St Deogratias (d. 457) bishop of Carthage
The name and the person
Deo gratias is a Latin liturgical formula meaning "Thanks be to God".
Every pre-Vatican
II altar-boy who served a Latin Mass had be alert to make this response
when the priest finished the reading of the Epistle. Another time it was
used was when the priest said Ite, Missa est at the end of Mass.
In the 5th century it was also the name of a priest chosen to be
bishop of Carthage (in present-day Tunisia) at the time when it was
occupied by the Vandals.
He did much to ransom and care for the slaves
brought there after the Vandals ransacked Rome.
The Vandals in Europe and North Africa
The
Vandals were a mixture of Slavic and Germanic tribes who had embraced
the Arian version of Christianity as they overran the Roman empire in
the 5th century. After passing through northern Italy, France
and conquering Spain, they crossed into North Africa and in 439 captured
the city of Carthage.
They put the Catholic bishop, Quodvultdeus, and
most of his clergy, aboard a leaking hulk which somehow reached Naples.
But the city was left without a Catholic bishop for fourteen years.
Deogratias chosen as bishop of Carthage
Then at
the request of the Roman Emperor Valentinian III, Genseric, the king of
the Vandals, allowed a new bishop to be chosen for Carthage.
He was a
priest named Deogratias (in English, "Thanks be to God"). His example
and teaching strengthened the faith of the people and he was respected
not only by Catholics, but even by Arians and pagans.
Refugees
In the year 457 Genseric attacked and
sacked Rome from North Africa. He returned to Carthage with many
captives, whom he distributed as slaves among Vandals and
Moors. Husbands were separated from wives and children from parents.
Ransomed and cared for
Deogratias ransomed many
of these captives by selling gold and silver church vessels, works of
art, vestments and ornaments. He filled two of the largest churches in
the city, the Basilica Fausti and the Basilica Novarum, with bedding to provide accommodation and organised a daily distribution of food.
Gratitude of the people
Deogratias's charity was
resented by the Arian faction, who tried to assassinate him, but failed.
However, his efforts seem to have worn him out and he died after being
bishop for only three years.
So many people wanted to get relics of him
that he had to be buried secretly while the public prayers were being
chanted at his funeral. The people he helped would never forget him.
No successor for twenty-three years
After Deogratias the Vandals would not allow Carthage to have a Catholic bishop for another twenty-three years.