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and are contained in a costly shrine there. On this day the Virgin Mary is represented holding the Infant Christ, and the three kings offering gifts, one of whom is very frequently represented as a Moor, and over the head of the "young child" appears the star of Bethlehem, which is also by itself a favourite ornament in mediæval embroidery. In the Clog Almanacks this day is also distinguished by a star; and in

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the catacombs of Rome, the Star of Bethlehem from embroidery. dove and the olive-branch, surmounted by the star of Bethlehem, is a very beautiful and expressive emblem. The sign of the "Three Kings," which still lingers in many of our villages, and at "Three King court," in Fleet Street, London, is derived from this legend.

JAN. 8. S. Lucian, Priest and Martyr, A.D. 290. There is much obscurity regarding the life of this saint; he is said to have been a Roman of noble family, and is generally believed to have been associated with S. Denys in establishing the Christian

faith in Gaul, and to have suffered martyrdom at Beauvais, whence he is called S. Lucian of Beauvais, in contradistinction to another saint of this name, commemorated on Jan. 7, and surnamed of Antioch, who was born at Samosata in Syria, and is principally celebrated for having revised and corrected the text of the Holy Scriptures, and in this particular was of great use to S. Jerome. He died a martyr in prison after nine years' confinement, A.D. 312 d.

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JAN. 13. S. Hilary, Bishop and Confessor, A.D. 368, was born at Poictiers, and brought in idolatry; but he soon renounced polytheism, and step by step became convinced of the truth of Catholic doctrine, of which he was eventually one of the most strenuous defenders, and was styled by S. Jerome, The Trumpet of the Latins against the Arians. After his conversion to the faith he was chosen Bishop of his native city. About 355, in consequence of his opposition to the Arians, he was banished by the Arian emperor Constantius into Phrygia. After some years he

was allowed to return to his see, where he ended his days in peace on Jan. 13, A.D. 368. The Churches of Wallasey, Cheshire; Spridlington, Lincolnshire; and the village and Church of S. Hilary, Cornwall, are named in his honour. He is usually represented with three books. In Callot's Images he is treading

d Eusebius Hist. Eccl., 1. 9. c. 6.

on serpents, and accompanied by the text Numb. xxi. 7. Both these emblems allude to his opposition to Arianism, the books signifying the treatises he wrote against it, and the serpents the false doctrines and heresies which he overthrew.

JAN. 18. S. Prisca, Virgin and Martyr, A.D. 275. A noble Roman virgin, of whom very little is known authentically, though her legend makes her to have suffered martyrdom at a very early age for refusing to sacrifice to the gods. She was first thrown into the amphitheatre among the lions, but they refused to touch her, and knelt down at her feet; she was afterwards beheaded, and an eagle watched over her corpse until she was buried. There is a Church in Rome dedicated in her honour, which gives the title to a Cardinal. In Callot's Images she is represented with a palm-branch, and a lion at her feet. Sometimes an eagle is near her, or hovering over her; she usually has a sword in her hand, and is always represented as quite a young girl.

JAN. 20. S. Fabian, Bishop and Martyr, A.D. 250, succeeded S. Anterus as Bishop of Rome in 236, to which office he was chosen, according to Eusebius, in consequence of a dove settling on him while the people and clergy were electing a successor to the pontifical chair, although at the time he was a layman, and a stranger to all present. He died a martyr in the persecution of Decius, A.D. 250, as witHist. Eccl., 1. 6. c. 29.

nessed by S. Jerome and S. Cyprian. He is represented kneeling at a block with a triple crown on his head, sometimes with a sword in his hand and a dove near him or perched upon his head. In Callot's Images he is standing with a book and palm-branch, and the triple crown. S. Sebastian is also commemorated in the Roman Calendar on this day, and the only Church in England retaining the name of S. Fabian, is Woodbastwick, Norfolk, which is dedicated in the joint names of SS. Fabian and Sebastian, who have no connexion with each other beyond being honoured on the same day.

JAN. 21. S. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, A.D. 304, suffered martyrdom so young and with such fortitude, that the tongues and pens of all nations, says S. Jerome, are employed to celebrate her praise. Her legend (one of the earliest in the Christian Church) says that she refused to become the wife of the son of the Roman Prefect, having devoted herself to the service of GOD, and he in revenge denounced her as a Christian. Upon her refusal to sacrifice to the gods she was brutally tortured and stripped, and angels immediately veiled her whole person with her hair; her persecutors then kindled a large pile of faggots, and threw her into the midst, and the flames were at once extinguished without at all injuring her; she was then beheaded. S. Ambrose, and also S. Augustine state that she was only thirteen when she thus suffered death in the cause of

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