SAINT MAXIMIANUS AND SIX COMPANIONS - 27 JULY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JULY

Saints celebrated on the 27th of July

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SAINT MAXIMIANUS AND SIX COMPANIONS

S.S. Maximianus (Maximilianus) and 6 Soc. M.M. (The Seven Sleeping Martyrs, The Seven Sleepers). 

These saints are commemorated on July 27 or June 27; also on August 4, October 22 and October 23). The legend of seven sleeping martyrs is well known. 

Above all, the wide spread of this famous legend should be noted; it is known from Norway to Arabia, and even the Koran has not bypassed it. The Latins, Greeks, Arabs, Ethiopians and Syrians also agree on the number seven of the martyrs. 

Their names are called in the Latin Church: Maximian (Maximianus), Malchus, Martinian (Martinianus), Dennis (Dionysius), John (Johannes), Serapion and Constantine (Constantinus).

Among the Greeks, their names are known as: Maximilianus, Exacustodianus, Jamblicus, Martinianis, Dionysius, Johannes and Constantinus; among the Muscovites: Maximilianus, Dionysius, Amileus, Martinus, Antonius, Joannes, Marcellus; among the Ethiopians: Arshaledes, Diomedes, Eugenius, Diniatheus, Bronatheus, Stephanus, Cyriacus. 

To this end, the Bollandists* remark that the holy Martyrs might have been called that before receiving baptism. However, the obviously Christian names Eugen, Stephanus and Cyriakus raise justifiable doubts against this assumption. We skip other variants. Asseman, famous for his great authority, names eight sleeping youths, namely: Maximilianus, Jamlichus, Martelus, Dionysius, Joannes, Serapion, Eustadianus, Antoninus. It is not possible to say how this apparent discrepancy in the determination of numbers can be explained. The city of Ephesus in Asia Minor is unanimously mentioned in the various sources as the place of their martyrdom.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg 1875, pp. 355-57)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org