Gorgonius
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| Saint Gorgonius | |
|---|---|
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| Martyr | |
| Died | 304 AD, Nicomedia |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | March 12 |
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Saint Gorgonius was a Christian martyr, part of the group Gorgonius, Peter Cubicularius and Dorotheus, who died in 304 AD at Nicomedia during the persecution of Diocletian.
According to Lactantius and Eusebius, Gorgonius held a high position in the household of the emperor. When the persecution began he was consequently among the first to be charged, and with his companions, Peter, Dorotheus and several others, was subjected to the most frightful torments and finally strangled.
According to one version of the legend, Diocletian, wishing to expose Christians in his household, ordered everyone to pay honor to the Roman gods; if they refused, they would be exposed as Christians. The first to be exposed was Diocletian's butler, Peter, surnamed Cubicularius ("valet, chamberlain"), who was strung up, his flesh torn from his bones. Two Christians, Dorotheus, an imperial chamberlain, and Gorgonius, an army officer, protested this treatment, and were also martyred, together with another official, named Migdonius. In the meantime, Peter was burned alive.[1]
Diocletian, determined that their bodies should not receive the extraordinary honours which the early Christians gave the relics of the martyrs, ordered them to be thrown into the sea. The Christians nevertheless obtained possession of them and later the body of Gorgonius was carried to Rome.
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[edit] Veneration
From there in the 8th century the remains were translated by Saint Chrodegang, Bishop of Metz to the monastery of Gorze in Lorraine. Many French churches obtained portions of the saint's body from Gorze, but in the general pillage of the French Revolution, most of these relics were lost. The feast of Gorgonius and his companions is kept on 12 March.[2]
[edit] Other saints with the same name
Another Saint Gorgonius was an early Roman martyr commemorated on 9 September. Of this martyr all that is known is his name and that he was buried on a 9 September in the cemetery known as Inter duas lauros (between the two laurel trees) on the Via Labicana. Because of this paucity of information about him, Saint Gorgonius, though still listed as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church,[2] is no longer included in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints to be commemorated universally, wherever the Roman Rite is celebrated.[3][4]
A third saint of this name was a member of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, otherwise known as the soldiers of the "Thundering Legion".
The different Gorgonii seem to have been frequently confused. The Catholic Encyclopaedia mentions others of the same name of whom virtually nothing is known and who have almost identical feast dates; these seem to be echoes of those named above.
[edit] Legacy
- San Gorgonio Mountain near San Bernardino, California was named by Spanish missionaries in honor of Saint Gorgonius in the 1800s.
[edit] References
- ^ Santi Pietro (detto Cubicolario), Doroteo e Gorgonio (Italian). Santi e Beati.
- ^ a b Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
- ^ Calendarium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 138
- ^ San Gorgonio di Roma (Italian). Santi e Beati.
This article incorporates text from the entry St. Gorgonius in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
[edit] Bibliography
- Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford, 2004)
[edit] External links
- (German) Relic of Gorgonius
