Saint Sossius or Sosius (Italian: ''Sosso'', ''Sossio'' or ''Sosio''; 275 – 305 AD) was

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

Misenum Miseno is one of the ''frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port. Geography Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northwestern end of the Ba ...

, an important naval base of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

in the Bay of Naples. He was martyred along with Saint

Januarius Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later ...

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

during the

Diocletian Persecution The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. In 303, the emperors Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Constantius issued a series of edicts rescinding Christians' legal rights ...

s. His feast day is September 23, the date, three days after his death, on which his corpse was

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 ...

to Misenum.Franco Zullo
San Sosso
Santi e Beati.

Legend

The legend conserved in the ''Atti Bolognesi'' states that during the Diocletian persecutions, Januarius, bishop of Benevento, escaped from his see and traveled to

"incognito." However, his presence became known to Christians in the area, and Januarius maintained contact with Sossius, who was a deacon of Miseno, as well as the deacon Festus and the lector Desiderius. Legend says Januarius, with whom he studied to become a priest, predicted the martyrdom of Sossius when he saw a luminous red light and a

dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

hover over his head while he read the gospel at mass. Sossius was soon discovered to be a Christian by the local authorities and he was condemned by the judge Dragontius, who condemned him to be killed by wild bears in the local amphitheatre. Januarius, Festus, and Desiderius, on hearing of Sossius’ arrest, took a risk and visited him in prison at the sulphur mines of Pozzuoli, near the volcano of

Solfatara A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

. The authorities discovered that these men were also Christians and they were thrown to the wild beasts as well, but as one modern account states, "...when the animals came near the Saints, they fell affectionately at their feet and refused to harm them.". They were then condemned to be

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

, along with Sossius. The deacon

Proculus of Pozzuoli Saint Proculus (Proclus) of Pozzuoli ( it, San Procolo) was martyred around 305 AD, according to Christian tradition, at the same time as Saint Januarius. He was martyred with: * Sossius or Sosius, deacon of Miseno ( it, Sosso, Sossio) *Festu ...

and the laymen Eutyches and Acutius protested this sentence while the other men were being led to their execution. As a result, these three were also decapitated with the others near the Solfatara, on September 19, 305.

Veneration

His remains were first preserved at

(today

Miseno Miseno is one of the ''frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port. Geography Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northwestern end of the Ba ...

). After the destruction of the town by the Saracens, its population transferred to the newly founded town of

Frattamaggiore Frattamaggiore (locally also known as Fratta) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. It is located north of Naples and southwest of Caserta. It was awarded the title of "City of art" in 2008 and named Benedictine ci ...

. They brought the saint's cult with them, making Sossius patron saint of the town; his relics, however, they left behind. The Benedictines recovered the relics from Miseno and preserved them at the convent of

Santi Severino e Sossio, Naples The church of Santi Severino e Sossio and the annexed monastery are located on via Bartolommeo Capasso in Naples, Italy. The church is attached to one of the oldest monasteries in the city, and from 1835 it has housed the State Archives of Naple ...

in 910. John the Deacon wrote a history of St. Januarius and his companions, in which as an eyewitness he describes the aforesaid transfer.''Acta Sanctorum'', September, VI, 874 sqq.; the text of the "Translatio" alone is found in Waitz, loc. cit., 459-63. From here his veneration spread through various parts of Campania and Lazio, and even to Africa. Following the Napoleonic suppression of the convent, the remains were translated to Frattamaggiore where they are still preserved in the basilica dedicated to him. A village in the province of Avellino was established in his name as San Sossio Baronia.

Notes and references

{{Reflist 3rd-century births 305 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs 3rd-century Romans 4th-century Romans Sosii Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian