
October 31 + Saint Quentin
Though today is best known as the Vigil of the Solemnity of All Saints (All Hallows’ Eve) in the Church, it is also the feast day of Saint Quentin.
Quentin was a Roman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country and went into Gaul, accompanied by eleven other apostles sent from Rome. They separated to extend their campaign of evangelization to the various regions of France. Quentin remained at Amiens and endeavored by his prayers and labors to make that region part of Our Lord's inheritance. In the name of Our Lord and with the sign of the Cross, he gave sight to the blind, vigor to paralytics, hearing to the deaf, and agility to the infirm.
But this apostolate could not escape the notice of Rictiovarus, the Roman prosecutor who at that time represented Maximian Herculeus in Gaul. Quentin was seized, thrown into prison, and loaded with chains. Rictiovarus asked him: How does it happen that you, of such high nobility and the son of so distinguished a father, have given yourself up to so superstitious a religion, a folly, and that you adore an unfortunate man crucified by other men? Quentin replied: It is sovereign nobility to adore the Creator of heaven and earth, and to obey willingly His divine commandments. What you call folly is supreme wisdom. What is there that is wiser than to recognize the unique true God, and to reject with disdain the counterfeits, which are mute, false and deceiving?
When the holy preacher was found to be invulnerable to either promises or threats, the prosecutor condemned him to the most barbarous torture. He was stretched on the rack and flogged. He prayed for strength, for the honor and glory of God. He was returned to the prison when the executioners who were striking him fell over backwards, and told Rictiovarus they were unable to stand up, and could scarcely speak. An Angel released the prisoner during the night, telling him to go and preach in the city, and that the persecutor would soon fall before the justice of God. His sermon, a commented paraphrase of the Apostles' Creed, has been conserved.
His prison guards discovered that he had disappeared, though all doors were barred, and found him in the city preaching. They were converted but Rictiovarus was furious and said to them: You, too, have become magicians?
Brought back before the tribunal, now charged as a sorcerer, Quentin said: If by persevering in my faith, I am put to death by you, I will not cease to live in Jesus Christ; this is my hope, I maintain it with confidence. He was again placed on the rack and beaten, and tortured with other demoniacal means; his flesh pierced with two iron wires from the shoulders to the thighs, and iron nails were thrust into his fingers, his skull and body. Finally, this glorious martyr was decapitated. His death occurred on October 31, 287.
Quentin’s body was first discovered in the year 338 by a blind woman, Saint Eusebia. Following a divine order, Eusebia traveled from Rome and miraculously discovered the body. The intact remains of Quentin came into view, arising and emanating an odor of sanctity. She buried his body at the top of a mountain near Augusta Veromanduorum and she recovered her sight. A small chapel was built nearby.
In 641, Quentin’s body was discovered again by the bishop Saint Eligius. When he found the tomb, the night sky was lit and the odor of sanctity was evident. Eligius distributed the nails with which Quentin's body had been pierced, as well as some of the saint's teeth and hair. He placed the relics in a shrine and rebuilt the chapel now the Saint Quentin Basilica.
Let us never forget that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, prepared by God for those who love Him. (Romans 8:18; I Cor. 2:9)
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