Nicaise, St. (2)
Nicaise, St
(Latin, Nicasius) (1), a Christian martyr who lived in the 3d century, was one of the companions of St. Denis, and received from him the mission of converting to the Christian faith the people who inhabited the territory of the Velocasses (ancient Vexin). Before separating, it is said the apostle of the Parisians conferred upon him the episcopal dignity; but this fact is questioned by some hagiographers. Usnard especially gives to St. Nicaise only the title of priest. Some localities situated between the Oise and the Epte had been evangelized by him, when, the third day after the martyrdom of St. Denis, the prefect, Sisinnius Fescenninus, passed through the village of Ecos, where was found Nicaise, with Quiril and Scubicule, companions of his apostolic labors. The prefect stopped the three evangelists, and, upon their obstinate refusal to sacrifice to idols, had them beheaded, October 11, 285 or 286. A Christian woman, called Pientia, soon after herself a subject for martyrdom, buried the bodies of the martyrs on a small island formed by the Epte, which has since become the borough of Gasny-sur-Epte (vadum Nicasii). It follows then from the acts of these apostles of the Vexin that Nicaise never came as far as Rouen. This city, however, considers him as her first bishop. Since the redaction of the new Breviary of Rouen, his day is celebrated with that of the bishop St. Mellon, the first Sunday of October. The remains of St. Nicaise and of St. Scubicule were, in the 9th century, brought to Meulan, where a church was erected under the invocation of the first of these martyrs, and the body of St. Quirin was transferred to Malmedy, in the diocese of Liege, in Belgium. See Acta Sanctorum, month of October; Godescard, Vies es Saints; Butler, Lives of the Saints.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Nicaise, St. (2)
of Rheims, a Roman Catholic bishop and a Christian martyr, famed especially for his eloquence, was of Gallic origin, and is presumed to have been a native of Rheims. The time of his birth is not known. He flourished in the 5th century. Even the date of his accession to the episcopal seat of his native place is unknown. It is only certain that he was the immediate successor of Severus. Flodoard reports that he founded at Rheims the first church in honor of the Holy Virgin, and that he transferred to it at the same time the seat of the bishopric, which was in the church of the Holy Apostles. The year 401 is fixed for the construction of this new cathedral, which Nicaise consecrated by the shedding of his blood when, several years after, the Vandals took and sacked the city of Rheims. When the barbarians appeared before the city to besiege it, Nicaise boldly exhorted his flock to the defense, preaching at the same time repentance and submission to the will of God. When the Vandals had refused all terms of agreement, and by force had made themselves masters of Rheims, Nicaise boldly went to meet them upon the threshold of his cathedral, attended by his clergy and singing hymns. They had no regard either for his character or his supplications in favor of the people who surrounded him, and after making him suffer many outrages they beheaded him. The beauty of Eutropia, his sister, who was near him, appeared to disarm the barbarians; but the Christian virgin, fearing more their love than their hatred, excited herself the fury of her brother’s executioner, and also received the martyr’s crown. Several persons of the clergy and of the people were also put to death, and among this number several distinguished ecclesiastical students. St. Nicaise and his companions were buried in the cemetery of the church of St. Agricolus, which then took the name of the martyr bishop. It is an error of Flodoard. Followed by several other authors, who has made St. Nicaise contemporaneous with St. Lupus, bishop of Troyes, and with St. Aignan, bishop of Orleans. The latter prelates lived at the time of the invasion of the Huns, under the conduct of Attila, in 451, and not the irruption of the Vandals in 407. Besides, Flodoard seems to hesitate upon the time of the martyrdom of St. Nicaise; for his text bears, Sub eadem Vandalorunm vel Hunnorum persecutione. The death of St. Nicaise and his companions is commemorated by the Roman Catholic Church on December 14. See Gallia Christiana nova, tom. ix; Flodoard, Historia-Ecclesiae Remensis; Dom Marlot, Metropolis Remensis historisa; Fisquet, France pontificale Breviaires de Paris et de Rheirms; Hoefer, Noun. Biog. Generale, 27:914; Clemenl, Hand-book of Legendary and Mythol. Art, p. 233.