The Great Unknown Ellin Cephalophore Saint Known in Belgium – Where His Reliquary Is ATHE GREAT UNKNOWN GREEK CEPHALOPHORIC SAINT KNOWN IN BELGIUM – WHERE HIS RELIQUARY IS KEPT IN THE HOMONYMOUS CHURCH IN THE CITY OF Namur – AS SAINT AUBAIN (CANONICAL OFFICIAL NAME: ALBA(I)NUS, PLACE OF MARTYRDOM: MOGUNDIA – MAINZ BY THE RHINE RIVER IN PRESENT-DAY GERMANY) Based on painstaking research and combined examination of available sources, and the presentation of the most authoritative and mutually consistent ecclesiological, historical and geographical data. Saint Aubain (a Gallic rendering combined also with the meaning of “the foreigner” – since he came from foreign lands, in this case the Greek Naxos – from a paleographic corruption of Albain), known in ecclesiastical hagiographical tradition as Albanus or Albinus (names that existed in the wider Mediterranean region during the Roman Empire in the 4th century), constitutes a historical and hagiographical figure who acted as a missionary in the region of present-day Germany (Mainz, Rhine River). Born around 360 on the Greek island of Naxos, he appeared around 378 (Valens, the Arian emperor in the East) before Saint Ambrose of Milan, possibly departing from his island – where the Orthodox were persecuted by the Arians – as a persecuted man. Later, Saint Ambrose of Milan sent him to Gaul as a missionary entrusted with the Christianization of the pagans, but also with the struggle against the heretical Arians, who had denied the Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing only His human nature, and for this reason had been condemned by the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. Aubain, a paleographic or Gallic phonetic-conceptual corruption of Alba(i)nus, acted in Gaul before his arrival in 404 at Mogontiacum (the ancient Roman name of present-day Mainz in Germany). There, after a raid of the Vandals, he was beheaded in the year 406 for refusing to deny his Faith. Origin and Early Years The Saint appears to have originated from the Greek island of Naxos (Naxia – derived from Naksia, which has been recorded in older sources as Namsia due to paleographic corruption and is confirmed in even earlier sources, which we cite at the end, as Naxia), as clarified by Gabriel Bucelinus in 1655. Missionary Activity and Arrival in Mainz (Mogundia) His historical course led him from Naxos to the heart of Europe as a missionary against what was at that time almost a pan-heresy, Arianism, which among others had been fiercely opposed by Saint Ambrose of Milan in defense of the Orthodox Faith and Teaching. Aubain first acted in Gaul before his arrival in 404 in the city of Mogontiacum, one of the most important military and commercial centers of the Rhine. There he carried out his missionary work among a people who were at every moment in danger from the fanatical and bloodthirsty pagan northern tribes. The Martyrdom of the Saint in 406 AD The year 406 AD (reign of Honorius, who was succeeded by Theodosius II) constitutes a landmark date in the history of Western Europe. On the eve of the last day of the year, 31 December 406, the Vandals, Alans and Suebi crossed the frozen Rhine, violating the borders of the Empire and invading Gaul en masse. Mainz found itself at the epicenter of the invasion. The city was plundered and its Christian inhabitants faced the fury of the invaders. The Martyrdom on the Rhine Aubain found himself defending the Faith of Christ before the invaders. The sources and the hagiographical tradition of the region of Namur in present-day Belgium and of Mainz in present-day Germany describe the scene of his martyrdom in dramatic terms. The Saint did not flee, but remained faithful to his mission. He refused to renounce the God-Man Lord Jesus Christ and the Truth of the Orthodox Faith. The death sentence was carried out by beheading on the banks of the Rhine River in Mainz. Tradition ranks him among the Cephalophoric Saints, that is, those martyrs who bear their head not only as a symbol of their sacrifice but also literally and in accordance with the great miracle that follows their martyrdom. The Miracle of Cephalophory Immediately after the cutting off of his head, Saint Albanus lifted his severed head with his hands and walked, to the astonishment and terror of his executioners, a short distance to a nearby hill. This supernatural event, apart from manifesting the absolute favor of the Creator toward His creature, proclaimed the spiritual Victory of Life over death and the indivisible unity of spirit and body in Christ Jesus God. The place where he laid down his head and reclined, thus indicating also the place of his burial, became a place of worship to the Triune God and of honor to the Martyr, where a sacred shrine was erected. The Connection with Namur The martyrdom occurred in Mainz in 406 AD, where there is a church bearing his name, but the Saint is particularly honored in Namur in present-day Belgium, where his holy relics are treasured, and he is patron of both cities. In 786, at the site of the martyrdom there already existed a small church, and in 804 a large monastery was built there in his honor, which, however, was completely destroyed in 1552 or 1557. All or part of the relics of Saint and Martyr Aubain were transferred in 1047 to Namur in Belgium, where he became patron of the Cathedral, of the Diocese, and of the city, which is the capital of Wallonia in Belgium. He is also the patron saint of Mainz in Germany. FROM THE RESEARCH OF RELEVANT SOURCES REGARDING THE VERIFICATION OF HIS ORIGIN, AS CLEARLY AND EXPLICITLY TESTIFIED BY GABRIEL BUCELINUS AS “FROM THE ISLAND OF NAXIA, GREEK BY RACE.” AND THAT THE REFERENCE FROM Naxia TO Namsia IN OLDER SOURCES IS ALSO EXPLAINED HERE The Mechanism of the Error From Naxia to Namsia This is due also to acoustic similarity (the voiced cluster ks represented by x in Naxia), AND BECAUSE THE LETTER K IN ANCIENT PALEOGRAPHIC TEXTS, BOTH IN GREEK AND IN LATIN TRANSCRIPTIONS, WAS WRITTEN LIKE M, and because in Latin the letter x is pronounced ks, this resulted in the word NAXIA being incorrectly transcribed as NAKSIA – NAMSIA, and given that no island or place named Namsia exists. The research reaches the following conclusion The word Namsia that appears in medieval martyrologies is not a toponym. It is a paleographic reading of the word Naxia (Naksia – Namsia). Therefore, the original tradition referred to Saint Aubain Albanus as ex Naxia, from Naxos. The reference of Bucelinus in 1655 was not an invention but the correct historical and graphological correction of an ancient copying error. The Saint was indeed Greek from Naxos, and the word Namsia was nothing other than a miswriting due to an acoustic error of the word Naxia by medieval copyists. The ks cluster in the course of copying, and based on the calligraphic rendering of k, ended up appearing as the cluster ms, in reality ks deriving from the pronunciation of the Latin x, and this from the most ancient rendering and inscription of the words Naxia, meaning the island of Naxos, as Strabo writes in Geographica Book 10 Chapter 5 paragraph 3, Naxos and Naxia, as an alternative name for the island in the Cyclades. In Greek mythology, Naxos is referred to as the eponymous hero and founder of Naxos, from whom the island took its name, thus Naxia meaning the island of Naxos. THE RELEVANT RESEARCH FROM THIS PAGE CONCERNING THE SAINT BEGAN AROUND 2017 AND INVOLVED THE COLLECTION AND EXAMINATION OF PRINTED AND ONLINE INFORMATION. ONLY RECENTLY DOES THIS RESEARCH APPEAR TO HAVE BORNE ITS FINAL FRUITS AND TO STAND POSSIBLY AS A SPRINGBOARD FOR A GREATER, MORE ACCURATE, MORE TRUTHFUL AND MORE SYSTEMATIC PLACEMENT AND ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT. THE CEPHALOPHORIC SAINTS OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH ARE NOT MANY. THEY ARE FEW, AND FOR THIS VERY REASON THEY DESERVE OUR TOTAL QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE INTEREST. THE GIFT OF CEPHALOPHORY IS A SIGN OF THE UTMOST PLEASINGNESS TO OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST BY THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORIC MARTYRS, BUT ALSO OF A DREADFUL DIVINE SIGN AND MIRACLE TO THE AMAZEMENT OF THE UNBELIEVING AND THE STRENGTHENING OF THE FAITHFUL. WITH THE MIRACLE OF CEPHALOPHORY, EVERY DOUBT, EVERY PRIDE, EVERY INSOLENCE AND EVERY ARROGANCE OF UNBELIEF AND IMPIETY IS SHATTERED. ESPECIALLY THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORIC MARTYRS BROUGHT MULTITUDES OF PEOPLES TO THE ORTHODOX FAITH, OR RATHER THE MOST HOLY GOD THROUGH THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORIC MARTYRS BROUGHT PIOUSNESS AND DEVOTION TO THE FAITH OF TRUTH TO PAGAN PEOPLES AND NATIONS, TO TYRANTS AND UNGODLY RULERS, AND PROCLAIMED HOLY ORTHODOXY THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE WORLD, OVERTHROWING HERESIES AND SHATTERING IDOLATRY, LEAVING ONLY THE TRUE FREE WILL OF MAN TO DECIDE AND TO ACT, SO THAT NO EXCUSE MAY REMAIN EITHER IN THIS LIFE OR AT THE JUDGMENT TO COME. CEPHALOPHORY PROCLAIMS THAT HE WHO TAKES THE HEAD DOES NOT TAKE THE FAITH, NOR THE LIFE, NOR THE RIGHTEOUSNESS, NOR THE VICTORY FROM THE MARTYR WHO IS BEHEADED, BUT THAT, ON THE CONTRARY, SPIRITUAL TRUTH IS CLEARLY AND BEYOND ALL CONCEPTION SUPERIOR TO EVERY EARTHLY REALITY AND AUTHORITY AND POWER AND MIGHT AND THREAT, ABOLISHING ERROR, HERESY AND UNBELIEF. THE HOLY CEPHALOPHORIC MARTYRS OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH, MORE THAN EVER, ARE NOW HERE, BESIDE US, AT OUR SIDE, FIGHTING TOGETHER WITH US AND CONTENDING TOGETHER WITH OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, HIS ALL-HOLY MOTHER, HIS HOLY ANGELS AND ALL THE OTHER SAINTS, FOR OUR SALVATION AND THAT OF THE WHOLE WORLD. ONE OF THEM IS THE GREAT AUBAIN ALBANUS, WHOSE JOURNEY LED HIM TO THE PLACE OF HIS MARTYRDOM IN MAINZ ON THE RHINE RIVER, FROM GREEK NAXOS, WHICH IS REFERRED TO IN THE TEXTS OF THE SOURCES, THE OLDER ONES AS NAMSIA DUE TO A PALEOGRAPHIC ERROR OF THE FORM NAKSIA, WHICH DERIVES FROM THE PRONUNCIATION OF THE WORD NAXIA, AS WE CLEARLY DEMONSTRATE ABOVE THAT NAXIA REFERRED ONLY TO THE GREEK NAXOS AND NOT TO THE SICILIAN ONE IN ANCIENT TIMES AND AT THE TIME OF THE SAINT’S MARTYRDOM, AND WAS RECORDED AS NAXIA WITH THE MEANING THAT IT BELONGED TO OR WAS GOVERNED BY NAXOS, AND THEREFORE NAXIA MEANS THAT WHICH BELONGS TO NAXOS. BUCELINUS, AN EXCELLENT CHRONICLER, HAGIOGRAPHER AND SCHOLAR, KNEW THIS, AS HE KNEW THE SOURCES, AND FOR THIS REASON HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO STATES BOLDLY THAT THE SAINT IS FROM NAXIA AND GREEK BY RACE, AFTER THOROUGH STUDY AND COMPARISON OF ALL THE SOURCES AVAILABLE TO HIM DUE TO HIS POSITION AND FIELD OF STUDY. LATIN TEXT Gabriel Bucelinus, Menologium Benedictinum, 21 Iunii Moguntia natalis Sancti Albani Martyris, qui sub Theodosio Imperatore, cum esset genere Graecus et ex insula Naxia oriundus, ibidem pro fide Christi capite truncatus est. GREEK TRANSLATION In Mainz, the commemoration of Saint Albani the Martyr, who in the days of Emperor Theodosius, being Greek by race and originating from the island of Naxos, was beheaded in the same place for the faith of Christ. From the work of Gabriel Bucelinus, Menologium Benedictinum, in the entry for 21 June. It is the typical, brief hagiographical notice found in martyrologies of the period, and it fully corresponds with the available sources and citations from his book, edition of 1655. CONFIRMED SINCE MOST ANCIENT TIMES THE NAME NAXIA FOR NAXOS Propertius, 1st century BC, in Elegiae Book 3 Poem 17 line 20, mentions Naxia turba, the crowd of Naxos, in poetic context concerning Bacchus. Ovid, 1st century BC to 1st century AD, in Metamorphoses Book 8 line 174, uses Naxia tellus, the land of Naxos, referring to the mythology of Ariadne and Bacchus. Strabo, approximately 64 BC to 24 AD, in Geographica Book 10 Chapter 5 paragraph 3, writes Naxos and Naxia as an alternative name for the island in the Cyclades. Pliny the Elder, 23 to 79 AD, in Naturalis Historia Book 4 Chapter 12 paragraph 67, mentions Naxos libera cum oppido, a Dionyso Naxia appellata, Naxos free with a town, called Naxia after Dionysus. Solinus, 3rd century AD, in Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium Chapter 7 paragraph 15, writes Naxos a Dionyso Naxia dicta, Naxos was called Naxia after Dionysus. Servius, 4th to 5th century AD, in his commentary on the Aeneid of Virgil Book 3 line 125, explains Naxon Naxos insula est Cycladum dicta a Dionyso Naxia, Naxos is an island of the Cyclades called Naxia after Dionysus. Below we present the most important relevant sources concerning the ecclesiology and historicity of the Saint. Regarding the historicity and authenticity of the Saint Hrabanus Maurus Born approximately 780 or 784 and died 4 February 856. Full Life He was born in Mainz or in a nearby area, from a noble Frankish family. At a very young age he entered as a monk the Benedictine monastery of Fulda. He was ordained deacon in 801. In 802 he was sent by Abbot Ratgar to Tours in France to study theology, liberal arts and Scripture under Alcuin, the greatest teacher of the time of Charlemagne. There Alcuin gave him the name Maurus in honor of the beloved disciple of Saint Benedict. He returned to Fulda in 803, where he became teacher and later head of the monastic school, which became the foremost center of learning in the entire Frankish Empire. Among his students were Walafrid Strabo, Servatus Lupus, Otfrid of Weissenburg and others. He was ordained priest in 814. In 822 he was elected abbot of Fulda until 842, a period of great flourishing. He built more than thirty churches and chapels, enriched the church with mosaics, tapestries and reliquaries, greatly increased the library, preached to the people and cared for the priests of the provinces. Politically he supported Louis the Pious against his sons. After the death of Louis in 840 he supported Lothair, was forced to flee in 840, returned in 841 and resigned from the abbacy in early 842. He withdrew to Petersberg near Fulda for prayer and writing. In 845 he was reconciled with the king and in 847 was elected Archbishop of Mainz, succeeding Otgar, and was consecrated on 26 June. He organized three provincial synods, in 847 at the monastery of Saint Alban in Mainz issuing thirty one disciplinary canons, in 848 condemning Gottschalk of Orbais and his teaching on predestination, and in 852 or 851 concerning ecclesiastical rights and discipline. He was distinguished for his charity, during the famine of 850 feeding more than three hundred persons daily. He died naturally on 4 February 856 near Mainz at the age of about seventy five or seventy six. He was buried in the monastery of Saint Alban in Mainz and later his relics were transferred to Halle. Veneration He is commemorated on 4 February. He is honored especially in Fulda, Mainz and Limburg. He is also recognized in the Eastern Orthodox Church as a pre Schism Western Saint. Works More than fifty works, mainly exegetical commentaries on almost all books of the Old Testament, on the Gospel of Matthew and on the Pauline Epistles, based on Jerome, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Seville, Origen, Ambrose and Bede. Among his principal works are De universo in twenty two books, De institutione clericorum, De ecclesiastica disciplina, De computo, De procinctu romanae miliciae, the poem De laudibus sanctae Crucis, the hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, a Martyrologium around 845, letters and poems. He was called Praeceptor Germaniae, teacher of Germany. The Martyrologium around 845 and the phrase during the reign of Emperor Theodosius It constitutes the earliest substantial source for Saint Alban of Mainz and contains a separate entry for 21 June referring to him. Exact excerpt for 21 June XI Kalendas in Moguntia natalis Albani martyris, qui sub Theodosio imperatore de insula Namsia pergens cum sancto Theonesto et Urso Mediolanum venit, indeque exiens auxiliante Domino pervenit ad Gallias, et in servitio Dei manens ad martyrium pro nomine Salvatoris promptus. Postquam autem in Augusta civitate beatus Ursus martyrium accepit, Theonestus cum Albano Moguntiacum pervenit, dumque ibi praedicaret verbum Dei, Albanus discipulus eius martyrium explevit et sepultus est ibi iuxta civitatem. Translationlso Located in the Homonymous Church in the City of Namur – as Saint Aubain (Official Canonical Name: Alba(i)nus; Place of Martyrdom: Mogundia/Mogontiacum – Mainz)
THE GREAT UNKNOWN GREEK CEPHALOPHORE SAINT, KNOWN IN BELGIUM—WHERE HIS RELIQUARY IS LOCATED IN THE HOMONYMOUS CHURCH IN THE CITY OF NAMUR—AS SAINT AUBAIN (CANONICAL OFFICIAL NAME: ALBA(I)NUS, PLACE OF MARTYRDOM: MOGUNTIA (MAGENTIA)—MAINZ BY THE RIVER RHINE IN MODERN-DAY GERMANY) Based on painstaking research and the combined examination of available sources, citing the most reliable and ecclesiologically, historically, and geographically concordant data. Saint Aubain (a Gallic-Walloon rendering, combined with the interpretation of "stranger"—since he came from foreign parts, in this case, Greek Naxos—resulting from a phonetic and paleographic corruption of Albanus), known in the Ecclesiastical Hagiographical tradition as Albanus (or Albinus, names existing in the wider Mediterranean region during the Roman Empire in the 4th century), constitutes a Historical and Hagiographical personality who acted as a missionary in the region of modern-day Germany (Mainz, Rhine River). ...
