Weather – As the weather is on the day of Mary’s birth, so
it will be for four weeks.
Today is best known as the
feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It is also the memorial of
Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
“At Nicomedia, St. Adrian, with
twenty-three other martyrs, who ended their martyrdom the 4th of
March by having their limbs crushed, adfter enduring many torments under the
emperors Diocletioan and Maximian.
Their remains were carred to Byzantim by the Christians, and buried with
due honors. Afterwards, the body
of St. Adrian was taken to Rome on this day, on which his festival is
celebrated.”
Adrian stands
tall in the company of military saints and is especially venerated in northern
Europe – Germany, northern France, and the Low Countries. He is commemorated on 4 March, his
death day, and 8 September, the day of the translation of his relics.
According to the
story (as embellished by The Golden Legend), Adrian was a young man of 28,
newly wed (to a closet Christian, if only he knew!), with a home in Nicomedia
and a great career ahead of him in the employ of Emperor Galerius
Maximian. One of his jobs as a
member of the Praetorian Guards was to supervise the execution of those poor
souls convicted of being Christians.
One day, as he oversaw the torture of thirty-three of the wretches, the
sight of their devotion and perseverance made him ask what they expected to get
out of all this? To which they
answered with a verse from 1 Corinthians: “…That eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath
prepared for them that love him.”
This operated so
powerfully on the young man that he converted on the spot. Stepping into the midst of the broken
bodies, he declared that he too was a Christian.
As you might
guess, the emperor was annoyed.
This time, when the guards left the jail cell, Adrian didn’t go with
them.
Wife Natalie,
however, was overjoyed. She ran to
the prison to cheer her husband on his martyrdom journey. After kissing his chains and reminding
him to keep his mind on the glory of heaven, she went home and waited to hear
what day he would be executed.
Adrian found out
what day, and by dint of bribing his old jailhouse friends, was allowed to go
home and give the good news to his wife.
She, not knowing that he had left pledges of money against his return to
jail, immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had reneged on his
conversion. Well really! Barring the door against him, she said,
“God forbid that I speak to the mouth of him that denied his Lord!” God didn’t forbid, and she certainly
told her husband what she thought of him, calling him a wretch and a coward and
a felon, not to mention a Judas!
And what about her? Married to a felon! For a little while, she thought she was going to be the wife
of a martyr, but now she would be reproached as the wife of a renegade! And if he tried to enter the house, she
would kill herself, and then he would be sorry! And blah, blah, blah…
When Adrian could
get a word in edgewise, he explained to her just how it was, whereupon she was
all smiles again, and returned to the jail with him to continue her ministry of
cheerful fortitude. Once the
emperor found out that women were comforting the prisoners, he forbade them to
continue, but he was no match for Natalie! She shaved her head and put on men’s clothes and continued
to visit the prison.
After torturing
Adrian and the other 33, the emperor decided to make an end of them (but not
too quickly). He decreed that
their limbs should be broken and struck off on an anvil. And so it was. Second to last of Adrian’s body parts
to be removed were his hands – once that was done, the executioner struck off
his head with a sword. Natalie
secretly took one of her late husband’s hands and kept it on her
night-table. The rest of the 34
bodies were hidden until they could be taken to Constantinople, where they
stayed until the persecutions ended and it was safe to translate the relics to
Rome.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adrian is a patron of
soldiers, jailers, and executioners, and was invoked against plague. Several 19th century sources
claimed that he was also the patron of Flemish brewers, but I can’t find any corroboration
of that. Doesn’t matter. Can’t have too many saints protecting
the suds.
I suppose, as he is a
military saint, the proper meal for today would be C-Rats – I think they are called
MREs now (“Meal, Ready-to-Eat”).
They are still sold in the Commissary, but I don’t think a walk down
memory lane – at least that particular memory – is in order here. (C-rats and a
beer – now that’s military!)
There are also those
perennial mess-hall favorites – SOS (Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast) and Bug
Juice (something liquid from a powder, usually greenish).
By the way, Roman soldiers ate pretty good.
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Today would be a good day to
thank a soldier, sailor, airman, marine, or coast guardsman for putting their
lives on the line. Check out
Soldiers' Angels to adopt a serviceperson or a veteran. The Angels do good work, collecting and
posting letters and care packages, and they can always use another pair of
willing hands or a donation.
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Artwork: “Saint Adrian” from The Hours of Catherine of Cleves, 15th
century. Morgan Library, New York.
He’s holding the sword and the anvil – instruments of his martyrdom.
