 Fabiola, French 1893 edition | |
| Author | Cardinal Nicholas Patrick Wiseman |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical/Religious Fiction |
Publication date | 1854 |
| Pages | 616 |
Fabiola or, the Church of the Catacombs is a novel by the English Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman. [1] It was first published in 1854. The novel has been adapted to film three times.
The story is set in the early 4th century AD, Rome, during the time of the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
The heroine of the book is Fabiola, a young beauty from a noble Roman family. She is spoiled by her father Fabius, who cannot deny her anything. Fabiola seems to have everything, including a superior education in the philosophers, yet under the surface, she is not content with her life. One day, in a fit of rage, she attacks and wounds her slave girl Syra, who is a secret Christian. The proud, spoiled Roman girl is humbled by Syra's humility, maturity and devotion to her in this situation, and a slow transformation begins, which finally culminates in her conversion to Christianity, brought on by Syra and of her own cousin Agnes, whom she adores and dotes on.
Another thread of the story deals with the young boy Pancratius, a pious Christian and son of a martyr, who is himself preparing for martyrdom. Pancratius' nemesis is Corvinus, a bullying schoolmate who is irritated by the young Christian's saintliness. He does everything to bring him and the Christian community of the catacombs of Rome down. This includes the orchestrating of the lynching of their former teacher Cassianus, who is secretly Christian. Yet Pancratius shows his enemy the meaning of Christian forgiveness when he saves his life shortly after Corvinus had Cassianus killed.
Another major villain in the story is the enigmatic Fulvius, an apparently rich young man from the East who soon reveals himself to be a hunter of Christians who turns them in to the authorities for money. His aim on the one hand is to gain the hand of either Fabiola or Agnes, and on the other hand, to uproot the Christian community in Rome. After some dramatic events that reveal his surprising connections to Syra, who is his long-lost younger sister Myriam, Fulvius rejects his evil ways, converts to Christianity and becomes a hermit.
The story also weaves a number of martyrdom accounts and legends of real-life Christian saints into the fictitious story. These include Saint Agnes, Saint Sebastian, Saint Pancras (Pancratius), Saint Cassian (Cassianus), Saint Emerentiana, and Saint Tarcisius. [1] Two exceptions are the characters of Fabiola and of the blind beggar girl Caecilia, Syra's friend and fellow Christian; though they do bear saints' names, are not identical with Saint Fabiola (who lived later) and Saint Cecilia (whose legend is very different from Caecilia's story in the novel).
Wiseman wrote Fabiola in part as an answer to the book Hypatia , written by the Anglican Charles Kingsley. [1] The novel was mainly aimed at the embattled Catholic minority in England, who had recently emerged from a half-illegal status (the Catholic hierarchy in England had been re-established only in 1850).
The story thus constantly stresses the close-knit community of the early Christians, their love for each other, their solidarity strong sense of communion. At the same time, direct references to the present situation of Catholics in England are relatively rare, especially when compared to John Henry Newman's Callista (1855), which was commissioned as a sort of "prequel" to Fabiola. Still, the heroic language in which the tales of the martyrs are told obviously aims at strengthening the courage and determination of Catholics in England. The educational side of the book is also important: several chapters digress on historical information about worship and burial in the catacombs. [1] However the novel followed the understanding of contemporary historians and greatly exaggerated the role the catacombs played in Early Christian life. [2]
A film version was produced in 1918 in Italy directed by Enrico Guazzoni. Also, a lavish Franco-Italian film version was released in 1949. (It reached the USA only in 1951 in a dubbed and drastically cut version.) The second film bears little resemblance to its ostensible source. A third "peplum" film version called La Rivolta degli schiavi was produced in 1960. It takes more elements from the novel than the second, such as including both St. Agnes and St. Sebastian, but strays from the novel in many ways.
Agnes of Rome is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. She is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, and one of many Christians martyred during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian.
The Catacombs of Rome are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered only in recent decades.
Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850.
Sebastian was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this did not kill him. He was, according to tradition, rescued and healed by Irene of Rome, which became a popular subject in 17th-century painting. In all versions of the story, shortly after his recovery he went to Diocletian to warn him about his sins, and as a result was clubbed to death. He is venerated in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia was a Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. She is one of eight women explicitly commemorated by Catholics in the Canon of the Mass. Her traditional feast day, known in Europe as Saint Lucy's Day, is observed by Western Christians on 13 December. Lucia of Syracuse was honored in the Middle Ages and remained a well-known saint in early modern England. She is one of the best known virgin martyrs, along with Agatha of Sicily, Agnes of Rome, Cecilia of Rome, and Catherine of Alexandria.
Saint Cecilia, also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman virgin martyr and is venerated in Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the patroness of music and musicians, it being written that, as the musicians played at her wedding, Cecilia "sang in her heart to the Lord". Musical compositions are dedicated to her, and her feast, on 22 November, is the occasion of concerts and musical festivals. She is also known as Cecilia of Rome.
Saints Faith, Hope, and Charity, are a group of Christian martyred saints who are venerated together with their mother, Sophia ("Wisdom").
Pancras was a Roman citizen who converted to Christianity and was beheaded for his faith at the age of fourteen, around the year 304. His name is Greek (Πανκράτιος) and means "all-powerful".
Prisca was a young Roman woman allegedly tortured and executed for her Christian faith. The dates of her birth and death are unknown. She is revered as a saint and martyr in Eastern Orthodoxy, by the Catholic Church, and in the Anglican Communion.
Pomponia Graecina was a noble Roman woman of the 1st century who was related to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the wife of Aulus Plautius, the general who led the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, and was renowned as one of the few people who dared to publicly mourn the death of a kinswoman killed by the Imperial family. It has been speculated that she was an early Christian. She is identified by some as Lucina or Lucy, a saint honoured by the Roman Catholic Church.
Tarsicius or Tarcisius was a martyr of the early Christian church who lived in the 3rd century. The little that is known about him comes from a metrical inscription by Pope Damasus I, who was pope in the second half of the 4th century.
Emerentiana was a Roman virgin and martyr, who lived around the start of the 4th century. Her feast day is 23 January.
Fabiola, known in Italian and Spanish as Santa Fabiola, was a physician and Roman matron of rank of the company of noble Roman women who, under the influence of the Church father Jerome, gave up all earthly pleasures and devoted herself to the practice of Christian asceticism and charitable work.
Saints Cyprian and Justina are honored in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy as Christians of Antioch, who in 304, during the Diocletianic Persecution, suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia on September 26. According to Roman Catholic sources, no Bishop of Antioch bore the name of Cyprian.
Felicitas of Rome, also anglicized as Felicity, is a saint numbered among the Christian martyrs. Apart from her name, the only thing known for certain about this martyr is that she was buried in the Cemetery of Maximus, on the Via Salaria on a 23 November. However, a legend presents her as the mother of the seven martyrs whose feast is celebrated on 10 July. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates their martyrdom on 25 January.
Callista is a novel by the English Catholic theologian, priest and writer St John Henry Newman. It was first published in 1855.
Valeria of Milan, or Valérie, according to Christian tradition, was the wife of Vitalis of Milan and the mother of Gervasius and Protasius.
Fabiola is a 1949 Italian language motion picture historical drama directed by Alessandro Blasetti, very loosely based on the 1854 novel Fabiola by Nicholas Patrick Wiseman. The film stars Michèle Morgan, Henri Vidal and Michel Simon. It tells the story of the Roman Empire in which Christianity is growing around the 4th century AD. An unofficial remake, The Revolt of the Slaves, was released in 1960, with Lang Jeffries and Rhonda Fleming, only with Rhual's name changed to Vibio.
The Catacomb of San Pancrazio is a catacomb of Rome (Italy), located in the Via Aurelia, within the modern Quartiere Gianicolense.
Fabiola public domain audiobook at LibriVox