Page:MaryHelpOfChristians.djvu/200

 sufferings of  life,  and  we  shall  receive,  as  they did, the  crown  of  heaven.

O God,  who  dost  give  us  joy  through  the  memory of  Thy  holy  martyrs,  graciously  grant that we  may  be  inflamed  by  their  example,  in whose  merits  we  rejoice. Through Christ  our Lord. Amen.

T. Pantaleon  was  physician  to  Emperor Maximin and  a  Christian,  but  he  fell  through a temptation  which  is  sometimes  more  dangerous than the  most  severe  trials  by  the  fiercest  torments. This temptation  was  the  bad  example of the  impious,  idolatrous  courtiers  with  whom the young  physician  associated. He was  seduced by them  and  abandoned  the  Faith. But the  grace of God  called  him,  and  he  obeyed.

Hermolaus, a  zealous  priest,  by  prudent  exhortation awakened  Pantaleon's  conscience  to  a  sense of his  guilt,  and  brought  him  back  into  the  fold of the  Church. Henceforth he  devoted  himself ardently to  the  advancement  of  the  spiritual  and temporal welfare  of  his  fellow-citizens. First of all  he  sought  to  convert  his  father,  who  was  still