Saints Lucian and Marcian are two martyrs put to death at Nicomedia, in Bithynia, c. 250, under the emperor Decius. The Acts of their Passion, preserved by Ruinart, first show them as magicians at Nicomedia, converted after the failure of their spells against a Christian virgin, then burned alive on the order of the proconsul Sabin.[1][2] They are celebrated on 26 October.[3][4]
The Roman Martyrology, for its part, names on 26 October “the saints Lucian, Florus and their companions”, without Marcian.[5] The tradition of the Acts, followed by Butler and by Nominis, keeps the pair Lucian and Marcian. The two designations coexist in the memory of the Church; it is that of the Acts that is told here.[6][7]
Converted magicians
The Acts tell the conversion without embellishing it. Lucian and Marcian “were so devoted to demons that they led almost every soul into their sacrilegious sect”, defiling all by magic and sorcery.[8] Wishing to obtain a Christian virgin, they had recourse to their arts; but the demons had to admit their defeat before this soul, who “keeps her virginity intact for Jesus Christ”.[9]
At the sight of this failure, they converted. The Acts are precise about the gesture that follows: “at once, they brought their codices out in public, in the middle of the city, and burned them with fire”; then they confessed everything to the Church, received baptism, distributed their goods to the poor and withdrew into solitude.[10][11]
It is this past that gives their martyrdom its own colour: they are not believers caught up in a raid, they have passed to the other side, to the side of those they used to have arrested. The structure recalls that of other converts of power, like the pagans of the martyrs of Lyon in 177; but Lucian and Marcian come from magic, which makes the reversal more complete still.[12]
Nicomedia under Decius: the great persecution (250-251)
Nicomedia, capital of Bithynia and imperial residence of the East, was then one of the great cities of the Empire. It was precisely there that the persecution of Decius was conducted with the greatest rigour: the emperor had established the centre of his power in the East, and it was at Nicomedia that the first martyrs of that time were numerous in giving their lives.[13]
In 250, Decius decrees a compulsory sacrifice to the gods of Rome. Christians who refuse are arrested, tried locally and executed. The persecution of Decius is the first that organises itself as a measure of Empire at the scale of the Roman world.[14] It is in this setting that Lucian and Marcian appear before the proconsul Sabin.[15]
Ruinart, who publishes the Acts from two ancient manuscripts, notes that the exact year of the martyrdom remains uncertain, while confirming that it took place under the persecution of Decius.[16] The martyrologies fix the date at 26 October, the eve of the calends of November.[17][18]
The trial before the proconsul Sabin
Brought before Sabin, the two brothers answer without denying their faith. To the question “who are you?”, Marcian answers: “A freeborn man, and a worshipper of the sacraments of God”.[19] When the judge asks them their origin, Lucian says: “Once a persecutor of the venerable Law, now, though unworthy, I am nevertheless its preacher.”[20]
The central answer is that of Marcian, which Lucian then takes up as his own: “The glory of the Christians is this: to be deprived of this life that you think the true one, and to attain, persevering to the end, true and perpetual life.”[21] And further on: “In this we are ready, for whatever torments you wish to inflict on us, rather than, denying the living and true God, we enter into the outer darkness and the unquenchable fire.”[22]
The Nominis notice sums up this dialogue by the phrase “I am a free man since it is the glory of the Christians to gain true life”. It is a devotional paraphrase, which melts into a single reply Marcian's original words (“a freeborn man”) and the promise of true life; it is not verbatim in the Acts.[23][24]
The martyrdom: burned alive
Sabin condemns them to be burned alive. Led to the place of execution, “as with one mouth” they give thanks to God, finish their prayer, and the executioners set the fire: “thus the venerable martyrs, finishing their combat, had part in the passion of the Lord.”[25] The colophon of the Acts dates them to the eve of the calends of November, under the emperor Decius and the proconsul Sabin.[26]
The word martyr in Greek means witness. Their testimony is double: they have seen the Church from outside, on the side of those who persecuted it, and they have known how to say yes to the faith of those they caused to die.
Feast, memory and iconography
Their feast is 26 October. It is carried by the Latin martyrologies and by the tradition of the Acts; the Nominis notice qualifies it as a local feast.[27][28] The Roman Martyrology, as we have said, names Lucian, Florus and their companions: the dissonance between this wording and the pair of the Acts is not settled by the primary sources themselves.[29]
Their most living cult is Catalan. At Vic, in Catalonia, they are patrons of the city: as early as 1224, the cathedral chapter institutes an office of nine lessons for their feast, and a text of 1226 speaks of the “palm of martyrdom” that they received there.[30] The martyrologies of Vic before the thirteenth century did not yet place them at Nicomedia; the local tradition long claimed Vic as the place of martyrdom.[31]
Their iconography is rare outside Catalonia. They are represented together, two figures of the same size, sometimes at the moment of execution, more often in the peace of the martyrs. An eighteenth-century altarpiece from Barcelona shows them side by side; the church of the Pietat de Vic has devoted paintings, sculptures and stained glass to them.[32]
For further reading
- Saint Stephen, first martyr († c. 36): the first witness of Christ to give his life.
- The persecutions of Nero: the first persecution of Empire, of which that of Decius is the heir.
- The martyrs of Lyon in 177: pagans converted at the moment of torment, like Lucian and Marcian.
- The martyrs of Ceuta (1227): later, other men who passed through the persecution of the Gospel died for having preached it.
Notes and References
Ruinart, Acta primorum martyrum sincera et selecta, 1713; reissue 1869 (Acta martyrum… opera ac studio collecta, pp. 211-214), from the manuscripts of Colbert and of Saint-Maurice-de-Sauve-Majeure. Latin text of the Acts of Lucian and Marcian: conversion of the magicians before a Christian virgin (« Haec vero virginitatem illibatam servat Jesu Christo »), public burning of their codices (« Sic statim codices suos publice in media deferentes civitate igni combusserunt »), baptism, retreat, arrest under Decius, dialogue with the proconsul Sabin (« Ingenuus et cultor Sacramentorum Dei »; « Christianorum gloria haec est, ut hac, quam putas vitam, carentes, veram et perpetuam, perseverantes in finem consequamur »), condemnation to the fire (« flammis exuri praecipio »), colophon (« Passi sunt autem beatissimi Martyres Lucianus et Marcianus VII. Kalendas Novembris, sub Decio Imperatore, et Sabino Proconsule »). Ruinart notes that the exact year of the martyrdom is unknown, and that the pair is distinct from Marcian the chanter of Constantinople.
1 8 9 10 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 24 25 26Butler, Lives of the Saints, vol. 10 (October), p. 637-638. Notice that follows the Acts of Ruinart and that Nominis summarizes: magicians converted after the failure of their spells against a Christian virgin; magic books burned in the middle of the city; baptism; distribution of goods to the poor; retreat; arrest under the edicts of Decius in Bithynia in 250; dialogue with the proconsul Sabin; death at the stake; honour in the martyrologies on 26 October. Butler cites the Acts of Surius, Ruinart, Tillemont and Assemani.
2 3 7 11Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum, Octobris t. XI, pp. 22-23 and 85. Decree of the chapter of Vic of 1224: « Item fiat ix lectionum SS. Luciani et Marciani martyrum. Et celebretur eorum festivitas in tertia die post festum sancti Bernardi, episcopi Vicensis. » Text of 1226: « de 26 octobris, natali sanctorum martirum Luciani et Marciani, qui in civitate praedieta fuerunt palma martirii coronati. » The martyrologies of Vic before the thirteenth century placed them neither at Nicomedia nor in Africa. AASS oct. t. X reports a usuardine codex that places them wrongly on another day; t. IX (the main article of 26 October) could not be consulted.
4 30 31Roman Martyrology, on 26 October (editions 1749, 1873/1878, 1848, 1902): Latin « Nicomedia sanctorum martyrum Luciani, Flori, & sociorum »; French « A Nicomédie, les saints Lucien, Flore, et leurs compagnons, martyrs ». The wording names Florus, not Marcian. The tradition of the Acts and of Butler keeps the pair Lucian and Marcian. Baronius identified the two; the exact link between Florus and Marcian is not settled. The modern edition (2004) could not be verified in full text.
5 6 18 28 29On conversions at the very moment of torment in the martyrs of Lyon of 177, see the Ignispedia article The martyrs of Lyon in 177.
12Nominis, French Bishops' Conference, notice “Saints Lucian and Marcian”: nominis.cef.fr. Devotional summary of the Acts: converted magicians and persecutors; the phrase “I am a free man since it is the glory of the Christians to gain true life” is a paraphrase, not a verbatim quotation of the Acts; Roman martyrology cited in note; feast dates: 26 October, local feast.
13 23 27On the persecution of Decius (249-251): first measure of Empire organized against Christians, with compulsory sacrifice and certificate of sacrifice. The Passio itself dates the martyrdom to this persecution (« persecutiones Christianorum fuerant datae a Decio Imperatore »). Ruinart notes that the exact year remains uncertain (« quo tamen id anno contigerit, incompertum nobis est »); Butler fixes 250; Assemani places the beginning of the persecution in 249. Nicomedia, metropolis of Bithynia, is then one of the imperial residences of the East.
14Wikimedia Commons images: eighteenth-century altarpiece of the church of Saint-Séverin in Barcelona depicting Saints Lucian and Marcian (photograph Bocachete, public domain); stained glass window of the holy martyrs of the church of the Pietat de Vic (photograph Enric, CC BY-SA 4.0). The two iconographic sources are distinct; no image is used twice. Other Catalan sources: double reliquary statue, reliquary urn, painting and sculpture by Carles Morató (church of the Pietat de Vic).
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