Litany of Saints
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Saint Gordianus

saint martyred 362, during the reign of Julian

SaintResearchedPre-congregation

Feast: 10 May (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
320
Died
362
verified
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

Gordianus was a Roman judge who was so moved by the holiness and sufferings of a priest named Januarius that he became a Christian with many of his household. Accused before his successor, or the city prefect Apronianus, he was cruelly tortured and beheaded in 362, under Julian the Apostate.

Christians buried his body in a crypt on the Via Latina beside that of St. Epimachus; the cemetery took their names, and the two have been honoured together ever since, on 10 May.

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

A Roman judge who became a Christian and was martyred under Julian the Apostate.

Connected on this site

Sources

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

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