Secundian, Marcellian and Verian

Infobox Saint
name= Saints Secundian, Marcellian and Verian
birth_date=
death_date=~250 AD
feast_day= August 9
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


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birth_place=
death_place=near Civitavecchia or Santa Marinella, Italy
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issues= Saints Secundian(us), Marcellian and Verian 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.

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). [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/93815 Santi Secondiano, Marcelliano e Veriano ] ]

According to one account, they were baptized by a priest named Timotheus (Timothy) and confirmed by Pope Sixtus. 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 a Tuscania. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/93815 Santi Secondiano, Marcelliano e Veriano ] ]

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. (Aug. 9th).” [Sabine Baring-Gould, "The Lives of the Saints: June". (J. Hodges, 1874), 1.]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.orthodoxengland.org.uk/s3centy.htm 3rd century saints]
* [http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=2473 Secundian, Marcellian and Verian]
*it icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/93815 Santi Secondiano, Marcelliano e Veriano]