Litany of Saints
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Germanicus of Smyrna

Greek saint

SaintResearchedPre-congregation

Feast: 19 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
150
Died
156
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

At Smyrna in present-day Turkey, the passion of Saint Germanicus, martyr of Philadelphia, who, in the time of the emperors Marcus Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius, was a disciple of Saint Polycarp, whom he preceded in martyrdom: condemned by the judge in the flower of youth, setting aside by the grace of God all fear for the frailty of his body, he himself urged on against himself the beast destined for him.

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 19 January as a disciple of Polycarp martyred by a wild beast at Smyrna.

Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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