This was executed on the 31st of October in 287. A new stately church of St. Quintin was built in the reign of Lewis Debonnaire, and another translation of the relics was made on the 25th of October 825. They were removed to Laon for fear of the Normans, but brought back on the 30th of October 885, and are still kept in the great church, which was in the hands of monks from the time of Ebertran, the first abbot, till these were afterwards dispersed by the inroads of the Normans. In the following age, secular canons were put in possession of this famous church. Martyrdom, when we are called to it, is an homage we owe to God, and a debt due to faith and religion.
Martyrs are holocausts offered to the divine love and glory.
They are witnesses, as the word imports in the original Greek, bearing testimony to the infinite power and goodness of God, in which they place an entire confidence, and to the truth of his holy revealed faith, which they confirm with their blood. No testimony can be more authentic, more glorious to God, more edifying to the faithful, or more convincing to infidels. It is by the constancy of martyrs that our holy religion is established. Endnotes 1 Act.