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iii 53
"...[the laws and the rest] of our rulers are [neglected] by you, and our command is despised and overlooked; your confession is not subject to the authority of the unconquered gods." original: "τῶν ἀνικήτων θεῶν" (tōn anikētōn theōn), a reference to the 'Invincible' Roman gods, such as Sol Invictus. But the holy ones, as we have said above, answering with one soul, said: "As we said before, we are truly announcing and preaching to all the people Jesus Christ the God, who was born of the Virgin Mary; we are acting boldly even against those to whom we [previously] sacrificed and confessed. We trample upon their vanity The "vanity" refers to the empty idols of the Roman state religion., and we pray that we may remain strengthened in this faith and the mission of these holy men."
Then the unholy judges and tyrants, having long ago reached their decision, cut off the heads of those blessed necks—which had been prepared for the sake of the faith of Christ—with a sword. They surrendered the bodies to the earth, while the blessed souls were given back to heaven.
When the holy goodness was revealed to the martyrs whose victory has been accepted, the head of the teacher St. Dionysius, often referred to as the "Teacher" or "Bishop" in these accounts., though cut off from the body, was seen by those who were granted the power to see it; and it confessed the Lord with its tongue as if it were living, proceeding toward the Savior?.
O truly blessed multitude, joined to our Lord in grace! O holy and praiseworthy brotherhood, among whom neither the second nor the third can be first; This emphasizes the equality and unity of the three martyrs—Dionysius, Rusticus, and Eleutherius—mirroring the Holy Trinity. but confessing the glory of the Holy Trinity, you were made worthy of martyrdom, [traveling] from one landmark of the city to a small hill. The "small hill" is traditionally Montmartre in Paris, the "Mount of Martyrs."