Note:
According to the
“Friends of Marie-Julie / Sanctuary Website”, Our Lord Himself
recommended to witnesses of this ecstasy to pay attention to the life
of St. Sergius, a youth that was a living image of the slain Lamb, he
is particularly dear to Heaven.
St. Sergius was 15 years old and was
martyred during the persecution of Diocletian in the early fourth
century.
According
to this information, he is not to be confused with the soldier saints
St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, nor St. Sergius of Radonezh of the
Russian Orthodox church. It is more likely he and his parents were
one of the thirty-three martyrs who died with St. Cyriacus as there
is a St. Sergius mentioned among their number in the Roman
Martyrology. They died under Diocletian 304 AD. If that is the case, St. Sergius is giving details about his life and martyrdom and that of his companions that was previously unknown.
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“I
am Saint Sergius. I suffered martyrdom in the spring of my age. I was
very learned in the Holy Catholic religion by my father and mother
whom I was a very religious treasure of innocence and purity. Seeing
my devotion flourishing, the heavens made a distinction on my
forehead, while amidst my companions. (i.e. had a miraculous mark or
sign that was visible on his forehead.)
One
day, the emperor who had made so many victims, learned the strength
of my faith and passion for Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother. The
sound reached his ears that my father, my mother and I went to visit
in secret the Sanctuaries of God, hidden in the underground (the
catacombs). We went there at night, to visit Our Lord. We were
discovered. Our retreat was sacked and we had no more places where we
could hide. I was denounced by many of my acquaintances who had
denied the faith for their lives and were allied to the Emperor. I
was seized and brought before the Emperor who posed to me very
advanced questions, despite his cruelty. I answered and I was
adamant. Heaven manifested on me in the palace, a bright wonder.
Suddenly I was surrounded by a shining light, my forehead seemed
adorned with a crown of martyrdom. I felt a strength, a love, a
tenderness that I could not express. The Emperor sent his servants
who examined the miracle and he remained silent for a moment. Then,
soon, rage, anger, blasphemy rang around me and I was sentenced to
death with my father and mother.
Many
fellow Christians were chained and condemned to the same punishment.
But their courage was less than mine. I spoke, I encouraged and
congratulated the happiness of dying for Jesus Christ. There, the
Emperor himself held a helmet of fire over his head and said, to
insult me,
"I
want you to suffer this torment until the time when you will decide
to trample under your feet your false thoughts and ideas of Christ. "
I
answered immediately: "You are a great man. You have the power
to kill and give freedom. But my choice is made, I choose death."
These
words excited his wrath. He had me beaten, tortured and then stoned.
There were all sorts of torments that I have suffered with my family.
My father persevered in martyrdom. My mother died and flew to heaven
before us. She was called first.
The
Emperor ordered us to be stripped from the arms to the shoulder and
we had our arms pierced by long awls and broad blades. Then I was
suspended from a pole by the tendons of the arms ... Then, our bodies
were crushed in a mill. The Emperor ordered our torn flesh
dispersed. But Heaven decreed otherwise. The Lord sent the Angels to
pick up our flesh in shreds and they carried them to a safe place on
a high mountain. Here, our bodies were buried with honour by the
hands of the Elect of Heaven and they regained their form as they
were before our martyrdom. The Lord did many miracles for us!
Call
upon me in your interior and exterior pains. I suffered since the
age when I had knowledge. (i.e.,
attained the use of reason.)
A
word on behalf of Our Lord.
I
too have seen die at the hands of ungodly men, the ministers of the
Lord. It is their
courage that still has the advantage of being (decorated) like mine.
After the pain comes the reward. Sooner or later, the greatness of
God will be manifested in His children! ...”
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