ST CYRIACUS, DEACON AND MARTYR - 8 AUGUST

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN AUGUST

Saints celebrated on the 8th of August

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST CYRIACUS, DEACON AND MARTYR

According to Butler, Cyriacus, deacon and martyr in Rome, suffered martyrdom in the Diocletian persecution around the year A.D. 303, and had the honour of companions of his suffering and triumph. 

Largus, Smaragdus, Sisinius, and 20 other Christians, among whom Butler mentions by name: Crescentianus, Sergius, Secundus, Albanus, Victorianus, Faustinus, Felix, Sylvanus and four women: Memmia, Juliana, Cyriacides and Donata.

THE MARTYRDOM

According to the entry in the Roman breviary on August, St Cyriacus worked many miracles. He was finally seized on Emperor Maximian's orders and - after heinous tortures -was beheaded with the aforementioned companions. 

THE FIRST PLACE OF REST

The bodies of these saintly Martyrs were buried by a presbyter called John on the via Salaria (Salt Road) near the Sallustinian Gardens, not far from the place of their execution, on March 16.

THE TWO FEAST DAYS

On the following August 8, their relics were transferred by Pope Marcellus onto the property of a Christian woman named Lucina near the road to Ostia. Hence their names can be found in the Roman Martyrology both on March 16 and August 8. St Cyriacus is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)