Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/683

 THEOPHANES

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TH^OPHANE

been quoted as giving such a lifelike description of the position of a Christian in the imperial Court has been pronounced, first by Batiflol and then by Har- nack, to be a forgery. Their verdict is endorsed by Bardenhewer. It was first published from what pur- ported to be a transcript made by Jerome Vignier, by Dacherius in his "Spicilegium''. Theonas is com- memorated in the Roman Martyrology on 27 August. St. Athanasius in his apology to Constantinus speaks of a church dedicated by his predecessor, St. Alex- ander, to Theonas. The same church is alluded to in the "Acts of SS. Pachomius and Theodorus".

For the Epistle to Lucianns see: Batiffol. Bulletin Critique (1886). 155-60; Hahnack, Der gefdhchle Brief des Bischof» Theoiuis in Texte u. Untersuchungen, IX (Leipzig. 1903). iii, new eeriea, English tr. of epistle in Clarke, .4n<c-M'ccne Fafft^rs: Tfte WHtinge of Methodius etc. For a number of fabulous stories told by medieval Arabic writers (Severds, Eutychius. etc.) see Renaudot. Hist. Patriarch: Alexand., 50 sq.; Acta SS., I V.August, 57(1 sq.

F. J. Bacchus.

Theopbanes, iSaint, chronicler, b. at Constanti- nople, about 7.58; d. in Samothracia, probably 12 March, 817, on which day he is commemorated in the Greek menologies and in the Roman Martyrology. He was the son of Isaac, imperial governor of the islands of the White Sea, and of Theodora, of whose famil)' nothing is known. After the early death of his parents he came to the Court of Constantino Copro- nimus. He was married at the age of twelve, but in- duced his wife to lead a life of virginity, and in 799, after the death of his father-in-law, they separated with mutual consent to embrace the reUgious state, she choosing a convent on an island near Constanti- nople, while he entered the monastery called Poly- chroniusin thedistrict of Sigriano near Cyzicus. Later he built a monastery on his own lands on the island Calonymus (now Calomio). After six years he re- turned to Sigriano, founded an abbey known by the name "of the great acre", and governed it as abbot. As such he was present at the second General Council of Nica-a, 787, and signed its decrees in defence of the sacred images. When the Emperor Leo the Arme- nian again began his iconoclastic warfare, he ordered Theophanes to be brought to Constantinople and tried in vain to induce him to condemn what had been sanctioned by the council. Theophanes was cast into prison and for two years suffered cruel treatment; he was then banished to Samothracia, where, over- whelmed with afflictions, he lived only seventeen days and wrought many miracles after death.

At the ijrgent request of his friend George Syncellua (d. 810), Theophanes undertook the continuation of his chronicle, during the years 810-15 (P. G., CVIII, 55). He treated of the time from the ye.ar 284-813, and made use of material already prepared by Syncellus, probably also the extracts from the works of Socrates, Sozomenus, and Theodoret, made by Theodore Lector, and the city chronicle of Constanti- nople. The work consists of two parts, the first giv- ing the history, arranged according to years, the other containing chronological tables, full of inaccuracies and therefore of little value. It seems that Theo- phanes had only prepared the tables, leaving vacant spaces for the jjroper dates, but that these had been filled out by .some one else (Hurter, "Nomencl.", I, Innsbruck, 1903, 735). The first part, though lack- ing in historical precision and criticism, which could scarcely be expected from a man of such ascetical dis- position, gre.atly surpasses the majority of Byzantine chronicles (Krumbacher, "Gesch. der byz. Litt.", 1897, 342). The chronicle was edited at Paris in 1655 by Goar; again at Venice in 1729 with annota- tions and corrections by Combefis. A Latin version was made by Anastasius Bibliothecarius, and both were ably edited by de Boor (Leipzig, 1883).

Brooks. The Sourctt of Theophaves and the Syriac chroniclers in ByiarU. Zeilachrifl, XV (1906), 578; Stadler, Heiligenlezicon,

a dithyramb on Theophanes, in Miinchener Sitzungshericht, 1896, 583: Ada SS., II. March, 210; Chevaueh, Biog-Bibl., II, 4437: .inal. BoU.. XXXI. U.

Francis Mershman.

Theophanes Kerameus (KfpoAiei/s, potter). Arch- bishop of Ro.ssano in Calabria (ir29-.52), a celebrated homiletic writer. His sermons, ninety-one of which are known in manuscript, are mostly exegetical, and written in Greek, which was then still extensively spoken in Sicily and Southern Italy. They are re- markable for their simplicity and naturalness, and are masterpieces of oratorical skill and, for those times, rare examples of lucid and unforced expositions of bib- lical texts. They were first edited, together with a Latin translation and extensive annotations, by Fran- cesco Scorso, S.J. (Paris, 1644), which edition is re- printed in P. G., CXXXII, 125-1078. A new edition was prepared by Gregory Palamas (Jerusalem, 1860). The fact that various other individuals also bore the surname "Kerameus" hiis given rise to a controversy concerning the authorship of these homilies. Scorso, their first editor, falsely supposed Theophanes Kera- meus to have lived in the ninth century and to have been Bishop of Taormina in Sicily. Batiffol, in his work entitled "L'abbaye de Rossano" (Paris, 1891), XXXI, 36-56, holds that part of the homilies were written by the Calabrian monk John Philagathos, a disciple of Abbot Bartholomaus of Grottaferrata (d. c. 1050).

Lancia di Brolo, Storia delta Chiesa in Sicilia (Palermo, 1884), 459-92; Idem, Sopra Teofano Cerameo ricerche e schiarimenti in .irchiiio storico Siciliano B., I (Palermo, 1877), 391-421. Con- cerninE a probatile interpolation in homilv 55, see Langen, in Retue Internationale de Thiologie, III (1895), 122-7.

Michael Ott.

ThSophane Venard, Bles.sed (Jean-Th^ophane Venard), French mi.ssion.ary, b. at St-Loup, Dio- cese of Poitiers, 1829; martyred in Tonkin, 2 Feb., 1861. He studied at the College of Dou6-la-Fon- taine, MontmorUlon, Poitiers, and the Paris Semi- nary for Foreign Missions which he entered as a sub-deacon. Ordained priest 5 June, 1852, he departed for the Far East, 19 Sept. After fifteen months at Hong Kong he arrived at his mission in West Tonkin, where the Christians had recently been tried by a series of persecutions under Minh- Menh, a monster of cruelty. Shortly after Father V6nard's arrival a new royal edict was issued against Christians, and bishops and priests were obliged to seek refuge in caves, dense woods, and elsewhere. Father Venard, whose constitution had always been delicate, suffered almost constantly, but continued to exercise his ministry at night, and, more boldly, in broad day. On 30 Nov., 1860, he was betrayed and captured. Tried before a mandarin, he refused to apostatize and was sentenced to be beheaded. He remained a captive until 2 Feb., and during this internal lived in a cage, from which he wrote to his family beautiful and consoling letters, joyful in antici- pation of his crown. His bishop, Mgr Retord, wrote of him at this time: "Though in chains, he is as gay as a little bird".

On the way to martyrdom Father Venard chanted

Esalms and hymns. To his executioner, who coveted is clothing and asked what he would give to be killed promptly, he an.swered: "The longer it lasts the better it will be". His head, after exposure at the top of a pole, was secured by the Christians and is now venerated in Tonkin. The body rests in the crypt at the Missions Etrangeres, Paris. Other

Erecious relics are in the hands of the martyr^s rother. Canon Eusebius Venard, cur6 of Assais Deux S6\Tes, France, who possesses, also, most of the martyr's letters, including those written from the cage. In a letter addressed to his father, Th<';ophane refers thus to his approaching sacrifice: "A slight sabre-cut will separate my head from my body, like the spring flower which the Master of the garden