Gorgonius or Gorgon () was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

who was martyred in AD 304 alongside Peter Cubicularius and a certain Dorotheus at

Nicomedia Nicomedia (; , ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocletian who rul ...

during the Diocletianic Persecution.

Life

According to

Lactantius Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius () was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Crispus. His most impo ...

and

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

, 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, brutally tortured and then finally strangled.Murphy, John F.X. "St. Gorgonius." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 October 2021 According to one version of the legend, Diocletian, wishing to expose Christians in his household, ordered everyone to pay honor to the

Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts, integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and relig ...

; 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 boiled or burned alive, or “roasted on a gridiron.”Saint

Alfonso Maria de' Liguori Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787) was an Italian Catholic bishop and saint, as well as a spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philosopher, and theologian. He founded the Congrega ...

, ''Victories of the martyrs; or, The lives of the most celebrated martyrs of the Church''. Volume 9 of Ascetical works (EditorEugene GrimmPublisherBenziger Bros., 1888), 261. Diocletian, determined that their bodies should not receive the honors which the early Christians gave the

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...

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 Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Veneration

In the 8th century, the remains were

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 ...

by Chrodegang, Bishop of Metz to the monastery of

Gorze Gorze (; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Sites and monuments Gorze Abbey was confiscated as public property during the French Revolution; it has since been restored and utilised for a variety of ...

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

. Some of the relics were translated to

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...

. Many French churches obtained portions of the saint's body from Gorze, but in the chaos of the French Revolution, most of these relics were lost. The feast of Gorgonius and his companions is kept on March 12 by the Roman Catholic Church,"Martyrologium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2001 ) and on September 3 by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Gorgonius of Rome

Saint Gorgonius of Rome, who has sometimes been confused with Gorgonius of Nicomedia, is an early Roman martyr commemorated on 9 September. All that is known of him 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 The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. The course after the first six miles from Rome is not taken by any modern road, but it can be clearly traced from remains of pavement and buildings. It seems possibl ...

. Owing to the paucity of information about him, he was removed from the

General Roman Calendar The General Roman Calendar (GRC) is the liturgy, liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and Sacred mysteries, mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgic ...

, when this was revised in 1969, but not from the official list of saints of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, the

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () 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 appendices to it. It provid ...

. Epigram 24 of

Pope Damasus I Pope Damasus I (; c. 305 – 11 December 384), also known as Damasus of Rome, was the bishop of Rome from October 366 to his death in 384. It is claimed that he presided over the Council of Rome of 382 that determined the canon or official list ...

:''Martyris hic tumulus magno sub vertice montis'' :''Gorgonium retinet, servat qui altaria Christi.'' :''hic, quicumque venit, sanctorum limina quaerat,'' :''inveniet vicina in sede habitare beatos,'' :''ad caelum pariter pietas quos vexit euntes.'' Translation: This martyr's tomb beneath a great hilltop holds Gorgonius, guardian of the altars of Christ. Whoever comes to seek here the thresholds of the saints will find that in the nearby dwelling abide the blessed whom likewise, as they went, piety bore to heaven.

Other Gorgonii

A third saint of this name was a member of the

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste or the Holy Forty (Ancient/Katharevousa Greek and Ἅγιοι Τεσσαράκοντα; Demotic: Άγιοι Σαράντα) were a group of Roman soldiers in the Legio XII ''Fulminata'' (Armed with Lightning) whose m ...

, otherwise known as the soldiers of the "Thundering Legion". The different Gorgonii seem to have been frequently confused. The ''

Catholic Encyclopaedia ''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 Encyclopedi ...

'' mentions others of the same name of whom virtually nothing is known. Gorgonius was also the name of a man ridiculed by

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC), Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). Th ...

in his satires for having an "ill smell".( Satire 1.2, 27)

Legacy

Rancho San Gorgonio was a ranch in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

that was established in 1824 by Spanish missionaries, who named the ranch in honor of Saint Gorgonius. The ranch was one of the principal ''rancherias'', and the most distant, of the San Gabriel Mission, near what is now

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. It occupied most of today's

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

area. The name of the ranch was applied to a number of local landmarks, and their names in turn have been applied to various establishments, organizations, and more. These include: *

, the site of the ranch *

San Gorgonio Mountain San Gorgonio Mountain, also known locally as Mount San Gorgonio, or Old Greyback, is the highest peak in Southern California and the Transverse Ranges at . It is in the San Bernardino Mountains, east of the city of San Bernardino, California, S ...

, an 11,500 foot peak north of the pass *

San Gorgonio River The San Gorgonio River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 river primarily flowing in western Riverside County, with a small upstream section in southwester ...

, a seasonal river / wash that runs through the pass See also San Gorgonio (disambiguation)

References

Bibliography

*''Oxford Dictionary of Saints'' (Oxford, 2004)

External links

Relic of Gorgonius
{{Authority control 304 deaths Saints from Roman Anatolia 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century Romans Year of birth unknown San Gorgonio Pass Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian