- Crescentius of Rome
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Saint Crescentius
The Maestà of Duccio. Crescentius is the kneeling figure in the foreground, to the right of the Virgin Mary.Born ~292 AD Died ~303 AD
Via Salaria, RomeHonored in Roman Catholic Church Feast September 14; October 12 (translation of relics) Patronage Siena Saint Crescentius of Rome (Italian: San Crescenzio di Roma) is venerated as a child martyr by the Roman Catholic Church. According to tradition, he was born of a noble Roman family and was baptized along with his parents by Saint Epigmenius.[1] During the persecutions of Christians by Diocletian, the family fled to Perugia, where his father Saint Euthymius died.[1] Led back to Rome, Crescentius, who was eleven years old, was beheaded on the via Salaria, outside of the city walls.[1]
Veneration
He was buried in the cemetery of Priscilla on the Via Salaria. His place of burial became a focus of pilgrimage and veneration in the Middle Ages. His body was translated from Rome to Siena around 1058 at the request of Bishop Antifredus. Other relics were translated to Tortosa in 1606.[1]
The only biographical source concerning Crescentius was derived from the copy of a manuscript from 1600 and conserved in the Biblioteca Vallicelliana.[1] The Acta is not reliable as it was written long after the alleged death of this saint.[1] Dante Balboni believes it was composed at Tuscany around 1058, when the body of Crescentius was translated to Siena.[1] During the Middle Ages, Crescentius was the subject of a popular cult in Siena.[1]
He is depicted in the Maestà of Duccio.
References
External links
- St. Crescentius
- (Italian) San Crescenzio di Roma
Categories:- 292 births
- 303 deaths
- 4th-century Christian martyr saints
- 4th-century Romans
- Child saints
- Christian martyrs of the Roman era
- People executed by decapitation
- Italian children
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