Page:A Dictionary of Saintly Women Volume 2.djvu/281

269 ST. THEUDOSIA 269 Floras said to him, '^ Where are yoa going without your servant and un- armed ? *' He replied that he was going where his soul would he saved* Florus continued, ** Why should not mine he saved too ? '* Hedistus said, <' The Lord Jesus Christ, Who deigned to take upon Him the form of a servant, is powerful and can save you too." Florus hearing the name of Christ, cursed his master and said to him, " Tou do not seem to me to he taking care to he saved, you are much more likely to he hurrying to where you will he crucified with the guilty Christians." Hedistus went to the meeting of the Christians neverthe- less, and returned and took his place as usual in the Emperor's presence. Soon afterwards Nero ordered haths to he huilt with all possible haste at Laurentum, and ordered that the architects and wise men employed for the work should do nothing without consulting Hedistus. In the course of their excavations, they came to the catacomb where St. Prisons was in the habit of celebrating masses, and they announced to Hedistus that they had found a great open space. He therefore forbade any one to enter it. They were all afraid but Hedistus con- tinued to attend the nightly services as before. One night Florus followed him at a distance, saw him talking to Christes, and came home unobserved by his master. Afterwards, when Hedistus was sitting at dinner, Florus said to him, "I have been ten years in your service, and you know that I have never betrayed your confidence nor repeated what you said or did. If you ever found me out in such an offence, you can punish me if you choose. Why then did you not deign to tell me about that beautiful girl that you are in love with?" Hedistus answered with tears that the maiden of whom he spoke was worthy of all respect and that Florus had utterly mistaken the nature of their in- tercourse. Florus, disregarding his master's denial, went on to urge that Christes should be brought to the house where Hedistus was living. Hedistus cut him short with an angry exclamation, adding, '' If I ever again hear a word to this purpose from your mouth, I will order you to be beaten to death." Florus from that time became a traitor to his master. Nero was very angry and said, " In the place where Hedistus is found worshipping the God of the Christians, he shall be buried alive, and his wealth shall be given to his accuser ; but if the accusation prove false, the traitor shall be put to death." That same night Florus sent to tell Nero that Hedistus was in the catacomb with the Christian priest. The Emperor ordered that he and all who were with him should be buried alive in the sand-pit. Accordingly, he was buried in the sand with Prisons, Thermantia, and Christes; Yicturia fled, but the heathens overtook her in the grove of Diana, and ran her through with a sword. AA,SS. St. Thessalonica, Nov. 7, daughter of Cleon, a heathen priest at Amphipolis in Macedonia. She was disinherited and subjected to sundry forms of persecution, on account of her conversion to Christi- anity ; but she persevered in the faith, and died in peace. B,M. Menology of Basil, St. Theta, Oct. 27, abbess, O.S.B. 8th century. Bepresented taking four keys, presented to her by a devil in the form of a fox. Guenebault. Chaste- lain, Mart. Univerael, St. Thetha, Etha. St. Theudosia, Thkodosia, or Aube- LiA Theudosia. Supposed 3rd century. Perhaps Theodosia (1). Patron of Amiens. Her body was found in the catacomb of St. Priscilla at Rome, in 1842, in the pontificate of Gregory XVL, and it was sent to Amiens. This was the inscription on her tomb — AUBELIAS. ThEUDOSIAE. BeNIQNISSIMAE. BT. Inoohpababili. Feminae. AURELIUS OpTATUS conjuoi. innooenti88imae Det. Prid. Kal. Deo. Nat. Ambiana. B. M. F. It was not usual to indicate the birth- place of the early Christians : this seems the only instance. Her husband was perhaps a Christian. The authenticity of her relics and of the signs of her