[At Rome] on the Aurelian
road, the holy martyr Pancratius, who, at fourteen years of age, endured
martyrdom by decapitation under Diocletian. Also, at Rome, St. Denis, uncle of the same blessed
Pancratius.
Pancras, or Pancratius, was
born in Phrygia to well-to-do Roman citizens. By the time he was eight, both of his parents had died; he
and his uncle Dionysius (Denis) then moved to Rome where they had rental
properties. Here they lived the
good life with all that money could buy – nice house, servants, fashionable
clothes, the latest in toys and gadgets, pizza every night... what more could a
pre-teen want?
Tradition says that they
both converted to Christianity in Rome. Dionysius died when Pancras was
fourteen, and the young orphan, who may have given away his wealth for the care
of the poor, came under the notice of the emperor (popularly supposed to be
Diocletian, although one source says it was Valerian). The emperor called Pancras “the
son of my right dear friend” and urged him to give up the madness of his faith,
promising wealth and honors if he did so, “that I may have thee with me as my
son.”
Now, how many people of any
age do you think would not leap at the chance to live in the White House, or in
one of the multi-million dollar mansions of the rich and famous as a favored
relative? At no real cost to
themselves, either, just a little matter of giving up their unpopular views and
conforming to the status quo.
Pancras wasn’t one of
them. He said, with all the
severity of the young, that the so-called gods were lying, incestuous
fornicators, and if the emperor wouldn’t have servants of such depravity in his
household, why would he worship gods with the same proclivities? In any case, the youth was
sticking with the one True God and no other. Being unable to persuade him otherwise, the emperor condemned
him to death; as a Roman citizen, he was decapitated.
Tradition (and possibly St.
Gregory of Tours) said that anyone swearing falsely either before the relics of
St. Pancras or by his name would be struck immediately with madness or with
death, therefore he is invoked against false witness and perjury. He also protected the good faith of
treaties.
Today, we are called upon to
sacrifice to the gods of the culture – to say that abortion is not only a good
thing but a necessary thing; that pregnancy is an illness or a punishment; that
eugenics – the killing of those deemed undesirable – is the answer to
overpopulation; that killing your elderly parents is okay, they are just a
drain on society and your expectations; that marriage is really just a pretense
which is used to enslave women; that marriage is just a form in which two
people, or a person and his sheep, or a person and his baby daughter, or
“Uncle” Tony next door and your eight-year-old son, can show their commitment
to each other. We are expected to
worship the oracles of Capitol Hill, Hollywood, and major league sports,
although their lies and fornications make daily blurbs in the newspapers.
Pancras, even at the age of
fourteen, did not fall for their lies.
Do you?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In his honor, let your teens
and sub-teens choose the menu for dinner.
It may require a digestion of iron, but do your best.
Artwork: Stained glass
window in Saint Pancras New Church, London.
