Eustace (Eustachius), otherwise called Placid, was a Roman, illustrious for his birth, wealth and military renown so that under the emperor Trajan he became a general of the Roman army. Once while hunting, he was chasing a stag of remarkable size which suddenly halted and showed him between its horns a large and bright image of Christ our Lord hanging on the cross and inviting him to make everlasting life the object of his pursuit. Thereupon together with his wife Theopista and his two little sons Agapitus and Theopistus, he entered the ranks of the Christian warfare.
Some time afterwards Eustace returned to the place of the vision, in obedience to the command of our Lord, from whom he there heard how much he was to suffer for God’s glory. He underwent, with wonderful patience, such incredible losses that in a short time he was reduced to the utmost need and was obliged to retire privately. On the way he had the unhappiness to see first his wife, and then his two sons taken from him. Overwhelmed by all these misfortunes, he lived for a long time unknown in a distant country as a farm bailiff until at length a voice from Heaven comforted him and soon after, a fresh occasion of war arising, Trajan had him sought out and again placed at the head of the army.
During the expedition, he unexpectedly found his wife and children again. He returned to Rome in triumph amid universal congratulations, but was soon commanded to offer sacrifice to the false gods in thanksgiving for his victory. On his firm refusal, every art was tried to make him renounce the faith of Christ, but in vain. He was then, with his wife and sons, thrown to the lions. But the beasts showed nothing but gentleness. The emperor, in a rage, commanded the martyrs to be shut up in a brazen bull heated by a fire underneath it. There, singing the praises of God, they consummated their sacrifice and took their flight to eternal happiness on the twelfth of the Calends of October. Their bodies were found intact, and reverently buried by the faithful, but were afterwards translated with honour to a church erected to their names.
Dom Prosper Guéranger:
The twentieth of September marks one of the saddest events in history. At the height of her power, in the glorious days of Pepin and Charlemagne, the eldest daughter of the Church had crowned her mother, and the Church, in the person of her Head, reigned in reality as well as by right until, a thousand years later, Satan took advantage of the fallen state of France to despoil Peter of the patrimony which ensured his independence. The holy cross is still shedding its rays on us.
Today a group of martyrs, and this time a whole family, father, mother and sons, take up their position around the standard of salvation. While the antiquity of their cultus in both East and West rests on the best authority, the details of their life are extremely vague. Could Placid the tribune, whose exploits are recorded by Josephus in his Wars of the Jews, be the same as the Eustace we are celebrating today? Does the genealogy of our saint connect him with the Octavian family from which Augustus sprang? Again are we to recognise as his direct descendant the noble Tertullus who confided to Saint Benedict his son Placid, the favourite child of the holy patriarch and the proto-martyr of the Benedictine Order? Subiaco long possessed the mountain designated by ancient tradition as the site of the apparition of the mysterious stag. Tertullus may have bequeathed it to the monastery, as his son’s patrimony. But we have not space enough to do more than record the fact that these questions have been raised.
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Our trials are light compared with yours, O blessed martyrs! Obtain for us the grace not to betray the confidence of our Lord when He calls us to suffer for Him in this world. It is thus we must win the glory of Heaven. How can we triumph with the God of armies unless we have marched under His standard? Now that standard is the cross. The Church knows it, and therefore she is not troubled even by the greatest calamities. She knows, too, that her Spouse is watching over her, even when He seems to sleep, and she looks to the protection of such of her sons as are already glorified.Also on this day according to the ROMAN MARTYROLOGY:
The vigil of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.
At Cyzicum on the sea of Marmora, the birthday of the holy martyrs Pausta, virgin, and Evilasius, in the time of the emperor Maximian. Fausta had her head shaved to shame her, and was hanged up and tortured by Evilasius, then a pagan priest, but when he wished to have her body cut in two, the executioners could not inflict any injury on her. Amazed at this prodigy, Evilasius believed in Christ, and while he was cruelly tortured by order of the emperor, Fausta had her head bored through, and her whole body pierced with nails. She was then laid on a burning pan, and being called by a celestial voice, went in company with Evilasius to enjoy the blessedness of heaven.
In Phrygia, the holy martyrs Denis and Privatus.
Also St. Priscus, martyr, who, after having had his body pierced all over with daggers, was beheaded.
At Pergen in Pamphylia, the Saints Theodore, his mother Philippa, and their fellow martyrs under the emperor Antoninus.
At Carthage, St. Candida, virgin and martyr, who, having all her body lacerated with whips, was crowned with martyrdom, under the emperor Maximian.
Also the holy martyr Susanna, daughter of Arthemius, a pagan priest, and Martha.
The same day, Pope St. Agapitus, whose sanctity was attested by Pope St. Gregory.
At Milan, St. Clicerius, bishop and confessor.
And in other places, many other holy martyrs, confessors and virgins.
Thanks be to God.
