"I do not sacrifice to devils" ~ The martyrdom of St. Quirinus of Siscia, June 4, AD 309

Fresco of from the catacombs of St. Callixtus showing, left to right,
the martyrs St. Polycamus, St. Sebastian, and St. Quirinus. Click to enlarge.

June 4th is the anniversary of the martyrdom of Quirinus, Bishop of Siscia, during the Great Persecution of the early 4th century AD. Though he was bishop of the Roman town of Siscia (modern-day Sisak in Croatia) in the province of Pannonia, he was taken to the provincial capital of Sabaria (modern-day Szombathely in Hungary) for trial and execution. Thus, he is especially venerated in both Croatia and Hungary though his remains have found their way to Rome over the centuries. 

Unlike many of the Christian martyrs of this time, Quirinus is known from multiple sources including a passio, the 4th century AD Chronicon of Eusebius (as copied and extended by St. Jerome in the 5th century) and a poem by Prudentius in his work known as the Peristephanon written in the last 4th century.  

Here is the brief notice taken from Eusebius/Jerome's Chronicon:

Quirinus, bishop of Siscia, is gloriously killed for Christ: for the top of a household quern fastened to his neck, and thrown headlong into a river, he floated for a very long time and while he was being remarked upon by the spectators, lest by his example they should be frightened, hardly praying that he should sink, he obtained it.

The Passio of St. Quirinus is among those collected by Fr. Theodore Ruinart's Acta Primorum Martyrum Sincera et Selecta. It was translated into English and included in Butler's Lives of the Saints and is fairly typical of the authentic Acts of the martyrs which have survived from that time. In it, we see Quirinus debating with his accusers and offering a vigorous defense of his Christianity:

Maximus, chief magistrate of Siscia: “You talk much, and are guilty thereby of delay in executing the commands of our sovereigns: read their divine edicts, and comply with what they enjoin.”

Quirinus: “I make no account of such injunctions, because they are impious; and, contrary to God’s commandments, would oblige us his servants to offer sacrifice to imaginary divinities. The God whom I serve is everywhere; he is in heaven, on earth, and in the sea. He is above all things, containing everything within himself; and by him alone everything subsists.” 

Maximus: “Old age has weakened your understanding and you are deluded by idle tales. See, here is incense: offer it to the gods or you will have many affronts to bear, and will suffer a cruel death.” 

Quirinus: “That disgrace I account my glory, and that death will purchase me eternal life. I respect only the altar of my God, on which I have offered to him a sacrifice of sweet odor.”

Maximus: “I perceive you are distracted, and that your madness will be the cause of your death. Sacrifice to the gods.”

Quirinus: “No, I do not sacrifice to devils.”

Following this conversation, Quirinus was beaten despite his age. When even this failed to make him abjure his Christianity, he was remanded to prison where he proceeded to convert one of his jailers. 

Relief of St. Quirinus from a well on the island of Krk in Croatia.

After three days in prison, Maximus sent Quirinus to the provincial capital of Sabaria to appear before the praeces, Amantius. There, the bishop once again declared his Christian faith publicly during a trial and was sentenced to death by drowning. A millstone was fastened around his neck and he was plunged into a nearby stream, likely the nearby Gyongyos. Prudentius, writing in the late 4th century AD, poetically describes what happened next:

Within the walls of Sisak,
   As in a sire’s embrace,
God willed his faithful martyr
   Should witness to his grace.
So when the stern Galerius
   Oppressed th’ Illyrian sea,
Quirinus there, with sword and prayer,
   Won truest victory.

Not by the steel relentless;
   Not by the fire’s fierce breath;
Not by the paw and tooth of beast,
   Won he the meed of death.
No matter if by water;
   No matter if by blood;
Death with equal glory
   Appears in either flood.
So in the river’s bosom,
   Washed by the tender wave
That laid him down, he gained the crown
   That marks the martyr’s grave.

They bear him where the Savus
   Beneath the bridge runs deep;
They tear him from his people—
   The shepherd from his sheep.
About his neck they fasten,
   That he may surely drown,
O, cruel fate, a millstone great,
   To drag him swiftly down.

The whirlpool spreads its circles,
   And bears him on its breast:
He and the mighty millstone
   Lie there in quiet rest.
But now the martyr bishop,
   Who waits the victor’s palm
Feels even death denied him
   In this most holy calm:
Death and the sure ascension,
   That wellnigh seemed his own;
The opening skies to wistful eyes;
Th’ Eternal Father’s throne.

“O, Jesus, Lord, all-powerful,”
   He cries, “not new to Thee
This triumph o’er the waters,
   For Thou canst quell the sea:
Thine own apostle Peter,
   Whom Thy right hand did keep,
Unyielding found, as solid ground,
   The pathway of the deep.

This stream Thy power proclaimeth,
   In bearing up a stone;
Grant me this boon, O Christ my God,
   To die for Thee alone!”
He praying thus is answered,
   And voice and vital flame,
Leaving the mortal body,
   Ascend to whence they came:
The stone again is heavy;
   The water’s tender breast
Yields to his prayer and lays him there,
   In sweet and perfect rest.

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The above excerpt was taken from I Am a Christian: Authentic Accounts of Christian Martyrdom and Persecution from the Ancient Sources which also contains numerous other accounts of the ancient martyrs and is worth reading if you are interested in this topic. 

The remains of St. Quirinus were recovered and later interred within a church built at the gates of Sabaria after the end of the Great Persecution and the advent of Constantine. However, with the decline of the Empire's fortunes over the next century and the repeated barbarian invasions of Pannonia, the relics of St. Quirinus were withdrawn to Rome for safe-keeping. They were deposited, apparently, in the catacomb of Callixtus whence the fresco featured at the top oc this post may be found. Later, the relics of St. Quirinus were moved again to the catacomb of Saint Sebastian where they remain to this day.