Gordianus (died 362) was a

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 ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, 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 ...

who was killed during the reign of

Julian the Apostate Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism ...

, and is commemorated on 10 May. In his funeral inscription, Gordianus's youth is contrasted with his mature faith."Gordian and Epimachus", ''The Oxford Dictionary of Saints''
5th ed. (David Farmer, ed.) OUP, 2011 Later ''Acts'' make him a pagan and a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

. He was charged with forcing

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

to make a sacrifice to the Emperor, but instead was persuaded and then converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

with many within his household. Being accused before his successor, or as some say before the prefect of the city, Apronianus, he was tortured and finally

beheaded 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 c ...

. His body was carried off by the Christians, and laid in a crypt on the Latin Way beside the body of

Epimachus of Alexandria Epimachus of Alexandria was a Roman martyr who died in 250 during the Decian persecution. He and his companions—Alexander, Ammonarion, Mercuria, Dionysia and other women—were beheaded at Alexandria. They are commemorated on 12 December.Basil ...

, who had been recently interred there. The two saints gave their name to the cemetery, and have ever since been jointly venerated by the Catholic Church.Murphy, John F.X. "Sts. Gordianus and Epimachus." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 November 2021 According to David Farmer, these ''Acts'' are historically "worthless". Some time later the remains of Gordianus were moved to the Cyriaca cemetery and there they lay until the 1670s, when a monk named Ambrose of the Order of St Augustin removed them and gave them to Christopher Anderson, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

priest. The remains were transferred to the Jesuit

College of St. Omer A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school. ...

; when the College moved to

Stonyhurst Stonyhurst is a rural estate owned by the Society of Jesus near Clitheroe in Lancashire, England. It is centred on Stonyhurst College, occupying the great house, its preparatory school Stonyhurst Saint Mary's Hall and the parish church, St ...

, the remains travelled to England where they have remained since, interred below the altar of the Sodality Chapel. His bones were temporarily removed in 2006 whilst the chapel underwent restoration, but they have since been returned. The

Princely Abbey of Kempten The Princely Abbey of Kempten () was an Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries until it was annexed to the Electorate of Bavaria in the course of the German mediatization in 1803. Geography Located within t ...

in Bavaria was established in 752, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Gordianus and Epimachus. Some of the relics of the two saints were brought there.Butler, Alban. "Saints Gordian and Epimachus, Martyrs". ''Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints''
1866. CatholicSaints.Info. 12 May 2013 There is a church dedicated to Gordianus in

Saint-Paul-d'Oueil Saint-Paul-d'Oueil (; ) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Geography Climate Saint-Paul-d'Oueil has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Saint-Paul-d' ...

in France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordianus Stonyhurst College 362 deaths 4th-century Christian martyrs Year of birth unknown