E00905: According to the Life of *Ambrose (bishop of Milan, ob. 397, S00490), its hero discovered, thanks to a vision, the body of *Nazarius, not far from that of Celsus (later known as companion martyrs of Milan, S00281). Their transfer to a new basilica was accompanied by the confession of a demoniac who said he was tormented by Ambrose, all c. 395 in Milan (northern Italy). Account of Paulinus of Milan, writing in Latin probably in North Africa c. 421-422.

Paulinus of Milan, Life of Ambrose 32-33

32. Revertens itaque de urbe Aquileiensi uno die praecessit imperatorem. Nec diu clementissimae memoriae Theodosius imperator, susceptis filiis in ecclesia et traditis sacerdoti, in hac luce fuit; post cuius obitum fere triennium supervixit. Quo in tempore sancti Nazarii martyris corpus, quod erat in horto positum extra civitatem, levatum ad basilicam apostolorum, quae est in Romana, transtulit. Vidimus enim in sepulcro, in quo iacebat corpus martyris - qui quando sit passus usque in hodiernum scire non possumus -, sanguinem martyris ita recentem, quasi eadem die fuisset effusus, caput etiam ipsius, quod ab inpiis fuerat abscissum, ita integrum atque incorruptum cum capillis capitis atque barba, ut nobis videretur eodem tempore quo levabatur lotum atque compositum in sepulcro.Et quid mirum, quandoquidem Dominus hoc in evangelio ante promisit, quod capillus de capite eorum non peribit? Etiam odore tanto repleti sumus, ut omnium aromatum vinceret suavitatem.

33. Quo levato corpore martyris et in lectica composito, statim ad sanctum Celsum martyrem, qui in eodem horto positus est, cum sancto sacerdote ad orationem perreximus. Numquam tamen illum antea orasse in eodem loco compertum habemus; sed hoc erat signum revelati martyris, si sanctus sacerdos ad locum, ad quem numquam antea fuerat, oratum isset. Cognovimus tamen a custodibus loci ipsius dictum, quod a parentibus suis illis traditum sit, non discedere de loco illo per omnem generationem et progeniem suorum, eo quod thesauri magni in eodem loco positi essent. Et vere magni thesauri, quos non aerugo neque tinea exterminat, neque fures effodiunt et furantur, quia custos eorum Christus est et locus eorum aula caelestis, quibus vivere Christus fuit et mori lucrum. Translato itaque corpore martyris ad basilicam apostolorum, ubi pridies sanctorum apostolorum reliquiae summa omnium devotione depositae fuerant, cum tractaret episcopus, quidam de populo repletus spiritu inmundo clamare coepit se torqueri ab Ambrosio.


'Therefore, he returned from the city of Aquileia, arriving one day before the emperor. And Theodosius, emperor of most gracious memory, did not live long after his sons were received into the Church and entrusted to the bishop. Ambrose survived the emperor almost three years. In this time he raised and transferred to the Basilica of the Apostles, which is at the Roman [Gate], the body of St Nazarius the martyr, which had been buried in a garden outside the city. Indeed, we saw in the grave in which the body of the martyr was lying (but when he suffered we cannot learn to the present day) the blood of the martyr as fresh as if it had been poured forth the same day. His head also had been severed by impious men, yet it was so complete and intact with its hairs and beard that it seemed to us that at the very time in which it was being raised it had been washed and placed there in the sepulchre. But, why is this to be marvelled at, when the Lord formerly promised - this in the Gospel: "Not a hair of their head shall perish?" Moreover, we were filled with so striking an odour as surpassed the sweetness of all perfumes.

When the body of the martyr was raised and placed on a litter, we straightaway went with the holy bishop to pray at the grave of the holy martyr Celsus, who was buried in the same garden. However, we discovered that he had never prayed in that place before. And this was the sign of a newly discovered martyr: if the holy bishop had gone to pray at a place to which he had not been before. We know, however, from the guardians of the place that it had been handed down from generation to generation of their people not to depart from there because great treasures had been buried in that very place – and truly great treasures, which neither rust nor moth consume nor do thieves dig through to and steal, because their guardian is Christ and their dwelling is the court of heaven, for whom to live was Christ and to die was gain. Thereupon, the body of the martyr was taken to the Basilica of the Apostles, where a short time before the relics of the holy Apostles had been deposited with very great devotion on the part of all. And on this occasion, when the bishop was preaching, one of the crowd, who was filled with an unclean spirit, began to cry out that he was being tortured by Ambrose.'

Text: Bastiaensen 1975, 94-96. Translation: Lacy 1952, 52-53, slightly altered by Robert Wiśniewski.