Martyrs--Afra

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. AFRA
feast day August 5th
by St. Alphonsus Liguori (and other sources)

God will never reject anyone, no matter how bad they are, provided that they wish to leave their sinful ways and turn to God in a spirit of sorrow for sin and a desire for penance to make reparation. It is not for nothing the God says in Holy Scripture: “If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool” (Isaias 1:18). “Is it my will that a sinner should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live?” (Ezechiel 18:23) … “If the wicked do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice, living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done: in his justice which he hath wrought, he shall live” (Ezechiel 18:23). St. Dismas, the Good Thief on the Cross, converted and accepted the agony and pain of his death throes to see Paradise that very same day: “And Jesus said to him: ‘Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise!’” (Luke 23:43). St. Mary Magdalen was a former prostitute, possessed by seven devils, whom Jesus cast out when she converted. St. Mary of Egypt was also a former prostitute, who became a “Desert Mother” who spent decades of years doing penance in the deserts of Egypt. St. Afra, as we shall see, was of similar mold.

Exterior of the Abbey of St. Ulrich and St. Afra in Augsburg, Germany.

High altar in the Abbey of St. Ulrich and St. Afra in Augsburg, Germany.

The city of Augusta Vindelicorum (the present Augsburg, Germany) was situated in the northern part of the Roman province of Rhætia, on the river Lech, not far from its junction with the river Danube. It was an important Roman colony, invested with municipal rights (municipium) by the Emperor Hadrian, into which Christianity had penetrated even before the time of Constantine, as is proved, beyond question, by the martyrdom of St. Afra.

The history of St. Afra is related by most respectable authors, such as Fleury, Orsi, and Massini. Penitent sinners may receive great encouragement from the consideration of the fortitude communicated to this penitent by the Lord, which enabled her to suffer the martyrdom of fire; and also from the consideration of the wisdom given to her, by which she answered the insidious arguments that were intended to pervert her.

In the late 3rd century, Afra and her pagan family journeyed from Cyprus to Augsburg, in Bavaria, Germany. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess, Venus, by her mother, Hilaria. According to this source, she was originally a prostitute in Augsburg, having gone there from Cyprus, maybe even as the daughter of the King of Cyprus. She is reputed either to have run a brothel in Augsburg, or worked as a prostitute in the Temple of Venus.

As the persecution of Christians during the reign of Roman Emperor Diocletian began, Bishop St. Narcissus of Girona fled from Spain and sought refuge in the Bavarian town of Augsburg. He lodged with Afra and her mother, Hilaria. The triumph of divine grace would bring this most wretched creature, from the very lowest abyss of infamy and shame, to the glory of martyrdom. Through his teachings, it is believed that Bishop St. Narcissus converted Afra, together with her mother and entire family, to Christianity.

From the work called the Acts of Afra, found in Ruinart, it would appear that she had always before her eyes the deformity of her crimes, and was tortured by the recollection of them; so that when she had embraced the Faith, she endeavored to get rid of the price of her infamy and shame by giving generously to the poor; and when some Christians, although in extreme poverty, refused to receive from her, what had been the wages of sin, she would beseech of them to accept it, and pray to God for the remission of her grievous offenses. Thus did this holy penitent prepare herself to receive from God that glorious palm which she finally obtained.

She continued to hide the bishop from the authorities. During the persecution of Christians, under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, when it was learned that Afra was a Christian, she was arrested and brought before the judge named Gaius, who said to her: “Come now, sacrifice to the gods; it is better to live than to die amid torments.”

The saint replied: “The sins which I have committed before I knew the true God are sufficient; wherefore I cannot now do that which thou commandest. I never will do so: it would be adding a new insult to my God.”

The judge having ordered her to repair to the temple, she answered with great courage: “My temple is Jesus Christ, whom I have continually before mine eyes, and to whom I every day confess my sins. Since I am unworthy to offer him any other sacrifice, I am anxious to sacrifice myself, in order that this body, with which I have offended him, may be purified by torments; this reflection shall make me suffer most willingly.”

“Since, therefore,” said Gaius, “by reason of thy wicked life, thou hast nothing to expect from the God of the Christians, thou hadst better sacrifice to our gods.”

The saint replied: “My Lord Jesus Christ has said that He descended from Heaven to save sinners. We read in the Gospel that a sinful woman, having washed His feet with her tears, obtained from Him the forgiveness of all her offenses; and, moreover, that He never rejected sinful creatures, nor publicans; but, on the contrary, condescended to converse and even to eat with them.”

The iniquitous judge was not ashamed to counsel her to return to her infamous practices, in order that she might gain the favor of the gallants, and enrich herself.

“I renounce,” said the penitent Afra, “that execrable gain, and look upon it with horror. That which I had, I have cast from me and given to the poor, imploring them to accept it; how, then, can I consent to earn it again?”

After this the discussion was continued in the following manner:

Gaius said: “Thy Christ esteemeth thee unworthy of Him; in vain thou callest Him thy God; He will have nothing to do with thee; a common prostitute cannot be called a Christian.”

“True,” replied Afra, “I am unworthy of this name, but my God, Who chooseth not persons according to their merits, but according to His own goodness, hath been pleased to accept me, and make me a participator of His Name.”

“And whence knowest thou that He hath done thee this favor?”

“I know that God has not cast me off, since He has given me strength to confess His holy Name; and I feel a hope within me that I can thus obtain the pardon of all my sins.

“These are foolish stories,” replied the judge; “sacrifice to our gods; because they alone can save thee.”

“My salvation,” answered the saint, “depends alone upon Jesus Christ, Who, while hanging on the cross, promised Heaven to a robber that confessed his sins.”

“If thou wilt not sacrifice, I shall cause thee to be stripped and whipped publicly, to thy great shame.”

“I am ashamed only of my sins,” Afra responded.

“And I,” said Gaius, “am ashamed to be losing my time in disputing with thee. Sacrifice to the gods, or I shall condemn thee to death.”

“That is what I desire, since I hope thus to find an eternal repose.”

Gaius threatened that if she would not sacrifice, he would order her to be tortured and burned alive.

The saint courageously replied: “Let this, my body, which hath been the instrument of so many sins, undergo every torment; but let my soul not be contaminated by sacrificing to demons.”

The judge then pronounced sentence upon her, in the following words: “We ordain that Afra, a prostitute, who has declared herself to be a Christian, and has refused to sacrifice to the gods, be burned alive.”

The place selected for the execution of this terrible sentence was a little island in the river Lech. The saint, having been conducted to this place, and the executioners having tied her to the stake, she raised her eyes to heaven, and prayed after the following manner:

“Oh Lord Jesus Christ, Who camest to call, not the just, but sinners to repentance, and Who hast vouchsafed to make known unto us, that, upon whatever day the sinner shall return to Thee by contrition, Thou wilt forget all his offenses; receive me now, a poor sinner that offers herself to suffer this torture for Thy love. By this fire, which is about to burn my body, deliver my soul from everlasting flames.”

At the termination of this prayer, fire was set to the pile, and the saint was heard to say, “I give Thee thanks, O Lord, Who, being innocent, didst offer Thyself a sacrifice for sinners; and being the Blessed of God, didst vouchsafe to die for us children of wrath. I give Thee thanks, and offer myself a sacrifice to Thee, Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, livest and reignest world without end. Amen.”

Having concluded her prayer, Afra expired.

Her three servants, Eunomia, Digna, and Eutropia, were standing on the banks of the river witnessing her martyrdom. As they had been partners in her vice of prostitution, they had also imitated her in her conversion, and had been baptized by the holy Bishop St. Narcissus. Knowing that their mistress was now dead, they crossed over to the island; and the news having reached Hilaria, the saint’s mother, she also came, accompanied by some priests; they took the saint’s body and carried it to the family burying-place, two miles distant from Augsburg. Gaius, having been informed of this, sent a troop of soldiers with orders to arrest all who were at the burying-place, and, in case they refused to sacrifice to the gods, to shut them up in the sepulcher, and burn them there. This barbarous order was cruelly executed, and thus all these holy women received the crown of martyrdom in the year 304.