Romanus Ostiarius

Who they were

Romanus was a doorkeeper (ostiary) of the Church of Rome, named in the Liber Pontificalis as one of the clerics martyred with St Lawrence in August 258; the Catholic Encyclopedia sees no reason to doubt that tradition. He was buried, like Lawrence, in the catacomb of Cyriaca on the Via Tiburtina, and seventh-century pilgrim guides mention his grave.

The later, legendary Acts of St Lawrence turned him into a soldier; that version entered the Roman Martyrology, which keeps his feast on 9 August.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Romanus has been honoured as a martyr since the early Church.

Why that counted as sanctity

Romanus is honoured as a martyr who died for Christ alongside St Lawrence.