Martinian and Processus ( it, Martiniano and ''Processo'') were
Christian 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 ...
s of
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
.
Neither the years they lived nor the circumstances of their deaths are known. They are currently buried in
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
in Rome.
Burial
All that is known about Martinian and Processus is that they were originally buried in an
apostolic era cemetery along the
Via Aurelia
The ''Via Aurelia'' (Latin for "Aurelian Way") is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Cla ...
on 2 July. The
Bollandist
The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...
Hippolyte Delehaye
Hippolyte Delehaye, S.J., (19 August 1859 – 1 April 1941) was a Belgian Jesuit who was a hagiographical scholar and an outstanding member of the Society of Bollandists.
Biography
Born in 1859 in Antwerp, Delehaye joined the Society of Jesus ...
and the
Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...
["Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 )] state they were buried in some unknown year in the Cemetery of Damasus at the road's second milestone. The ''
Martyrologium Hieronymianum
The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used a ...
'' gives their names under July 2. The Berne manuscript of the ''Martyrology'' also states that their
burial-place was at the second
milestone
A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...
of the Via Aurelia, or at the catacombs of St. Agatha on the Via Aurelia. The old catalogues of the burial places of the Roman martyrs likewise mention the graves of both saints on this road.
Legend
According to legend, Martinian and Processus were
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin: ''cohortēs praetōriae'') was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort fo ...
soldiers assigned as the
warders of
Saint Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupat ...
and
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
in the
Mamertine Prison
The Mamertine Prison ( it, Carcere Mamertino), in antiquity the Tullianum, was a prison (''carcer'') with a dungeon (''oubliette'') located in the Comitium in ancient Rome. It is said to have been built in the 7th century BC and was situated on ...
. The apostles converted their jailers after a spring flowed miraculously in the prison. Peter then baptized them in the miraculous waters. By order of the emperor
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 unti ...
, the guards were then arrested, tortured, and beheaded. After their martyrdom with Paul, a sympathizer called
Lucina buried them in her own cemetery.
Veneration
Martinian and Processus were publicly venerated in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
from the fourth or perhaps the third century. In the fourth century, a
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
was built over their tomb. At this church,
Saint 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 Gregoria ...
preached a
homily on their feast day ''"in which he referred to the presence of their bodies, to the cures of the sick, to the harassment of perjurers, and the cure of demoniacs there."'' This church no longer exists.
Bede mentions Martinian and Processus, and their feast is thus known to have been celebrated in early medieval
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
Pope Paschal I
Pope Paschal I ( la, Paschalis I; died 824) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 25 January 817 to his death in 824.
Paschal was a member of an aristocratic Roman family. Before his election to the papacy, he was abbot of St. ...
(817–824)
translated
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
the bones of the two martyrs to a chapel in the old
Basilica of St. Peter.
They still rest under the altar dedicated to them in the right (south) transept of the present
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
. In 1605, their relics were placed in a
porphyry urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
under the
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
at St. Peter's, which is flanked by two antique yellow
columns
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...
. The hemisphere has three
roundel
A roundel is a circular disc used as a symbol. The term is used in heraldry, but also commonly used to refer to a type of national insignia used on military aircraft, generally circular in shape and usually comprising concentric rings of diff ...
s with scenes from the life of
Paul the Apostle.
The
1969 revision of the
General Roman Calendar
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These cele ...
added a feast of the
First Martyrs of the Church of Rome The First Martyrs of the Western Church, Church of Rome were Christians martyred in the city of Rome during Nero's persecution in 64. The event is recorded by both Tacitus and Pope Clement I, among others. They are celebrated in the Roman Catholic C ...
on June 30, immediately after that of
Saints Peter and Paul Peter and Paul may refer to:
* Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle considered together
** Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, 29 June in the Catholic liturgical calendar
** St. Peter and St. Paul's Church (disambiguation)
* ''Peter and Paul'' (film), 1 ...
. It also removed the individual feast of these and other early martyrs from the general calendar of the
Roman Rite. Nonetheless, Martinian and Processus remain in the
Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...
, the official list of saints recognized by the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
Thus, they may still be celebrated with their own Mass on their traditional feast day, 2 July, according to the rules in the present
Roman Missal
The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of th ...
,
General Instruction of the Roman Missal
, 355 c unless in some locality an obligatory celebration is assigned to that day. Pre-1969 calendars grant these saints only a Commemoration
Commemoration may refer to:
*Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion
*Commemoration (liturgy)
In the Latin liturgical rites of the Catholic Church, a commemoration is the recital, within the Li ...
within the Mass of the Visitation of Our Lady.
References
Sources
* David Hugh Farmer, "The Oxford Dictionary of Saints," Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978, p. 337.
External links
*
Catholic Online: ''Sts. Processus and Martinian''
*
Serbian Orthodox Church: ''Sts. Processus and Martinian''
*
* ttp://www.stpetersbasilica.org/Altars/StsProcessus&Martinian/StsProcessus&Martinian.htm The Altar of Saints Processus and Martinian
{{Catholic, title=Martinian and Processus, url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12449a.htm
1st-century Christian martyrs
Year of birth unknown