The Passion of Montanus and Lucius · §3 · Acts of the Martyrs

Lamps going before us and joyful chains

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

The imprisoned confessors writing together tell their brothers about Renus’s dream of lamps and about being dragged joyfully before the official acting for the dead proconsul and then returned to prison.

Then Renus, who was with us, fell asleep, and in his sleep he was shown each of us being led out one by one, with a single lamp carried before each person as he came forward; if no lamp went before someone, he did not come forward either. When we ourselves came forward with our lamps, Renus woke up. When he told us what he had seen, we rejoiced, because we trusted that we walk with Christ, who is a lamp to our feet (Psalm 119:105 (LXX 118:105)) and who is the Word of God.

After that night we spent a bright and joyful day. That same day we were suddenly seized and brought before the procurator, who was administering the place of the dead proconsul. O happy day, O glory of chains! O chain longed for with every prayer! O iron more honorable and more precious than the finest gold! O clatter of iron as it rang while iron dragged against iron! Our talking together was a comfort for what lay ahead, and so that we would not enjoy this delight too slowly, soldiers who did not know where the governor wanted to hear us marched us back and forth all through the forum. Then he called us into the private chamber, because the hour of our suffering had not yet come. So with the devil thrown down, we returned to prison as victors, kept back for another victory.

Defeated in that battle, the devil turned to other tricks and tried to wear us down with hunger and thirst, and for many days he fought this battle of his with all his force, so that, which is just what the Adversary expected to accomplish, a crowd of the sick was left struggling on the bare state ration and cold water.

Greek

V. Tunc Reno, qui nobiscum fuerat, somno apprehenso, ostensum est ei produci singulos, quibus prodeuntibus lucernae singulae praeferebantur; cuius autem lucerna non praecesserat, nec ipse procedebat. et cum processimus nos cum lucernis nostris, expergefactus est. et ut nobis retulit, laetati sumus fidentes nos cum Christo ambulare, qui est lucerna pedibus nostris et qui est sermo, scilicet dei. VI. Post ipsam noctem dies nobis hilaris agebatur. et continuo eadem die subito rapti sumus ad procuratorem, qui defuncti proconsulis partes administrabat. o diem laetum, gloriam vinculorum! o optata votis omnibus catena! o ferrum honorabilius atque pretiosius optimo auro! o stridor ille ferri qui strepebat dum trahitur per aliud ferrum! loqui nostrum futurorum solatium fuit, atque ne hac iocunditate tardius frueremur, a militibus incertis ubinam nos praeses audire vellet circumducti sumus huc atque illuc per totum forum. tunc nos in secretarium vocavit, quia necdum hora passionis advenerat. unde prostrato diabolo victores sumus in carcerem reversi et ad alteram victoriam reservati. hoc itaque praelio victus diabolus ad alteras se astutias vertit, fame nos et siti temptare molitus, et hoc suum praelium multis diebus fortissime gessit, ita ut (quod magis secum adversarius facere putabat) aegrorum copia ad solonem fiscalem et aquam frigidam laboraret.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

Lucius, Montanus, Flavian and their companions write from prison at Carthage of their arrest, hunger and visions. A fellow Christian then tells how they died and what Flavian taught the church on his last day.

Montanus, Lucius and their fellow prisoners wrote this in prison at Carthage about 259, to fellow Christians they call dearest brothers, including brothers still to come. After arrest and imprisonment at Carthage they write to leave testimony of the greatness of God and of their suffering and endurance for the Lord for brothers who will come after.

Its argument is that God protects his servants in prison where threatened burning is extinguished by prayer and darkness becomes light and hunger and thirst are relieved through help brought by fellow Christians, and visions of lamps and a guiding child and milk filled bowls and white garments and promise of a more glorious crown assure them that Christ is with them, so they must hold unity and love and peace and unanimity since division forfeits sonship and inheritance. The reader meets fellow confessors Flavian and Julian and Victoricus and Primolus and Renus and Donatian and Victor the presbyter and Quartillosia and her martyred son and Cyprian who taught the faith and Leucius seen with him and Lucian and Herennian and Januarius who bring food. Their own words are quoted for Renus on lamps and Victor with the shining boy and the Lord in his vision and Quartillosia with her son and the youth with bowls and Montanus on his vision and Lucius at execution, and an editor completes the account in which Montanus preaches against idols and schism and hasty reconciliation of those who gave in under pressure and disrespect for leaders.

Here struggle means the whole trial of arrest and prison and execution and crown means heavenly reward and testimony means open declaration of faith and suffering means suffering and execution for Christ and hardship means affliction of prison want and endurance means patient endurance and unity means united love and peace means reconciliation after quarrel and leaders means appointed church leaders and those who gave in under pressure means Christians who failed under persecution and breakaway Christians means Christians outside the church and person preparing for baptism means one under instruction not yet baptized. The author uses Old Latin wording with LXX style book names and Psalm numbering, so Psalms give the LXX number alongside the modern number and quotations are woven in without modern references including Daniel 3 for the three youths in the fire and Psalm 119:105 LXX 118:105 and Psalm 50:15 LXX 49:15 and Matthew 18:19 and Matthew 5:9 and Romans 8:16 to 17 and Exodus 22:20. Primolus is an arrested Christian whose earlier declaration served as baptism and Renus is a fellow prisoner who dreams of lamps and Herennian is a subdeacon who carries food and Cyprian is the church teacher and Leucius is the figure seen with him.

Printed text used

Translated from Oscar von Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta (Berlin: A. Duncker, 1902) (Latin)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake