Saint Blandina of Lyons

Saint Blandina is mentioned a name a total of three times.

“[...]and as he backs out awkwardly she tosses at him over her shoulder: ‘You should pray to Saint Blandina to open the Duke’s pocket!’ to which he returned, very quietly, ‘Your Excellency's suggestion is an admirable one, and I have already entreated that blessed martyr to open the Duke’s understanding.’”[1]

““Now I may not have told you, sir, that in the crypt under the chapel there has stood, for more generations than a man can count, a stone coffin containing a thighbone of the blessed Saint Blandina of Lyons, a relic offered, I’ve been told, by some great Duke of France to one of our own dukes when they fought the Turk together; and the object, ever since, of particular veneration in this illustrious family.”[2]

““‘Oh,’ she cried, ‘you are cruel, sir, to deprive me of access to the sacred relics that have enabled me to support with resignation the solitude to which your Excellency's duties have condemned me; and if prayer and meditation give me any authority to pronounce on such matters, suffer me to warn you, sir, that I fear the blessed Saint Blandina will punish us for thus abandoning her venerable remains!’”[3]

Saint Blandina is a Christian martyr who died 177 AD at Lyons, France, under the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Her story may be found as told by Eusebius in his Historia Ecclesiastica (Ecclesiastical History; a chronological account of the development of Early Christianity from the 1st century to the 4th century).

Under the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Christian were once again being persecuted and there was an effort to eradicate them. Blandina was among a group of confessed Christians and was taken custody of. They were tortured horrifically, and in public. With Satan's wrath pouring through the general populace, the governor and the soldiers tormented Maturus, Attalus and Blandina. Blandina raised her voice despite the terrible torture and made "a bold confession"; she " was filled with such power as to be delivered and raised above those who were torturing her by turns from morning till evening in every manner, so that they acknowledged that they were conquered, and could do nothing more to her."[4] They were taken aback because her body was mangled and broken but her confessions rang out so strong and true. Unable to kill them through torture, they were thrown into an amphitheater to be devoured by wild and rabidly hungry animals. Blandina was strapped to a stake which supposedly made her look like she was affixed to the cross, thus inspiring zeal in the Christians and awe in the animals. The beasts did not devour her. She was thrown back into a cell, still "uncorrupted." Finally, she was enclosed in a net and brought before a bull who then tossed her around until the life left her body.[5]

The Duchess, even though so obviously prompted by the Duke, does not admit her transgressions against their marital bond - more interestingly, she does not renounce them either. Perhaps not as vocally pure as St. Blandina, she still holds fast to her love and devotion to Ascanio and will rather let them both die for their bond rather than renounce him.

At the end of this chapter, Eusebius Caesarea writes this:

"The bodies of the martyrs, having thus in every manner been exhibited and exposed for six days, were afterward burned and reduced to ashes, and swept into the Rhone by the wicked men, so that no trace of them might appear on the earth. And this they did, as if able to conquer God, and prevent their new birth; 'that,' as they said, 'they may have no hope of a resurrection, through trust in which they bring to us this foreign and new religion, and despise terrible things, and are ready even to go to death with joy. Now let us see if they will rise again, and if their God is able to help them, and to deliver them out of our hands."

Taking this passage into account, the mere presence of a relic of Blandina - however factually improbable - is a token of hope and a hope, perhaps, that (if there is a God) he has not totally forsaken the Duchess Violante.

[1] Wharton 1901, p. 10

[2] Wharton 1901, p. 10

[3] Wharton 1901, p. 15

[4] of Caesarea 1842, p. 211

[5] see of Caesarea 1842, p. 211 - 216