Felix ( 303) was a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
of
Thibiuca Tibiuca was a Roman era civitas of the Roman province of Africa Proconsularis.
Tibiuca has been tentatively identified with ruins at Henchir-Gâssa, Tunisia.
During antiquity, Tibiuca was the seat of an ancient bishopric, suffragan of the Archdioce ...
in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
who was
martyred
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' 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 external party. In colloquial ...
during the
Great Persecution under the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
Diocletian
Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...
alongside Audactus, Fortunatus, Januarius, and Septimus. Felix is said to have resisted the command of the local magistrate Magnillian () to surrender his church's copies of the
Christian scriptures
A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible.
The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning ' rule' or ' measuring stick'. The use ...
.
__NOTOC__
In one account, Felix and the others were taken to
Carthage
Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...
and
decapitated
Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common ...
on July 15. These were venerated in the basilica of St Faustus. Another placed his martyrdom at
Venosa
Venosa (Neapolitan language, Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Pala ...
in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. His companions may have been
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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...
s but, apart from their joint martyrdom with Felix, are now unknown. Their
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...
was observed jointly on October 24.
Felix was formerly honored as the
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of
Venosa
Venosa (Neapolitan language, Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Pala ...
.
See also
*
Other saints Felix
*
Other saints Audactus
*
Other saints Fortunatus
*
Other saints Januarius
*
Other saints Septimus
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
* .
* .
{{Authority control
303 deaths
3rd-century bishops in Roman North Africa
4th-century Christian martyrs
Executed Tunisian people
Patron saints
People executed by the Roman Empire
Roman saints from Africa (continent)
Tunisian Christians
Christians martyred during the reign of Diocletian
Venosa