St Cyriacus
| Saint Cyriacus | |
|---|---|
Saint Cyriacus, by the Master of Meßkirch.
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| Martyr | |
| Born | 3rd century |
| Died | c. 303 |
| Venerated in |
Eastern Orthodox Churches Oriental Orthodoxy Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Feast | 7 June (Eastern Orthodox Church) 8 August (Roman Catholic Church) |
| Attributes | depicted as a deacon; book of exorcism; with Artemia |
| Patronage | temptation on the deathbed; viticulture (in the Electorate of the Palatinate; Saint-Cierges, Switzerland; eye disease) |
Cyriacus (fl. c. 303 AD), sometimes Anglicized as Cyriac, according to Christian tradition, is a Christian martyr who was killed in the persecution of Diocletian. He is one of twenty-seven saints, most of them martyrs, who bear this name, of whom only seven are honoured by a specific mention of their names in the Roman Martyrology.
Of the Saint Cyriacus who, together with Saints Largus and Smaragdus and others (of whom Crescentianus, Trump and Juliana are mentioned in the Roman Martyrology), is venerated on 8 August, all that is known with certainty, apart from their names and the fact of their martyrdom, is that they were buried at the seventh milestone of the Via Ostiensis on that date.
However, legend has it that Cyriacus was a Roman nobleman who converted to Christianity as an adult and, renouncing his material wealth, gave it away to the poor. He spent the rest of his life ministering to the slaves who worked in the Baths of Diocletian. Under the reign of Western Roman Emperor Maximian, co-emperor with Diocletian, Cyriacus was tortured and put to death, beheaded in 303 on the Via Salaria, where he was subsequently buried. With him were martyred his companions Largus and Smaragdus, and twenty others, including Crescentianus, Sergius, Secundus, Alban, Victorianus, Faustinus, Felix, Sylvanus, and four women: Memmia, Juliana, Cyriacides, and Donata.
Saint Cyriacus is credited with exorcizing demons from two girls. The first was Artemisia (or Artemia), the daughter of Emperor Diocletian, which resulted in both Artemisia and her mother Saint Serena converting to Christianity. The second was Jobias, the daughter of Shapur II of Persia (reigned 241-272), which led to the conversion of the King's entire household. [ He was bishop of Acona, Italy. ] It is more likely that many Bishops throughout the world (to this day) have been named in honor of Saint Cyriacus at the Baths (of Diocletian), including maybe the first so honored, Judas the Jew from Jerusalem, who converted and upon being named Bishop of Ancona took the name Cyriacus as his own in the latter part of the 4th century.
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