Saint Denis, Bishop of Paris and Martyr
by VP
Posted on Monday October 09, 2023 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Denis Carrying His Own Head, woodcut, 1826
"THE WORTH OF BLOOD.-The blood of the martyrs became the seed of Christians, according to the beautiful expression of one of the early Fathers. This truth is fully shown forth by the whole history of the establishment of Christianity. Denys, Rusticus, and Eleutherius, having been sent into Gaul by the Pope St. Fabian, towards the middle of the third century, to bear thither the light of the Gospel, founded the churches of Chartres, Senlis, Meaux, Cologne, and likewise that of Paris, whereof St. Denys became the first bishop. Being seized however by the prefect Sisinnius Fescenninus in the midst of their apostolic labors, they were thrown into prison and beheaded towards the year 280. Their bodies having been thrown into the Seine, were drawn out thence, and buried on the spot where the Basilica of St. Denys was subsequently erected. This martyrdom, far from arresting the progress of the Gospel, as the pagans had hoped, gave such great extension to the faith that the Christians were soon able to defy the efforts of the persecutors, and Christianity at last gained the upper hand, establishing itself on the ruins of paganism.
MORAL REFLECTION.-Take heart, then, all you that suffer for the faith "a long posterity being promised to Jesus Christ as the price of His blood."-(Isa. liii. 10.)
