From: trudie.Miller@cox.net   
      
   October 11th - St. Tarachus and his Companions, Martyrs   
      
   (d. 304)   
   During the persecution of Diocletian in the year 304, Tarachus, Probus, and   
   Andronicus, differing in age and nationality but united in the bonds of faith,   
   were denounced as Christians to the governor of Cilicia. They were arrested at   
   Pompeiopolis, and conducted to Tarsus. The acts of these glorious martyrs are   
   one of the most precious monuments of Church history. The interrogations,   
   making   
   up the first three parts of their acts, were recorded in the proconsular   
   registers, which the Christians bought for 200 deniers from the public Notary.   
   Line by line, we read the questions posed by the governor of Cilicia named   
   Maximus, and the answers of the martyrs. These are followed by a narration of   
   their death, written by three Christian eyewitnesses, Mark, Felix and Verus,   
   who   
   buried their bodies.   
      
   Tarachus was a retired military officer of the imperial armies, who had reached   
   the age of sixty-five. Probus had abandoned a fortune to serve Jesus Christ   
   with   
   greater liberty. Andronicus, the youngest, was a member of one of the first   
   families of Ephesus.   
      
   When Tarachus was told to sacrifice, he replied, "I cannot renounce the law of   
   God." The governor of the province said, "There is only one law, the one we   
   obey."   
      
   Tarachus: "There is another, and you transgress it by adoring your own   
   handiwork, statues of wood or stone." He was struck on the mouth and beaten   
   with   
   rods. Tarachus said while being struck: "Now you are making me truly wise; the   
   blows you give me fortify me, they increase my confidence in God and in Jesus   
   Christ." He was chained and taken to prison.   
      
   Probus was no less courageous; while he was being beaten the governor said to   
   him, "Look at your torn body, wretch, and the ground covered with your blood!"   
   Probus: "The more my flesh suffers for Jesus Christ, the more my soul acquires   
   strength and vigor." He was placed in irons and no one was permitted to dress   
   his wounds.   
      
   When the turn of Andronicus came, Maximus said to him: "Adore the gods and obey   
   the emperors, who are our fathers and masters."   
   Andronicus: "The devil is your father, when you do his works."   
   Maximus: "Young man, you are insolent; do you know that I have torments in   
   readiness?"   
   Andronicus: "I would rather see my body cut into pieces than lose my soul."   
   Maximus: "Wretch, we will see if you are insensible to torments. When you feel   
   them, you will perhaps renounce your folly."   
   Andronicus: "This folly is advantageous for us who hope in Jesus Christ. The   
   wisdom of the world leads to eternal death." He was tortured on the rack, and   
   salt put on his wounds. He said: "Your torments have procured true refreshment   
   for my body."   
   Maximus: "I will have you perish by a slow death." And he had him chained like   
   the others and put in prison.   
      
   A short time later they were moved to another city, where the same governor   
   began the questioning over again. Tarachus had his teeth broken, his hands   
   burnt, and vinegar and salt poured into his nostrils. He said: "Your vinegar   
   has   
   only sweetness for me, and your salt seems insipid to me." Probus, brought   
   before him, told him, "My soul is stronger than ever. In heaven I have a living   
   God whom I serve and adore; I know no other." When told to sacrifice to   
   Jupiter,   
   he said, "Can you give the name of god to one soiled by adulteries, incests,   
   and   
   other enormous crimes?" And when struck on the mouth, he said, "I have not   
   injured truth, I only said of Jupiter what all who adore him already know." He   
   was burnt with hot coals on the head and feet. Andronicus was led before   
   Maximus   
   and told that his companions had ceded under torture. He answered: "Why do you   
   try to deceive me? My companions have not renounced the cult of the true God,   
   and even if they had, I would not commit such an impiety. The God I adore has   
   given me the arms of faith. Jesus Christ, my Saviour, is my strength, in such   
   wise that I do not dread your power or that of your masters or that of your   
   gods. You can test me with all the tortures that the most refined cruelty   
   suggests to you." He was again beaten and salt was rubbed into his wounds.   
   Maximus said to him: "You will not despise my authority with impunity."   
   Andronicus: "It will not be said, either, that the cause of Jesus Christ has   
   succumbed under your authority."   
      
   A third interrogation and another series of tortures followed at still another   
   city. Tarachus was cruelly tortured; when his ears were cut off he only said:   
   "My heart is no less attentive to the word of God", and made other similar   
   replies, as respectful as they were heroic.   
      
   Maximus said to Probus: "The God you invoke has delivered you Himself into my   
   hands."   
   Probus: "He loves men." Food offered to idols was forced into his mouth.   
   Probus: "I have abandoned my body to your power in order to save my soul. When   
   you force me to eat what has been offered on your abominable altars, I am not   
   soiled; God is witness to the violence I suffer." He was blinded. He replied:   
   "You have deprived me of the eyes of the body, but cannot take from me those of   
   the soul. If you knew your own blindness, you would find you were more   
   unfortunate than I am." The youngest confessor had his teeth pulled out, and   
   was   
   told he would be devoured by the beasts in the amphitheater. He said: "God will   
   deliver me when it so pleases Him."   
      
   Unable to walk because of their wounds, these disciples of Christ were borne to   
   the amphitheater. The wild animals, when released, would not approach the   
   martyrs; a bear who had killed three men that day, came and licked the feet of   
   the youngest martyr. The governor had the beast killed. A furious lioness, even   
   after being provoked, lay down at the feet of Tarachus and licked them.   
   Gladiators were told to kill the martyrs. The Christians of the city sent this   
   narration to the church of Iconium, telling them to make it known to the   
   faithful of the other cities of the region for their edification.   
      
   Reflection: Such is true Christian devotion. Is ours the faith of the Apostles   
   who cried: "Neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love   
   that is in Christ Jesus"? (Cf. Romans 8:38-39)   
      
   Sources: Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud   
   et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 12; Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a   
   compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John   
   Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   O Sacred Heart of Jesus! I fly to Thee, I unite myself with Thee, I enclose   
   myself to Thee! Receive this, my call for help, O my Saviour, as a sign of my   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)