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Epimachus of Pelusium
Egyptian martyr
SaintResearchedPre-congregation
Feast: 31 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
201
Died
251
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
At Alexandria in Egypt, Saint Epimachus of Pelusium, martyr, who, as tradition says, during the persecution of the emperor Decius, seeing the prefect forcing the Christians to sacrifice to idols, tried to overturn the altar and for this was arrested, tortured and finally beheaded with the sword.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 31 October as a martyr who, tradition says, tried to overturn a pagan altar at Alexandria under Decius.
Sources
- Roman Martyrology, 31 October (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q5383027 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Epimachus of Pelusium (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.