Also known as Processus · Martinian · Processus and Martinian
Pagan guards at the Mamertine prison in Rome who were converted through the witness of the Christians held there and were themselves martyred for the faith.
Feast Day
April 11
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Processus and Martinian were pagan soldiers who served as guards at the Mamertine Prison in Rome and, according to tradition, were converted to Christianity through the witness of the Christians held there. Tradition identifies them as warders set over the imprisoned Apostles Peter and Paul, who came to faith and were baptized while serving as their jailers.
Having confessed Christ openly and refused to renounce their new faith, the two were tortured and ultimately beheaded for the faith, traditionally dated to approximately 67 AD under the Emperor Nero. They are commemorated in the Orthodox tradition on April 11, and also on July 2, the date by which they are honored in the Western calendar.
Timeline 4 moments
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1st centuryService at the Mamertine PrisonProcessus and Martinian served as pagan soldiers and guards at the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the place of confinement for those deemed threats to the Roman state.
1st centuryConversion and baptismAccording to tradition, the two were converted through the witness of the Christians imprisoned there. The account associates their conversion with the imprisonment of the Apostle Peter, from whom they received holy Baptism; a tradition relates that a spring flowed miraculously in the prison and that Peter baptized them in its waters.
1st centuryConfession and tortureWhen their conversion was discovered, they were called upon to renounce their faith. Instead they fearlessly confessed Christ. The synaxarion relates that they were subjected to severe torture and then imprisoned, where a woman named Lucina provided them aid.
ca. 67 ADMartyrdomProcessus and Martinian were beheaded by the sword for their faith. Lucina is said to have buried their bodies.
Contributions & Legacy
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Historical Context
The two martyrs are associated with the Mamertine Prison in Rome, the only single-celled prison used for those held as threats to the state. Christian tradition connects the site with the imprisonment of the Apostle Peter, and by the medieval period it had passed to Christian use; the location today hosts two superimposed churches, San Giuseppe dei Falegnami above and San Pietro in Carcere below.
The synaxarion account names the jailer Paulinus, who is said to have discovered the conversion of Processus and Martinian and demanded that they renounce Christ. According to this tradition, they refused and spat upon a golden statue of Jupiter, after which Paulinus had them beaten with iron rods and scorched with fire before their execution. The account further relates that Paulinus was struck blind and died three days afterward.
Veneration
Public veneration of the martyrs in Rome is traced to the third or fourth century. They were originally buried in an apostolic-era cemetery along the Via Aurelia, and a church was built over their tomb; Pope Gregory the Great is said to have preached there concerning the healings and miracles reported at the site.
Pope Paschal I (817–824) translated the relics of the two martyrs to a chapel in the old Basilica of Saint Peter. In 1605 their relics were placed in a porphyry urn beneath an altar dedicated to them, and their tomb is now located in the transept of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Relics & Shrines
The relics of Processus and Martinian rest in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, placed in a porphyry urn beneath an altar dedicated to them since 1605. The tomb is located in the basilica's transept.
