church.

Available on YouTube

HERE

Among the rich and splendid Roman Basilicas where the Ceremonies of Christian Worship were Celebrated in great pomp, after the Era of Persecution, there is one of First Rank whose Dedication is Solemnised on this Anniversary.

The Palace of The Lateran, on The Coelian Hill, belonged to Fausta, the wife of Emperor Constantine. The Emperor, after his conversion, gave it to the Pope as his private residence, and founded there The Church of The Lateran, which became the Mother and Mistress of all The Churches of Rome and of the World.

On 9 November 324 A.D., Pope Saint Sylvester Consecrated it under the name of the Basilica of Saint Saviour. This was the first public Consecration of a Church. A long time after, under Pope Lucius II, in the 12th-Century, it was Dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, whose name had been given to the adjoining Baptistry, Wherefore, it has been given nowadays the Title of Saint John Lateran.

In this Basilica and the adjoining Palace were held, from the 4th-Century A.D. to the 16th-Century, more than twenty-five Councils, five of which were Ecumenical. On the most Solemn Days, The Station was held there. Holy Orders were Conferred there, Penitents were reconciled, Catechumens were Baptised on Easter Day, and, as Neophytes, they came there in Procession during the whole Easter Octave.

At Saint John Lateran is inaugurated, on The First Sunday in Lent, the great Liturgical Season Consecrated to Penance; there is held the Assembly on Palm Sunday, and that on Rogation Tuesday; there are carried out the Ceremonies of Maundy Thursday and Easter Eve; and Mass is Celebrated on Saturday-in-Albis and on the Eve of Pentecost.

The Church, which had been destroyed, was rebuilt and Consecrated anew by His Holiness Pope Benedict XIII, in 1726, and The Commemoration of this Consecration was fixed, as that of the first Church, on 9 November.

Mass: Terribilis.
In Low Masses: Commemoration of Saint Theodore.
First and Second Vespers: As in the Common.

Hereford Cathedral (Cathedral Of Saint Mary The Virgin And Saint Ethelbert The King). (Part Eight).

The Hereford Cathedral Choir Screen after conservation 

and restoration at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Illustration: VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

The following two paragraphs are from

VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

The Hereford Screen was a star exhibit at the 

1862 International Exhibition in London, and 

was praised as “the grandest and most triumphant achievement of modern architectural art”, before its installation in Hereford Cathedral.

In 1967, this masterpiece of Victorian ironwork 

fell victim to fashionable prejudice and, despite a 

national outcry, was dismantled. The once rusty, disintegrated pieces have now been carefully conserved by 

the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, returning this magnificent Screen to its former splendour.

The Hereford Cathedral Web-Site can be found

HERE

Hereford Cathedral Choir Screen in place in Hereford Cathedral 1890-1900. [Editor: It is beyond belief that anybody in authority got rid of this masterpiece in the 1960s, when it was removed, dismantled, and left to rot. Thank God that the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, eventually possessed it and restored it to its former magnificence (see, above).]

Description: Forms part of: Views of the British Isles, in the Photochrom print collection. Print No. “10810”. Title from the Detroit Publishing Co., Catalogue J-foreign section, Detroit, Mich. Detroit Publishing Company, 1905. More information about the Photochrom Print Collection is available at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.pgz

Photo Credit: This image is available from The United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID ppmsc.08439.

Source: Library of Congress 

Catalog: http://lccn.loc.gov/2002696800

(Wikimedia Commons)

Text from Wikipedia - the free encyclopædia,
unless stated otherwise.

The Choir Stalls support forty 14th-Century Misericords. These Misericords show a mixture of mythological beasts, grotesques, and everyday events, there appears to be no pattern to the content.

In addition to the Misericords in the Choir, there are five others contained in a row of “Judges’ Seats”. It is unclear if these were used as Misericords, or if they are just ornamentation.

In the North-East Transept, of which the Vaulting is supported by a Central Octagonal Pier, a large number of monumental fragments are preserved, forming a rich and varied collection.

Hereford Cathedral.

Photo: 19 August 2013.

Source: Hereford Cathedral

Author: Michael D Beckwith

(Wikimedia Commons)

There is also a beautiful Altar-Tomb of Alabaster and Polished Marbles erected as a public memorial to a former Dean, Richard Dawes, who died in 1867. The effigy, by Mr. Noble, is a good likeness of the Dean, who was an ardent supporter of the education movement about the middle of the 19th-Century.

The South-East Transept contains memorials of several Bishops of Hereford. The remains of Gilbert Ironside (☩ 1701), together with his Black Marble tombstone, were removed to this place in 1867, when the Church of Saint Mary Somerset, in Upper Thames Street, London, was taken down.

Here, also, may be seen a curious effigy of Saint John the Baptist, and a fine Marble bust, believed to be the work of Roubiliac. The handsome canopied Perpendicular tomb of Richard Mayew (☩ 1516), with effigy fully vested, is on the South Side of the Altar. In the South-East Transept, again, is a doorway that opens into the Vicars’ Cloister, an interesting piece of Perpendicular Work which leads to the College of the Vicars Choral.

Hereford Cathedral. 13th-Century Early-English 

Arcaded Triforium and Clerestory.

Photo: 29 May 2012.

Source: Hereford Cathedral

Author: Hugh Llewelyn

(Wikimedia Commons)

Across from the Retro-Choir, or Ambulatory, is the spacious Early-English Lady Chapel, which is built over the Crypt and approached by an ascent of five steps.

Of the five Lancet Windows at the East End, each with a Quatrefoil opening in the wall above it, Fergusson remarked that “nowhere on the Continent is such a combination to be found”; and he brackets them with the Five Sisters at York Cathedral and the East End of Ely Cathedral.

They are filled with glass by Cottingham as a memorial of Dean Merewether, who is buried in the Crypt, below, and is further commemorated here by a Black Marble slab, with a Brass by Hardman, recording his unwearied interest in the restoration of the Cathedral.

Hereford Cathedral’s Nave Ceiling.

Photo: 3 January 2008.

Source: Own work.

Author: Mattana

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the Lady Chapel, are Church Monuments of Joanna de Kilpec and Humphrey de Bohun. Joanna was a 14th-Century benefactress of the Cathedral, who gave to the Dean and Chapter an acre (4,000 m2) of land in Lugwardine, and the advowson of the Church, with several Chapels pertaining to it.

On the South Side of the Lady Chapel, separated from it by a Screen of curious design, is the Chantry, erected at the end of the 15th-Century by Edmund Audley, who, being translated to Salisbury, built another there, where he is buried. His Chantry, here, pentagonal in shape, is in two storeys, with two windows in the lower storey and five windows in the higher storey.

PART NINE FOLLOWS.

The Octave Day Of All Saints. 8 November. White Vestments.

English: All Saints’ Day,

Holy Cross Cemetery, Gniezno, Poland.

Flowers and Candles placed to honour deceased relatives.

Español: Celebración de Todos los Santos, 

cementerio de la Santa Cruz, Gniezno, Polonia.

Polski: Uroczystość Wszystkich Świętych,

Cmentarz św. Krzyża w Gnieźnie, Polska.

Photo: 1 November 2017.

Source: Own work.

Author: Diego Delso

delso.photo, Licence CC-BY-SA

(Wikipedia)

Flower image: HERITAGE TYPE CO

Text from “The Liturgical Year”.
By: Abbot Guéranger, O.S.B.

Volume 15.
Time After Pentecost.
Book VI.

The Octave Day Of All Saints.

8 November.

How could we more appropriately conclude the teachings of this Octave than by quoting the words used by The Church, herself, in today’s Liturgy ?

“Strangers as we are, and pilgrims on the Earth, let us fix our hearts and our thoughts on the day which will give to each of us a home, and restore us to Paradise.

“Who, that is on a voyage, would not hasten to return to his Country ! Who, that is on the way home, would not eagerly desire a favourable wind, that he might the sooner embrace his dear ones !

“Parents, brothers, children, friends in multitudes impatiently await us in our Heavenly fatherland; Blessed crowd ! Already secure of their own eternal happiness, they are soliticitous about our salvation.

“What joy for them and for us, when, at length, we see them and they may embrace us !

“How great the delight of that Heavenly Kingdom: No more fear of death; but eternal and supreme happiness ! Let all our earnest desires tend to this: That we may be united with The Saints, that, together with them, we may possess Christ”. [Editor: Saint Cyprian. “De Mortalitate”, xxvi.]

These enthusiastic words, borrowed from Saint Cyprian’s beautiful book “On The Mortality”, are used by The Church in her Second Nocturn; and, in the Third Nocturn, she gives us the strong language of Saint Augustine, consoling the Faithful, who are obliged still to remain in exile, by reminding them of the great beatitude of this Earth.

The beatitude of those who are persecuted and cursed by the World. To suffer gladly for Christ is the Christian’s glory, the invisible beauty which wins for his Soul the good pleasure of God, and procures him a great reward in Heaven. [Editor: Saint Augustine. “De Sermone Domini in monte”, lib. i. cap. v.]

“He that hurteth, let him hurt still”, says Our Lord; “and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is Just, let him be justified still; and he that is holy, let him be sanctified still. Behold, I come quickly; and My reward  is with Me, to render to every man according to his works.

“I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end”. Patience, then, Christians ! Patience, all who are now despised, “for time is short; the fashion of this World passeth away !”

It is in the light of our Baptism that we must look upon those foolish men who think themselves strong because they are violent; who call themselves wise, because pleasure is their only law.

When the Man-God, “with the spirit of His mouth”, shall take vengeance on Satan their leader, their lot will be the indignant sentence heard by the Prophet of Patmos: “Without are dogs, murderers, everyone that loveth and maketh a lie”.

Meanwhile, the whole creation, which they made the unwilling slave of their corruption, will answer to their disgraceful fall by a triumphant song of deliverance. Itself will be transformed into a new Heavens and a new Earth.

It will partake of the glory of the children of God, delivered like itself, and will be worthy to contain the new Jerusalem, the Holy City, where in our flesh we shall see God; and where, seated at the right-hand of The Father in The Person of Jesus Christ, our glorified human nature will enjoy for ever the honours of a bride.

Let us go in spirit to Rome, and direct our steps towards the ancient Church, on The Cœlian Hill, which bears the name of The Four Crowned Martyrs.

There are few Saints whose acts have been more disparaged “by a superficial criticism ignorant of archæological science”, such as that of the 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-Centuries. But now “the history and traditions relating to the august monument on The Cœlian Hill have been restored to honour by learned men and antiquaries, whom no-one could accuse of superstition, or of a blind credulity with regard to Mediæval legends”. [De Rossi. “Bulletin”. 1879.]

Such is the unanswerable decision of the Commandant de Rossi. Let us, then, with The Holy Liturgy, offer our homage and Prayers to the Titular Saints of this venerable Church, who once held Offices of trust in the Empire; and let us not forget those other Martyrs, the five sculptors, who, like the former, preferred death to infidelity and now share the glory of their tomb.

Prayer.

Præsta, quæsumus omnipotens Deus: ut, qui gloriosos martyres fortes in sua confessione congovimus, pios apud te in nostra intercessione sentiamus.

Per Dominum . . .

Grant, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that we, who know Thy glorious Martyrs to have been strong in their confession of Thee, may experience their compassion by their interceding for us with Thee.

Through Our Lord . . .

Let us honour all The Saints by a Sequence long sung on this Octave Day by The Church of Seville.

Sequence.

Ad honorem Salvatoris . . .

To the honour of Our Saviour . . .

Let us Pray for our dear departed ones.
The Missals of several Churches furnish us with this earnest supplication.

Sequence.

De profundis exclamantes . . .

As we cry out from the depths . . .

The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs. Feast Day, Today, 8 November. Red Vestments.

Text and Illustrations from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless otherwise stated.

The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs.
   Feast Day 8 November.

Simple.

Red Vestments.

English: The Four Crowned Saints. Statue commissioned

by the Arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname

(Guild of Wood and Stone Cutters),

Orsanmichele, Florence, Italy. Sculptor: Nanni di Banco.

Français: Les Quatre saints couronnés. Statue commandée par l'arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname (guilde des tailleurs de bois et de pierre). Orsanmichele, Florence.

Italiano: Tabernacolo dell'arte dei Maestri di Pietra e Legname, con Quattro Santi Coronati di Nanni di Banco. Orsanmichele, Firenze.

Date: 1408.

Source: it:Utente:MM, own picture (April 2005).

Author: Nanni di Banco (Italian, 1375–1421).

(Wikimedia Commons)

These Saints were four brothers, whose names remained long unknown. They were called “The Four Crowned” because they received The Palm of Martyrdom and were Crowned in Heaven, 304 A.D.

Mass: Intret.

Basilica of The Holy Four Crowned Martyrs.

Basilica dei ss Quattro Coronati.

Available on YouTube

HERE

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

The designation "Four Crowned Martyrs" or “Four Holy Crowned Ones” (in Latin, Sancti Quatuor Coronati), actually refers to nine separate Martyrs, divided into two groups:

First Group: Severus (or Secundius); Severian(us); Carpophorus (Carpoforus); Victorinus (Victorius, Vittorinus).

Second Group: Claudius; Castorius; Symphorian (Simpronian); Nicostratus; and Simplicius.

According to the Golden Legend, the names of the members of the First Group were not known at the time of their death “but were learned through the Lord’s revelation after many years had passed." They were called the “Four Crowned Martyrs”, because their names were unknown (“Crown” referring to the Crown of Martyrdom).

The Martyrdom of the Four Crowned Martyrs.

Painting by Mario Minniti, in San Pietro dal Carmine, Siracusa, Sicily.

Date: Circa 1620.

Source: http://www.parrocchiadelcarmine.

siracusa.it/opere_darte.html

Author: Minitti, Mario.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Severus (or Secundius), Severian(us), Carpophorus, Victorinus were Martyred at Rome, or Castra Albana, according to Christian Tradition.

According to the Passion of Saint Sebastian, the four Saints were soldiers (specifically “Cornicularii”, or Clerks, in charge of all the Regiment’s records and paperwork), who refused to sacrifice to Aesculapius, and therefore were killed by order of Emperor Diocletian (284 A.D. - 305 A.D.), two years after the death of the five sculptors. The bodies of the Martyrs were buried in the Cemetery of Santi Marcellino e Pietro, on the fourth mile of via Labicana, by Pope Miltiades and Saint Sebastian (whose skull is preserved in the Church).

The Second Group, according to Christian Tradition, were sculptors from Sirmium, who were killed in Pannonia. They refused to fashion a pagan statue for the Emperor Diocletian or to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods. The Emperor ordered them to be placed alive in lead coffins and thrown into the sea, about 287 A.D. Simplicius was killed with them.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “the Acts of these Martyrs, written by a Revenue Officer, named “Porphyrius”, probably in the 4th-Century A.D., relates to the five sculptors that, although they raised no objections to executing such profane images as Victoria, Cupid, and the Chariot of the Sun, they refused to make a statue of Æsculapius, for a heathen temple. For this they were condemned to death as Christians. They were put into leaden caskets and drowned in The River Save. This happened towards the end of 305 A.D.”

English: Stained-Glass Window of the “Four Crowned Martyrs” in the Assumption Church of Samoëns

(Haute-Savoie, France).

Français: Vitrail (1982) dit des “Quatre Couronnés” dans l’église de l’Assomption à Samoëns (Haute-Savoie).

Les fr:Quatre Saints couronnés sont les patrons

de la confrérie des maçons de Samoëns.

Photo: 29 August 2013.

Source: Own work.

Author: Tangopaso

(Wikimedia Commons)

When the names of the First Group were learned, it was decreed that they should be Commemorated with the Second Group. The bodies of the First Group were interred by Saint Sebastian and Pope Melchiades (Miltiades) at the third milestone on the Via Labicana, in a sandpit where rested the remains of other executed Christians. According to tradition, since the names of the Four Martyred Soldiers could not be authentically established, Pope Melchiades commanded that, since the date of their deaths (8 November) was the same as that of the Second Group, their anniversary should be celebrated on that day.

It is unclear where the names of the Second Group actually come from. The tradition states that Pope Melchiades asked that the Saints be Commemorated as Claudius, Nicostratus, Simpronian, and Castorius. These same names actually are identical to names shared by converts of Polycarp the Priest, in the legend of Saint Sebastian.

Entrance of San Silvestro Chapel, at the Basilica 

dei SS. Quattro Coronati, Rome, Italy, with painting 

of The Four Crowned Martyrs.

Date: Circa 1570.

Source: www.universitadeimarmorari.it/ 

universita.html.

Author: Unknown.

(Wikimedia Commons)

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, “this report has no historic foundation. It is merely a tentative explanation of the name Quatuor Coronati, a name given to a group of really authenticated Martyrs, who were buried and venerated in the Catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus, the real origin of which, however, is not known. They were classed with the Five Martyrs of Pannonia in a purely external relationship.”

The bodies of the Martyrs are kept in four ancient sarcophagi, in the Crypt of Santi Marcellino e Pietro. According to a lapid, dated 1123, the head of one of the four Martyrs is buried in Santa-Maria-in-Cosmedin.

Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati, Rome.

Photo: 10 November 2005.

Source: Own work.

Author: Lalupa.

(Wikimedia Commons)

In the 4th- and 5th-Centuries A.D., a Basilica (the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati) was erected and dedicated in honour of these Martyrs on the Caelian Hill, probably in the general area where Tradition located their execution. This became one of the Titular Churches of Rome and was restored several times.

The Four Crowned Martyrs were Venerated early on in England, with Saint Bede noting that there was a Church Dedicated to them in Canterbury. This Veneration can perhaps be accounted for by the fact that Augustine of Canterbury came from a Monastery near the Basilica of Santi Quattro Coronati, in Rome, or because their Relics were sent from Rome to England in 601 A.D.

Their connection with stone-masonry, in turn, connected them to the Freemasons. One of the scholarly journals of the English Freemasons was called Ars Quatuor Coronatorum, and the Stonemasons of Germany adopted them as Patron Saints of “Operative Masonry.”