Saint Edistus ( it, Sant'Edisto) (also known as Aristus, Orestes, Horestes) is venerated as a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

and

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

by the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

churches. His legend states that he was martyred on the

Via Laurentina The Via Laurentina is the name born by an ancient and a modern road of Italy, both leading southwards from Rome. The ancient road The question of the nomenclature of the group of roads between the Via Ardeatina and the Via Ostiensis is somewhat d ...

and his ''passio'' places his martyrdom during the reign of

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

, on October 12, 60 AD. His companions are named as Thermantia (Termanzia), Christina, his servant Victoria, and the priest Priscus.

Veneration

During the

papacy The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

, there existed at

San Paolo fuori le Mura The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls ( it, Basilica Papale di San Paolo fuori le Mura), commonly known as Saint Paul's Outside the Walls, is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the ...

a monastery dedicated to Edistus. In the seventh century, his

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

, as well as those belonging to Christina and Victoria, were still venerated there. The

sepulcher A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immuremen ...

of Edistus was located at the sixteenth milestone of the

Via Ardeatina The Via Ardeatina (Ardeatine Way) was an ancient road of Rome leading to the town of Ardea, after which it is named. Ardea lay 24 miles (39 kilometers) distant from Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , ...

. A church in honor of him existed there, which was restored during the papacy of

Adrian I Pope Adrian I ( la, Hadrianus I; died 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 to his death. He was the son of Theodore, a Roman nobleman. Adrian and his predecessors had to contend with periodic ...

(772-795). There also existed a papal estate ('' domusculta'') there called ''Sancti Edisti''. He is patron of an old church on the

Monte Soratte Monte Soratte (ancient: ''Soracte'') is a mountain ridge in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy. It is a narrow, isolated limestone ridge with a length of and six peaks. Located some south east of Civita Castellana and c. north of Ro ...

, near which a town,

Sant'Oreste Sant'Oreste is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about north of Rome. It faces the Monte Soratte, that latter has a natural preserve with the same name. History The first mention of ...

, is named after him. The first mention of Sant'Oreste is made by

Benedict of Soracte Benedict of Soracte (Benedict of St. Andrew) was a tenth-century Italian chronicler, a monk at the monastery on Mount Soracte. The ''Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doc ...

in his ''Chronicon'' in 747 AD, in which he mentions ''Curtis Sancii Heristi''. One source states that the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

derives from the family of the Aristi or Edisti. A member of this family was martyred for his faith around 68 AD. Linguistic corruptions transformed the name from ''Sanctus Edistus'' to ''Sanctus Heristus, Santo Resto, San Tresto, Sant'Oreste''. According to the legendary account of his martyrdom, he was a soldier who had been christened by

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

. At a site called ''Laurento'', a

sandpit A sandpit (most Commonwealth countries) or sandbox (US and Canada) is a low, wide container or shallow depression filled with soft (beach) sand in which children can play. Sharp sand (as used in the building industry) is not suitable for su ...

(''arenario''), Edistus participated in a

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

at which Priscus was officiating. Thermantia, Christina, and the servant Victoria were present. When they were discovered by the authorities, they were

buried alive Premature burial, also known as live burial, burial alive, or vivisepulture, means to be buried while still alive. Animals or humans may be buried alive accidentally on the mistaken assumption that they are dead, or intentionally as a form of t ...

in the same sandpit, with the exception of Victoria, who managed to escape, but who was later killed in a nearby forest. A church and village grew on the site of sandpit. This was the ''curtis Sancti Heristi''. The village later moved to the slopes of Mount Soratte for better defense against raiders. This became the ''Castrum Sancti Heristi'', later Sant'Oreste. The Romanesque church of Sant'Edisto still exists.

Notes

External links

*
SAN EDISTO

Sant'Edisto
*{{in lang, it}

60 deaths Deaths by live burial 1st-century Romans 1st-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown Military saints