Hieromartyr 4th century

Hieromartyr Sisinius the Deacon of Rome and Companions

died early 4th century

Also known as Sisinius · Cyriacus · Smaragdus · Largus · Apronian · Saturninus · Crescentian · Papias · Maurus · Priscilla · Lucy · Artemia

A deacon of Rome and the company of clergy, laymen, and women who suffered with him during the persecution of Diocletian.

Feast Day

June 7

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Commemorated as

The Holy Hieromartyr Sisinius the Deacon of Rome and Companions

Life

Sisinius was a deacon of the Church of Rome who suffered martyrdom together with a wider company of clergy, laymen, and women during the persecutions that opened the fourth century. Eastern Orthodox tradition commemorates the group as a single feast on June 7, naming alongside Sisinius the deacon Cyriacus and the martyrs Smaragdus, Largus, Apronian, Saturninus, Crescentian, Papias, and Maurus, together with the women Priscilla, Lucy, and Artemia, said to have been a daughter of the emperor.

Their sufferings are placed in the reign of Diocletian and Maximian and continued under their successors. The synaxarion presents the company as bound together by a ministry of charity to imprisoned Christians and by a shared confession that led, in stages, to their execution at Rome.

Timeline 3 moments Read Hide

Persecution of Diocletian and Maximian Ordination of the deacons According to the synaxarion, Bishop Marcellinus of Rome, supported by the wealthy Christian Thrason, ordained Sisinius and Cyriacus as deacons. In this office they helped supply food and clothing to Christians held in prison.
During the persecution Conversion of Apronian The tradition relates that Apronian, the head of the prison, summoned Sisinius for interrogation but, seeing the deacon's face shining with a heavenly light, came to believe in Christ and was baptized.
June 7 Trial and martyrdom Sisinius and Saturninus were brought before the official Laodicius in the company of Apronian. Apronian confessed Christ and was beheaded. When the prisoners were ordered to sacrifice, the synaxarion relates that Saturninus prayed that the idols be turned to dust, and the tripods bearing incense before the idols melted; the soldiers Papias and Maurus, seeing this, confessed Christ. Sisinius and Saturninus were beheaded, and Papias and Maurus were beheaded after prolonged tortures, while Cyriacus, Smaragdus, Largus, and Crescentian died under torture.

Contributions & Legacy

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The Company of Martyrs

The June 7 commemoration gathers a substantial group rather than a single saint. Named with Sisinius are the deacon Cyriacus and the martyrs Smaragdus, Largus, Apronian, Saturninus, Crescentian, Papias, and Maurus, together with the women Priscilla and Lucy and Artemia, identified in the tradition as the emperor's daughter. The synaxarion associates their deaths with the persecution of Diocletian and Maximian and the reigns of their successors.

The deacon Cyriacus, named among Sisinius's companions, is also honored in the Western calendar, where he is commemorated on August 8 with Largus and Smaragdus and remembered as a deacon of the Roman Church under Popes Marcellinus and Marcellus. Western tradition associates Cyriacus with charitable service to Christians compelled to labor on the Baths of Diocletian and with the healing of Artemia, a daughter of Diocletian, before his own martyrdom by beheading on the Via Salaria.

Relics & Shrines

In the Western tradition, the bodies of Cyriacus and his fellow deacons were first buried near the place of their execution on the Salarian Way and were soon afterward translated to a farm of the matron Lucina on the Ostian Road. This translation is recorded under August 8 in the ancient Liberian Calendar of Rome.

Notes

Named group commemorated as one; pre-schism Western saints. A separate commemoration from Pope Marcellinus.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints