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Saint Polyeuctus (also Polyeuctes, Polyeuktos, Greek: Πολύευκτος) of Melitene (died 10 January 259) was an
He was buried at Melitene, and a church was dedicated to him there. Christian tradition states that the parents of Euthymius the Great prayed for a son at the church of St. Polyeuctus in Melitene.
A church was dedicated to him at Constantinople by Anicia Juliana in 524–527. The excavations undertaken in the 1960s revealed that, at the time of Justinian's ascension to the throne, the basilica was the largest in Constantinople and that it featured some remarkably ostentatious display of wealth, such as gilded reliefs of peacocks, as well as much oriental detail.
His feast day was 7 January in the ancient Armenian calendars. His feast day is now 7 January in the Catholic calendar. In the
Catholic Online: Saint Polyeuctus
{{Authority control Saints from Roman Anatolia Converts to Christianity from pagan religions 259 deaths 3rd-century Christian martyrs Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Place of birth unknown Year of birth unknown Attacks on religious buildings and structures Military saints
ancient Roman
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 ...
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 ...
. Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
tradition states that he was a wealthy Roman army
The Roman army (Latin: ) was the armed forces deployed by the Romans throughout the duration of Ancient Rome, from the Roman Kingdom (c. 500 BC) to the Roman Republic (500–31 BC) and the Roman Empire (31 BC–395 AD), and its medieval continu ...
officer who was the first martyr in Melitene, Armenia, under Valerian.
Symeon Metaphrastes writes that, moved by the zeal of his friend Saint Nearchus
Nearchus or Nearch (also written Neärchus or Neärch) was a third-century AD Armenian martyr and saint. He was a Roman army officer and friend of Polyeuctus, whom he had converted to the Christian faith. Nearchus was later burned alive. Hi ...
, Polyeuctus had openly converted to Christianity. "Enflamed with zeal, St Polyeuctus went to the city square, and tore up the edict of Decius which required everyone to worship idols. A few moments later, he met a procession carrying twelve idols through the streets of the city. He dashed the idols to the ground and trampled them underfoot."
He was tortured by the authorities and ignored the tears and protestations of his wife Paulina, his children, and his father-in-law. He was beheaded.
Veneration
He was buried at Melitene, and a church was dedicated to him there. Christian tradition states that the parents of Euthymius the Great prayed for a son at the church of St. Polyeuctus in Melitene.
A church was dedicated to him at Constantinople by Anicia Juliana in 524–527. The excavations undertaken in the 1960s revealed that, at the time of Justinian's ascension to the throne, the basilica was the largest in Constantinople and that it featured some remarkably ostentatious display of wealth, such as gilded reliefs of peacocks, as well as much oriental detail.
His feast day was 7 January in the ancient Armenian calendars. His feast day is now 7 January in the Catholic calendar. In the Eastern Orthodox liturgics
The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar describes and dictates the rhythm of the life of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Passages of Holy Scripture, saints and events for commemoration are associated with each date, as are many times special rule ...
, his feast falls on 9 January. Polyektus is the patron saint of vows and treaty agreements.
Cultural references
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine.
As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...
, inspired by the account of Polyeuctus' martyrdom, used elements from the saint's story in his tragedy '' Polyeucte'' (1642). In 1878 it was adapted into an opera by Charles Gounod, with the assistance of the librettist Jules Barbier.
Other works based on the play include a ballet by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1679), and the opera Poliuto (1838) by Donizetti (adapted with Scribe
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing.
The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
as '' Les martyrs''). Paul Dukas composed his ''Polyeucte'' overture, which premiered in January 1892.
References
External links
Catholic Online: Saint Polyeuctus
{{Authority control Saints from Roman Anatolia Converts to Christianity from pagan religions 259 deaths 3rd-century Christian martyrs Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Place of birth unknown Year of birth unknown Attacks on religious buildings and structures Military saints