Legend
Before the commencement of the Diocletianic Persecution in 303, both Galerius and Maximian in the West inaugurated, on their own responsibility, a crusade against Christianity and sought particularly to remove all Christians from the armies. Alexander, traditionally considered the standard bearer of the Theban Legion, was one of the victims of this persecution. He is reputed to have been a survivor of the decimation (the killing of every tenth man) ordered against the legion at Agaunum. He fled to Italy. [2]
At Milan, he was recognized and imprisoned in the Zebedeo Prison in Milan, later site of the church of Sant'Alessandro in Zebedia. He refused to renounce his Christian faith. However, he was visited in jail by Fidelis and Bishop Maternus. With the help of Fidelis, Alexander managed to escape. [3] Alexander fled to Como but was captured again.
Brought back to Milan, he knocked down the sacrificial altar, enraging Emperor Maximian. Alexander was condemned to death by decapitation. However, the executioner's arms went stiff during the execution. He was imprisoned again, but Alexander once again managed to escape and ended up in Bergamo after passing through Fara Gera d'Adda and Capriate San Gervasio. At Bergamo, he was the guest of the lord Crotacius, who bid him to hide from his persecutors. However, Alexander decided to become a preacher instead and converted many natives of Bergamo, including Firmus and Rusticus, who were later martyred. Alexander was once again captured and was finally decapitated on August 26, 303, on the spot now occupied by the church of San Alessandro in Colonna. [4]
Erasmus of Formia, also known as Saint Elmo, was a Christian saint and martyr. He is venerated as the patron saint of sailors and abdominal pain. Erasmus or Elmo is also one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, saintly figures of Christian religion who are venerated especially as intercessors.
Crespi d'Adda is a village in northern Italian and hamlet (frazione) of Capriate San Gervasio, a municipality in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy. It is a historic settlement and an outstanding example of the 19th and early 20th-century "company towns" built in Europe and North America by enlightened industrialists to meet the workers' needs. The site is still intact and is partly used for industrial purposes, although changing economic and social conditions now threaten its survival. Since 1995 it has been on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
Capriate San Gervasio is a town and comune in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, northern Italy. As of 2019, its population was 8,216.
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as a Roman legion from Egypt—"six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men"— Christians who were martyred together in 286, according to the hagiographies of Maurice, the chief among the Legion's saints. Their feast day is held on September 22.
Saint Regina was a virgin martyr and saint of the pre-schism Christian Church. Regina was born in Autun, France, to a pagan named Clement. Her mother died at her birth and her father placed her with a Christian nurse who baptized her. Regina helped out by tending the sheep. She communed with God in prayer and meditated on the lives of the saints. At the age of fifteen, she was betrothed to the proconsul Olybrius, but refused to renounce her faith to marry him, for which she was tortured and was beheaded at Alesia in the diocese of Autun, called Alise-Sainte-Reine after her.
Victor the Moor was a native of Mauretania and a Christian martyr, according to tradition, and is venerated as a saint.
Constantius of Perugia is one of the patron saints of Perugia, Italy.
Candidus was a commander of the Theban Legion. The Theban Legion was composed of Christians from Upper Egypt. He is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr.
This page is an index of lists of people considered martyrs. A martyr is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, refusing to renounce, or refusing to advocate a belief or cause as demanded by an external party. This refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of the martyr by the oppressor.
Carpophorus, Exanthus, Cassius, Severinus, Secundus and Licinius were Christian soldiers who, according to tradition, were martyred at Como during the reign of Maximian.
Fidelis of Como was an Italian soldier-saint, according to Christian tradition.
Basilides and Potamiaena were Christian martyrs now venerated as saints. Both died in Alexandria during the persecutions under Septimius Severus.
Maurice was an Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favorite and most widely venerated saints of that martyred group. He is the patron saint of several professions, locales, and kingdoms.
Saints Felinus and Gratian(us) (sometimes Gratinian(us)) (d. 250 AD) are venerated as martyrs by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. They are patron saints of Arona, near Milan, where their relics were enshrined.
The 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia refers to victims of persecution of Christians in Nicomedia, Bithynia by the Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in the early 4th century AD.
Engratia is venerated as a virgin martyr and saint. Tradition states that she was martyred with eighteen companions in 303 AD.
Defendens of Thebes is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic Church. Venerated as a soldier-saint, Defendens was, according to Christian tradition, a member of the Theban Legion, and thus martyred at Agaunum.
August 25 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 27
December 9 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - December 11
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