| The statue of Cyriakus shown to the left is one standing in the church in Salzbergen, Emsland - an area due west of Hannover near the border with The Netherlands. (The picture comes to us via the pastor of another church in Gernrode, built in 961 and still there - the latter church being the oldest extant ediface dedicated to St. Cyriacus of which we are aware.) [ The Cyriakus spelling with the 'kus' instead of 'cus' ending seems to be associated mostly with Roman Catholic churches in Germany. There are reportedly more than 400 Catholic or other churches in Germany dedicated to St. Cyriakus/cus. ] |
|
|---|
The inscriptions from whence many of the Depositio Martyrum entries came survived long enough to be found primarily because they were 'underground' and hidden thereby from those destroying everything related to Christianity that could be found 'above ground' during the FINAL Great Persecution of 303 ~ 313 AD.
The Depositio Martyrum may have been a very needful reference book created 'on the fly' by the Administrator in charge of the cemeteries in the middle of the 4th century - the person who later served as Pope from 366 through 383. The same person who created and placed epigraphs to the most significant martyrs found in the underground cemeteries. The one who should probably be referred to as the FIRST SERIOUS SCHOLAR of the catacombs of Rome - Pope-Saint Damasus. (The proof of Damasus' promotional efforts regarding the catacombs may be reflected by the Cult of the Saints - a phenomenon begun around the end of the 4th century, or so, and repeated one or more times several hundred years apart. The Cyriacus Chapel built around 780/781 in Magdeburg appears to be the earliest recorded evidence of one of those episodes of the phenomenon in Germany.)
Although many of the other martyr's inscriptions have been identified and located, that of this Cyriacks at the Baths seems not to be among them. His epitaph may have been lost, relocated or destroyed - but maybe not before someone else copied it.
-
John Capgrave may have translated it almost verbatim from a plaque at the
then still extant St. Cyriacus Chapel across from the ruins of the Baths of
Diocletian when he visited Rome in the middle of the 15th century. [ Ben Ciriacks thinks that the succinctness and exactness of
the ?latin? wording from whence his olde english translation came (see it
at legends on this page) hints at an
inscribed in stone, bronze or other weather and time resistant
source. See the Voragine translation at the same place on this page
for a more verbose alternative. ]
St. Basil the Great's 271st Letter (this one directed to a
long deceased Eusebius), probably regards this Cyriacus at
the Baths. If so, it is the oldest and first written (as opposed
to inscribed in stone) reference to him that we've
found, so far. See the applicable portion of Letter
CCLXXI toward the end of the CESAREA narrative
immediately following.
Patron Saint called upon "to gain control over
the ego", protector against demonic possession and eye disease, one
of the Fourteen Holy
Helpers [ note the Ciriacus, Cyriacus & Kyriakos spellings at that ?Danish/Norwegian? site ]
revered in Germany and surrounding areas, he's possibly one of the earliest if not the
first exorcist of the Rome based Church. According to The
Catholic Encyclopedia for School and Home, not much is known about this
early Roman martyr. Even the exact date that he, Largus and Smaragdus, also
early Saints, were put to death is unknown.
That's an understatement! He should be the patron saint of travellers, the homeless and the dispossessed. Here's what's been pieced together from various, oftentimes contradictory references to Cyriacus, Largus and Smaragdus:
8/8/09: A 'commemoration date' Cyriacus of Rome BlogSpot entry from Deacon and author Ormonde Plater of New Orleans, Louisiana provides a comprehensive narrative that also includes the beheading of Sisinius before the others:
8 August
Cyriacus, deacon and martyr, with companions, beheaded at Rome in 303.
Born of a noble family, Cyriacus became a Christian and gave his wealth to the poor. He was ordained a deacon at Rome by bishop Marcellinus. Diocletian was emperor, assisted by Maximian, his favorite. Maximian decided to build a beautiful palace for the emperor, with magnificent baths, and to make the Christians work at the construction. Among the new slaves were old men and presbyters. The labor was hard and the food scanty. A Roman nobleman desired to relieve the sufferings of these laborers and sent four Christians with alms and encouragements, Cyriacus, Sisinius, Largus, and Smaragdus. They pursued their charities at the risk of their lives, and they worked vigorously alongside those who were growing very weak.
When Maximian heard of it, he ordered the beheading of Sisinius and an old man he had helped. Cyriacus was well known to Diocletian, who was fond of him. Suddenly Diocletian's daughter became possessed by a demon, and she announced that only Cyriacus could deliver her. Diocletian sent for him, and he cured her. She became a Christian like her mother, Serena. A short time later the daughter of the king of Persia also became possessed, and cried out like Diocletian's daughter that she could be delivered only by Cyriacus, who was in Rome. A message was sent to Diocletian, who asked his wife to persuade the deacon to go to Persia. He went with his two remaining Christian companions, and again he cast out the demon, thus bringing about the conversion of the king, his family, and four hundred persons, whom he baptized.
The three confessors returned to Rome, having refused all compensation
for their services, saying that they had received the gifts of God freely
and wished to share them freely. Maximian, hearing of their return in 303, had them
seized, imprisoned, tortured, and finally beheaded with twenty other
Christians. Their bodies were buried near the place of their
execution on the Salarian Way but later were removed to the city.
An abbey in France, at Altorf in Alsace,
possesses relics of Cyriacus and bears his
name.
sources for this narrative as Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin
(Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 9; Little Pictorial Lives of the
Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other
sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).Yet another site has the Cyriaque spelling for this renowned saint and their church dedicated to him.
They and several thousand other Christian slaves were helping build the new great Baths of Diocletian. The baths were located inside the recently built Aurelian Wall closest to the Porta Pia and Porta Salaria from whence the Via Nomentana and Via Salaria begin, respectively.
-
They were slaves because that was the way the Empire dealt with Christians
when they didn't want to just kill them off - a convenient way to get cheap,
relatively cooperative labor. The usual method was to enforce the
loyalty oath to the Empire and its pagan gods -- knowing that the Christians
would refuse to make it. And, given that Christians, using Jesus
Christ as their role model, did not themselves resort to violence, they
became very docile workers.
The administrative portion of the FINAL Great Persecution began in Nicomedia on February 23rd, 303. Its first step was the destruction of churches and Church records. In addition, the often used pro-pagan loyalty test was reintroduced, forcing more Christians into slave labor until the next, killing phase was begun the next year. (It undoubtedly made the killing phase easier when pre-identified Christians were already grouped together.) In any event, when the baths were finished, the Christian slaves on hand were all killed in one fell swoop - Cyriacus, Largus and Smaragdus, et al, among them - both in legend and ?apparently? in fact.
[ That this FINAL Great Persecution was pre-planned is hinted at by various sources indicating that the purge of the military was begun two decades earlier when Diocletian assumed power in 284. He had to make sure his orders to kill all the Christians, when that time came, weren't undermined by Christian soldiers or soldiers with Christian sympathies. It's likely that the Christians soldiers in Rome were the last to be purged. ]
The Martyrology of the Sacred Order of Friars Preachers site (found on March 20th, 2000) in a discussion of March 16th has:
- "At Rome, the suffering of St. Cyriacus,
deacon. After wasting away for a long time in
prison, melted pitch was poured over him. He was stretched out on a
platform, bound with leather thongs, and beaten with clubs. Finally,
at the command of Maximian, he was beheaded
in company with Largus, Smaragdus, and twenty others. Their feast is
observed on August 8 because that was the day on which the bodies of these
twenty-three martyrs were exhumed by Pope St. Marcellus and
given honorable burial."
The August 8th
discussion has: - "... martyrs Cyriacus,
deacon, Largus, and Smaragdus, with twenty others,
who suffered on March 16. Their bodies were buried on the Via Salaria
by a priest named John, and on this day Pope St. Marcellus
removed them to the garden of Lucina, on the Via Ostiensis. Afterward,
they were brought into the city, and buried in the deaconry of St. Mary's in Via Latina. ..."
"All that is known for certain about St. Cyriacus is that he was an early Roman martyr. Other details of this life are probably fictitious. Not even the date of this death is known." (It and the following sites provide the details for most of the rest of the legend.)
Some German sites
(one
two
three) expand upon the Cyriacus legend:
Under the direction of
Pope
Marcellinus (296 ~ 304), Cyriacus was a deacon and confessor to the enslaved Christians building the splendid baths of the Emperor Diocletian (284-305). Assisting him
were Largus and Smaragdus.
Cyriacus (et
al) were arrested for these activities, but when Cyriacus exorcised the the demons from the Emperor's
daughter, Artemia, he rewarded
him with a house - a house which became a church or meeting place for
Christians when Christianity was still illegal in Rome.
Matthias Grünewald Saint Cyriakus_ Heller_ Grunewald_ Epilepsy Museum Kork is the name of a file (click it to go there) with a picture of a statue and the following text:
Saint Cyriakus heals the Caesar Diocletian's daughter of epilepsy. Matthias Grünewald (1460-1528)
Wing of the so-called Heller Altar, Frankfurt (Historisches Museum Frankfurt)
In fulfillment of a prophecy springing forth from the devil driven out of Artemia, Cyriacus went to Persia (referred to as Babylon in the legend) to exorcise the Persian king's daughter. Cyriacus is said to have converted many of the Persians to Christianity. [ It should be remember that before the Romans and before the Greeks, it was the Persians who had conquered the 'world' - or at least the world around the Mediterranean that they all knew. Cyriacus was a Greek and a Roman Citizen who may have had familial ties to even more ancient Persia. ]
Meanwhile back in Rome, the times were changing. The FINAL Great Persecution had already begun. Upon return to Rome, the Emperor's colleague Maximian had Cyriacus , Largus and Smaragdus put to death outside the city.
Another part of the legend indicates that Maximian seized Cyriacus for torture, including pouring hot pitch over his body before finally beheading him. Another official then confiscated Cyriacus' house, bathed in its' sacred baptistry and held a banquet for himself and 19 friends - all of whom suddenly died together as a consequence of this sacrilege. [ 10/12/09: This may be why the 'titulus' associated with this site has been wandering around ever since and lends credence to this part of the story. ]
Cyriacus is said to have been buried at the via Ostiensis with his relics eventually dispersing to Ancona, Neuhausen at Worms, Bamberg and old village in the Elsass.
- St. Cyriacus'
feast is celebrated on August 8.
During the process when the Church was being officially
recognized and organized in the first half of the 4th century, it was
caught between a rock and a hard place. While the Empire wanted it
to designate those areas to which it laid claim - mostly where
Christians had been meeting or had established church edifices by 303
- the individuals who were aware of those locations were killed off as
part of the FINAL Great
Persecution of 303 ~ 313. In addition, the churches were
destroyed and the catacombs were blocked or hidden.
It's self-evident that any Church leadership extant in the
decades immediately after the end of the FINAL Great Persecution, merely by being alive to assume
a leadership role, evidenced less than total commitment to the Christian
faith. In other words, the only valid usage of the otherwise odious
phrase, "the only good Christian, is a dead Christian", may have
actually been applicable in the aftermath of the FINAL Great Persecution begun in
303. Those having gone into hiding to save their souls obviously
didn't fully believe in the immediate ascension into heavan involved with
glorious martyrdom for their faith.
It probably took until the middle of the 4th century for the
Church to reform and reorganize itself among those left who were unborn
or too young to suffer death for their faith. These were the
leaders who evidently began the process of recreating the records
destroyed in Rome at that time.
Their problem, obviously, was that first hand witnesses
couldn't be trusted unless they were Christian and they couldn't have
survived unless they denied their faith - thereby making themselves
untrustworthy. It's understandable that records about Rome extant
in other bishoprics were not shared because of the generic distrust
toward the Roman Church leadership evidenced until mid-4th century by
some and continuing even today by others.
Well, by the time the records were re-created, the only
accounts that could have been pieced together were from non-Christians,
pseudo-Christians or even pagans who were old enough at the beginning of
the century to understand what they had witnessed or 'overheard'.
In fact, there were most likely NO WITNESSES still alive 75 years later
in 350 who had first hand knowledge even of the penultimate persecution
of Aurelian, who reigned from 270 to 275. The knowledge we have
about those events seems to be as inadequate as those of the 1st and 2nd
centuries. The knowledge we have before 260 seems to come from
copies of letters, mostly by Bishop-Saint-Martyr Cyprian and others, that
were not destroyed because they were not in Rome. There seems to be
almost nothing, if anything extant regarding the Church in Rome between
260 and 308.
So, testimony was taken, cemeteries, catacombs and ruins
were located and names were matched as well as could be done. The
ruins were probably presumed to have been former churches, or at minimum
houses of wealthy Christians where meetings took place but which had not
yet become formal churches. (There is mention in
the various writings regarding plaques affixed to houses which contained
the names of the owners thereof - something extant in many parts of
Europe to this day. Given the thorough destruction involved, it's
doubtful that many, if any of these tangible 'titles' survived to provide
evidence after 313. It's more likely that witnesses described
seeing them on the houses before they became ruins.)
Needless to say, it was in the self-interest of the Church
to designate as many sites as possible, since the Empire apparently was
quite willing to give them complete control over each site. On the
other hand, it also makes sense that the Empire wasn't dumb enough to
accept more sites than were warranted by legitmate evidence. One
such site involved Cyriacus, Largus, Smaragdus, et
al. [ Remember, they were supposed to
have been killed at the site of the largest, then extant public works
project in the Roman Empire - the Baths of Diocletian. It's
unlikely the empire was willing to go so far as to let the church have
that site or that the new leaders rebuilding the church had the audacity
to lay claim to it! It's noteworthy that the Depositio Martyrum doesn't show the consuls
at the time of their martyrdom - as it does for a few others - even
though theirs contains the greatest number of martyrs listed together,
six in all. Listing the consuls indicates that the martyrdom was
known to have occurred at a specific time. When absent, it seems to
imply that although the martyrdom was known to have occurred, the exact
circumstances, especially including the date and most likely the locale,
were unknown around 354 A.D., when the priceless Depositio Martyrum seems to have been
prepared. ]
The best evidence discovered, so far, that the bodies of
Cyriacus, et al, were ever found is the head relic
located in the Duke Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig. My wild
guess says that it contains relics from the head of Cyriacus - if not the entire head, itself. The
other references to the citing of his relics, head or body are summarized
below.
- 304 A.D. Via Salaria/Alta Semita ?Site of beheading and martyrdom? The Baths of Diocletian are adjacent to the Alta Semita which continued on to become the Via Nomentana at the Aurelian Wall surrounding Rome. The Via Salaria also begins at the same wall as the continuation of an avenue that ran parallel to and just north of the Alta Semita. In other words, an ancient reference to the Via Salaria, especially coming from 2nd or 3rd hand informants, may just as well have been to what was called the Alta Semita - or the site of the NEWLY CONSTRUCTED great Baths of Diocletian. The church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of the Angels) was built among the ruins of the baths from 1563 to 1566 according to the Chandlery book and the web site discussing the church. Another web site also stated that: [ "The Chapel of Relics ... was built in 1742 to hold relics of martyrs connected to the building of the Baths of Diocletian. ... Among the martyrs some names have been preserved, such as Sts Cyriacus, Largus, Smaragdus and Maximus the Centurion. ..." ]
- 366~383 Via Ostiense A site in need of a
martyr because it ?was already Church connected? and had no martyr
already associated with it. Because the site of their martyrdom was
probably at the newly constructed, gigantic Baths of Diocletian, it would
have been impolitic to claim it as a site (Titulus), so another
at the 7 mile
marker along the Ostian Way may have been selected.
Or, this could have been the site where another Bishop Cyriacus had held sway. We know next to nothing about this individual (all the records of the time being destroyed) but he could have been martyred around 234 ~ 259 and may have been one of the more prominent members of the Rome centered Cyriac Family. An indication of this prominence comes from , which has:"Not counting St. Cyriacus, martyr, and Maximus the bishop who, according to the Acts of St. Laurence, consecrated in 269, the first Bishop of Ostia was Maximus, A. D. 313. We know from St. Augustine that the Bishop of Ostia sometimes consecrated the pope. ...
- [ 1/6/03 update: Note that the year should
be 259 - not 269. Pope Dionysius was the eighth pope installed in
the three decades since the especially cruel persecutions began around
235. In fact, his installation came after several months when there
was no Bishop of Rome. It was preceded by the execution of Pope
Sixtus and, a few days later, the
connected
martyrdom of St. Lawrence. This may indicate
that the Bishop of Ostia
was too important administratively to the Church to be in line to become
the next pope but, instead, led the way in helping to choose just who was
to assume that position - and possible quick
martyrdom. ] - 972 Via Lata Bill Thayer's Churches of Rome site discusses the location of the Monastery of S. Cyriaci de Camiliano in the area where the present S. Maria in Via Lata is located from as early as 972 to 1882. Station St Cyriacus at S Maria in Via Lata
- ... Alta Semita The next stop
(former convent of St. Stephen) has a footnote indicating that the
"ancient church of St. Cyriacus stood on the Alta
Semita. The site is covered by the modern Ministero delle Finanze."
(1903 reference.) The footnote on the next page also states that "During
the building of the new Ministero delle Finanze, some remains of this
martyr's ancient church were found." The Van der Meer Atlas (1958)
indicates a "Parish church, founded 4th-6th century" between the Alta
Semita, the inside-the-wall portion of the Via Nomentana, and the baths
of Diocletian. Some maps show Via
XX (or Venti) Settembre, instead of Alta Semita and as a continuation
of Via del Quirinale beginning at the Piazza Quirinale.
Another site discusses:
- "... the near by nunnery of St. Cyriacus, where Cyriacus's head is kept, that head
has been said, since the time of Gregory IX (1241), to have become red
with blood on the anniversary of the martyr's death, and the reliquary to
have become moist ..." (This apparently is another
convent.)
- 1450 Via Lata Santa Maria in Via Lata obtains the "revenues, relics and all" that's left from the desolate ruins of the buildings on the Corso which had become a large convent of Benedictine nuns. Pope Nicholas V (1447-55) is responsible. (The head of Cyriacus was still there in 1903.) Station St Cyriacus at S Maria in Via Lata
- 1561 Alta Semita/Via Salaria The Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri alle Terme di
Diocleziano di Roma (Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and the
Martyrs at the Baths of Diocletian in Rome) has some very interesting
information, some of which is quoted below:
- Pius IV, Giovanni Angelo de Medici consecrated the Church of S. Maria degli Angeli on 5 August 1561. He transferred the title of Saint Ciriaco to the Baths and enabled the Carthusian monks to worship here officially. They had occupied a place in the Church since 1091. ...
- The marriage of the Prince of Naples (future king of Italy, Vittorio
Emanuelle III) and princess Elena of Montenegro was celebrated in the
basilica on 24 October 1896. From this point onwards Santa Maria degli Angeli became the official Church
of the Italian State.
In other words, the "official Church of the Italian State" is the one which also holds the "title of Saint Ciriaco to the Baths" which, of course, the the primary saint to whom 400 churches in Germany and who knows how many others throughout the rest of the world are dedicated.
- On 20 July 1920 Benedetto XV Giacomo della Chiesa (1914-1922) elevated
the Church to status of a minor basilica with his apostolic letter, “Ad perpetuam rei memoriam. Titulum Sancti Ciriaci in
Thermis...” The ancient church of S Ciriaco was
demolished to make way for the imposing building of the Finance Ministery
in Via XX Settembre." (See above re
Settembre.) [ The ancient church had been demolished long
before 1920 - it was the ruins of the ancient church that were discovered
during the construction of the new Ministry of Finance building in 1874. ]
The ancient church of S Ciriaco referenced in the previous paragraph, above, is mentioned as the Ciriaco house located north-west of the Baths of Diocletian that was used by Christian faithful before the Final Great Persecution of Diocletian at the same St. Mary of the Angels (et al) web site.
- 1662 Via Lata Around 1662, Pope
Alexander VII (1655-67) has the "Lenton Station of S.
Cyriacus in Thermis" transferred to Santa Maria in Via Lata.
The church also possesses the bodies of SS. Largus, Smaragdus and
companions, martyrs, and may other precious relics. (The "S. CIRIACO IN THERMIS" title is in the index of the Corpus basilicarum book, but is still a mystery
here in Milwaukee because those pages have yet to be seen in another,
good copy of that architectural reference put out by the Vatican.)
Santa Maria, itself, is built upon the ruins of Septa Julia, the "covered
porticoes for the use of the Roman people, begun by Julius Caesar, and
finished by Agrippa in the year 27 B.C." This supposedly was the
traditional site of St. Paul's home-prison in the middle of the 1st
century.
Station St Cyriacus at S Maria in Via Lata - note the Roman numerals MDCLXII (1662) at mid-right - meaning, maybe, that this structure was completed and dedicated that year. - 1715 Via Ostiense St. Cyriacus catacomb entered by Boldetti and relics, if any, therein moved. Records are either lost, never recorded or too controversial for dissemination. This is probably the place where Pope Marcellus (308~309) moved the relics just before his own death. The validity of the references to the Alta Semita church site need to be compared to those of the Via Ostia church site to determine which is to be believed as having more validity regarding the August 8th, 304 martyrdom. [ Or, whether these are two distinct individuals. One being at the Baths and the other being the Bishop of Ostia of the same name having been martyed a half-century earlier. ]
- PRESENT DAY Roman sites - Mosaic - Rome:
..., S. Costanza, ... "We have also preserved in the Chigi Library
some mosaic from the catacomb of Cyriacus." (The Chigi Library in Rome undoubtedly has many ancient
artifacts which could aide our research efforts.)
Abingdon, Berkshire: RELICS . . . Parts of these Martyred Saints: ..., Valerian, ..., Cyriacus, Sixtus, Bishop & Martyr, Christopher, Boniface, ...
[ February 28th, 2007 update: Most of the links found a decade ago are no longer active and have been removed - some significant text remains -- use that text within Google or other search engines to see if they're still on the internet somewhere else. ]
4/28/10: Very noteworthy is the fact that our St. Cyriacus at the Baths is associated with one of the most revered Titles of the Roman Catholic Church, and is said to have been a Patron Saint of the Papal States (see L. Hecht, below) but is not among the 140 saints on the Colonnades overlooking St. Peter's Square in Vatican City.- 6/21/10:
14 Holy Helpers School, Gardenville, New York [Webmaster
note: 309 is the year Pope Marcellus translated his remains, along
with those of others, from their martyrdom site nearer to the Baths of
Diocletian - the death probably took place in 304 or 5 years
earlier. ]
- 4/27/10:
- 4/27/10: The Der Gnadenaltar page of the "Basilika Bierzehnheiligen" german web site has a picture of St. Cyriakus/Kyriakos/Dominicus holding the devil (dragon) on a chain - representing his power over the demon through exorcism rites. [ Noteworthy is the youthful versus elderly figure of the saint. We need to get permission to display this picture here, along with the short prayer associated with him. ]
- Laurentius, Stadtpatron von Duderstadt © Klaus Graf 1997 - This site, found on July 11th, 1998, is an apparent discussion of Saints Laurence and Cyriacus. A very rough translation seems to indicate that Laurence replaced Cyriacus as the primary patron saint of Duderstadt. Both are said to have been Deacons of the ancient Church. The proximity of their August 8th and August 10th dates of veneration are noted. Mention is made of statues and ?paintings? or wall hangings that were said to have existed in some of the medievel buildings dedicated to them.
- A listing for November 24th has St. Crescentian of Rome (deadlink www.erols.com site) dying in 309 "in the company of Saints Cyriacus, Largus, Smaragdus".
- Cyriacus at the Baths is a title given to
honored others per the Vox in Excelso - 22 March 1312. It's
included as part of the Council of Vienne 1311-1312 A.D., a portion of
which is quoted here:
"... We empowered and commanded our beloved sons Berengar, cardinal, then with the title of Nereus and Achilleus, now bishop of Frascati, and Stephen, cardinal priest with the title of Saint Cyriacus at the Baths, and Landulf, cardinal deacon with the title of saint Angelo, in whose prudence, experience and loyalty we have the fullest confidence, to make a careful investigation with the grand master,
...
... Given at Vienne on 22 March in the seventh year of our pontificate." - Bruyn Diokletian und Cyriacus 1532 hist. is a reference contained at Antikenrezeption in den Gemälden der Alten und der Neuen Pinakothek.
- An impressive list of martyrs from the 3rd century included Cyriacus:
Martyres (74v) | Martyred (Cyriax web site notes): Stephanus | ?Pope (254~257) or Deacon of 8/6/258? Linus | ?Pope (67~76) or Pope Marcellinus 8/304? Cletus | ?Pope (76~88) MISSING POPES: Clemens | ?Pope (88~97) Fabian (236~250) Sixtus | 8/6/258 Pope (257~258) Lucius I (253-254) Cornelius | 253 Pope (251~253) MISSING DEACONS: Cyprianus | 9/14/258 Bishop (248~258) Gennarius w/Sixtus Cholomannus | ?8/6/258 Magnus? Agapitus w/Laurence Georgius | Felicissimus w/Laurence Laurentius | 8/10/258 Stephen(above) w/Sixtus Hyppolitus | Vincentius | 8/6/258 Lambertus | That Smaragdus and Largus aren't on this Emmeramus | list with Cyriacus hints that it only Ianuarius | ?/?/304 includes bishops and deacons - not Kilianus | confessors and priests. It also implies Mauritius | a reference to Cyriacus' deaconhood Cyriacus | ?/?/304 extant somewhere as yet unfound. - Deacon saints (dead link), in
August, had:
8 Cyriacus, with companions, martyred at Rome, 304 ...
23 Archelaus, with bishop Quiriacus of and others, martyr, c 234 (or 250/259?) ...
(98n03: This is the first appearance of a reference to a Bishop of Ostia and lends credence to my suspicion that there was another Cyriacus martyred in the middle of the 3rd century about whom we know next to nothing.) - 14 HOLY HELPERS: S Barbara, S Agnes, S Agatha, S Katharine of Alexandria, S Cyriacus and others; Cyriaca, Cyriacus, Cyricus, Judas Quiriacus et al & Cyriacus (gegen böse Mächte) Unser Bote: Wallfahrtn & ... Karl A. Neuhausen, "Cyriacus und die Nereiden: Ein Auftritt des Chors der antiken Meerenymphen in der Renaissance," RhM 127 (1984) 174-92 (inactive link)
- »Es ist kein Teufel in der Höll, der also heißt«; und weil ich ihn hierauf geschwind fragte, ob denn einer in der Höll wäre, der Cyriacus hieße? er aber nichts zu antworten wußte, ob er sich schon klug zu sein dünkte, gefiel solches meinem Hauptmann so wohl, daß er gleich im Anfang viel von mir hielt. (inactive link)
- Papst Cyriacus & S. Quiriacus & Susanna 8. VIII. (mit Cyriacus), 11. VIII. (mit Tiburtius) (inactive link)
- ... they were dragged behind a wild bull, torn with hooks, and strangled.
- Footnote: Based upon the legend that Diocletian and Cyriacus at the
Baths were contemporaries and that Diocletian was born in 240, one
guess is that Cyriacus was born around the same time
- possibly around January 17th, 243 -- perhaps a reason why this
webmaster has such an affinity and 'psychic' connection to him, he maybe
a Great (x68) Grand Uncle born exactly 17 centuries earlier.
