From Dom Guéranger's The Liturgical Year.
The Church of Spain, the fair pearl of Christendom, brings before us on this same tenth of December her illustrious martyr Eulalia, the glory of Merida, the ornament of Iberia, the joy of the universal Church. She is the third of those wise virgins, whose names are most prominent in the Church’s liturgy during the season of Advent. She is the worthy companion of Bibiana and Barbara, and that heroic Lucy whose feast we shall keep on the thirteenth. We give the whole of the beautiful poem on the life and martyrdom of Eulalia, written by Prudentius. Never, perhaps, did this prince of Christian poets write finer verses than these; nor can we be surprised that the Mozarabic liturgy, in its admiration of this exquisite canticle, should have made but one hymn of its forty-five stanzas. As it gives the life of our saint, we shall not add the legend of the proper Office as used in the Churches of Spain.
Germine nobilis Eulalia,
Mortis et indole nobilior,
Emeritam sacra virgo suam,
Cujus ab ubere progenita est,
Ossibus ornat, amore colit.
Proximus occiduo locus est,
Qui tulit hoc decus egregium,
Urbe potens, populis locuples:
Sed mage sanguine martyrii,
Virgineoque potens titulo.
Curriculis tribus atque novem,
Tres hyemes quater attigerat,
Quum crepitante pyra trepidos
Terruit aspera carnifices,
Supplicium sibi dulce rata.
Jam dederat prius indicium,
Tendere se Patris ad solium,
Nec sua membra dicata toro.
Ipsa crepundia repulerat,
Ludere nescia pusiola.
Spernere succina, flare rosas,
Fulva monilia respuere:
Ore severa, modesta gradu,
Moribus et nimium teneris
Canitiem meditata senum.
Ast ubi se furiata lues
Excitat in famulos Domini,
Christicolasque cruenta jubet
Thura cremare, jecur pecudis
Mortiferis adolere deis;
Infremuit sacer Eulaliæ
Spiritus ingeniique ferox
Turbida frangere bella parat,
Et, rude pectus anhela Deo,
Femina provocat arma virum.
Sed pia cura parentis agit,
Virgo animosa domi ut lateat.
Abdita rure, et ab urbe procul:
Ne fera sanguinis in pretium
Mortis amore puella ruat.
Illa perosa quietis opem
Degeneri tolerare mora,
Nocte fores sine teste movet,
Septaque claustra fugax aperit,
Inde per invia carpit iter.
Ingreditur pedibus laceris
Per loca senta situ, et vepribus,
Angelico comitata choro:
Et licet horrida nox sileat,
Lucis habet tamen illa ducem.
Sic habuit generosa patrum
Turba columniferum radium:
Scindere qui tenebrosa potens,
Nocte viam face perspicua
Praestitit, intereunte chao.
Non aliter pia virgo, viam
Nocte secuta, diem meruit,
Nec tenebris adoperta fuit,
Regna canopica quum fugeret,
Et super astra pararet iter.
Illa gradu cita pervigili,
Millia multa prius peragit,
Quam plaga pandat eoa polum:
Mane superba tribunal adit,
Fascibus adstat et in mediis.
Vociferans: Rogo, quis furor est
Perdere præcipites animas,
Et male prodiga corda sui
Sternere rasilibus scopulis,
Omnipatremque negare Deum?
Quæritis, O miseranda manus,
Christicolum genus? En ego sum
Daemonicis inimica sacris:
Idola protero sub pedibus:
Pectore, et ore Deum fateor.
Isis, Apollo, Venus nihil est.
Maximianus et ipse nihil:
Illa nihil, quia facta manu:
Hic manuum quia facta colit:
Fivola utraque, et utraque nihil.
Maximianus opum dominus,
Et tamen ipse cliens lapidum,
Prostituat, voveatque suis
Numinibus caput ipse suum:
Pectora cur generosa quatit?
Dux bonus, arbiter egregius
Sanguine pascitur innocuo:
Corporibusque piis inhians
Viscera sobria dilacerat,
Gaudet et excruciare fidem.
Ergo age, tortor, adure, seca,
Divide membra coacta luto.
Solvere rem fragilem facile est:
Non penetrabitur interior
Exagitante dolore animus.
Talibus excitus in furias Praetor, ait:
Rape præcipitem,
Lictor, et obrue suppliciis;
Sentiat esse deos patrios.
Nec leve principis imperium.
Quam cuperem tamen ante necem,
Si potis est, revocare tuam,
Torva puellula, nequitiam!
Respice, gaudia quanta metas,
Quæ tibi fert genialis honor.
Te lacrymis labefacta domus
Prosequitur, generisque tui
Ingemit anxia nobilitas,
Flore quod occidis in tenero,
Proxima dotibus et thalamo.
Non movet aurea pompa tori,
Non pietas veneranda senum,
Quos temeraria debilitas?
Ecce parata ministeria
Excruciabilis exitii.
Aut gladio feriere caput,
Aut laniabere membra feris,
Aut facibus data fumificis,
Flebiliterque ululanda tuis
In cineres resoluta flues.
Haec, rogo, quis labor est fugere?
Si modicum salis eminulis
Thuris et exiguum digitis
Tangere, virgo, benigna velis,
Poena gravis procul abfuerit.
Martyr ad ista nihil: sed enim
Infremit, inque tyranni oculos
Sputa jacit. Simulacra dehinc
Dissipat, impositamque molam
Thuribulis pede prosubigit.
Nec more, carnifices gemini
Juncea pectora dilacerant,
Et latus ungula virgineum
Pulsat utrinque, et ad ossa secat,
Eulalia numerante notas.
Scriberis ecce mihi, Domine,
Quam juvat hos apices legere,
Qui tua, Christe, trophea notant!
Nomen et ipsa sacrum loquitur
Purpura sanguinis eliciti.
Hæc sine fletibus et gemitu
Læta canebat, et intrepida.
Dirus abest dolor ex animo.
Membraque picta cruore novo
Fonte cutem recalente lavant.
Ultima carnificina dehinc,
Non laceratio vulnifica,
Crate tenus neo arata cutis:
Flamma sed undique lampadibus
In latera, stomachumque furit.
Crinis odorus et in jugulos
Fluxerat, involitans humeris,
Quo pudibunda pudicitia,
Virgineusque lateret honos,
Tegmine verticis opposito.
Flamma crepans volat in faciem,
Perque comas vegetata, caput
Occupat, exsuperatque apicem:
Virgo, citum cupiens obitum,
Appetit, et bibit ore rogum.
Emicat inde columba repens,
Martyris os nive candidior
Visa relinquere, et astra sequi:
Spiritus hio erat Eulaliæ
Lacteolus, celer, innocuus.
Colla fluunt, abeunte anima,
Et rogus igneus emoritur;
Pax datur artubus exanimis,
Flatus in æthera plaudit ovans,
Templaque celsa petit volucer.
Vidit et ipse satelles avem,
Feminæ ab ore meare palam,
Obstupefactus, et attonitus
Prosilit, et sua gesta fugit,
Lictor et ipse fugit pavidus.
Ecce nivem glacialis hyems
Ingerit, et tegit omne forum:
Membra tegit simul Eulaliæ,
Axe jacentia sub gelido,
Pallioli vice linteoli.
Cedat amor lacrymantum hominum,
Qui celebrare suprema solent,
Flebile cedat et officium:
Ipsa elementa, jubente Deo,
Exsequias tibi, virgo, ferunt.
Nunc locus Emerita est tumulo
Clara colonia Vettoniæ:
Quam memorabilis amnis Ana
Præterit, et viridante rapax
Gurgite mænia pulchra lavit.
Hic, ubi marmore perspicuo
Atria luminat alma nitor
Et peregrinus, et indigena,
Relliquias, cineresque sacros
Servat humus veneranda sinu.
Tecta corusca super rutilant
De laquearibus aureolis,
Saxaque caesa solum variant,
Floribus ut rosulenta putes
Prata rubescere multimodis.
Carpite purpureas violas,
Sanguineosque crocos metite:
Non caret his genialis hyems,
Laxat et arva tepens glacies,
Floribus ut cumulet calathos.
Ista comantibus e foliis
Munera, virgo, puerque, date:
Ast ego serta choro in medio
Texta feram pede dactylico,
Vilia, marcida, festa tamen.
Sic venerarier ossa libet,
Ossibus altar et impositum:
Illa Dei sita sub pedibus
Prospicit hæc, populosque suos
Carmine propitiata fovet.
Eulalia, noble by birth,
but still nobler by her death,
was born at Merida;
and this city the holy virgin adorns with her relics,
and cherishes with her loving protection.
Where the sun sets, there lies the birthplace of this splendid heroine:
it is a powerful and populous city,
but its proudest title to fame is that there
the saint shed her blood,
and there rests her shrine.
But thrice four winters had passed over Eulalia,
when she braved the fierce tortures of fire,
and made her executioners
tremble by her courage,
suffering as though it were sweet to suffer.
Already had she proved to men
that she would have no spouse but God,
and that earthly nuptials were too poor for her.
Though but a girl,
she despised the toys and sports of children.
Perfumes and wreaths of roses,
and golden trinkets, all were beneath her.
Her look demure, her gait modest,
her whole conduct, even at that tender age,
as though the gravity of old age were upon it.
But when a rabid persecution
began to threaten the servants of God,
and the Christians were commanded to burn incense
and the flesh of victims
before the dead gods of the pagans,
Oh! then did Eulalia’s soul
chafe within her,
and her high spirit thirst for the battle!
She, a girl, defies the threats of men that talk of war,
for her heart pants after God.
But her fond mother trembles for her courageous child,
and insists on her keeping at home.
She takes her into the country, as far as may be from the city,
lest the dauntless child, that longed to die for Christ,
should seek to purchase that glory at the price of her blood.
She ill brooks this quiet, this shelter which seems to her so unchristian:
the night comes on; she is alone;
she forces open the doors,
and escaping from her enclosure,
she tends she knows not whither.
The paths are rugged,
and thorns prick her feet at every step;
yet on she goes, with angels in her company.
All is silent in the dark grim night;
but she has light which leads her.
As our fathers, that brave Hebrew band,
had of old a pillar of light,
which piercing the murky gloom of night,
led them on by its bright blaze,
and turned darkness into day;
So this holy maid;
in her midnight journey, God gave her light;
and as she fled from the land of Egypt,
to enter into that of heaven,
she was not hindered by the darkness.
Many a mile had she walked with hasty step,
before the day-dawn broke upon the world:
and scarce had morn begun,
when there stood before the tribunal,
amidst the ensigns of the empire, the fearless virgin.
‘What madness is this,’ she cried,
'which makes you lose your unthinking souls?
wasting away your love
in adoring these chiselled lumps of stone,
whilst you deny God the Father of all?
O wretched men!
you are in search of the Christians:
lo! I am one: I hate your worship of devils:
I trample on your idols;
and with heart and mouth I acknowledge but one God,
Isis, Apollo, Venus, all are nothing;
Maximian, too, is nothing;
they, because they are idols;
he, because he worships idols;
both are vain, both are nothing.
Maximian calls himself lord,
and yet he makes himself a slave of stones,
ready to give his very head to such gods.
And why does he persecute them
that have nobler hearts?
This good emperor, this most upright judge,
feeds on the blood of the innocent.
He gluts himself on the bodies of the saints,
embowelling those temples of purity,
and cruelly insulting their holy faith.
Do thy worst, thou cruel butcher;
burn, cut, tear asunder
these clay-made bodies.
It is no hard thing to break a fragile vase like this.
But all thy tortures cannot reach the soul.’
At these words the prætor, maddening with rage, cried out:
‘Away, lictor, with this senseless prattler,
and punish her in every way thou canst.
Teach her that our country’s gods are gods,
and that our sovereign’s words are not to be slighted.
Yet stay, rash girl.
Would I could persuade thee
to recall thy impious words before it is too late!
Think on all the joys thou thus wilt obtain;
think on that noble marriage which we will procure thee.
Thy family is in search of thee,
and thy noble house weeps
and grieves after thee,
their tender floweret so near its prime,
yet so resolved to wither.
What! are nuptials like these I offer
not enough to move thee?
Wilt thou send the grey hairs of thy parents
into the tomb by thy rash disobedience?
Tremble at least at all these fearful instruments of torture and death.
There is a sword which will sever thy head;
there are wild beasts to tear thee to pieces;
there are fires on which to burn thee,
leaving to thy family
but thy ashes to weep over.
And what do we ask of thee
in order that thou mayst escape these tortures?
Do, I beseech thee, Eulalia,
touch but with the tip of thy finger these grains of salt and incense,
and not a hair of thy head shall be hurt.'
The martyr answered him not:
but full of indignation,
spat in the tyrant’s face;
then, with her foot,
upset idols, cakes, and incense.
Scarce had she done it,
two executioners seize her:
they tear her youthful breast,
and, one on each side, cut off her innocent flesh even to the very ribs.
Eulalia counts each gash, and says:
'See, dear Jesus, they write thee on my flesh!
Beautiful letters, that tell of thy victory!
Oh, how I love to read them!
So, this red stream of my blood
speaks thy holy name!'
Thus sang the joyous and intrepid virgin:
not a tear, not a moan.
The sharp tortures reach not her soul.
Her body is all stained with the fresh blood,
and the warm stream trickles down the snow-white skin.
But this is not the end.
It was not enough to plough
and harrow up her flesh:
it was time to burn:
torches, then, are applied to her sides and breast.
Her beauteous locks
dishevelled
fell veiling her
from worse than all their butchery,
the stare of these wretches.
The crackling flame mounts to her face,
and, running through her hair,
surrounds and blazes over her head.
The virgin, thirsting for death,
opens her mouth and drinks it in.
Suddenly is been a snowwhite dove
coming from the martyr’s mouth,
and flying up to heaven.
It was Eulalia’s spirit,
spotless, eager, innocent.
Her soul is fled: her head droops,
the fire dies out:
her lifeless body sleeps in peace,
while her glad spirit keeps feast in its ethereal home,
and this sweet dove rests in the house of her most high God.
The executioners, too,
see the dove issuing from the martyr’s mouth:
astonished and trembling
they flee from the spot.
The lictor, too, is seized with fear and takes to flight.
'Tis winter, and the snow in thick flakes
falls on the forum,
covering the tender corpse of Eulalia,
which lay stiffening in the cold,
with its fair pall of crystal.
Ye men that mourn at funerals,
weeping and sobbing out your love for the dead,
ye are not needed here: give place.
God bids his elements, O Eulalia,
do the honours of thy exequies.
Her tomb is now at Merida,
illustrious city of Vettonia,
whose beautiful walls are washed
by the swift green waters of Ana,
that celebrated stream.
'Tis there, in a temple
rich with polished marbles
both of Spain and foreign lands,
that repose in a venerable tomb
the holy relics of the martyr.
The roof, above, glitters
with its golden pendants;
and the pavement, with its mosaics,
looks like a meadow strewn
with the gayest flowers.
Cull the purple violet and the golden crocus,
which even winter spares us,
and with its hours of sunshine
lets our fields yield plentifully enough
to deck our Eulalia’s altar.
Twine them into your green garlands,
and these be your offering, dear children!
Mine shall be these verses for our choir;
poor I know they are and savouring of the dulness of my own old age;
still, they suit a feast.
Thus will we venerate Eulalia’s relics
and Eulalia’s altar:
she, standing before the throne of God,
will be pleased with our offerings,
and hearing our hymns and prayers will protect her devoted people.
Nothing can surpass the magnificence of the prayers in the missal and breviary of the Mozarabic liturgy for this feast. Out of a score of examples which we could here insert, we select, almost at hazard, two from the missal; but they will give only a faint idea of the eloquence with which the love for her martyr Eulalia inspired this ancient Church of Spain.
Prayer
Lætetur in te, Domine, quæso, virginitas: et huic proxima congaudeat continentia. Non sexum quærunt hujus modi bella: sed animum. Non mucronis confidentiam, sed pudoris. Non etiam personas discussuras, sed causas. Impune inter armatas transit acies innocens conscientia: quæ superavit crimina, superat et metalla. Facile vincit alios quisque se vicerit; et cum laudabile sit viro fecisse virtutem, majoris tamen præconii est fecisse virginem rem virilem. Prophanum sacra ingreditur puella concilium: et solum Deum in pectore gestans infert violentiam passioni. Nec deest lictor tam impudens quam crudelis: qui sponsam (secure dixerim) Christi, fornicantium verberibus oculorum, supplicio libidinante torqueret: ut quæ pænas inadulterio non luebat, saltem pænas adulteras sustineret. Dudum quod gravius carnifex putat, exspectantium oculis corpus exponit, et per divaricatas viscerum partes, ictuum sulcos cursus fusi sanguinis antecedit. Periit timo tortoris iniqui commentum: sola patiuntur tormenta ludibrium. Habet quidem virginem nostram nuditas, sed pudicam. Discat ergo, discat uterque sexus ex virgine, non pulchritudinem colere, sed virtutem: fidem amare, non formam. Placiturus Domino, non decoris exspectare judicium, sed pudoris. Sed quia tuum est, Christe, totum quod meruit: tuum etiam quod peregit. Nec enim tela repellimus adversantium, nisi tuæ divinitatis beneficio sublevemur. Nunc præsta nobis, ut sicut hæc beatissima martyr tua pugnando præmium adepta est castitatis; ita nos commissorum nostrorum ad te dimissis contagiis, adipiscamur praemia tuæ promissionis.
Let virginity be glad in thee, O Lord, we beseech thee; and with it let its sister-virtue of continency rejoice. Battles like these are won not by sex but by courage; not by them that can well wield the sword, but by them that can be chaste; not by the combatant’s title, but by his motive. An innocent conscience fears not an armed legion. He that has vanquished sin, will not flinch at a sword. He that has conquered himself, easily conquers others: and if it be praiseworthy when a man does a virtuous act, it is more so when a virgin does a manly deed. The holy virgin Eulalia stands before a tribunal of ungodly men; and with God alone in her heart, she bids defiance to all their tortures. There comes a lictor as lustful as he is cruel: he punishes this bride of Christ as we may indeed call her, by the torture of his impure looks; and she that could have no adultery to atone for suffered its punishment from him that had. He reserves to the last what he knew was the worst; he exposes her body to the gaze of the spectators, and the stream of blood from the open gashes on her sides stains her flesh before the knife can open deeper wounds. Then was confounded the design of ths wicked tormentor, and his torments are insulted by the victim. Impiety strips our martyr, but modesty veils her. Let all, then, learn from this virgin to cultivate not beauty but virtue, not form but faith. He that would please the Lord must be tried not for how much comeliness he possesses, but for how much modesty he has. And yet, O Jesus! since it was from thee that Eulalia had all her merits, and from thee all that she achieved (for it is in vain that we would repel the darts of our enemies, unless we be shielded by thy divine mercy); grant, we beseech thee, that, as this thy most holy martyr won, by her combat, the reward of chastity, we also may be forgiven the uncleanness of our sins, and obtain the rewards thou hast promised.
Illation
Dignum et justum est, Domine Deus, qui tam prudentem virginem fidei sociatam apice gloriæ consecrasti, tibi gratias agere: Ut per quem facta est Mater Maria, fieret martyr Eulalia: illa pariendi affectu felix, ista moriendi. Illa implens Incarnationis officium, ista rapiens Passionis exemplum: illa credidit angelo, ista resistit inimico. Illa electa per quam Christus nasceretur: ista assumpta per quam diabolus vinceretur. Digna re Eulalia martyr et virgo placitura Domino suo: quæ, Spiritu sancto protegente, tenero sexu bellum forte sudaverit; et ultra opinionem humanæ virtutis ad tolerantiam pœnarum zelo tui amoris se obtulerit: quum in specie pretiosi Unigeniti tui sanguinem suum sub testimonio bonæ confessionis effuderit: et incorrupta flammis viscera in odorem suavissimi thymiamatis adoleverit. Vadit ad tribunal cruenti præsidis, non quaesita. In qua tam solum fuit animus incontihens ad secretum, quam locus competens ad triumphum. Lucratura regnum, contemptura supplicium, inventura quaesitum, visura confessum. Non trepida de pœna, non ambigua de corona, non defessa de equuleo, non diffisa de praemio. Interrogatur, confitetur; occiditur, coronatur. Ingentique miraculo majestas tua exhalatum virginis spiritum, quem assumpsit per flammam, suscepit per columbam. Ut hoc prodigio in cœlis martyr ascenderet, quo in terris Filium Pater ostenderat. Siquidem nec inhonorum patiuntur elementa corpusculum, quod deciduis nix aspersa velleribus, et virtutis rigorem et virginitatis tecta candorem eluceret, vestiret, absconderet. Superni velaminis operimento, cœlum funeri praestat exequias, et per misericordiam Redemptoris daret animae sedem, pro sepultura redderet dignitatem.
It is meet and just that we give thee thanks, O Lord, our God! who hast raised to the highest glory this most wise virgin that was loyal to the faith. Thus didst thou, that madest Mary be the Mother of Jesus, make Eulalia be a martyr of Jesus. The Mother was happy in giving him birth; the martyr in giving him her life. The Mother ministered to his Incarnation; the martyr imitated his Passion. Mary believed the angel that appeared to her; Eulalia withstood the enemy that tormented her. Mary was chosen by whom Christ should be born; Eulalia was elected by whom the devil should be conquered. Eulalia, the martyr and virgin, was indeed worthy to please her Lord, for, by the protection of the Holy Ghost, she, a young maiden, waged a fierce war; she, with more than human strength, made herself, for thy love, a victim of suffering; she, for the sake of thy beloved Son, shed her blood in the noble confession of her faith, and offered to him, as a fragrance of sweetest incense, the flesh which fire could not consume. She goes unbidden to the tribunal of the cruel persecutor. As fit as was the place for a triumph, so bold was her spirit to speak the secret of her faith. She wants a kingdom, she cares not for tortures, she would find him she longs for, she would see him that she confesses. Fearless of pain, certain of a crown, happy on her rack, hopeful of her prize. She is questioned, she confesses; men put her to death, God gives her the crown. By an admirable miracle, the virgin’s spirit, which thy divine Majesty did draw from its prison by a flame, thou didst take to thyself as a dove; thus under the same symbol whereby thou didst show thy Son to the earth, did thy martyr ascend into heaven. Neither did the elements withhold their homage; but over her body, which remained on the earth, they form a snowy canopy, that beautifies, and covers, and hides that body where there had ever been the inflexibility of virtue and the unsullied lily of virginity. Whilst thus her body lay palled in the coverlet of heaven’s making, her soul was placed, by the mercy of our Redeemer, on its throne. Rich compensation for the burial which men denied her!
And we too, O glorious martyr, would join our humble praises with these sublime expressions of the Church’s love for thee. The love of Jesus so filled thy heroic soul, that torments could not torture thee; nay, they satisfied thy love by giving thee to suffer for Him, until thy whole heart should be filled by possessing Him. And yet, with all this ardour which heeds no obstacle, with all this noble daring which makes thee confront a tyrant and a furious rabble, nothing is more gentle and meek than thy loving spirit. Pray for us to Him who made thee thus worthy to be His bride, that we also may be courageous in the fight against the enemies of our salvation, and full of that tender love for Jesus which can alone preserve us from hardness and pride of heart.
O thou, the glory of Iberia! O dove of peace, have pity on that Catholic land which prepared thee for heaven. Suffer not that the ancient faith grow dim in a country which, for ages, stood so prominent in the Catholic Church, as the faithful and fervent Spain. Pray for her, that the days of her trial may be shortened; that God may bring to nought the sacrilegious attempts of men, who have sworn to destroy His kingdom on earth; that He give to the clergy of Spain the courage and energy of former days; that He render fruitful the blood of her martyrs, who have already suffered; that He take away those scandals, which so readily mislead the simple and weak; and lastly, that He efface not thy beloved Spain from the number of Catholic nations, but spare, for the sake of the fathers, those among her children that are degenerate.
A Responsory of Advent
(Ambrosian breviary, fourth Sunday of Advent)
R. Per Gabrielis angeli os, nunciatum est Virgini Mariæ, et Verbum concepit e cœlo: * Et illum suscepit modicus uterus, cui parvus fuerat mundus. V. Spiritus sanctus in te ingredietur, et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi: * Et illum suscepit modicus uterus, cui parvus fuerat mundus.
R. A message was announced to the Virgin Mary by the mouth of the angel Gabriel; and she conceived the Word from heaven: * And the womb of a tender Virgin contained him, whom the world was too little to contain. V. The Holy Ghost shall enter within thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: * And the womb of a tender Virgin contained him, whom the world was too little to contain.