Epigrams

[Lend kind ears now to the counsels of Damasus. Let everyone who thirsts come, longing to drink from the streams: he will find waters that hold sweet honey; once the filth is laid bare, they cleanse the inner chambers of the heart, as they renew breasts made ready to serve Christ.] You must come to know the holy prophet of Christ: a shepherd boy, one of many brothers, whom he snatched from the sheep and consecrated king; who alone knew how to set instruments in tune with his hands, to sing on the harp to the peoples of the heavenly kingdom. The huge man, threatening in vain with his heavy shield, the foul-mouthed one, wearing ungodly trappings and weapons, who in his madness worshipped the temples of deaf gods, he slew with a smooth stone and left a headless trunk; and soon, when by God's judgment the great slaughter was done, he showed the people the trophies he had taken from the enemy. These, holy one, are your triumphs, which Damasus knows how to celebrate.

Long ago Saul, following the precepts of the chief men, when he wished to set his ancestral laws above the Lord and denied that the holy prophets had praised Christ, longing to tear the people apart with continual slaughter, while in his blindness he was tearing up the holy covenant of the mother, after darkness was found worthy to know the true light. Put to the test, he felt what the glory of Christ could do. With his ears he received the voice of the Lord, and the light, and he ordered his ways, following Christ's precepts. After he chose to be called Paul, his name changed, (wonderful faith in the events!) he was suddenly carried across the sky and was found worthy to learn what the rewards of life could be. Caught up, the witness ascended into the inner chambers of Christ; the third light of heaven, paradise, held him as he went; he enjoys conversation with the Lord, he keeps the secrets, commanded to proclaim the truth to nations and peoples; to pass through the depth of the sea and to see a night and a day there, he for whom it was enough to have lived great in hiding. Blows, chains, hunger, stones, the rage of beasts, the filth of prison, rods, tortures, fetters, shipwreck, tears, the dread poisons of the serpent: he did not fear to bear the marks of Christ in his body. He taught believers how they could conquer death. Worthy of God's love, the teacher lives through the ages. In these verses, I confess, most holy teacher Paul, I, Damasus, have wished briefly to show your triumphs.

They had enlisted in military service and were carrying out a cruel office alike, watching for the commands of the tyrant, ready to serve his precepts as fear drove them on. Wonderful faith in the events! Suddenly they laid aside their fury; converted, they flee, they leave the ungodly camp of their commander, they throw away shields, trappings and bloodied weapons; having confessed, they rejoice to carry the triumphs of Christ. Believe through Damasus what the glory of Christ can do.

He who, walking on the sea, stilled its bitter waves; who gives life to the dying seeds of the earth; who could loose the deadly bonds of death and, after darkness, after the third light of the sun, give the brother back again to the world above for his sister Martha: he, I believe, will make Damasus rise again after his ashes.

In this tomb now rest limbs consecrated to God: here, if you ask her name, is the sister of Damasus, Irene. She had vowed herself to Christ while life remained, so that holy modesty itself might prove the merit of a virgin. Her years had not yet completed twice ten winters; her excellent ways had outrun her age; the venerable piety of the girl was the purpose of her mind; she had yielded splendid fruits, as of riper years. You, my own sister, then the witness of our love, were given to me as an honourable pledge when [our mother] fled the world. When the better palace of heaven snatched her for itself, I did not fear her death, since she went free to heaven, but I grieved, I confess, to lose the companion of my life. Now, virgin, when God comes, remember us, so that through the Lord your torch may give me light.

Blameless was the life of Mark, which we all knew; ... who through the love of God could despise the world; ... the people ..., which all might learn. Small regard for life, great contempt for possessing; ... virtue held the inner chambers of the heart; ... you, guardian, perfect friend of Christ. And Damasus, when he restores the tomb, [gives] honour. [Here lies Mark, sharer with Mark in life, faith, name, and merits.]

Here, if you ask, lies gathered a crowd of the godly. Venerable tombs hold the bodies of the saints; the palace of heaven has snatched their lofty souls to itself. Here are the companions of Sixtus, who carry trophies taken from the enemy; here the company of the chief men who keep the altars of Christ; here lies the bishop who lived in long peace; here the holy confessors whom Greece sent; here young men and boys, old men and chaste descendants, who chose rather to keep virgin modesty. Here, I confess, I, Damasus, wished to lay my own limbs, but I feared to disturb the holy ashes of the godly.

At the time when the sword pierced the holy womb of the mother, I, buried here, was as ruler teaching the heavenly commands. Suddenly they come and seize me as I happened to be sitting; then, when the soldiers had been sent, the people offered their necks. Soon the old man recognized who wished to take the palm from him, and was the first to offer himself and his own head, so that the impatient savagery might not harm anyone. Christ, who gives the rewards of life, shows the merit of the shepherd; he himself keeps the number of the flock.

Whoever reads, recognize the equal merit of the two, to whom Damasus, the ruler, gives inscriptions after their rewards. The Jewish people struck down with stones Stephen, who warned them of better things; he carried off the trophy from the enemy; the faithful deacon was the first to seize martyrdom. When a frenzied band pressed holy Tarsicius, who was carrying the sacraments of Christ, to display them to the profane, he chose rather to give up his life under blows than to betray the heavenly limbs to rabid dogs.

... profane precepts ... the noble body ... TVRCA ... then they offered their necks ... unjust enemy ... shows honour ... scorns the love of life ... I could ... who carried off the trophy from the enemy ... cloak ...

... and darkness put to flight ... and the consecrated tomb ... the excellence of Damasus made ... better and made ready for the peoples ... may you prevail, if you pour out with pure ... could rise better ... the care of the work held more ...

To the most blessed martyr Januarius, Damasus, bishop, made [this].

Look: this tomb too holds the heavenly limbs of saints, whom the palace of heaven suddenly snatched away. These, companions and at the same time ministers of the unconquered cross, following the merit and faith of their holy ruler, sought the heavenly homes and the kingdoms of the godly. In them the glory of the Roman people uniquely rejoices, because then, with Sixtus as their leader, they won the triumphs of Christ. Damasus to Felicissimus and Agapitus.

You must know that the saints once dwelt here, whoever you are who seek the names of Peter and Paul alike. The East sent the disciples, as we freely confess; but for the merit of their blood (having followed Christ through the stars, they reached the bosom of heaven and the kingdoms of the godly) Rome has earned the better right to claim them as her citizens. Let Damasus tell these your praises, new stars.

The martyr Eutychius was able to overcome the cruel commands of the tyrant and the thousand ways the executioners had of doing harm; the glory of Christ showed it. After the filth of the prison a new punishment follows through his limbs: they prepare fragments of potsherds so that sleep may not come to him. Twice six days passed; food is denied; he is thrown into a pit; holy blood washes all the wounds that the dreadful power of death had inflicted. In the sleep-bringing night dreams trouble my mind: the hiding place showed which limbs of the innocent it held. He is sought; found, he is honoured; he cherishes, he grants everything. Damasus has set forth his merit: venerate the tomb.

Marcellinus, and you likewise, Peter: the executioner who struck you told me, Damasus, when I was a boy, so that I might know your triumphs: that the raging executioner had been given these orders, to cut your necks there in the middle of thorn bushes, so that no one could know your tomb; that you eagerly cleaned your graves with your own hands; that after you had lain hidden in a little white cave, Lucilla, later warned by your piety, preferred to lay your most holy limbs here.

At the time when the sword pierced the holy womb of the mother, the outstanding martyr, despising the prince of the world, sought the heights of heaven, blessed, with Christ as his companion. Here holy honour and praises will remain for you always. Dear to God, kindly Tiburtius, I pray that you may favour Damasus.

Here, beneath the great summit of the hill, the martyr's tomb holds Gorgonius, who keeps the altars of Christ. Here, whoever comes, let him seek the thresholds of the saints: he will find the blessed dwelling in the neighbouring seat, whom piety carried to heaven together as they went. [Inscription] of Damasus, bishop.

The executioner's blows, flames, tortures, chains: only the faith of Lawrence could overcome them. Damasus, a suppliant, heaps these altars with gifts, looking up to the merit of the outstanding martyr.

Clothed with marble ... which undefiled faith ... here also the wall ... to the just ... you see all things full ...

Hippolytus, it is said, when the commands of the tyrant pressed on him, had remained a presbyter in the schism of Novatus throughout; at the time when the sword pierced the holy womb of the mother, when, devoted to Christ, he was seeking the kingdoms of the godly, and the people asked him where they could go, he said that all should follow the catholic [church]. So our man earned the right to be a martyr who had confessed. Damasus reports what he has heard; Christ tests all things.

Report tells that her holy parents once related that Agnes, when the trumpet had sounded its mournful songs, suddenly left her nurse's lap as a girl and of her own will trod underfoot the threats and rage of the savage tyrant. When he wished to burn her noble body with flames, she overcame immense fear with her small strength and spread her loosened hair over her naked limbs, so that no mortal face might see the temple of the Lord. O you whom I venerate, holy glory of modesty, kindly one, I pray, glorious martyr, that you may favour the prayers of Damasus.

Whoever reads, venerate the tomb of the saints. Age could not keep their names, nor their number. Damasus the ruler adorned the tomb, know it: triumphing, with Christ's help, for the return of the clergy, the bishop pays his vows to the holy martyrs.

Here the tomb of the martyr Maurus holds his holy limbs; Damasus, ruler of the people, long afterwards adorned it as a suppliant, honouring with better worship the innocent boy, who deserved no punishment.

Now a dweller with Christ, he had formerly been of Carthage. At the time when the sword pierced the holy womb of the mother, by his blood he changed his homeland, his name and his race; his birth among the saints made him a Roman citizen. Wonderful faith in the events! His great departure showed it afterwards. While he tears the holy limbs, Gratianus rages like an enemy; after he had vomited out the poisons conceived in his gall, he could not force you, holy one, to deny Christ; he himself, by your prayers, earned to depart having confessed. This is the voice of Damasus, a suppliant: venerate the tomb. [It is permitted to pay vows and pour out chaste prayers, because here is the tomb of the holy martyr Saturninus.]

Because the truthful ruler told the lapsed to weep for their crimes, he was a bitter enemy to all those wretched men. Hence came rage, hence hatred, discord, quarrels, sedition, slaughter; the bonds of peace are broken. For the crime of another, who in time of peace denied Christ, he was driven out from the borders of his homeland by the savagery of the tyrant. Damasus wished to report briefly what he had learned, so that the people might know the merit of Marcellus.

The tomb lay hidden under the farthest mound of the hill. Damasus reveals it, because it keeps the limbs of the godly. You, Protus, the better palace of heaven holds for itself; you, Hyacinth, proved by purple blood, follow. Brothers, both of mighty spirit: this one, as victor, won the palm; that one, first, the crown.