Saints Secundian, Marcellian and Verian | |
|---|---|
 14th-century fresco of Secundian, Marcellian and Verian in the basilica of San Pietro, in Tuscania. | |
| Martyrs | |
| Died | ~250 AD near Civitavecchia or Santa Marinella, Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | August 9 |
| Patronage | Tuscania |
Saints Secundian(us), Marcellian and Verian (also known as Secondianus, Marcellianus, and Verianus) (Italian : Secondino, Marcelliano, e Veriano) are venerated as Christian saints. They were martyred in 250 AD near Civitavecchia or Santa Marinella during the persecutions of Decius. Secundian was a senator or some sort of prominent official; Marcellian and Verian were scholars or students. Their feast day is August 9.
Italian is a Romance language. Italian, together with Sardinian, is by most measures the closest language to Vulgar Latin of the Romance languages. Italian is an official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It has an official minority status in western Istria. It formerly had official status in Albania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro (Kotor) and Greece, and is generally understood in Corsica and Savoie. It also used to be an official language in the former Italian East Africa and Italian North Africa, where it plays a significant role in various sectors. Italian is also spoken by large expatriate communities in the Americas and Australia. In spite of not existing any Italian community in their respective national territories and of not being spoken at any level, Italian is included de jure, but not de facto, between the recognized minority languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Romania. Many speakers of Italian are native bilinguals of both standardized Italian and other regional languages.
Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. Its adherents, known as Christians, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of all people, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Most Christians get baptized, celebrate the Lord's Supper, pray the Lord's Prayer and other prayers, have clergy, and attend group worship services.
Civitavecchia is a city and comune of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 60 kilometres west-north-west of center of Rome. The harbour is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse. The population of Civitavecchia was around 53,000 as of 2015.
The names of these saints appear in Jerome's martyrology under August 9. The Codex Epternacense indicates that the place of their death was Tuscia; the Codex Wissemburgense lists the place of death as "Colonia" (not necessarily Cologne); and the Codex Bernense finally specifies the place of death as in Colon(n)i Tusciae via miliario Aureliax XV. One scholar has identified this as Colonia Iulia Castrumnovurn, a town in Tuscia, situated on the Aurelian Way, situated near the present-day Santa Marinella (which is near Civitavecchia). [1]
The Martyrologium Hieronymianum or Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used and influential of the Middle Ages. It is the oldest surviving general or "universal" martyrology, and the precursor of all later Western martyrologies.
Tuscia is a historical region of Italy that comprised the territories under Etruscan influence and the name adopted for Etruria after the Roman conquest. While it later came to coincide with today’s province of Viterbo, it was originally much larger, including the whole region of Tuscany, a great part of Umbria and the northern parts of Lazio.
Cologne is the largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and its 1 million+ (2016) inhabitants make it the fourth most populous city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich. The largest city on the Rhine, it is also the most populous city both of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, which is Germany's largest and one of Europe's major metropolitan areas, and of the Rhineland. Centred on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia's capital of Düsseldorf and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Bonn. It is the largest city in the Central Franconian and Ripuarian dialect areas.
According to one account, they were baptized by a priest named Timotheus (Timothy) and confirmed by Pope Sixtus II. By order of Decius, they were arrested by the prefect Valerian and decapitated at Civitavecchia and then their bodies were thrown into the sea. In a second account, the place of their martyrdom was appellatur Coloniacum, qui dicitur Colonia ("called Coloniacum, that is to say, Colonia"), which may be Colonia Iulia Castrumnovurn. Their bodies were collected by a man named Deodatus and buried in that place. According to a third account, their cult was localized in the basilica of San Pietro in Tuscania. [1]
Pope Sixtus II was the Pope or Bishop of Rome from 31 August 257 until his death on 6 August 258. He was martyred along with seven deacons, including Lawrence of Rome during the persecution of the Catholic Church by Emperor Valerian.
Decius, also known as Trajan Decius, was Roman Emperor from 249 to 251.
Decapitation is the complete separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is fatal to humans and most animals, since it deprives all other organs of the involuntary functions that are needed for the body to function, while the brain is deprived of oxygenated blood and blood pressure.
The Acts of Felinus and Gratian were based on those of Secundian and his companions. Sabine Baring-Gould writes that "the so-called Acts of SS. Gratian and Felinus, used as lections in the Arona Passionale, are extracted from the Acts of SS. Florentinus and Companions, martyrs at Perugia commemorated the same day. But these Acts are in their turn not genuine; they are, in fact, the Acts of SS. Secundianus and Comp. (August 9)." [2]
Saints Felinus and Gratian(us) 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 Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1240 publications, though this list continues to grow. His family home, the manor house of Lew Trenchard, near Okehampton, Devon, has been preserved as he had it rebuilt and is now a hotel. He is remembered particularly as a writer of hymns, the best-known being "Onward, Christian Soldiers" and "Now the Day Is Over". He also translated the carol "Gabriel's Message" from the Basque language to English.
Florentinus was a Roman politician who served as Urban prefect of Rome from 395 to 397 AD.
