:''Symphorian is also the name of one of the

Four Crowned Martyrs The Four Crowned Martyrs or Four Holy Crowned Ones (Latin, ''Sancti Quatuor Coronati'') were nine individuals who are venerated as martyrs and saints of Early Christianity. The nine saints are divided into two groups: # Severus (or Secundius), S ...

. For various places in France and Belgium, see Saint-Symphorien.'' Symphorian (Symphorianus, Symphorien), Timotheus (Timothy), and

Hippolytus of Rome Hippolytus of Rome (, ; c. 170 – c. 235 AD) was one of the most important second-third century Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestin ...

are three

Christian martyrs In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at th ...

who though they were unrelated and were killed in different places and at different times, shared a common feast day in 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 ...

from at least the 1568 Tridentine Calendar to the

Mysterii Paschalis ''Mysterii Paschalis'' is an apostolic letter issued ''motu proprio'' (that is, "of his own accord") by Pope Paul VI on 14 February 1969. It reorganized the liturgical year of the Roman Rite and revised the liturgical celebrations of Jesus C ...

. While still a young man, Symphorian was either beheaded or beaten to death with clubs.

Symphorian

According to a legendary ''passio'' of St.

Benignus of Dijon Benignus may refer to: * Saint Benignus of Dijon (3rd century), martyr and patron saint of Dijon, Burgundy (France) * Saint Benignus of Todi (d. 303), martyr at Todi, Umbria (Italy) * Saint Benignus of Armagh (died 467), Irish disciple of St. Patr ...

, Symphorian was a young nobleman who was converted by Benignus at

Autun Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...

. Symphorian was

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 ...

, while still a young man, during the reign of

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...

.Meier, Gabriel. "Sts. Timotheus and Symphorian." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 9 February 2019 He was the son of a senator named Faustus. He studied at Autun and was brought before the provincial governor Heraclius for not worshipping the pagan goddess

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian language, Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian language, Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother godde ...

(Berecynthia), by failing to show due reverence when a procession during her festival was passing by. Symphorian is said to have asked for tools to destroy the statue. He was arrested and flogged and, because he was from a noble family, he was given a chance to

recant Recantation means a personal public act of denial of a previously published opinion or belief. It is derived from the Latin "''re cantare''", to re-sing. Philosophy Philosophically recantation is linked to a genuine change of opinion, ofte ...

but refused. His mother, the Blessed Augusta, encouraged him on his way to execution and was present at her son's death, which took place on 22 August 178. In the oldest redaction of manuscripts containing the saint's life we find a Gaulish sentence recorded that she allegedly yelled from the city wall: ''Nate, Nate, Symphoriane, mentobeto to Diuo'' which may be read as "''gnate, gnate, mentobe to diwo"'' ("Son, Son, O Symphorian, remember your God!"). Symphorian was beaten to death with clubs.

Veneration

Bishop Euphronius of Autun (died 490) built a handsome church over Symphorian's grave, connected with a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

, the Abbey of St. Symphorian, which belonged to the Congregation of Sainte-Geneviève from 1656 until its suppression in 1791. Abbot Germanus later became Bishop of Paris, where he dedicated a chapel to the saint.

Genesius of Clermont Saint Genesius (died circa 662) is a French saint. He was the twenty-first Bishop of Clermont and his feast day is celebrated on June 3. Narrative A legend, which is of a rather late date (Acta SS., June, I, 315), says that he was descended fro ...

built a church dedicated to him at Clermont. Saint Symphorian is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Autun. His veneration spread at an early date through the empire of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

. His cult was especially popular at

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

; Saint Gregory of Tours relates a

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

performed by the saint. There is a St. Symphorian's Church at

Veryan Veryan ( Cornish: ''Elerghi'') is a coastal civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village has been described as one of Cornwall's loveliest inland villages and as ′a mild tropic garden′ ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and another at Durrington in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, now a suburb of the town of

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Ho ...

Timotheus

During the

pontificate The pontificate is the form of government used in Vatican City. The word came to English from French and simply means ''papacy'', or "to perform the functions of the Pope or other high official in the Church". Since there is only one bishop of Ro ...

of Melchiades (311–13), St. Timotheus came from

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

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 ...

, where he preached for fifteen months and lived with Sylvester, who later became pope. The prefect of the city, Tarquinus Perpenna, threw him into prison, tortured, and finally beheaded him at the

Via Ostiense The Via Ostiensis ( it, via Ostiense) was an important road in ancient Rome. It ran west from the city of Rome to its important sea port of Ostia Antica, from which it took its name. The road began near the Forum Boarium, ran between the Aventi ...

in 311. A Christian woman named Theon buried him in her garden. This is related in the legend of Sylvester. The name of Timotheus occurs in the earliest

martyrologies A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were enriched by na ...

Hippolytus

The 22 August feast of Saint

was a duplicate of his 13 August feast and for that reason was deleted when the

was revised in 1969. Earlier editions of 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 ...

'' referred to the 22 August Hippolytus as Bishop of Porto.

Johann Peter Kirsch Johann Peter Kirsch (3 November 1861 – 4 February 1941) was a Luxembourgish ecclesiastical historian and biblical archaeologist. Life Johann Peter Kirsch was born in Dippach, Luxembourg, the son of Andreas and Katherine Didier Kirsch. At ...

, writing in the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

,'' sees this as "connected with the confusion regarding the Roman presbyter resulting from the Acts of the Martyrs of Porto. It has not been ascertained whether the memory of the latter was localized at Porto merely in connection with the legend in Prudentius, without further foundation, or whether a person named Hippolytus was really martyred at Porto, and afterwards confounded in legend with Hippolytus of Rome." This opinion is shared by a Benedictine source.

References

External links